The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1891-06-11
Continued from 8th Paqe.

naked realities is seldom exposed to view.
Consider for moment! These men had
mothers, wives or sweeJhearts in 1861
Homes that were dear, hopes that We're
precious, and some had little babes sleep
ing in cradles Their love was the first
offering they brought to the altar with
scalding tears they pressed their loved
ones to their bosoms, and waved them
sad farewell as they started for the front.
Many of these men. neglecting business,
devoted the flower OF their manhood to
their countrys service. For four long
wears they marched foot-sore and weary
loaded down like pack animals. The
dangerous track led through swamps and
forests and over mountains. They forded
rivers and wallowed through Southern
mud; they slept upon the wet ground
without fire or shelter: they felt the
stroke Of the tropical sun-they became
familiar with the pangs Of hunger and
the tortures of thirst. The darkness was
never SO black, the storm never sofuriOus
as when they kept the solitary vigil of The
picket. They met danger in every form
and saw death in all It's CHASTITY shapes.
The wasting fever preyed upon them and
the army surgeons experimental on them;
they dug breast-wOrks to shield the living
and trenches to shelter the dead. They
were left bleeding on the skirmish line,
threatened by the wheels and hOOfS Of
both armies. Some of them crawled
away to the neighboring thicket where
their fevered wounds were cooled by the
merciful dew; some of them lay neglect
ed in the field until the worms came to
make premature claim to their residuary
interest. They were captured and as
prisoners of war penned up with filth and
vermin they were subjected to cruelty
eQualled only in the prisons of Siberia
and if, driven by desperation, they broke
through the stockades, they were chased
by dogs whose fangs tore their emaciated
limbs
Many of these men returned home en-
feebled by sickness, crippled by wounds,
ruined in purse, broken in spirit. Many
proud fellow turning homeward Grip
pied and DEPENDENT embraced his little
ones, and saw them with childish wonder
toy with his empty sleeve. Their joyous
shouts of welcome pierced him like
knives, when he remembered that the fu-
ture had nothing in store but poverty.
Those who escaped multilaIion were
pursued to their homes by the evil genius
of war; and for many years were afflicted
with aches and ailments which the
learned doctors could classify, but could
not cure.
During all these varied vicissitudes,
wherever these soldiers went, whether on
the march, in the bivouac or in the field,
they carried the starry banner which they
delighted to call the old glory" Around
it they rallied, by it they stood; for it
they fought like demons, until they saw
it climb in triumph every rebel flag staff
from Vicksburg to Richmond, the one
glorious emblem of a united republic
Do you wonder that they love it :? They
bring it to You consecrated by their blood
ennobled by their efforts, and offer it with
their blessing. Have you stopped to con-
slider how much more this flag means in
1891 than it did in 81 Then it stood
for liberty, but sheltered the slave-pen
and the auction block; it meant hope to.
the white man, but was the emblem of
despair to the slave. 1t gave countenance
to the monstrous heresy that human
bondage might be the cornerstone of
free institutions. 1t took the best blood
of the nation to wash out this stain.
Tears and blood have ever been the price
of progress. Reforms, like men, are born
in agony. Such has been the stubborn
inertia Of the race that nothing great has
ever originated without a struggle.
Even the pacific era of the gospel must
needs be ushered in by cruclfiXion, al
though the divine proclamation had been
heralded by angelic voices announcing
Peace on earth and good will to men,
Every achievement of which we boast
dates back to the prison, the stake or the
battlefield, and every human hope OF
future bliss clings to the cruel cross.
My young friends, the same memorable
conditions control individual advance
ment If any scholar in this school
would be distinguished, let him prepare
for supreme struggle. Nothing is de
MED to untiring toll, unfiinching energy.
Everything is possible in this free land
bat never dream of greatness unless you
are willing to subscribe to the gospel Of
eternal work There is practical hint
suggested by this presentation which is
worthy Of the serious consideration Of
teachers and school boards. The popular
education of our day suffers from the
domination Of the textbook. This flag
in the hands of a competent teacher Will
suggest and stimulate to better advantage
than any textbook in use. The purpose
of true education, as the term implies, is
to elicit thought and develop the power to
think This end is not attained by cram
ming facts and figures into youthful era
NUNS; there is nothing more important
in an enlightened scheme of instruction
than to instill in the minds of the youth
love Of the good, the true and the beauti-
full
When the rules and formula of the text
book have vanished from the memory, as
soon they must, this higher culture
abides to give fibre to character and flavor
to thought. The crying need Of the hour
is for less of the dead text and more OF the
living lessons of human experience. No
condemnation can be too strong for the
poll-parrot system of memorizing. Away
with the mechanical grind and the mental
tread-mill.' The true aim of the school is
TO produce men, not mathematician.
What the state demands is useful citizens,
not impractical boOk-worms. You may
create walking encyclopedia, but your
labor is in vain if you are building on the
feeble instincts of the literary dude. You
might as we'll graft vine onto mullen