The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1896-06-18
Again. BY this national ceremony We mean mean

men VINO CAL Sldiiu
,yorldlv derision roars and the sheep treni.
HE. in great reformatory movements a.
the first shot how many fall backl Inc si1a.
ohotocIa 70 fhe church's advancement 10 tio
inanity the vaeuity. the soft pre:tiness, uo
mandy pabyism of protested Cnris .sanid
Great on parade, towards In oattie Ama a
OF getting their plumes rufned, Iney ITO
parasol over their helmet. they ~ with
battle NOT with warriors gauntlet, put WIN
Md gloves. not clutching the sword nit 'oo
tight less the gloves split at the pack.
In nil our reformatory and Christian worh
.ha s,reat want IA more backbone, more
mettIe more daring, more prowess. we
would In ali our churches like to trace on
hundred do nothipgs for one do eVeryunih6'
UQuit Yourselves like men; be strong
The saints Ia all this glorious war
Shall conquer. though they de-
They see the triumph from atar
Aud seize 1t with their eye.
Again. we mean by this national observ-
once 70 honor self sacrifice for others. 10
all these d;,parted men home and kindred
were as dear as our home and kindred areto us;
DO Won know how they felt2 just as you anu
T would fesl starting out tomorrow morn
INC with nine chances out OF ten against our
returning alive, for the Intelligent sola'er
sees not only battle ahead. but malerial sick-
ness and exhaustion. Had these men chosen
homes and to-day have been seated where
Won are. They chose the camp not because
thny liked It better than their own mousse,
and followed the drum and fife not because
they were better music than the voices Oh inc
domestic circle South Mountain ana Mur-
freesboro and the swamps of Chickahom'ny
were not Fairgrounds u,.,,
These heroes riske1 and lost all 1or otheIs.
There is no higher sublimity than that. 10
for ourselves ana give
ne.ouarter to others is honorable. 10
divide even with others is generous, 10
keen nothing for ourselves and give all for
others ia magnanimity Christlike. Put
n girdle around your body and then measure
the girdle aud see If you are fifty or sixty
inches round. Aud is that the circle OF your
symnathies?- the size of YOURSELF Or, to
measure you around the heart, would IL
take a eirdle largo 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 ths
soldiers graves and find out. Vlcarious-
pangs for others. wounds for others, home-
sickness for others, blood for others,
sepulcher for others.
Those who visited the national cemeteries
at Arlington Heights and at Richmond ana
Gettysburg saw one inscription on soldiers
tombs oftener repeated than any other-"Un-
known" When about twenty-one years ago,
| was called to deliver the grafton at Arnhg-
ton Heights, Washington, was not so much
impressed with the minute guns that shook
the earth or with tho attendance OF president
aud cabinet and foreign ministers ana gem
erals of the army and commodores OF the
navy as with the pathetic and overwhelming
suggestiveness of that epitaph on 80 many
graves at my feet, "Unknown" "Unknown!
| 1t seems to me that the time must come when
the government of tho United Estates shall
| take off that epitaph. They are no moro I'M
knownl We have found them out at last.
| They are the beloved sons of the republic.
II foreign foe should come, we want men
| like those of 1912 and like those of 1862 to
meet thcm. We want them all up and down
| tho coast. Pulaski and Fort Sumter in the
same chorus of thunder as Fort Lafayette and
| Fort Hamilton-men who will not only
know how to fight but how to die. When
such Il time comes, lift ever does come, the
| generation on the stage OF action Will say;
my country will care for my family as they
did in the soldiers asylum for the orphans
in the Civil War, and my country will honor
my dust as it honored those who preceded
! me in patriotic sacrifice, and once n year at
any rate, on Decoration Day, shall be res
directed into the remembrance OF those Tor
whom died. Here / go for God and my
country! Huzzap
| If foreign foe should come, the old Sec
tional animosities would have no power.
| Here go our regiments into the battlefield
| Fifteenth New York volunteers, Tenth Ala
| bama cavalry, Fourteenth Pennsylvania rifle
men, Tenth Massachusetts artillery. Seventh
! South Carolina SharpshooperS. L do not
! know but it may require the attack of some
| foreign foe to make us forget our absurd sec
| tional wranSling. / have no faith in the
cry, mo north. no south, no east, no west"
| Let all four sections keep their peculiarities
/ nj hair of dniny nXun
work and not interfering with each other,
each Of the four carrying its part in the great
! harmony-the bass, the alto, the tenor, the
soprauo-in the grand march of Union.
| Once more this great national ceremony
| means the Identification of the tOmbs,
whether of those who fell In battle or acct
| dent, or who have expired in their beds or
| in our arms, or on our laps. suppose you
| have noticed that many OF the families take
this season as the time for the adornment Of
| their family plots This national observance
| has secured the arJoriculture and floricul-
| ture of the cemeteries. the Strengthening up
of many slab planted 80 or 40 years ago,
| and has swung the scythe through the long
| grass and has brought the stonecutter to call
out the half obliterated epitaph. This day
is the benediction Of the resting place OF
| father, mother, son, daughter, brother sis
| ter.
| 1t is ali that we can do for them now.
Make their resting places attractive, not alb
| surd with costly outlay but in quiet remem-
brance. You know how. II you can afford
only one flower, that will do. 1t shows
what you would do ii you could. One BIOS
som from you may mean moro than the
Duke of Wellington catafalque. Oh, we
cannot afford to forget them. They were
so lovely to us. We miss them so much.
We will never get over 1t. Blessed Lord
Jesus, comfort our broken hearts. From
every bank of flowers breathes promise of
resurrection.
In Olden times the Hebrews, returning
from their burial place, used to pluck tho
grass from the field three or four times, then
throw it over their heads, suggestive OF the
resurrection. We pick not the grass, but the
flowers, and instead of throwing them over
our heads we place them before our eyes,
ris Int down over the silent heart that once
beat with warmest love toward us, or over
the still feet that ran to SERVICE or over the
lips from which we took the kiss at the an
guish Of the last parting.
But stop! We are not inlidels. Our bodies
will soon join the bodies Of our departed in
the tomb and our spirits shall join their
spirits In the land OF the rising sun. We
cannot long be separated. Instead of cry
ing with Jacob or Joseph, II will go down
into the grave unto my son. Mourning"
let us cry with David, 81 shall go to him."
On one of the gates of Greenwood is the