The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1896-06-04

Sermon Preached al the North Church, Memorial
Sunday, May Path, by Rev. G.. ). Mills. Pub.
lished BY REQUEST


quenched the power OF ire, escaped the edge
OF the sword, from weakness We're made
strong, waged mighty in war, turned to
flight armies Of aliens.
These words are from an eloquent sum-
mary OF the experience and accomplish
ment of certain heroes of faith in an olden
time. The very language thrills with feel
ing, and we conceive the patriotic ardor of
the inspired penman, and what must have
been the moving power of his historic re-
cital over the heart of the Hebrew Chris
tian.
There is in these words an appeal to us
to-day. | do not know how ONE can read
this lib chapter of Hebrews with the few
verses Immediately following in the 18th
chapter (Which indeed ought never to have
been separated by such unwarranted di-
vision) without genuine shining of soul.
1t is not, / suppose, that we have any
special sympathetic interest in the ancient
WORTHLESS who are named, not such utter
est surely as we entertain tor great lives
that touch us more closely in point OF
time ana nationality, but it is a tale of
suffering and trials patiently borne, of
mighty deeds worked in righteousness,
all through u simple, unwavering trust;
and any such tale is with power. Then
we perceive that II the description pri-
manly has to do with a select race and Il
particular age, vet the truth about heroic
life which it sets forth is prophetic and
universal. How we'll for instance, these
words picture the tibulation and hero
ism o1 the martyr of the Christian
church, even i'll accuracy and Vividuess of
detail. And likewise they have their APP
plication wherever and whenever men,
obedient to the call Of church, or home,
OF country, have endured much and
wrought Yallanty in single hearted de-
votion to duty through the power Of
great faith.
Who through .taitd." Simple fidelity
is the conception here. 1t is fruit in
conduct which springs from hope, from a
belief in the unseen, from conviction
that the ideal is the most real. so that
i'll my allusion to faith this morning YOU
will not understand me to refer to that
deep inner experience about which the
Apostle Paul says so much in his letters,
that mystic union with God in Christ
which is an appropriation of the divine
character, but rather to the ruling idea in
this 11th chapter of Hebrews--to faith as
meaning just this, that belief which leads
TO faithfulness.
What was it that sent forth our North
ern soldiers to endure hardship, to battle,
and perhaps to die? What was it that
impeled to such magnificent loyalty and
costly sacrifice of blood and treasure not
only in those " no Went but equally in
those who gave them up to 90? Here
certainly was no warlike spirit outbreak
ing in lust of territory, or any greed of
gain. 1t was not for the satisfaction OF
the restless ambition of some monarch or
If NJ, al cd
mere un.ecking enthusiasm evoked
through fiery appeal 10 slumbering senti-
ment. There was nothing selfish, moth
ing vainelorious, nothing fanciful, moth
ing wild and foolish, about the uprising
to arms of the patriotic North. Excite
ment played its great part Of course You
who remember those fateful days in 81
know how the hearts of men were thrilled
Dy martial music and the stirring speech
OF The orator. Doubtless some enlisted
WHO hardly understood what they were
doing. They We're swept, unthinhin9.
helpless, t. camp and fled on the crest OF
the great Wate Of passionate patriotism
that rolled tive length and breadth of the
Northern land. \ few-a very few-there
might have been who were governed ly
l2n"ble motives, Of speculation, OF plum
del, OF laWless Indulgence. None, | pre-
sumo. sat down in cold blood to reason
about The matter ! doubt ii heroism
ever does that quick. instantaneous
thinking was necessary. The rebel shot
ana l. ucoIS call permitted 10 delay.
But the vast majority knew exactly what
they were to fight for, and nolWithstand-
ing the fierce, wild excitement of the
h"uf WHICH was enough to turn mems
heads and drive them mad, they marched
forth /,
solve, to do, and to die many of them, for
the eternal right. And as the war dragged
on and all glamour of battle disappeared,
and 1t was seen to be The hard, bloody
fact and the death struggle that it really
was, the conviction was vet mistaken,
the resolve was still as noble. You see
simple faith was at the root of it-this
belief which is known by its fruit, faith
fulness.
fundamentally, it was faith in an idea
In speaking as we do so often of our civil
war as war for principle, we may still
not touch the heart of the matter. 1t was
war to preserve the Union of the States
1t was war to avenge the insult to the
National flag and to punish the rebellious
subject; but 1t was more than that, and
chiefly, think, something other than that.
Here was only the immediate occasion of
the conflict. Two great ideas were strrlg-
Cling tor mastery of the western CONT
nent. 1t was not merely ''strict construc-
TO" and 'loose construction applied
TO conflicting interpretations of the CON
stltution, or Estate rights and ''federal
rights, political terms marking variant
political conceptions. AT bottom it was
the old, old struggle that has appeared in
countless forms in every cline and land
since the creation of the world-freedom,
liberty against slavery, bondage; the peo-
pie against princes. MAN is free''-that
the North believed, for that its soldiers
fought and bled Each blue coat stood as
the representative of democracy as op-
posed to lave-holding caste, for this
equality and freedom as the heritage of
all as against the assumption of an aristo-
cratic few. Now | do not say that each
individual soldier of this greater number
who were truly heroic both in motive and
conduct understood this fully at the time.
probably most of them did not Remem-
Der, it is only when we look back after
long years that we can formulate a def
mite statement of the belief which was the
unconscious, guiding principle of be-
haviour. This faith or fidelity took on
the form of a splendid outburst of love
and loyalty. The Stars and Stripes had
been trailed in the dust, the honor of the
nation had been betrayed, the existence