The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1896-06-17
REV. DIR. TAIIMAGE.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE By TIE
NOTED DIVINE.
Subject: "War."


armory, whereon there hung thousand
buckles. all shields OF mighty men. Solo
mons Song iv.. 4.
The church is here compared to an arm
ory, the walls hung with trophies of dead
heroes. Walk all about this tower of David
and see the dented shields. and the twisted
swords and the rusted hemlets of terrible
battle. So at this season. a month earlier at
the south, month later at the north. the
American churches are turned into armor1es
adorned with memories Of departed braves:
Blossom and bloom. o walls, with stories OF
self sacrifice and patriotism and prowess
BY unanimous decree of the people Of the
United States of America the graves OF all
the northern and southern dead are every
year decorated. All acerbity and bitterness
have gone out of the national solemnity, and
as the men AMI women OF the south ono
month ago floralized the cemeteries and
graveyards so yesterday we, the men and
women Of the north, put upon the tombs OF
our dead the kiss OF patriotic anectlon.
Bravery always appreciates bravery, though
It fight on the other side, and If soldier Of
the Federal army had been a month ago at
Savannah he would not have been ashamed
to march in the floral professions TO the
cemetery. And If yesterday Confederate
soldier was at Arlington he was glad to put
sprig of heartsease on the silent heart OF
our dead.
In battle during our last warthe Confed-
crates were driving bt ck the Federals. who
were in swift retreat, when Fedora! othcer
dropped wounded. One of his men stopped
at the risk Of his life and put his arms
around the officer to carry him from the
field. Fifty Confederate muskets were aimed
at the young man who was picking up the
officer. But the Confederate captain shout
ed, "Hod! Don't fire! That fellow Is too
brave to shoot" And rs the Federal ofhcer,
held up by his private soldier, went limping
slowly off the fed the Confederate soldiers
gave three cheers for the brave private, and
5ust before the two disappeared behind
barn both the wounded officer and the brave
private lifted their caps In gratitude to the
Confederate captain.
Shall the gospel be less generous than the
world? We stack arms, the bayonet OF our
northern gun facing this way, the bayonet
of the southern gun facing the other way,
and as the gray OF the morning melts into
the blue of noon, so tae typical gray and
blue Of old war times have blended at last,
and thew quote in the language Of King
James's translation without any revision,
"Glory to God In the highest, and on earth
peace. good will to men," Now, what do we
mean by this great observance2
First, we mean instruction to one whole
generation. Substract 1865, when the war
ended, from our 1896, and you will realize
what vast number ofpeople were born since
the war, or were so young IS to have no
vivid appreciation. No one under forty-one
years OF age has any adequate memory OF
that prolonged horror. Do you remember
It? HWell," you say, ~ only remember that
mother swooned away while she was read
ing the newspaper, and that they brought
my father home wrapped in the flag, and
that q good many people came in the house
to pray, and mother faded away after that
until again there were many people In the
house and they told me she was dead
There are others who cannot remember
the roll Of q drum or the tramp Of regi-
ment or sigh or tear OF that tornado OF
woe that swept the nation again and again
until there was one dead In each house. Now,
1t is the religious duty of those who do re-
member II to tell those who do not. My
young friends, there were such partings at
rail car windows and steamboat wharfs, and
at front doors Of comfortable homes as I
pray God you may never witness. Oh, what
time it was when fathers and mothers gave
again and never did see them again until
they came back mutilated and crushed and
dead!
Four years of blood. Four years Of hos
tile experiences. Four years OF ghastliness.
Four years Of gravedigging. Four years of
funerals. coffins, shrouds, hearses, dirges.
Mourning! mourning! mourning! 1t was
hell let loose. What a time OF waiting for
news! Morning paper and evening paper
scrutinized for intelligence from the boys
at the front. First, announcement that the
battle must occur the next day. Then the
news Of the battles going on. On the fol-
lowing day still going on. Then the news
of so. 900 slain, and of the names of the great
generals who had fallen, but no news about
the private soldiers. Waiting for newsi At
ter many days load Of wounded going
through the town or city, but no news from
our boy. Then long list Of wounded AMI
long list Of the dead, and long list Of the
missing, and among the last list our boy.
When missing? How missing2 Who saw
him last? Missing. missing! Was he in the
woods or by the stream? How was he hurt?
Missing, missing! What burning prayers
that he may yet be heard from! In that aw-
full waiting for news manya life perished.
The strain of anxiety was too great. That
wife's brain gave way that first week after
the battle, and ever and anon she walks the
floor of the asylum or looks out Of the win
dow as though she expected some one to
come along the path and up the steps us she
soliIoquizes, missing, missing"
What made matters worse, all this might
have been avoided. There was no more need
of that war than at this moment should
plunge dagger through your heart. There
were few Christian philanthropists In those
days, scoffed at both by north and south,
who had the right Of it. If they had been
heard on both sides, We should have had no
war and no slavery. It was advised by those
pay in money for the'slaves as property and
set them free" The north said. "We cannot
afford to pay" The south said, ''We will
not sell the slaves anyhow" But the north
did pay In war expenses enough to purchase
the slaves. and the south was compelled to
give up slavery anyhow. Might not the
north better have paid the money and saved
the lives of 500, 900 brave men, and might not
the south better have sold out slavery and
saved her 500, 900 brave men? swear you
by the graves of your fathers aud brothers
and sons to a new hatred for the champion
curse Of the uniyerse-war!
o Lord God, with the hottest bolt of Thine
omnipotent indignation strike that monster
down forever and ever! Imprison it in the
deepest dungeon OF the eternal penitentiary.
Bolt it in with all the iron ever forged in
cannon or moulded into howitzers. Cleave
it with all the sabers that ever glittered in
battle and wiring Its soul with all the pangs
which 1t ever caused. Let it feel all the con-
fagrations Of the homesteads it ever de-
stroyed. Deeper down let it fall and in
f1ercer fame let 1t burn. till 1t has gathered
into its heart all the suffering OF eternity as
we'll 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 spirit Of war.
War Is more ghastly now than once, not
only because of the greater destructiveress
of its weaponry. because now it takes down
the best men, whereas once it chiefly took
down the worst Bruce, in 1717. in his SIN
stitutions Of Military Law" said of the Eu-
ropean armies OF his day, "If all infamous
persons and such as have committed capital
crimes, heretics. atheists and all dastardly
feminine men were weeded out OF the army,
It would soon be reduced to pretty moder-
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