Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1891-05-29
MEMORIAL SUNDAY.
"There Is No Discharge in this War"
Rev. Mr.. Phalen's Sermon Preached be-
fore the Old Soldiers Last Sunday

Rev. Mr.. Phalen's Sermon Preached be-
fore the Old Soldiers Last Sunday
The annual Memorial Sunday service
was held at the Unitarian church last Sun
day morning The Grand Army post, the
Relief corps and Sons of Veterans attended
i'm a body, and these with the usual con-
gregation, and interested visitors, filled the
church to overlooking. Mr.. Phalen prcfac-
ed his sermon with suitable recognition
of his return from six weeks absence I'm
London, expressing his pleasure at once
more meeting his own people. and saying
that no friends, no village, no home had
ever seemed to him so welcome and attrac-
tive as those to which he had returned in
BrattlebOro. Feeling and impressive allu-
sion was made to the death of Miss Wells.
which had taken place in his absence
The text of the sermon was from Eccles-
tastes VIII &: There is no discharge in this
war The man who uttered these words.
the speaker said, has been the puzzle of the
centuries, but to him he seemed like a man
bordering deeply the great problems of
life. duty, God and eternity. OF what was
he thinking when he wrote There is no
discharge in this ware Was it Of the
camp, the tented field, the martial music.
the clash of steel, the awful sights OF the
Things that he was speaking 1t was of the
war in which humanity has been engaged
since history began, and which will last
till the drama Of time and humanity is end
ed. Every man. woman and child born
into the world is enlisted in this war from
which there is no discharge. Life is a war
fare, a struggle, a conflict. battle. and he
who will not quit himself like a man will
be defeated and overthrown | do not
mean that every man shall gain a reward
or high place, but do mean that he who
does not strive using every talent God has
given him, must suffer loss as he ought to-
Believe me, life is more than rising and
eating and sleeping, and being comfortable
and happy, it is more than a bank account
and carriages. and horses, hOnors and posi-
ton. 1t is more than threescore wears and
ten of smiles and tears. of ups and downs
II is a spiritual conflict a grand. divine
and eternal existence. stretching ever on
ward and upward. The enlistment is not
for day, year or for the period of the
war. but for time and eternity, forever and
day. There is no discharge in this war
In the first place life is a struggle simply
TO live, to overcome our physical surround
ings-disease, accident and death. None
of us would be here today were it not for
thC 'pllStdllt' Su'ft~Nlul warfare Wd9eO Nv
the race against its enemies In the next
place all civil and political liberty has been
gained by warfare, not only on the battle
field of ideas, but in actual battle by force
Of arms, from the wars of Joshua. the
struggles of the Greeks and Romans, to the
victories of Cromwell, and Washington.
and Grant. All down the centuries it has
been necessary to fight, to bleed and to die.
to conquer and to maintain those priceless
principles which make possible the civil
and religious liberty of today. In the next
place intellectual attainment is not simply
the divine gift of the gods, but a genius for
hard work, capacity for constant upward
striving. He who would climb the noun
tains and see the world and history from
the top. rather than from the bottom, must
fight for every inch of ground he gains.
There is no other way. There is no dis
charge in this war
Search through all that science and hui
man attainment have achieved or can teach.
and atom, planet. the solar system, and the
brain of man all tell the same tale. which is
built into the rocky ribs of the earth. and
stamped upon every page of human history,
that