The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1891-05-25
IN MEMORY OF THE FALLEN BRAVE.
Divine Services Attended by Grand
Army Organizations Yesterday.
Appropriate Sermons by Rev. Messrs.
Wilson and whitman.
Chestnut Street Methodists Listen to
Their New Pastor.

| Inc P0St, with the B0SW0rth Ladies' Relief
Corps and the Sons of Veterans, took cars
from the city about 10 o'clock, arriving al
Woodfords about Is minutes before the ser.
vices began. At the church, which has lately
been enlarged and renovated, the body OF
the house was reserved for the members OF
the Post. while the side seats in front were
left for the ladies and the Sons Of Veterans.
The remainder Of the church was filled by
the Woodfords people. Tue platform and
pastors desk were decorated very prettily
for the occasion. Two stands OF muskets, a
drum hanging from one, were In front Of the
platform. The desk was draped with the
national colors, and the state and national
colors belonging to the Post were placed on
the wall behind the pastor.
Mr.. Wilson took his text from the epistle
Of Paul to the Ephesians, 9th chapter, 14th
verse, wherein is found the admonition
"stand therefore" Mr.. Wilson called atten-
tion first to the frequency with which st.
Paul throughout all his writings makes use
| OF military phrases. This Is explained by
| the circumstances of Paups sojourn in Rome
where he was continually chained to a Ro-
man soldier. Paul's right arm was chained
to the left arm Of the soldier night and day.
| The preacherlnoted here the facilities which
this gave Paul for impressing the truths Of
the Christian religion upon the various SOL
diers who were chained to him, and suggest
ed that here was the beginning of that
cnange In the Roman armies which resulted
within three centuries in replacing the sill
| yer eagles on the standards Of the army with
| the cross. Paul, on the other hand, alb
sorDed not little OF the spirit Of the sol
diers, which Is shown in the military phras-
es used by him In his writings. Here In the
they had halted cowardly on a field Of battle,
and he were urging them to rally.
Inc preacher then went on to apply the
text by saying that every true man now Is a
soldier, fighting battle OF some sort; and
that nothing Is now needed In all walks of
lie SO much as the spirit Of the true soldier.
stand.
First he must fight the unruly spirit within
his own breast. He must also make a stand
against the spirit of dishonesty and untruth
that Is always more or less active In the
community. 1t was charged against the He
Drews by one OF their old prophets that they
were not valiant for the truth" So now,
In business, politics, social life and religion,
men are not so valiant for the truth as they
should be, especially when an adherence to
the truth seems likely to be costly. The
speaker here cited the late President Garfield
as man who stood for truth without regard
to cost, instancing Gartield's opposition to
the Greenback heresies when they swept
through the West.
A brave man should never ask whether he
is likely to be hurt by espousing the cause Of
the truth. 1t would not be a very good
soldier who should determine to fight or not
by estimating the chances Of getting hurt in
the conflict. The instinct OF true soldier
is to do his duty irrespective Of consequences.
Every man Is a soldier who can rally around
fEnf hfna a a
de~eiicn GnaT the soldier rallies around his
colors.
We are likewise commanded to take a
stand Tor God. This stand must be open
and aggressive. Every one despises a
neutral: The speaker recalled the story Of
the griffin, the beast that had the head Of an
eagle and the body of lion. When there
was great battle between the birds and the
beasts this griffin was in sore fear. And
when the birds seemed to be getting the best
OF 1t the griffin would say, II am bird do
you not see that have the head of an eagle"
But when the beasts seemed to be prevailing
the griffin would point to his body and say,
do you not see that / am a liOn?" Mr..
wilson thought that there were griffins all
ABOUT US In religion, politics and business.
The preacher went on to speak Of the reli-
glous CONVICTIONS and faith of brave men
like John Brown, General Howard and
soldier.
As encouragements to take the stand on
the side OF God, the preacher mentioned the
hople cause, and the assurance of Divine
help In making the stand.
Atthe conclusion of the sermon Mr.. Wilson
turned successfully to the ladies of the Relief
Corps, the members of the Post and the Sons
Oh Veterans, and spoke to them few words
OF recognltlon He said to the ladies Of the
corps that, although they had not the priyi-
lege OF fighting for their country, they had
done the more difficult thing of giving hus-
Dands, brothers and sons to the country, and
thus had saved 1t nobly. He told the Sons OF
veterans that they had the blood Of heroes
IN their veins. and that he had no doubt that
they would serve their country as nobly as
dld their fathers, should the occasion arise
Finally, to- the veterans themselves, the
speaker made acknowledgement to their claims
70 gratitude and respect. assured them that
as they performed the duties of the coming
Memorial Day the prayers and sympathies Of
all would be with them, and finally reminded
them to remember that captain greater than
Grant or Sherman or Sheridan bade them to
be over he hoped it would be found that they
had been good soldiers of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
At the conclusion of the services the post,
with the ladies and the Sons of Veterans, re-
turned to the city.
FREQ Street Church.
The memorial services before Thatcher
Post were held at Free street church yester-
day morning by the pastor, Rev. b. l.. Whit
man. The church was appropriately decor
ated for the occasion, American flags being
draped over the front of the choir gallery
and the reading desk. On the front of the
reading desk was placed a portrait Of Rear
Admiral Henry Knox Thatcher, U. S. N,
for whom the post was named. Above the
screen In the rear were the flags of the post,
while stack of rifles and equipments with
guidon OF the post stood in each corner of
the platform. The members of the post oc-
cupied seats forward in the body of the
church and large audience Of other inter-
ested people gathered.
Mr.. Whitman took his text from Psalm
IX., 4th verse, "Thou hast given banner to
them that fear thee, that 1t may be displayed
because of the TRUTH" Mr.. Whitman first
spoke Of the use of banners in general, say
ing that they had been in existence from the
earliest times, serving as emblems of certain
things in certain cases, and as rallying points
and signs to point out the leaders In any
movement. He then described the American
flag and sketched briefly the history Of Its
adoption. Then coming to the main body OF
the sermon he asked for what this flag stood,
national flags not as mere
pieces Of cloth, but as the representation of
the nation to which they belonged. What
then does our flag signify? The notices Of
the colonial flag OF South Carolina aud of
Massachusetts Liberty" and ian appeal to
Heaven" taken together answer this question.
America stands for liberty, and liberty OBJ
tained by God-fearlng men who appealed to
heaven and built their nation In the fear of
GOO.
The mission Of the American flag the
speaker said was to be seen whenever there
was needed reminder of these two things,
liberty aud reliance upon God. Let the flag
not wave, he said, in mere want0nness of
power, in the glory Of boasting or idle show
of strength; but when there is danger Of
men forgetting the underlying principles on
which this republic is founded, let 1t be
brought out and let it stand for liberty and
reliance upon Heaven. We have not time,
said the speaker, to dwell upon many of the
dangers that beset our land but there Is one
that deserves our attention for few mo-
ments In passing-the danger Of indifference,
The better class in the community are in
danger of falling into idleness and allowing
the machinery of government to pass into
the hands Of the vicious and degraded
Mr.. Whitman then addressed himself d.
rectly to the veterans, saying that they had a
right earned by their service In the fisld,
which they ought not to neglect. 1t was not,
as has been said, the right to sit down and
do nothing for the rest Of their lives, but the
right to claim the places Of the teachers of
patriotism. "No one," said he, "but you
w IN n l.