Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1896-06-06
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A Man Of Peace.
What made matters worse, all this
might have been avoided. There was no
more need Of that war than at this
moment / should plunge dagger
through your heart There were few
Christian philanthropists III those days.
scoffed at both by north and south. who
had the right Of 1t. If they had been
heard On both sides. we should have
had no war and no slavery. 1t was adj
ylsed by those Christian philanthropists,
Let the north pay in money for the
slaves as property and set them free. .
The north said. I'VE cannot afford to
pay. " The south said, - We will not
sell the slaves anyhow But the north
did pay in war expenses enough to pur
chase the slaves, and the south was com
PEELED to give up slavery anyhow. Might
not the north better have paid the
money and saved the lives of 500, 600
brave men, and might not the south
better have sold ont slavery and saved
her SOC, 900 brave men? I swear you By
the graves of your fathers and brotherz
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 everl Inn
prison it in the deepest dungeon of the
eternal penitentiary. Bolt it in with all
the iron ever forged in cannon OF mold
ed into howitzers. Cleave it with all
the sabers that ever glittered in battle
and wiring its soul with all the pangs
which It ever caused. Let it feel all the
confiagrations of the homestcads it ever
destroyed. Deeper down let it fall and
IN fiercer flame let it burn, till it has
gathered into its heart all the suffering
OF eternity as well as time. In the name
of the millions of graves Of its victims,
| denounce it. The nations need more
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, where
as once it chiefly took down the worst
Bruce in 17l7, in his Institutions OF
Military Law" said of the European
armies of his day. IF all infamous per.
sons and such as have committed capital
crimes, heretics, atheists and all das-
tardly feminine men were weeded out
of the army, it would soon be reduced
TO pretty moderate number Flogging
and mean pay made them still more ig-
noble. Officers were appointed to SET
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 off ON furlough or have de
serted. The fact that they lie in THEN
graves is proof of their bravery. Brave
at the 'front.' brave at the cannon's
mouth, brave on lonely picket duty.
brave in cavalry charge, brave before
the surgeon, brave in the dying message
to the home circle. We yesterday put a
garland ON the brow of courage. The
world wants more CT it.
The church Of God is in woeful need
of men who can stand under fire. The
lion of worldly derision roars and the
sheep trenble. In great reformatory
movements at the first shot how many
fall back! The great obstacle to the
church's advancement is the inanity,
the vacuity, the soft prettiness, the
mandy pambyism of professed Chris
tians Great ON a parade, towards in
battle. Afraid of getting their plumeJ
ruffied, they carry parasol over then
helmet. They go into battle not with
warriors 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,
more mettle, more daring, more PROV
ess. We would in all our churches like
to trade off a hundred do nothings fol
one do everything. "Quit yourselvsi
like men; be strong
Thy saints in all this glorious war
Shall conquer though they die.
They see the triumph from afar
Aud seize it with their eye.
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 were as dear as 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 malarial
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
Murfreesboro and the swamps of Chicka
hominy were not Fairgrounds
These heroes risked and lost all fol
others. There is no higher sublimity
than that. To keep three quarters fol
ourselves and 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 zee if you are 90 or go inches
round. Ard is that the circle of youl
sympathies the size of yourself? Or,
to measure you around the heart, would
1t take g.s6le large enough to encircle
the land and encircle the world? You
want to know what we dry theologians
mean when we talk of yicarious suffer
ing. Look at the soldiers graves and
find out. Vicarious-pangs for others,
wounds for others, inconsistencies for 9TH
srs, blood for others, sepulcher for 9TH
srs
Those who visited the national GENE
teries at Arlington Heights and at Ricf
mond and Gettysburg saw one inscriT
zion on soldiers tombs oftener repeate
than any other-sUnknown. " Wher
about 81 years ago, was called to dc
liver the Grafton at Arlington Heights