The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1897-03-25

for the glory Of;
striking down Hessian. For rusty
swords hung up on the rafters and Dul-
lets cut out of log houses IN Whlcn they
We're lodged during the great strife we
had unbounded admiration, or on some
public day, clothed in our grandfath
soldierly accoutrements, we felt as
grave as Garibaldi or Miltiades. We
are wiser now, for we make aSvast dis
tinction between the poetry and the
prose OF war. The roll of drums and
the call of bugles, and the champing Of
tsteeds foaming and paving for the bat
tie; hundred thousand muskets gilt
tering among the. dancing plumes;
GOD Save the King" waving up from
clarionets and .trumpets and rung back
from deep defles or the arches OF a
PROSTATE city: distant capitals Of king
doms illuminated at the tidings: gen
erals returning home under flaming
arches and showering amaranths and
the shout of empires: that is poetry.
Chilled and -blanketed, lying on
the wet earth: feet sore with the march
and bleeding at the slightest touch:
munger pulling on every fiber of flesh
or attempting to satisfy itself with a
scanty and spoiled ration: thirst lick
lngsup the dew or drinking out of filthy
and trampled pool: thoughts Of home
and kindred far away while just on
the eve of a deadly strife, where death
may leap on him from any one of a
hundred bayonets: the closing in of
two armies, now changed to hundred
thousand maniacs: the ground slippery
with blood and shattered flesh: fallen
ones writing under the hoofs of I'M
brldled chargers maddened with pain:
the dreadfulness of night that comes
down when the strife is over: the
struggle of the wounded ones crawling
out over the corpses: the long, fever
ish agony of the crowded barrack and
hospital, from whose mattresses the
fragments Of men send UP their groans,
the only music of carnage and butch
cry: desolate homes from which
fathers and husbands and brothers
and sons went off: without giving any
< dying message or sending a kiss to the
dear ones at home, tumbled into the
soldiers grave trench, and houses in
which a few weeks before unbroken
family circles rejoiced, now plunged
IN the great sorrows Of widowhood and
'ofphanage: that is prose.
But there is now on the earth king
dom which has set itself up for conflicts
without number. In its march it tram
pies no grain fields, it sacks no cities,
1t mpoyerishes no treasures, it fills no
hospitals, it bereaves no families. The
courage and victory of Solferino and
Magenta without carnage. The kingdom
Of Christ against the kingdom Of Satan.
That is the strife now raging. We will
offer no armistices: we will make no
treaty. Until all the revolted nations
OF the earth shall submit again to King
emanuel, In the name of God we will
!, set up our banners
Every army has its enslgns. Long
before the time when David wrote the
text they were in use. The hosts of
Israel displayed them. The tribe of
benjamin carried a flag with the in
scription q wolf. The tribe of Dan
a representation of cherubim. judah
lion wrought into the groundwork OF
white, purple, crimson, and blue Such
flags from their folds shook fire into
the he;.rts of such numbers as we're in
the field when Abijah fought against
Jehoranl and there were twelve hun
dred thousand soldiers, and more than
five hundred thousand were left dead
on the field. These ensigns gave hero
ism to such numbers as were assem-
bled when Asa fought against Zerah
and there were one million five hun.
dred and eighty thousand troops in the
battle. The Athenians carried an in.
I scription of the owl, which was theil
emblem Of wisdom. The flags of mod.
ern nations are familiar to you all. an6
many of them SO inappropriate for. the
character of the nations they represent
it would be impolitic to enumerate
them. These ensigns are streamers
borne on the point of a lance and 81
the top of wooden shafts. They are car
ried in the front and rear Of armies
They unroll from the main-top gallant
masthead of an AdmiraPs flagship t.
distinguish it among other ships of tn,
same squadron. They are the object
of national pride. The loss Of them o1
the field is ignominious
The three banners OF the Lords host!
are the bancroft proclamation. tn,
banner of recruit, and the banner o
victory When a nation feels its right
infrinaed or it's honor insulted, whel
its citizens have in foreign chimes bee,
oppressed and no indemnity has beef
offered to the inhabitants Of the repub
lie or kingdom, proclamation of wa
is uttered. On the top of batteries an,
arsenals and custom houses and rev
enue Offices flags arc immediatel
swung out. All who look upon then
realize the fact that uncompromisin.
war is daelared.s Thus it is that tn
H Church of Jesus Christ, jealous for tn
llcaor OF its s;oysreign and deteruliney
# to set lack those who have been CIR
# Tiass OF captive into the bondage 0
Satan, and intent upon the idestruetiol
Of these mighty wrongs which naYe S
org crushed tho earth ard bent lipo
the c Il tension OF the avtou1.s reign