The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1896-06-10


slittered in battle and wiring its soul
with all the pangs which it ever caus-
ed. Let 1t feel all the conhagrations
of the homesteadsit has ever destroyed.
Deeper down let it fall and in fercer
flame let it burn till it has gathered In
to its heart all the suffering Of eternl.
ty 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 splr'
it of war.
War is more ghastly now than once,
not only because of the greater destruct'
iveness of its weaponry. but because
now it takes down the best men, where
as once it chiefly took down the worst:
Bruce, in I'LL, in his Institution OF
of Military Law" said of the Europe:
an armies of his day, If all Infamous
persons and such as have com
mitted capital crimes, heretics, athe
lists and all daslrdiy feminine men,
were weede1 out Of the army, itwould
soon be reduced TO a pretty moderate
number" Flogging and mean pay
made them still more ignoble. Oth
GERS were appointed to see that each
soldier drank his ration of pint OF
spirits day. There were noble men
in battle, but the moral character Of
the army was 95 per cent lower than
the moral character of an army today
By so much is war now the more de
testa5le because it destroys the picked
men of the nations.
Again by this national ceremony We
mean to honor courage. Many o
these departed soldiers were volunteers
not conscripts, and many of thoss
who were drafted might have
provided a substitute or got OF
on furlough or have desert
ed. The fact that they lie in thei,
graves is proof oftheir bravery. Brave
at the front, brave at the cannon:
mouth, brave on lonely picket duty
brave in cavalry charge, brave before
the surgeon, brave in the dying mess
age to the home circle. We yester
day put garland on the brow ot
courage. The world wants more o.
it.
The church of God is in woefu
need of men who can stand under IRE
The lion of worldly derision roars anc
the sheep tremble. In great reforma
tory movements at the first shot how
many fall back. The great obstacle
to the church's advancement is the IN
anity. the vacuity, the soft prettlness
the namby pambyism Of professec
Christians. Great on a parade, cow
ards in battle. Afraid of getting theil
plumes ruffled, they carry paraso
over their helmet. They go into bat
tie not with warriors gauntlet bu'
with kid gloves, not clutching thu
sword hilt too tight lest the glove spill
at the back.
In all our reformatory and Chris
tan work the great want is more
backbone, more mettle, more daring
more prowess. We would IN all oul
churches like to trade off a hundred
do nothings for one do everything
"Quit yourselves like men; be strong.
Thy saints in all this glorious war
Shall conquer, though they die.
They see the triumph from afar
And seize it with their eye.
Again we mean by this natural OBJ
servapce to honor self sacrifice fol
others. To all these departed mer
home and kindred were as dear as oul
home and kindred are to US. Dc
you know how they felt? Just as
you and I would feel starting out to,
morrow morning with nine chance:
out of ten against our returning alive
for the intelligent soldier sees not only
battle ahead, but malarial sickness
and exhaustion. Had these mer
chosen, they could have spent las
night in their homes and today have
been seated where you are. They
chose the camp not because they liked
it better than their own house, anc
followed the drum and fife, not be-
cause they We're better music than the
voices of the domestic circle. South
Mountain and Murfreesboro and the
swamps of Chickahominy were not
Fairgrounds.
These heroes risked and lost all fol
others. There isno higher sublemity
than that. To keep three-quarters for
ourselves and give one.quarter tc
others is honorable. To divide even
with others is generous. To keep moth
ing for ourselves and give al. for 9th
els is magnanirnity Christlike. Put a
girdle around your body and then
measure the girdle and see if you are
50 or so inches round. And is that the
circle of your sympathies-the size OF
your sslf2 Or, to measure you around
the heart, would it take girdle large
enough to encircle the world? You
want to know what we dry theologi,
ans mean when we talk of vicarious
suffering. Look atthe soldiers graves
and find out. Vicarious. pangs for
others, wounds for others homesick-
ness for others, blood for others, sep
ulcher for others.
Those who visited the national.ceme.
teries at Arlington Heights and at
Richmond and Gettysburg saw one
inscription on soldiers tombs oftener
repealed tnan any other-"Unknown.' .
When, about 81 years ago, l was call
ed to deliver the oration at Arlington
Heights, Washington, I was not SO
much impressed with the minute guns
that shook the earth or with the at
tendance of president and cabinet and
foreign ministers and generals of the
army and commodores of the navy as
with the pathetic and overwhelming
suggestiveoess of that epitaph on SO
many graves at my feet. unknown
Unknown. 1t seems to me that the
time must come when the government
of the United States shall take of that
epitaph. They are no more unknown.
We have found them out at last.
They are the beloved sons of the re-
public.
Would it not be well to take the
statue Of the heather goddess off the
top of the capitol (for have no faith
I'm the morals of a heathen goddess,