The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1897-05-27
OUR COUNTRY'S FLAG
FREE 1T FLOATS OVER THE GRAVES
OF ITS DEFENDERS.

Youth of Our Example of the
Dead Heroes Inspires a Laudable Am
billion to Follow Duty's Call.
Through green tasseled cornnelds our columns
were thrown,
And like corn by the red scytho of fire we
were mown.
And the sunshine of June, sprinkling gold on
the corn,
Hath no harvest that ripeneth like Bethels
red morn.
''Column. forward"
We thank God that through the gold
en-, sunny days of the beautiful spring
tide mo rude alarm of raging foes"
brings sorrow or desolation in our fair
land today. And we rejoice that only
peace promises to spread her fair mantle
abroad when the green tasseled corn
fields are in their summer glory and
autumn ripening. The chief lesson of
Memorial day for the youth in our land
today, we think, lies in the stern adher-
ence to the duty of the hour, which in
time of peace as well as i'll time of war
makes a hero of every one who is faith
full to the call.
There is no stern cry of Column,
forwardr in the ranks of uniformed
men in our midst to impress the young
with the precision and sharp command
of military leader, yet duty imperson-
ated sends out no less urgent and sharp
demands every day and every hour than
once rang along the ranks of an alert
and obedient soldiery As long as Me
mortal day continues to be observed
there will be that connected with its
impressive services which cannot fail
to set our youth to thinking, and some
thing of the cost of the dreadful civil
war must be borne into the minds of
our lads and also of our girls as the
tramping feet of the remaining veterans
bear garlands and flowers to the resting
places of departed comrades.
Yes, most deyoutly we thank God
that the war flag is furled The loud,
urgent call for volunteers is something
unknown to even those in our fair land
who have attained the age of manhood,
and only as parents ana grandparents
tell the tale does the story of 1.-The war"
become familiar to the young people III
our midst But its teachings remain.
What if the call for men to spring to
the defense of the Union had been dis
regarded? What if the flower of our
manhood had stood back more than
quarter of century ago yaluing ease
and dangerous peace more than ii
valued the cry of the Union and many
of her defenseless children? What if the
severe mandate of duty had only made
men careful of their lives and had caused
no long look ahead into the coming
years? 1t would be useless to speculate
as to probable results, yet we all know
and feel the vast, measurCloss obligation
the entire nation is under to these in
trepid, faithful men, who i'll life's
grand, early prime or in the still richer
years of full maturity went forth to bat
tie and to die if need be to preserve the
/ Union intact and to uphold the honor
of the nation.
There are wars and rumors of wars in
many lands today. Brave men and brave
women are facing painful calls to de
fend the right and to crowd out evil and
usurpaticn. And no less of battlecry
albeit it is Of different kind is sound
ing in the hearts of men and women
and eff young men and maidens all
around us And our conflict is with the
evils about us and with the Ceaseess
call of duty forever sounding i'll ouI
ears We heard General Howard say III
an address not very long ago that at
the hour cf his country s peril and stress
he felt he ought to arise and defend her
1t was IA duty SO plain and clear there
was but one thing to do. The soldier on
the platform, with one sleeve dcftly
pinned across his breast, did not forget
the Thousand blessings and benefits he
had enjoyed under the protecting flag
in days of peace and he WAS no craven
to hide away and relasp Il do his part
to secure for coming generations the
privileges and the Freedom he had
known in this dear land.
The examples Of our soldiers of the
past-and they are soldiers still at heart
should fire with laudable ambition to
listen and follow at duty'S call every
true patriot Of the now prosperous re
public. A boy or Il man is recreant to
what he owes these valiant heroes of
past generation who refuses to be thus
true to himself The needs of the day
in which he lives are the needs that
every true man should champion. The
duty lying before him and claiming his
attention is what every manly boy
should spring to. The upright flag at
every soldiers grave on Memorial day
serves as the text to the deep if silent
sermon preached by every grave. The
flag was Imperfect 1t floats today above
the grave of its defenders.
Yet let ii he remembered that true
bravery consists in simply doing the
duty of the hour. We repeat the state
mcnt for fear its very simplicity may
detract from its important truth. On
this subject Of duty Daniel Webster
says: "a SENSE of duty pursues us ever
1t is omnilrcsent, like the Deity. If
we take to ourselves the wings of the
morning and dwell in the uttermost
parts of the sea, duty performed or duty
violated is still with us, for our happi-
ness or our misery. If we say the dark
ness shall cover us, in the darkness as
in the light our obligations are yet with
us -
Sweet thy rest, ye honored dead.
Blooms Il peace hang DER thy bed
The lag thou gavest life to snve