The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1896-06-05

/ u purchaSe the slaves. and tne SOU n
| was enmpelled Ia give up slavery any
| how. Might not the north h-It.r have
! paid the money and savel the lives of
I 500. 900 brave men. and might not the
south better have sold gu; ~lrv..rv and
saved her 500. GUO rave men? | swear
/ you By the graves of your aihers and
brothers and sons to new hatred for
/ the champion curse of the universe
war; o Lord. q cd. with the hottest
bolt of thine omnipptent indignation,
strike that monster down forever and
/ forever Impri>on it in the deepest
/ dun con of the eternal penitentiarv.
| Bolt il in with all the iron ever forged
in cannon or nodded into howitzsrs.
War is more ghastiy now than once,
not only because OF the greater de-
struetiveness of its weaponrv, but be-
cause now it takes down the best men.
whereas once i; chiefly took down the
worst Bruce. in I'LL, in his ''Institu-
tiOns of Military Law" said of the
European armies of his day: IF all
infamous persons and such as have
committed capital crimes, heretics,
men were weeded out of the army, it
would soon be reduced to pretty mod
crate number" Fiogging and mean
paw maize them still more ignoble.
| Officers were appointed to see that
eacn soldie- drank his ration of pint
of spirits a 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 more detestable because it destroys
the picked men of the nations
Again, by this national ceremony
we mean to honor courage. Many of
these departed soldiers were volun-
teers, not conscripts, and many of
those who were drafted might have
provided substitute or got off on fur
Tough or have deserted. The fact that
they lie in their 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 garland on the brow
of courage. The world wants more
of 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 tremble. 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 pamby of professed Chris
tians. Great on parade, towards in
battle. Afraid of getting their plumes
ruffled, they carry parasol over their
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 back
bone, more mettle, more daring, more
proves. We would in all our churches
like to trade off a hundred do-nothings
for one do-evorything. "Quit your
selves like men, be strond"
Thy saints in all this glorious war
Shall conquer, though they die;
They see the trium ph from afar,
And seize it with their eye
Again, we mean by this national OBJ
servance to honor self-sacrifice for
others 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
l would feel starting out tomorrow
morning with nine chances out of ten
against our returning alive; for the in
telligent soldier sees not only battle
ahead but malarial sickness and ex-
haustion. Had these men chosen, they
could have spent last night in their
homes and to-day have been seated
where you are. They chose the camp,
not because they liked it better than
their own house, and followed the
drum and fife, not because they were
better music than the voices of the do
nestle circle. South Mountain and
Murfreesboro, and the swamps of
Chickahominy were not Fairgrounds.
These heroes risked and lost all for
others There is no higher sublimity
than that. To keep three-quarters for
ourselves and give one-quarter to
others is honorable. To divide even
with others is generous. To keep
nothing for ourselves and give all for
others is magnanimity, Christlike
Put girdle around your body and
then measure the girdle and see if you
are so or 60 inches round And is that
the circle of your sympathies-the size
of yourself? Or, to measure you
around the heart, would it take Cir
die large enough to encircle the land
and encircle the world? You want to
know what we dry theologians mean
when we talk of vicarious suffering.
Look at the soldiers grave and find
out Vicarious! paugs for others;
wounds for others; homesickness for
others; blood for othere; sepulchre for
others.
Those who visited the national ceme-
teries at Arlington heights and at
Richmond and Gettysburg saw one in
scription on soldiers tombs oftener re-
peated than any other-"Unknown."
When. about 81 years ago. was called
to deliver the grafton at Arlington
haiChts WASHINGTON I was not so