Morning journal and courier., 1892-05-30
THE SOLDIER DEAD.

Rev. Dr. Willard - New Haven Grand Army Wen Attend in Body at Westv1lle Church.
 Yesterday was day of great interest md patriotic feeling in Westville. The was the attendance of large number of the Grand Army of the Repub- lie, members of Admiral Foote post and of Henry 0. Merwin post of | this city, at divine services held | in the morning, in commemoration of Memorial day, at the Congregational church, the pastor, Rev. Dr. Willard, preaching a memorial discourse in honor of the soldier dead. Beautiful flowers in abundance, contributed by the ladies of the church, lent their fragrance and beau ty to the scene in the church. The music was especially elaborate. The discourse, which was one of rare excellence, is given in full below. The Grand Army men at. tended in body, going to Westville and returning by the horse railroad. The day was a lovely one, worthy of June's best ef- forts. The discourse was in the afternoon repeated by Rev. Dr. Willard at the Wood bridge Congregational church before an- other large audience, in which the Grand Army representatives of Woodbridge, Bethany, Ansonia and some from Nauga- tuck and Birmingham were present, most of whom came in carriages from their re- bridge church, Rev. MT. Marvin, assisted in the services. The invitation to the Grand Army men to services to the Vest vile church was extended by their late comrade, Assistant Adjutant-General George M. White, some time before his death.
 In the second epistle general of Peter, :5-7.
 Giving all diligence, add to your faith | virtue; and to virtue know!edge; and to | knowledge temperance; and to temperance
 brotherly kindliness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
 | Had one been invited thirty years ago to
 stand at the head of the Union army and deliver to it charge, what words could
 have been more pertinent and fitting than
 those just pronounced in your hearingi And it would almost seem as if that man.
 date must have been given, and that many
 there were who obeyed it, both in spirit
 and in letter, right through to the very
 end. Were to define faith, it would be
 "a big relief, full of manly confidence;'
 for that. and only that, has in it the meta
 of which heroes are made; that, and
 only that, can shut the lions mouth an6
 subdue unruly wickedness; that, and only
 that like root grown in a rifted rock
 abides the tempest; that, and only that
 forms solid basis for all great and goot
 undertakings. Had Columbus been a mar
 without faith, he might have folded hi
 hands, and then, quietly sitting down a
 oceans It can't be done." In that cas-
 there would have been no Columbian ex
 position, and for aught we know, Americ } to this day would have been an undiscov
 cred country,
 "Where naked men in forests provided l And bears and partners roamed and howled
 But Columbus believed, deep down il his heart, that he could achieve somethin worth consideration and find so methin
 worth the having and worth the keeping He did. And although certain critic } claim to have discovered that he had frail l ties and infrmities and defects of charae ) ter, still the fact remains, does it no, ' that he discovered America? And tn l round world will honor him for it throug
 all the ages that are yet to come. Hi l faith, though natural, was ttthe substanc l of things hoped for, the evidence of thing not seen." But when Columbus died fait n still lived; and not only so-it was fres I and strong and vigorous in many heart ' and these were the greathearts of human
 ity. It is the background of power ths
 no fire can burn, no flood und ermine, n ! mountain crush, no cyclone wrench frol its place It is the primal source of ru' 5 ged strength, and if need be, of rugge d righteousness. As people it has serve l us in good stead, from 1492 till 1892 Al
 never was it more precious than in the W,
 for the Union.
 ] 'In the summer of 1863 a soldier b
 longing to one of the Pennsylvania reg 8 ments was severely wounded in the brea d and back. An army chaplain found hi It lying between a couple of rough blanket
 a rag of underc,othing on him. There
 was, racked with pain and suffering, b1 still cheerful. Chaplain said he, I can d live long, can IF I fear not was the r l. ply, 'and if you have any messages { a leave, better leave them now' 'Wel n please write this: Dear mother, IT ,. dying, far, far away from the old hom
 1 shall never see you any more in tn
 world, but Pm dying in a good caus
 mother, helping tog get the country throug " and we're coming out all right. The c , but only wish that had hundred tim }. as much more to shed. Tell sister Lott 'a . that when she grows up she will unde '' stand things better, and when she req,
 in history of this war and of it's causes ar
 objects, she will be glad that her broth l. left home when she was little girl, al
 went forth to fight for the right. wis 'e my body could be brought home to tl st old burying ground, and have written ov ,r it, One who died for his country" IS the darkest hour, no murmering, no faul J. finding, but "We're coming out all right ,e That is what the Union soldier said, al
 that is what the Union army said, ar
 they did it-wrought nobly through fait
 But to faith they added virtue; that st courage. This as defined by Daniel We n ster-not Noah Webster, but Daniel We ., ster-is that quality of mind which @ I ables men to encounter danger and diff J culties with frmness, or without any fe, a or depression of spirits. Or, as anoth
 no fear, but in conquering fear He
 the hero who, seeing the lions on eth
 side, goes straight on, because there y duty lies. According to Plutarch, it is (. le be resolutely minded in just cause"
 was Cicero who said, "A man of courae .e is also full of faith'' And would it n, 70 be truth to say, "A man of fai 70 is also full of courageg" We'll, no, l. the Union army, We have claim, n was ''faith army" It W B. also brave, courageous, plucky. Bull Rr
 |
 struggle, except toward the enemy, unle n in cases where not to have retreated wou 10 have been rashness.
 J. There came an hour when, as one to- e the story, many of our flags were in u ,4 hands of the enemy, and our sons an '' brothers lay stark and cold on the battl e field, or wasting away with wounds a1 e fever in the hospitals. Then that ia sighted, tender-hearted president issu, ,,, patriotic call for volunteers to prosecu # our homes and hills and valleys, aws d bay to the Golden Gate, there went bat s to his ear the thrilling response, "We a "a coming, Father Abraham, three hundre !. thousand more" And they did com # They poured down the mountain side 's they left the river courses; they hurrie = up from the valleys; they took their plac a in the army, and though the land was re h with judgments, though it seemed "hurr n ing to it's death throe in the shock of war . still their faith did not falter and the T courage did not fail Like fire shut u a in their bones, the heat and glow of whic 5 could not be restrained nor suppressed, a caused their hearts to beat, and thrill, an
 throb, and pulse with that old Horatia sentiment: 'Dulce ct decorum est pl r patria mori;" "It is sweet and glorious { - die for one's country" And right hel A you will, know, allow me to read th
 last letter of Union soldier, written { , his wife two days before his death. "MIDDLETowN VALLEY, Monday morr ] ing, September 15, 1862.
 6 My dear wife:
 r These may be my last words. if so le