Connecticut western news., 1892-06-16
MEMORIAL SERMON. |.
Preached by the Rev T. s. Bond in the Methodist Episcopal Church of North Canaan, May %, 1892.

Preached by the Rev T. s. Bond in the Methodist Episcopal Church of North
 Canaan, May 29, 1892.
 'Let us play the man for our people. |" IT Samuel. 10-12.
 This was the stirring appeal of Joab, the commander-in-c chief of the army of Israel. Foes embattled had gathered | against them. A conflict of no small magnitude was before them, hnd on it's issue the perpetuity of the nation and the liberties of the people depended. | The appeal was not in vain, the army | measured up to the magnitude of the occasion and the national existence was preserved.
 | This was not the only occasion when men have been called upon, at the cost of blood, to play the manly part, and those who have so played have been held in undying honor. Unselfsh hero- ism, self-sacrifce, bravery, devotion and patriotism have always been honored by right thinking men. The poets muse has been inspired. the orator kindled to heights of loftiest eloquence, and the people ennobled by those who for love | of country, home and God have played the manly part.
 The memory of such ought te be ever green. The ancient Athenians delight ed in commemorating their champions and heroes. The costly victories of Marathon and Salamis taught them the price of liberty, and annually they paid marked tribute to the memory of those who had died for country's sake. Their bodies had been brought home at the | public expense, and as 8 special hopor | inferred in the National cemetery, and on Memorial Day after solemn public services to which poet, priest and orator brought their choicest offering, wreaths | of laurel, flowers fragrant, and blossoms brilliant were strewn over their graves, | because, as Pericles said: "On the bat tle-field their feet stood fast, aud in an instant at the height of their fortune they passed away from the scene not oi their fear but of their glory" and Solor the Wise counted Tellus the happiest o men because he died nobly on the field of battle.
 Heroism did not become lost ar when old Judea and Ancient Greece passed away. There never was deed of heroism or valor in the olden time that has not been more than matched fl these later days. In this Western land when "duty called or danger" men were not found wanting. Men who left all o love behind, and in defence of wha they believed to be right willingly la1c down their lives. Men who not for love of gold, but love of country gladly sac rificed all that men hold dear; men who played the man for the people, who wer,
 "Not on conquest or glory bent,
 | But to fight for a cause that was not their own
 To die that others might be free"
 The firing on Fort Sumter fired mil lions of souls who felt no sacrifice too great if the country's integrity could only be preserved. From all sides they came; from forum, bench and bar, pull. pits, colleges and schools. warehouse factory and farm. Flows rusted in thei furrows, tools rested on the bench ledg CTS were laid aside, Coke and Blackstone gathered dust, and men of all classes ranks and professions stood side by side in martial array. Battle fires were light ed on hill and plain, on river sides anc mountain heights
 | "And as devil music from halls of hell, | The rival thunders of shot and shell, | Like pillows of ocean swelled and fell"
 The tide of war rolled from Gettys burg to the Gulf. The streams from tht Potomac to the Rio Grande were crim son dyed, and the green sod was tc flames own color turned" But tue ent was glorious; the black stain on our es cutcheon was wiped away. Slavery "Was blown hellward
 From the cannon's mouth"
 The country's integrity was preserved and not one stripe was erased, nor on, star removed from our bonnie flag.
 It is a record of heroism we canno afford to forget. The storied pages O the past, the voice of oratory, or poet moving strain, never told more won drous story. It is record unsurpassed that through all tune ought to be an in centive and inspiration. Demosthene may talk of those who rushed upon de struction at Marathon, stood unfinch ingly at Platoea and sleep in the tomb , at Artimissium. Chatham may stir tn English heart with recitations of valor ous deeds wrought by their armies
 Webster calm, grand, sublime from , Olympus loftiest peak" with thunder , ous eloquence may laud the heroes O Bunker Hill, but all combined in on, grand strain of loftiest eloquence woult fail in doing justice to those who SO no , ply in the war of the Rebellion playet the man for the people, and for countr, were not afraid to die
 ] The record of it is the most preciou
 heritage this country has General Sher man said: "Tear from your histories tn annals of heroic valor, patient enduranc : and devotion to the flag by the soldier of your country during the past centur t and you will leave void indeed" l the time ever comes when such thing are torn out and patriotism is unvalued 7 the future historian can date the Declin and Fall of the Great Western Republi l from that day.
 It was remarkable conflict bein , carried on by men unused to the art o ! war and yet never was fighting harde or conflict more stubborn. Of the Unio ] troops AS per cent were farmers; "A pc . cent mechanics; Is per cent laborers
 leaving 12 per cent for all other classe.
 Of the Union troops 110,070 men wer
 killed on the field of battle, of whic
 1347 were volunteers from Connection 8 Twice that number died of disease; 5S
 900 from other causes; 24. S66 died i - Confederate prisons: 12,912 at Andel
 sonville alone.
 The fighting was practically don
 by Americans, and not by foreigners v Our Irish and German friends who did nc !, ble work in the conflict often remind us
 our indebtedness to them for the sue
 cessful outcome of the war Now,
 would not pluck 8 single bay leaf fror
 any brow, nor undervalue a gallant ac
 and while I would give thom full credi - | for their bravery and gallantry do ir a sist the fighing was practically done b