The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1896-10-08

cuuo tne lnuihn Whr-WnOOp. lied men on
the beach. Red men In the forest. Red men
on the mountains. Red men in tho valleys.
Living gates Of red men. Gates Of car
buncle
Aboriginal hostility pushed back. surely
now our forefathers will have nothing TO do
but TO take easy possession OF the fairest
continent under the sun. The skies 80
genial, the soil so fertile, the rivers so pop-
ulous with nnny life, the acreage so inn
mense, there will be nothing to do but eat,
drink and be merry. No. The most power
iul Nation, by army and navy. sounded its
protest across three thousand miles OF water.
Then came Lexington, and Bunker Hill, and
Monmouth, and Long Island battles, and
Valley Forge, and Yorktown, and starva-
ton, and widowhood. and orphanaRe. and
the thirteen colonies went through suifcrings
which the historian has attempted TO put
upon paper, and the artist to put upon can.
vas, but all in vain. Engruver's knife, and
reporters skill, and telegraphic wire. and
daily press, which have made us acquainted
with the horrors OF modern battlefield, had
not yet begun their vigilance, and the story
OF the American Revolution has never been
told. and never will De told. II did not take
much ink to sign the Declaration OF Inde-
pendence, but IL took a terrific amount of
blood to maintain II. IL was an awful gate
of opposition that the men aud women
and the women as much as the men
pushed back. IL was n gate OF sclf-sncrificc.
Il was q gate of blood. 1t was gate of
carbuncle.
We are not indebted to history for our
knowledge Of the greatest of National
crises. Many Of us remember it. and fathe r.
and mothers now living had better keep tell
ing that story TO their children. so that in
stead OF their being dependent upon cold
typo and Obliged 20 say. "On such page Of
such book you can read that" will they
rather bo able to say. "My father told mo
AL moth N,l.f 4
women who vividly remember 1sGl. and
1862, and 1868. and 1864, be yourselves the
historians, telling IL, not with pen, but with
living tongue and voice and gesture, That
II the great use OF Memorial Decoration Day.
Tor the culla lilies on the grave tops soon be-
come brenthless OF perfume, and in n week
turn TO dust unto that which lies beneath H.
But the story OF courage and sclf.sacrillcs
and patriotism told on platforms and In
households and by tho roadside and I'm
churches aud in cemeteries bv thnt annunl
recital will be kept fresh In tho memory of
generations rs long a. our American institu-
tons are worthy Of preservation Long
after you are dead your children will be able
20 say, with tho Psalmist. eve have heard
with our cars, o God. our fathers have
told us, what work Thou didst In their
days, In tho times oi old" But what
time II was! Four years of home
sickness! Four years Of brothcrly
anu 0A1A'ilN 'hAthllktllfUls lOuT NtHTa Ol
martyrdom! Four years Of massacrol Put
them in long line, the conilagrntion oil
cities, and see them light up whole conti-
mont! Put them In long rows, tho hospitals,
making vast metropolis Of pain and
paroxyism GathOr them I'm ono vast assem-
blagc, the millions OF bercft from the ~.
Lawrence to the Gulf and from the Atlnntir
to tho Pacific beachesl Put tho tears into
lakes, and tho blood into rivers. and tho
shrleks into whirlwlnds During those four
yeHts many good and wise men NJ tho North
and South saw nothing ahead but annihila-
tlon. With such u National debt we
could mover moot our obligationsl With
such moral antipAthics Northern and South
orn men could never come into amity, Ren.
resentatives OF Louisiana and Georgia. aid
tho Carolinas could never again sit side by
SIDE with the Representatives OF MIME
Massachusetts and New York ut the Ma
ttonal capital. Lord John Russell had de-
clared that we were "a bubble.bursting Ma
tionality," and 1t had come true. The Ma
tions OF Europe had gathered with very re-
signed spirit at the funeral OF our American
Republic. They had tolled the bells on
Parliaments and Reichstags aud lowered
their flags at half mast. aud even the lion
on the other side OF the sea had whined for
tho dead eagle on this side The deep grave
had been dug, and beside Babylon, aud
Ihebes, and Tyre. ana other dead Nations OF
the past our dead Republic was 90 be
buried. The epitaph was all raady: "lIcre
lies the American Republic Born at Philu-
dolphin. ith OF July. 1916. Killed nj Bull
Run, July n, 1861. Aged eightv-nye years
and seventeen days. Peace 10 it, ashcs. "
But before the ooscquics had quite closed
there was an interruption OF the ceremon-
les, and our doad Nation rose from lis
mortuary surroundings. God had made for
II special Resurrection Day, and cried,
Come forth, thou Republic OF Washing
ton, and John Adams. and Thomas JciTcr-
son, and Patrick Henry, and John Hancock,
and Daniel Webster. and $. =. Prcntiss, ana
Henry Clay. Come FORTH Aud sho cHuno
forth, 20 b. stronger than she had over been.
Her mightiest properties have como since
that time. Who would want TO push burk
this country 20 what it was in 1869 or 1850?
But, oh, what high gate, what n strong
gate she had to push back before she could
make ono step in advance Gate Of flannel
See Norfolk Navy Yard. AMI Columbia, and
ChambersDurg, and Charleston on nrel
Gate OF bayonets! See glttering rifles and
carDines flash from tho Susduchanna, and
the James, TO tho Mississippi, and tho Ar
kansas! Cato OF heavy artillery. making
the mountains OF Tennessee and Kentucky
and Virginia tremble a. though tho earth
itself were struggling In its last agony The
gate was so fiery and so red that | can think
OF nothing more appropriate than 10 take
The suggestion OF Isaiah In tho teXt and call
II n gate OF carbunclcs.
This country has bcen for tho most part
OF its history passing through crises, and
after oach crisis was better OF than before
1t entered 1t, au1 now we are M another
crisis. We are told on ono hand that II gold
is kept as n standard and silver Is not ele-
waited. confidence will be restored aud this
Nation will rise triumphant from all the
financial misfortuncs that have boen afllict-
ing us. On the other hand we are told that
IL the free coinage OF silver IL allowed all
the wheels OF business will revolye. tho poor
man will have better chance, and all our
industries will begin 20 hum and roar |
During tho last six Presidential election | |
have been urged TO enter the political arena, |
but | never have and never will turn tho |
pulpit in which | preach into political |
stump. Every minister must do as no feels |
called 10 do, and | will not criticiso him for |
doing what he considers his duty; but all |
the political harangucs from pulpits from |
now until the 81 Of November will not in all |
the United States change one vote. but will |
leave many ears stopped against anything |
that such clergymen may utter tho rest Of !
Nl..alR A. a Ia L..