Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1892-06-11

turn we're many whom / have incidentally
mentioned: they were the manned and
wounded All along the line could be
seen men Who had lost an arm or . leg;
some shot almost to death, some blind.
some deaf and some living skeletons
from long suffering in Southern prisons.
All this was the price paid in human life
blood to save the nation. But thank God
it was saved. and yet, notwithstanding all
these thinga there are men living under
the protection Of this government and it's
flag who 60 about and denounce these
men as paapers and teaches upon the
public crib, because they ask for q
pittance with which 70 buy bread FOE their
children. They throw every conceivable
obstacle in the way otpension legislation.
They look upon pensioner with disdain
and scott at the Grand Army Badge.
When / witness such actions / wonder
il the kind and loving Nazarene could
look upon these traducers and say Of
them as he did of his own prosecutors:
"Father, forgive them. They know not
what they do"
Since the close of the war thousands of
the boys who spent the best part of their
lives in that struggle have surrendered to
a greater general than commanded on
either side. They have gone to explore
the mysteries of the great beyond. They
have heard the taps sounded and have
gone to rest. It is the graves of all these
loyal men that the Nation to-day decor
ates. Let Us cherish their memory with
the fondest recollections while we garland
their graves with the loveliest of flowers.
1t is our privilege to help prepetuate their
deeds of valor in the memories of the
rising generation.
Comrades, we are passing away at the
rate of thirty thousand annually. The
taps are being sounded for us almost
hourly, and soon the camp fires will all
be extinguished. The stories of strife
and adventure will be told by us no more.
They will only be reproduced by our
children on whose memories we have in
delibly impressed them. Soon our
struggle upon the stage of life will have
terminated; our frail bodies will have
been laid away in their final resting
places, there to remain until that great
day when We shall all be awakened by
the sound of Gabriel's Trumpet.
Did you ever think of what a wonderful
day that will be? Nothing ever trans
PRED like it, or to equal it in splendor
or glory. The sea and the earth will each
give up their dead. Every manner of
man will hear and must obey the call.
Every nation and tribe shall come forth,
friend and foe alike. The Israelite, the
Egyptian, the Babylonian, the Persian,
the Greek, the Carthagenian and the
Romans, The Jew and tho Gentle, the
Scribe and the Pharisee, the armies of the
old and new worlds, Washington and
Lincoln, with their armies will all be
there. From the north, south, east and
west will they come, all marching with a
mighty tread, to the great judgment bar,
there to have their deeds weighed in the
scales Of perfect justice. What a scene!
Words cannot picture it. The peariy
gates will be thrown wide open. The
throng will traverse the gold paved
streets of that wonderful city in to the
presence of the Judge Infallible, and
each must stand and answer for himself.
There will be no shifting of responsible
ties, no suppressing of evidence, no quash-
ing of indictments or informations The
records will be opened up where all can
see and hear. Heavenly choirs will dis
course the grandest music. The scales of
justice will be suspended in plain view,
and the great trial will proceed. the good
deeds will be placed in the right hand
balance and the evil in the left. Mother
court ever caused such an interest. I see
the sons Of men standing before the
great judge, listening to the reading of
the record, and awaiting judgment. The
decree is pronounced and they pass on.
Like panorama they come and go.
I hear and see commotion. |
q great throng is approaching. Who are
they? They are not Israelites for they
wait not ito be guided by pillar of fire,
but come united. They are not Turks,
for they wear not turbans. They possess |
not the tall and symmetrical form of the |
Greek, and they are not Romans, for they
do not appear boastful and naughty.
They come nearer and nearer. Their
step is light and buoyant. They number
3 million strong and are arrayed in blue.
[ recognize familiar forms and faces
They, too, have come to be judged. The
scales are readjusted. The records are
produced. The scales are broken and the
books are opened. Their good and evil
leeds are summed ur and placed in the
balance. The one on the right hand the
,ther on the left. All eyes are turned up