New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1895-07-10

only through struggle with an alien
power and by the inspiration of territor-
ial achievement. Now came a grander
uprising. a nsese perfect developments
Heretofore. it had been the house only
that had' to- be saved from destruction or
enlarged to- command broader horizon.
Now it'was the lives of the inmates that
were at stake: The glorious outburst of
patriotism that was exhibited in the, war
Tor the Union Will b. the pride of the
American oitlzens as long as the name of
this government ss>spoken and remem-
bered. Here all other issues were stripped
away. Men, were asked to sacrifice all
that they heidi dear and untold thousands
OF them laid down their lives gladly on
ly that the nation might live. If it was
baptism of blood, it was also baptism
of blessing: The people were shaken
out of their senehs,ty and compelled to
live night and day under the shadow of
a threatened national extinction. Morn
ing and evening the prayer on every
woman's lips and in every mans heart
was "God save the Nation" Not the
treasures of his household, not the se-
curity of his, wares and fields, not even
the political institution that he had learn
ed to hold dear, but the very existence
or the nation of his allegiance was en-
dangered. Through the long years Of
that awful crisis bis soul was concentrate
ed upon the issue and he agonized over
the possibility thai the nation might not
endure. After that trial was over. the
flag took ON q new lustre. the Capitol at
|iWashlngton became as the mecca of a
sacred pilgrimage, the national idea laid
hold of men and, generated in. them a
depth Of patriotism measured by the Or
deal through which they had passed. The
suffering and the aspiration of the people
seemed to pass, as if by some strange al
chemy OF the times, into the h cart and
brain OF one man; and Abraham Lin
coins egaunt and pathetic figure stands
out upon the stormy canvass of those
times, Less as the President of the Repub-
| llc, less as a leader of men. than as the
|:lncarnation of that great idea of nation
ality which we had defended and saved
at so tremendous Il cost. AS we cherish
and adore it for the future. we cannot do
| better than to remember that it's most
perfect cxemplar was the hero whom we
| to-day remember with honor and love
and tears Patriot and martyr,, the ma
ton summed up in him the worthy mea-
sure Of answering conservation to the
national idea through life and death.
! For time after the great ontpouring
of the national spirit that saved the Re-
public from dlsmemberment, we seemed
to keep fresh the fire of nationalism bv
pride IN our national development. There
is nothing in history to compare with it..
| BY great leaps and bounds we have ad-
vanced to prosperity and wealth. Fuom
being despised among the nations, we
have become honored and feared around
the whole circumference Of the globe.
Our wealth, our power, our resources,
the possibilities Of our future are heard
in every land and in every tongue. The
pride that we have felt, the congratula-
tions that we have earned by these mighty
advances have helped to keep clear be-
fore us the ideal of nationality. 1t was
the nation that dlgged, and builded and
waxed dominant among the nations of
the earth, and we as citizens shared in
her power and glory. But the time has
come when this is familiar story. We
are sated with the conquests of peace.
Our boundless wealth and the miracles
of our material existence may not have
quite begun to pail, but they are ceasing
to suggest to us that it is the nation
through which and by which all this
grandeur is wrought The time of dan
ger is at hand; the time when it NAV be-
come possible for Americanism to be less
vivid and real to our people: the
time when like guests who have tarried
too long at banquet, we may forget the
high purport of our mission, and grow
heavy and drunken with food and wine.
Just as surely as this evil fate should
overtake us would we be beyond the reach
of help or succor. The nation which
loses sight of the central fact of its exis-
tence, which grows intoxicated with
wealth or conquest or love of trade or
love of arms, and forgets to keep strong
and pure the national feeling, is already
in the first stages of decay. All the past
Of history is a witness to this warning.
The desolated thrones and crumblinp