Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1896-06-06

i ne uOrGn balQ, we CisuuOI ttllOlu W
pay" The south said, ave will not
sell the slaves anyhow. " But the north
did pay in war expenses enough to pur-
chase the slaves, ard the south was COM
pelled to give up slavery anyhow. Might
not the north better havo paid the
money and saved tho lives of 500, 600
brave men, and might not the south
better have sold out slavery and saved
her 500, 900 brave men? swear you by
tho graves of your fathers and brothers
and sons to new hatred for the cham
pion curse Of the universe-warl
o Lord God, with the hottest bolt of
thine omnipotent Indignation strike
that monster down forever and ever I'm
prison it in the deepest dungeon Of the
eternal penitentiary. Bolt it in with all
the iron ever forged In cannon or mold
ed into howitzers Cleave it with all
the sabers that ever glittered in baltic
and wiring it's soul with all the pangs
which it ever caused. Let it feel all the
confagrations Of the homestcads it ever
destroyed Deeper down let it fall and
in fiercer fame let it burn, till it has
gathered into its heart all the suffering
of eternity as well as time. In the namo
of the millions of graves of its victims,
denounce it. The nations need moro
the spirit of treaty and less of the spirit
of war.
War is more CHASTITY now than once,
not only because of the greater destruc-
tiveness of its weaponry, but because
now it takes down the best men, whore
as once it chiefly took down the worst.
Bruce in Ill., in his institutions of
Military Law" said of the European
armies of his day, If ali infamous per-
sons and such rs have committed capital
crimes, heretics atheists and all das
tardly feminine mon were wecded out
of the army, it would soon be reduced
to a pretty moderate number. :" Flogging
and mean pay made them still more ig-
noble Officers were appointed to see
that each soldier drank his ration of a
pint of spirits day. There were noble
men in battle, but the moral character
of the army then was 95 per cent lower
than the moral character Of an army to-
day. By so much is war now the moro
detestable because it destroys the picked
men of the nations.
Honor For Courage.
Again, by this national ceremony we
mean to honor courage. Many of these
departed soldiers were volunteers, not
conscripts, and many of those who were
drafted might have provided substi-
tute or got eff on furlough or have de-
serted The fact that they lie in their
graves is proof Of their bravery. Brave
at the front, brave at the lannon's
mouth, brave on lonely picket duty.
brave in cavalry charge, bravo before
the surgeon, brave in the dying message
to the home circle We yesterday put a
garland on the brow of courage. The
woy'l wants more Of 1t.
The church of God is i'll woeful need
of men who can stand under fire. The
lion of worldly derision roars and the
sheep tremble. In great reformatory
movements at the first shot how many
fall backl The great obstacle to the
church's advancement is the inanity,
tho vacuity. the soft prettiness, the
mandy pambyism of protested Chris
tians. Great on parade, towards in
battle. Afraid Of getting their plumes
ruffled, they carry a parasol over their
helmet They go into battle not with
warrior s gauntlet, but with kid gloves,
not clutching the sword hilt too tight
lest the glove split at the back.
In all our reformatory and Christian
work the great want is more backbone,
moro mettle, more daring, more Prov
ess. We would in all our churches like
to trade off hundred do nothings for
one do everything. "Quit yourselves
like men; be strong.
Thy saints in all this glorious war
Shall conquer, though they de-
They see the triumph from afar
And seize it with their ego.
Sublime Self Sacrifice.
Again, we mean by this national OBJ
servance to honor self sacrifice for 9TH
ers. To all these departed men home and
kindred wero as dear az our home and
kindred are to US. Do you know how
they felt? Just as you and would feel
starting out tomorrow morning with
nine chances out Of ten against our re-
turning alive, for the intelligent soldier
sees not only battle ahead, but malarlal
sickness and exhaustion. Had these
men chosen they could have spent last
night in their homes and today have
been seated where you are. They chose
the camp not because they liked it bet
ter than their own house, and followed
the drum and fife not because they
were better music than the voices of the
domestic circle. South Mountain and
Murfroesboro and the swanps OF Chlcka7
hominy were not Fairgrounds.
These heroes risked and lost all for
others. There is 10 higher sublimity
than that. To keep three-quarters for
Ourselves aud give one-quarter to others
is honorable. To divide even with 9TH
ers is generous. To keep nothing fol
ourselves and give all for others is mag
nanimity Christlike. Put girdle
around your body and then measure the
girdle and see if you are SO or 90 inches
round. And is that the circle of your
sympathies-the size of yourself? Or,
to measure you around the heart, would
it take sirdle large enough to encircle
the land and encircle the world? You
want to know what we dry theologians
mean when we talk of vicarious suffer
ing Look at the soldiers graves and
find out. Vicarious-pangs for others,
wounds for others, inconsistencies for 9th
ers, blood for others, sepulcher for 9TH
ers.
Those who visited the national ceme-
tories at Arlington Heights and at Rich
mol,d and Gettysburg SAW one inscrip-
ton on soldiers tonhs oftener repeated
than any other-"Unknown." When,
about 81 years ago. I was called to de-