Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1896-06-02

calm confidence that the infinite pow
er will care for the realms beyond our
sight. And we had touch of 1t last
Sunday in the opera house meeting
that was intensely religious because it
was intensely patriotic.
The great Methodist Episcopal
church in General Conference assem-
bled at Cleveland, Ohio, reached the
high water mark of enthusiasm in q
series of splendid patriotic meetings;
and when that conference elected to
the high Office of Bishop, Chaplain C..
G. McCabe, they did not get a very
profound theologian, but they got an
old soldier whose splendid war record
is not forgotten and whose fiery elO-
quence and zeal for the union will
make every conference he holds a
mighty school and power for patriot
ism and christian citizenship. And it
was the christian patriotism of Abra-
ham Lincoln that sent that memorable
message to the General Conference of
| this church in session at Baltimore in
1863, in which Mr.. Lincoln said: ut
Is with no spirit of invideous cOmpari-
son when say that by reason of great
er numbers, the Methodist Episcopal
church has sent more soldiers into the
| field and more nurses into the hOspi-
tails. Thanks be unto God who in this
our time of need giveth us the
churches" But today, as then, these
centers of moral power which control
the life and thought Of so many
millions of American citizens should
continue their loyalty to the govern
ment. For, my christian fellow citi-
zens, is there not an intimate relation
as symbols Of truth, between the cross
of Christ and the flag of the Union?
Bishop Simpson said 80 when in a
patriotic address he held the flag alOft
and said: "Let us nail it TO the cross
for both are for freedom and for truth"
The sermon on the mount and the
Declaration of Independence are hewn
out of the same rock of eternal verify.
To continue those principles in force, is
the pious duty of every American
citizen.
To the loyalty of the Grand Army of
the Republic more than to any other
influence may be ascribed the prOmi-
nent place the patriotic virtues have
attained in the national heart. They
are responsible for the act of congress
that puts an American flag on every
public school house. They have resur-
rected the national anniversary days
out of careless hands until they mean
more than q great noise and big
drunk. They are making the WASH
ingtOn Anniversary ring again with
the old time enthusiasm, and are Civ
ing to Abraham Lincoln q place in the
patriotic stream that flows round the
year. The old soldier will not be here
very long to teach the arts of patriot
ism, but they have established col
lege amid the flowing years and have
published the course Of study in the
almanac which is likely to stand for
some time to come, and be In popular
use.
But it is also true that our Memorial
Days must come to have this broader
significance offs school to teach the
OncOming generations the price of civil
liberty. Today we need no other in
centive to make this Memorial sadly
significant than the fact that we stand
over the graves of our own noble dead.
For there are those here who could
as easily drop tear as flower upon
the graves of our fallen heroes. But
the flowing years are very, cruel and
forgetful; and the future generations
will not continue Memorial that car
ries no broader significance than pro-
fusion of flowers and tears.
Surviving soldiers of the union army,
you withstOOd the fierce onslaught of
your southern foe to return to peaceful
pursuits, but the years are invincible
and there is no discharge in the war of
the ages save by the door that swings
open for everyone. Your strong limbed
race will storm onward and on.
"But pause, for time Is nigh.
Long on earth will men have place,
Notmuch longer you or !.
Thousand summers kiss the lea,
Only one the sheaf
thousand springs may deck the tree,
One, but one, and that one brief"
History will continue its record
through the increasing years. Other
battles calling for sacrifice and for
moral if not for physical courage will
command the thoughts of men, and
your war SO vivid in memory now will
become shadOwy past to be read on
the cold pages of history.
The local Posts of the Grand Army
will in few years rapidly decrease
until the scattering veterans will gath
er at the state encampments ana these
will at length be consolidated into q
single Post Of all the states, becoming
more sacred as the ranks are depleted
until not single veteran Of the Union
army will remain. And our Memorial
Days will pass into the hands Of an
unsympathetic posterity.
There are l45, 900 graves in our Natio-
nal Cemeteries marked unknown, and
thus will it be with you and me. The
marble erected by loving hands will
mingle with our bodies in common
dust. Only few names will stand in
human history to mark the progress
OF mankind. We shall pass from
human thought, but we can afford to |
be forgotten If our cause lives on. Ifl
the ship of state Outlives the stOrming
centuries it matters not who launched |