The Oskaloosa herald., 1892-12-01
Two CAMPFIRE TALKS.
The address Of John G. WttJidn1S
at the Thanksgiving Campfire
lInio1. LOrifln,S Fine PGOer.

The address Of John G. WtLLtdnIS
at the Thanksgiving Campfire
Major LOri1ag's Fine Paper.
At the Thanksgiving campfire of
Phil Kearney Post on Thursday even
ing, John c. Williams had been selected
by the executive committee to speak as
a citizen, and in response thereto he
spoke as follows. The Post, by unan-
imous vote, requested that the same be
published bV the city papers
MIR. WILLIAMS ADDRESS.
Commander !St0uim:
The invitation to address you for
few minutes this evening came to me
as a surprise, and if it had not been for
the kind manner in which it was given
l should have been greatly tempted to
decline it not through any unwilling
ness to meet you, but through a strong
conviction that cannot interest you.
To me it seems hard task for civil
ian to speak to a body of soldiers. He
cannot enter into their inner feelings,
and he cannot fully comprehend the
sacrifices they made. To me the war
Is BUT A MEMORY.
can just remember the marching away,
the coming home of both the dead and
the living; the ending and the SOrrOwed
homes. May the Infinite, in his prOYi-
Dental care never again permit such
fratricidal strife BY official recOgni-
tiOn, and by universal consent, this day
has been set apart as day of thanks
giving for the benefits that have been
given and for the future that lies be-
fore us. We have other days for cele-
bratiOn and memorial, but no day, it
seems to me, is more appropriate than
the present for the meeting of the posts
of the Grand Army of the Republic ;
not for f-gratulatiOn, but that they
may receive what is due them,
THE THANKS OF THE NATION
for their inestimable services. In the
hurry and hustle of life, in the cares
and troubles of business, in the pleas
ures and frivoiities that surround us,
we sometimes forget that this nation
came to us result of its citizen sol
diery. 1t required great courage, the
Sundering of ties and untold sacrifices,
to enter into battle for the defense of
his country.
We speak of the generosity of this
government towards its soldiers. We
use the term as misnOmer. GenerOs-
ity is liberality in dispensing favOrs
No soldier in securing pension re-
ceives a favor. The government is
simply paying to him
WHAT Is JUSTLY DUE HIM,
and may it always be our boast that
our government is not only generous
but just to our soldiers. | do not pro
pose to discuss the question of pen
sions, whether they are too small or toe
great, whether or not the sacrifice that g
soldier made in health and in means fol
his country in order that we, the inner
itors, should enjoy the blessings of {
free government, should be cOmpen
sated, or whether they should be accept
ed simply as his duty towards his gov
ernment, bnt will say that have NJ
sympathy with that spirit that is con
stantly complaining of pensions giveI
and to be given, forgetting for the mo
ment that the sacrifice of money givel
to-day is trifling compared with the
SACRIFICE OF LIFE AND HEALTH
given thirty years ago. Patriotism i
the highest type of citizenship, and tn
nation that forgets its soldiery is at tn
commencement of its own destruction
All honor to that Grand Army of tn
Republic, who, fighting without gain
and dying that liberty might not perish
has left an imperishable record
Many things have we both as soldier
and citizens to be thankful for to-day
The material prosperity of this countr
for the last thirty years
HAS BEEN MARVELLOUS. .
The inventive genius of the centur
seems to be at the very threshold of it
usefulness. The improvements Of ag
riculture have been such that the viii
places have been made veritable gal
dens, until the fertility of the soil ha
been so demonstrated, and the applies
tion Of the labor of intelligent husband
ry so carefully made, that our agricul
turists have become not only our pride
but the hope of the world, and chang
ing tina words of the Roman historian
making Carthage America, we can sa
that we are the granary of the worlC
The improvements of machinery hay
been such, and the intelligence of on
mechanics so thoroughly proven, ths
the time is soon coming when we wi
be the controlling factor in the con
} merce of the world and the ciyilizatio
and the Christianity of the century wi
follow in our wake.
Turning from the material to th
moral and intellectual how do we
AS A NATION STAND TO-DAY?
. Critically reviewing ourselves, / thin
we need not be ashamed. Althoue
but little morethana century has passe
overuswecan cheerfully compare Lon
fellow with Tennyson, and when v
speak of the poets that touch our hear
we mention our beloved Whittier wht
. we think of Burns. England is rich
historians, but we as nation point wit
! pardonable pride to our Prescotts al
Bancrofts. Fortunately for this cou
, TRY
CHURCH AND STATE
are completely and irreyocably separs
ed, and yet without any government
or ecclesiastical authority there is not
i village, or town, or hamlet but has
; churches whosespires point upward, al
9 at whose altars millions of human
7 ings pour out their Thanksgiving
|, praise to Almighty God, and ruthless
!, that spirit and sordid the heart tn
2 would for moment place an obsta,
: in the way Of the onward march Of {
6 cause Of the Sanctifed One.
!. 10 thoughtful man one Of the hol
ful promises of the future is