The record-union., 1896-07-04


1T Is a sentiment 1t is a passion SO uni
versal and so beautiful that 1t may al
most be said that it is inherent in hu-
man nature 1t is it's own reason. The
violet and the rose the sailing clouds,
the majesty of silent mountain peaks,
the harmony Of music, love, faith and
all the forms of moral and physical
beauty defy analysis. Patriotism, like
the sense of beauty, is inmate; but yet,
it is something more than an esthetic
principle. We do not love our country
for the same reason that we love to look
upon a landscape, nor in the same way
we admire picture, a statue or a vase.
1t is true not because it is beautiful,
but beautiful because it Is true. What
does it matter that acute minds have
discovered in it a large element Of
selfishness? The golden rule, I believe,
has not escaped criticism. Undoubted
ly patriotism is selfish in the sense that
it is a good investment. 1t pays divi-
dends.
What splendid passages are these
two, which we next quote from this
mastery delivery to the heart of Amer
lean youth:
In the hurry of life, planning, schem-
ing, cutting paths in which our ambi-
tiOns may march untrammeled our
truest sentiments are often obscured
and sometimes obliterated. Living in
the State protected by the State, we
become insensible of the State. Love
Of country, like every other passion
has its varying moods. 1t is lulled to
rest when the wind blows fair and
slumbers in the midst of unseen dam
gers. But patriotism implies something
more than courage to meet an enemy;
something more than readiness to fol-
low the drums. 1t means these, cer-
tainly, but it means, also, that in calm,
untroubled times, when all things seem
moving to happy consummations, we
must study the stars.
History has been teaching, from the
age of Pericles to ours, that the great
come by the sword. The reason is that
great emergencies transform the latent
into the active and ring heroic virtues
from unheroic days. 1t was not the
gross humor of Falstaff, but the deep
wisdom of Shakespeare speaking
through him, that perceived "the cank-
\ nation that can withstand the mere
colrosion of quiet times, the dangers
Of prosperity and of commerce, need
fear little else. Through such a period
we have been passing; whether safely
or not is another question. 1t is more
than thirty years since we gath
cred the apple blossoms at Ap-
pomattox years that have taught
both North and South that this Nation
was worth all it cost. Gentlemen, Is it
worth less now? Sorrows we have
known that cannot all be told. but the
added years have healed some wounds
which it once seemed must ache for
ever. We have reached an anpler re-
eiOn, where old contentious are changed
to harmonies. and the splendor of a
new destiny beams upon us like the
promise of the dawn.
After a vigorous and eloquent pro-
test against official malfeasance, po
litical corruption and all that consti-
tutes national dishonor, and after
warning the young men that with all
our privileges and guarantees we are
beset by dangers and threatened by a.
pestilence of selfishness and greed he
continued:
We have been taught to love the
American flag, but to the true Ameri
can it is precious only as he sees in it
that which is more beautiful than the
blending colors. Who has not felt the
awe and mystery Of holy emblems? =?
What faith has not been quickened by
signs and symbols that represent the
eternal things of which human lips can
never rightly speak? The United States
is greater in what II means than in
what it is. Farms and factories and
ships and armaments have, indeed,
their values, but it is not by these that
ne are told a nation is exalted. The
census stirs our pride. with its story
Of wealth and population, but patriot
ism can not be nourished upon statis
tics. While mines of gold and mines
Of silver give up their hidden treasure,
while fields yield harvests and COM
meroe spreads its sails, how stands the
national conscience? How fare justice
and freedom, and those incommunica-
BILE rights which are written, not alone
in parchments, but in the very history
Of our race? These are the jewels, and
where they are is the shrine.
II we were only wiser we should
know that unquestioning obedience is
often truest freedom. Whatever future
IS before US our duty as citizens can be
performed only by standing fast to our
highest conceptions of a true national
polity And this thought, gentlemen,
unfolds itself in far-reaching conclu-
sions 1t means that patriotism, to be
worth the name, cannot be mere pas
sive feeling; it means respect and rev.
erenCe Tor and loyalty to our country's
rame and honor. Mulford has well
defined the nation as conscious moral
organism, and it is hardly a figure of
speech to say that it hopes and believes
and aspires. and, as we too sadly
know, il sins and suffers.
This eloquent plea for a militant pat
riotism, for an ardent love of country
All answering echo in every patriotic
heart:
Amity and concord are pleasant
words, but, IL it be true that a nation
is moral organism, then, like an indi-
vidual. it must maintain its individ-
ual character 1t must dare to offend.
Speaking only for myself, l believe in
a militant patriotism. There is nothing
so dreary as the dead level of custom
airy things, and good citizen may find
large compensations in the sudden
shock which lifts the nation out of its
rusted groove. / cannot bring myself
10 think that the United States should
hang out placard to the world, bear
ing that cheap mercantile motto, I'VE
study to please" Our destiny is our
own. and it must be worked out, per-