The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-06-05

saw. what they suiicred. They were
only dong their duty. md they took no
credit 10 Themselves COURAGE vaunteih not
itself This soldier courage. IKE charity.
"beareth al things belioveth all things
their generals. their cause, hopeth All
things" ia defeat hoping for victory; never
knowing when they were beaten; shedding
tears only when told IL was over and they
must give up their arms aud iur Their Ola
battle flags forever. Thus soldiers courage
i'm "a cause that be believes 10 be true Is born
ont OF faith on the one side and lives IN tho
spirit of love on tho other. About the faith
az these men, whose memory We
aro louoring. and from whose example
we are seeking to get lessons of truth ana
r,ohteouss ioT our lives and the lives OF our
children. II must be SAID that theirs was
f,ith In the Justice and IN the rlghteousness
nj tbeir cause. But that cause was not IN It's
essence and in rs heart what 1t is most fire.
.,,.otl, r.t,roseuted O. be and what many OF
,he YOUNGER generation oven the children OF
tkoea who fel IN its defense conceive 1t -
have been. These sHldiers were not hghtlng
Tar n theory of government. lhey dld not tahe
their lives in their han Is ana 20 out rom '"eH
/ homes for uo'itical speculation. Ihey were
rot confendinr for an interpretation of the
/ Tonetitufon They we're content % leave tnht
T., the stafesmer and the politicians con-
lrrting their deliberations IN safe places
where shot and shell could not disturb them.
They are not fighting Tor these cOhcepu3ho
at the relation OF the goverument9i the states
o. the general government over at me States.
tsat was subsidiary that was subordinate. IL
had not enough of vitality in u % summon
v0une men and old mon from their homes
and gather them into mighty armies ana IN
spire them with deadly ya.Or. That question
might have beol left suspended % WORK OUT
It's solution through the peaceful conflict OF
political parties. as il is being worked out to-
day and will be in process OF evolution Tor
generations perhaps 10 come.
Nor was their cause the cause Of African
slavery. nor their inspiration the desire 10
rivet the chains Of bondage upon an aIen
race that has been brought % the shores by
all tho colonies and established IN serWtude
by the law and the free consent and
tie active participation OF all. The ma orlty
of the best and wisest men and women il Wy
giuia decided that question in Their own
minds more than htty years ago, They saw
10 ~ burden of evil that tie whole country
had laid upon them ia past generation.
They m0aued over its abuses and t. wrongs
with sincerity that is born OF experience
and that sincerity is. perhaps, more sincere
than that of the far-oI critics, whose COM
placency IS fostered by the condemnation OF
the sins of their fel!Ow-cOuutrNmen
They realized that for themselves ana for
their children it was far better that the insti-
tuition of slavery shoud perish. The only
+
They were surrounded uy Gordon OF hre at
home and at the North TINT paralyzed every
step toward its solution. HE only thing Tor
them was 10 DO their best and 90 wait. 10 was
not this issue tor which these soldiers took up
arms and haZarded their lives. No. 1t was
simpler question that this; a question that all
meu can understand not men only but boys
aud children the question Ot the right OF a
people D. repeiinyatiOn, TO defend liberty and
property and home. That was the vital issue,
and that was simple enough they were sure
of that. and the sense of that right was the
inspiration of their devotion We speak Of
the failure of their cause we speak igno-
rantly-we speak without intelligence. lie
causes that they dld not tight for have mled,
and some o. them have passed away and
blessed for Us all that they are z ne. But
how can the cause of set-deiense. the
resistance TO the sword as the instrument
IN a free Christian land for deciding political
differences between brethren ol common
country. how can that falls 10 has not failed.
The sword is doomed. not only as the arbiter
of political differences and conflicting inter
ests between sister States of a common
country. but in the long future 10 is hoped.
between all the nations of the earth. The day
is coming under the reign of Christ when men
shall learn war 40 more. These soldier, en-
listed as "a protest against wars of invasion 10
settle political differences They laid down
their lives upon the altar of that principle
and contributed their noble part 70 the dawn
of that day These are the men whose men,
cries You seek TO keep green IN our own gene
ration and the future OF 0nr common country.
As 90 their personal lives. for the most part.
they were cut off IN the flower of their days.
In the case OF a few of them only are their
bones laid IN the sepulchers of their fathers
only few of them by comparison realized
the natural hopes Of manhood, of wife. Of
children OF home. they were taken away IN
the morning OF their lives.
They knew the service that they entered and
they accepted the sacrifice of duty. and what
the master sent them was welcome. Old age
how benefceDt 1t is. the fruits of summer,
the richness of autumn tlnts. how beautiful
they are. An old man who has done his work
and in whom the discipline Of life and the
grace of God leave rpened wisdom and eilml-
mated the wildness of passions and the selfish
ness of some ambitions, an old man with
bis children and his childrens children
around him. rocked 10 his last sleep by
gentle nature and followed to his grave by
the blessings of the living generation that
is beautiful is il mott But there Is another
life that is beautiful, too. perhaps more beau
tful i'm the light IF the cross. The life of
that soldier sacrifice. hard and thorny. and
dying not EpamInOndas like on field Of VIC
tory. but dying before the victory. and only
for duty. Surely that Is good way 10
die They did not complain and We
must not complain tor them. They were not
seeking what We called peace and for them
an honorable death had no terror5. Let me
say before closing, that remembering
such people as these and holding them before
US. seems g. me. TO have a special value for
our times. / ON no pesslmst am no de-
cafaer against our own times as compared
with other ages. Perhaps [ am too much of
an optimst Perhaps ] am unduY thankful
that my lot is cast in this nineteenth century.
Yet 10 is my deliberate judgment that the
Christian rid is al this moment better than
10 ever was before and believe also with the
growth of Christianity 1t is tending 10 in
definite degrees of Improvement
4 believe there are more Christians now IN
proportion by long odds, than there ever
were before. / beiive that Christianity Is
moulding public sentiment with more p wer
than it ever did before in the worlds history.
Men are moro reasonable. more charitable.
moro pacific III their temper They seem 10
have moro spiritual intelligence than they
ever had before. but Notwithstanding all this
II seems to me that about the unseen things
about faith in great principles. either IN
churches or States. either III social 0r eccles-
astical politics. there is some strange de-
fciency. We see mon in politics tamperng
with eXpediency. and they are good men; MT
prizing honesty above all things. and still
they are honest men themselves as
thew know how 10 be. But they seem
10 fail % grasp the principle.
10 believe IN the principle and that ut last is
the only thing 10 believe ia. IL Is the same
thing in tho churches. Moral cowardlce Is the
tenptation Of our times. Belief III the great
truths Of Christ IL wider spread, but 1t Is
tlt,,ar n H. mora on the surfacs