The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1891-05-28

that such a people, with such history
back OF them, should do just as they
did? -.
The men whose liberty-loving spirits
set the north on fire in those days had
had, while sitting on their grandfather's
knee, poured into their ears the story
OF the revolutionary days. Washing
ton and his associates were their nat
tern saints. ...,..
War is terrible thing. It costs the
nation in men and treasure. Costs
more than can be estimated. But a,
great national sin tolerated and en-
couraged costs far more. The decay of
character is more than the death of
the body. Slavery was the deadly
upas tree that overshadowed the whole
nation. Its vices were legion, and the
very virtues of the nation were modi-
fed by it.
The man who dies on the battle field
may be hero and saint, but the man
who dies of moral rot is lost to society
and is breeder of a pestilence more
fatal that war. A nation can better
afford to lose it's noble and brave sons
on the battle field than to have the
scourge, the pestilence of a corrupting
sin poisoning the life blood of the ma
ton, and bring on a condition many
times worse than death. Our losses in
the war of the rebellion were great.
How great we may never know. If you
would attempt to count the cost, ask
the thousands of widows whose lives
have been torn asunder; ask the moth
ers and fathers whose sons went south,
and they have been waiting in vain for
them to come back ever since: ask the
maidens whose hearts have been wild
owed; ask the sisters whose brothers
sleep in southern graves; ask the
church that lost so many of it's truest
members and friends; ask society that
misses so many of it's most genial and
helpful spirits; ask the returned soldier
that is manned for life; ask the men
that were on the battle field and saw
the carnage of war. How much did it
cost? Go south and count the graves.
then come back and count the lonely
homes and stricken hearts. How much
did it cost? Determine first how great
the damage is to have life's brightest
joys turned to blacklist despair. Find
first some way of weighing or measur-
ing human misery and then set price
upon it. How much did it cost? Not
until the books are open and heavens
balances are used to weigh values shall
! we ever know. The millions of money
are too trifing an item to be thought
of in estimating the cost.
| But what compensation is there for
this fearful outlay? Again we have to
do with values of which we know but
little. The conditions which make the
highest development of a nation posi-
BILE are of too great value for US to put
price upon them. The nation has
demonstrated its right to live and its
ability to govern itself. Slavery re-
ceived its death blow. The nation was
consolidated. It never could have ex-
listed half free and half slave. To have
divided the nation would have been to
destroy it. Character was developed.
The novel writer often has his heroine
transformed in day from young girl
to woman by some great crisis that
arouses all her latent powers and
changes her as by some magic power
from thoughtless girl to thoughtful
woman. So the nation was brought by
this trying ordeal of war from child
hood to mature years.
The war made the United States in
some things the first nation in the
world. In it's advanced form of gov
eminent; in the conditions which make
far the truest progress; in the oppor-
tunities for the broadcast culture; as the
basis for the greatest missionary move
ment of the ages. Only a short time
AAeoo GeHoOSSA oA1ASO ullO I'LL w LII gu,
only a few days ago some of you came
home; only 26 years ago the 9th of last
month that Lee surrendered. Yet in
this brief period what changes to tell
of progress. How very much to tell of
compensation for the wars outlay.
The chattel of then is the citizen of to-
day. The men who fought then are
neighbors to-day. A country that was
burdened with debt has had the signii-
cant problem before it of what to do
with it's enormous surplus. Prosperity
and phenomenal development has char
acterized these years. ...
Soldiers of the rebellion, upon your
brows rests the crown of those who
have been used of God to turn the tide
of battle in a great crisis in the worlds
history. In the history of the nations
there is the record of many wars, Of
the flow of rivers of blood, but where
on the historic page is there the record