The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1896-05-29

fruitage of Immortality. and that waving
fields of grain may laden nature with her
rich rewards, we are taught the lesson
of sacrifice that leads to larger life
Liberty of speech, freedom of thought
purity of morals escape from civil and
mental bondage came through such a
process. AS Sir w. Scott once said:
"There never did and there never will
exist anything permanently noble and
excellent in character that is stranger to
the exercised resolute self-sacrifce
AS Arnold Van Winkleried grasped as
many Austrian spears as his out :stretched
arms could reach, and sank to earth under
| their sharp thrusts, thus making way for
| Swiss followers to press through the
enemies ranks and win the conflict So
the veterans of the late war that persisted
made way for freedom to enthrone itself
| throughout our land Of these men as
we'll as of the old brave Swiss it can be
truly said:
| Make way for liberty, he cried,
| Make way for liberty, and died"
H. would mention lastly Courage" as
fitting theme to commemorate tonight as
exemplifed by those who have fought and
died in the late war
All mythologies have God noted for
his courage. This thought is engrained in
| the religious as we'll as the civil fibre of
the race It's manifestation is different
under different conditions But the thing
itself-courage- always the same
Courage opens the eyes of the soul of man
to see life as large as God has made it, a
life filled with duties of no easy per-
Torrance. They can conquer who be-
&c in,
we'll afford to die but he cannot afford to
shirk duty because it is great or filled
with hardships. a'''-~
True courage combines both moral and
physical bravery. The true soldier
possesses both.
HE holds no parley with unmanly fear,
Where duty bids he confidently steers;
Faces a thousand dangers at her call.
And trusting in his God surmounls them all. y
You may remark these things are only
sentiments. That this is practical age
and we need practical things of life. If we
only knew it, our happiness. depends not
on the things of life, but on life itself.
Look to your life-see tits pure and true
and good, and the things of life will take
on similar coloring. .
Sentiment rules the world, not material
things.
There is love, deeper than the ocean,
higher than the stars, broader than space,
more powerful than all combined forces
of matter. But love is a sentiment
Whether it draws child to its mother
heart, or draws humanity up to humanity's
God. In its material aspect the late war
presents fields of carnage, desolated homes,
a national debt. In its real aspect it illus
trates the power of sentiment in the depth
of its patriotism, in the grandeur of its
sacrifices in the majesty of its sublime
courage.
The unity of our national life, the
liberty of its inhabitants. that aroused
thousands of our Northern men to face the
forces and dangers of swamps and forests,
the prison house and and battle field of
the South land, was a sentiment that COM
bined patriotism, sacrifice, courage. all in
one, and aided wonderfully in moving our
national life forward towards its complete
emancipation.
The speaker here closed with the tender
lines of Emma Thomas:
Soldier sleep, and rest in peace"