The Penn's Grove record., 1896-10-09

rink and be merry. No. The most power
full Nation, by army and navy, sounded Its
across three thousand miles OF water.
Then came Lexington, and Bunker Hill. ant
and Long Island battles. ana
Valley Forge, and yorktown, and starva'
lion, aud widowhood. and orphanage, AMI
the thirteen colonies went through snferinga
the historian has attempted to put
upon paper, and the artist to put upon can
vas. but all in vain. Eugraver'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, aud the story
Of the American Revolution has never been
fold. and never will Do told. 1t did not take
much ink to sign the Declaration of Indc'
pendence, but 1t took a terrific mount OF
blood to maintain 1t. 1t was an awful cato
Of opposition that the men AMI women
and the women as much as the men
pushed back. 1t was q gate OF ssif-sacrlftce.
II vas a gate OF blood. 1t was a gate oj
carbu lcle.
We are not indebted to history for our
knowledge Of the greatest OF National
crises. Many OF US remember 1t, and father
and mothers now living had better Keep tell
ing that story to their children, so that In
stead OF their being dependent upon cold
type and obliged to say, 'ol such u page OF
such q book you can read that" will they
rather be able to say, my father told m,
SOL" "My mother told me So" Men and
women who vividly remember 1861, and
1882, and 1863, and 1864, be yourselves the
historians, telling it, not with pen, but with
living tongue and voice and gesture. That
Is the great use Of Memorial Decoration Day,
for the Gala lilies IN the grave tops soon be-
breathless OF perfume, an | In Il week
turn to dust unto that which lies beneath II.
But the story Of courage and self sacrifice
and patriotism told on platforms and In
households and by the roadside and IN
churches and In GENE cries by that annual
recital will be kept fresh In the memory OF
generations as long as our American instttu-
lions are worthy of preservation. Long
after you are dead your children will be able
to say, with the Psalmist; ave have heard
with our ears, o God, our fathers have
told US, what work Thou didst in their
days, In the times OF old" But what
q time 1t was! Four years of home
sicknessl Four years Of brotheriy
n sisterly estrangement! Four years Of
martyrdom! Four years OF massacre! Put
them in a long line, the c~onIiagration OF
cities, and see them light up a whole conti-
nent. Put them in long rows, the hospitals,
making a vast metropolis OF pain and
p~aroxyism! Gather them In one vast assem-
blape. the millions of bsreft from the s..
Lawrence to the Gulf. and from the Atlantic
to the Pacific beaches! Put the tears into
lakes, aud the blood into rivers, and the
shrieks into whirlwinds! During those four
years many good and wise men at the North
and South saw nothing ahead but annihila-
tion. With such a National debt We
could never meet our ohligationsi With
such moral %antipathies Northern and South
ern men could never come into amity! Rep
resentatives OF Louisiana and Georgia, and
the Oarolinas could never again sit side by
side with the Representatives of Maine,
Massachusetts and New York at the Ma
tional 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 Reichsta2s and lowered
their flags at half mast. Il even the lion
on the other SIDE OF the sea hal whined for
the dead eagle on this side. The deep grave
had been dug, n beside Babylon, aud
Thebes, and Tyre, n other dead Nations OF
the past our dead Republic was to be
buried. The epitaph was all ready: Here
lies the American Republic. Born at Phlla-
delphia, 4th OF July, 1776. Kiltel at Bull
Run, July 81, 1851. Aged etght,-ivs years
and seventeen days. Peaca to its ashes. "
But before the ohSequies had quite closed
there was an Interruption OF the ceremon
les, and our dead Nation rose from lis
m%ortuary surroundings. Goo hal made for
It a special Resurrection bay, and cried,
"Oome forth, thou Republic OF Washing
ton, and John Adams. and Thomas Jeffer-
son. and Patrick Henry, and John Hancock,
and Daniel Webster. and s. 8. Prentiss, and
Henry Clay. Come forth" And sho came
forth, to be stronger than she had ever been.
Her mightiest prosperities nave come since
that time. Who would want to push back
this country to what 1t was In 1869 or 1882
But, oh, what a high gate, what a strong
gate she had to push back before she could
make one step In advance! Gate OF fame!
See Norfolk Navy Yard, AMI Columbia, and
Chambersburg, and Charleston on fire!
Gate of %bayonets! See glittering rifles and
carbines flash from the susquehanna, add
the james, to the Mississippi, and the Ar
kansas! Gate Of heavy artillery, making
the mountains OF Tennessee and Kentucky
and Virginia tremble as though the earth
itself we're struggling in Its last agony. The
gate was SO nery and 30 red that l can think
Of nothing more appropriate than to take
the suggestion OF Isaiah in.the text and call
II q rate Of csrbunoles.
This country has been for the most part
Of its history passing through crises, and
after eaeh crisis was better OIL than before
It entered It, and now We are at another
crisis. We are told on one hand that il gold
Is kept as q standard and silver 1s not ele-
vsted, confidence will be restored and this
Nation will rise triumphant from all the
financial misfortunes that ave been af1ict-
ing us. On the other hand we are told that
II the free coinage of silver is allowed, all
the wheels OF business will ~revolve, the poor
man will have a better chance, aud all Oui
Industries will begin to hum and roar.
During the last six Presidential election
have been urged to enter the political arena
but I never have and never will turn tht
pulpit In which l preach into a political
stump. Every minister must do as he feels
| called to do. and I will not c~riticise him tnl
doing What he considers his duty; but al
the political haraSsues from pulpits from
now until the Sd Of November Will not In al
the United States change one vote, but wi
leave many ears stopped against anytbint
that sush clergymen may utter the rest ol
their lives. As q general rule the layneI
Of churches understand politics better thar
the clergy, because they Ohe laymen) study
( politics more than the clergy, and have bet
ter opportunity Of being Intelligent on thcs'
subjects. But good morals, honesty. iowa
ty, Christian patriotism and the Ten Com
| mRndments-these we must preach. Coo
says distinctly in the Bible, "The silver an
the gold are Nine and He will settle tn
| controversy between those two metals, 1
ever this country needed the divine rescue !
needs It now. Never within my memoir,
have 30 many people literally starvet t.
death as In the past few months. have yo'
noticed in the newspapers how many Ine'
and women here and there have been foun
dead, the post-mortem examination Stain
that the cause of death was hunger! Tier
Is not a day that we do not hear the crash Q
some great commercial establishment, and
as q consequence, many people ar
thrown out OF employment. Anon
what we considered comfortable nome
have comeiprvation and close calculation AN
an economy that kills. Millions O
people who say nothing about il are \
this moment at their wits cnd There ar
millions OF people who do not want CHART
but want work. The cry has gone up to III
ears OF the Lord of Sabaoth, y and the praye
will be heard and relief will come. II W.
have nothing better to depend on than Amer
can politics. relief will never come. who
ever Is elected TO the Presidency, the wheei
Of Government turn 50 SLOWLY. and a caucul
10 wonder white bunding OF the hill ma
tie the hands of any President Now
though We who live in the District OF Colum
kbia cannot vote, we can pray, and my prayer
day and night shall be, "oh God, heal
the cry OF the souls from under the altar
Thou who hast brought the whea
and corn of this season to such magni
tude Of sapply, give food to man and beast
Thou who hadst not where TO lay Thy head
pity the shslteriess. Thou who hast brough
to. perfection the cotton Of the South and thu
fax Of the North, clothe the naked. a
who hast nlled the mine with coal, CIV
fuai - tha hi varfnU Bring bread TO tlt