The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-11-28

]
/ than that which belttle the soldiers
! life or the soldiers deeds, unless it is
/ the ingratitude that would forget to
! honor the soldiers memory. So long as
| a fragment Of the tombstone lasts or d
! billOW in the green turf shows where a
soldier lies buried. no people can af-
/ ford to pass by without dropping a
/ flower Of honor and tear Of gratitude.
/ Nor does the fact that some of them
roar Of guns, affect the relation in
/ which they have stood to their coun-
tTy's defense an5 the national duty.
They wage the conflict and are in the
struggle when once they enter the
army, for they are a part of the
strength of the nation, a menace to the
| enemy and a defense to her people.
/ They serve in enlistment. They have
volunteered the sacrifice: they have Of
! fered to battle and to die if needs be
/ be; they have had the valor and the
| courage, they showed the hero-heart
and did the hero's duty. And in the
glory of the final victory they truly
/ share as much as if they had actually
/ known the dangers Of the battle field
/ ITSELF for the reason they did not is
merely an incident of the place of duty
to which they were sent, and an acct
( dent Of the enemys attack.
/ 1t may not be necessary for us this
morning. but it viii be simply in the
line of true, patriotic and religious serV-
/ ice. to recall the things which have
made us debtors to their soldier service.
! They have done US an infinite good,
more understanding than the defeat of
! Spain or the liberation of the Cubans.
! They have expressed the noblest ma
/ tional life in us They have displayed
J
of the nation and its citizens They
! have shown us our stronger and more
dominant life and made real the broad
| spiritual aims and energy of our
! higher life. They have spoken and
/ acted our thoughts and Obeyed the
! will and conscience of the whole people.
| That conscience has been strengthened
and that will made more firm. They
| have been the action which has lifted
us out of ourselves and shown us the
| joy Of a national self sacrifice for the
| good Of mankind. Their pain was ours
and their blood ours spilled, They
| have been our more ValOTOus selves,
doing our highest actions for us. and we
have gained in virtue.
As Prof John r. Commons says, eve
had about forgotten that an American
could sacrifice for cause. We had
lost confidence in one another. We
doubted that there could be such a
thing as public spirit. We trusted our
government as little as possible. We
had raised a crop Of cynics and satir-
lists We thought everybody was for
sale. But now we know that the peo-
pie are honest, at least the oVerWhem-
ing majority"
This mutual confidence in our fellow
Americans and the inspiration they
gave US, to attempt other right things.
will enrich our life inestimably. And
certainly we viii not forget him. the
noblest soldier of them all, who, not
for his own liberty, nor for that of his
own land but for the sake of another
land another people and the cause of
humanity at large, arose and went out
to do battle in the name Of humanity
and Code a Christian soldier, a true
knight Grant, to offer the strength of
his life for another
These men rise into heroic stature.
They are of our own generation and
families, Of our own weaknesses and
strength, Of our own perils and limita
tons. and we may be tempted to the
. disloyalty of belittling the type ant
! meaning of their service But let us
4 not account their service small, lest we
9 ourselves shall shrivel in soul and be-
! little the manhood in ourselves by de
y-spising the heroic and virtuous il
a others.
e Then honor to the soldier dead! An,
honor to the sailor brave! No sneer
e for what they did, nor jibes. nor sa tir,
k Tor the peoples whom they freed: Blu
= let US bow our heads in grief. and Iif
f a hand of benedictiOn, too, while from
a our lips vow Of a sweet memory per
e petual does rise TO God
f 1t was my privilege to be among tn,
q cit tn
7 great duty of the nation, upon the basi
q OF the supremacy Of humaneness. to in
terpose on the behalf OF the Cubans
e mat divine providence, whose pur
n poses no man can alter, has included
pN the authority Of events, other ma
ions in our responsibility. We did no
a seek an enlarged duty. but God has i'm
d posed it upon us
There are some of our people who
l. Just as they refused to hear the com
r mand of God spoken in the cries d
}. human suffering, and refused to be
i lleve the first duty ours, are now ais
r shutting their ears 70 the word G
! God which is bidding us to take u
I the second great duty
d | wish, therefore. to saw. with ems
I sincerity that the same law of Coo
u the supreme authority Of humanenes,
y requires US 70 insure to these peoDI
a what we started out to procure ia
u them, namely humane and JUST gov
- eminent and stable and orderly sc
= ciety which, when it is insured. wi
n pc De one most hitting memorial Of thei
ilVes VINO gave themselves TO procur
,, j..
= But as among those who died. Their
= Were some VINO We're the victims {
:, IillsInaliagement ana disease, and can
e not strictly be laid to the ravages {
{ war, but must be counted the victim