The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-05-10

-ltlt Ut ~ 1IilI1tIl'lIE. At AI4dtAt
speech 10 his army and said: Soldiers.
forty centuries are looking down upon
you from the heights Of those pyramids
Just 50 Jupiter used to sit enthronef
upon the top Of Mt. Olympus and over
look the doingS Of the children Of men
These are rather lofty thoughts for {;
COMMON man TO contemplate, but some
tim" | wish that | could take Il til@h
to the clouds and poiSe myself and ie
the earth roll under me, 50 that | couit
look dovn upon the nations and see
what they were doing. The world ma
been getting smaller ever since | was {;
boy. 1t has been shrinking, shrinking
from year to year, for it used to tax
three years to 90 around ii, but now
less than three months makes the cir
cult. Still we are not content. 10
though the lane is wired pretty we'll. the
sea is not and a vessel may be lost or e
fleet destroyed away ont in mid-ocean
and We could not hear of it in Il week.
This little war of ours is growing big
ger and spreading wider in its probable
tics. We thought that Cuba was to be
the battle ground for our army and
Cuban waters for our navy, but the
Philippine islands are thousands of miles
away and the CanarieS not far from
Africa. 1t is now Il war of invasion ana
the end is not in sight. 1t is too late
now to cntrcat for ncacc or arbitration.
and so we must all fall into line and
do Our share. When the preachers put
on their war paint | reckon it is no
harm for the laymen and the sinners TO
fight. We remember that in the last
wal the preachers, both north and
south. were more bclligerent than any
~ z1,r, TNhor didn't 10 rp11.h Eoht-
ing. but they went alon" and encoura ged
the boys and prayed for them and nurS-
ed the sick and the wounded and show
ed their faith by their works, but some
Of them were awfully mistaken about
which side. the Lord was on, or what
were His great designs.
"God moves in 4 mysterious way
His wonders To perform.
Blind unbelicf is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter
And he will make it plain"
The preachers are Just human like
other people and subject to like passions
and prcjudices. | remember that just
before Georgia seeded our Rome
preachers could hardly maintain their
Christian serenity in the pulpit or out
of it. and one Of them. an eloquent ana
gifted man whom the whole communi-
ty respected and reverenced. took for
his text the twentieth verse of the
second chapter of Joel: II will remove
far from YOU the northern army and
will drive him into a land barren and
deSolate. with his face toward the east
sea and his hinder part toward the ut
most sea. and his stink shall come up
and his i'll SAVIOR shall come uD, for he
hath %magnified to do great things.
-
rejoice. ior the Lord win do great
things
| tell You he made it fit our case like
q prophetic prediction. and we could see
the Yankees flying from our valiant
troops and driven to their utmost bOrd-
erS and scattered from the Pacific ocean
TO plymouth Rock and perishing to death
all along the line for lack of provisions.
and nobody left to bury them. At the
same time Henry Ward Beecher was
breathing out th~rcatenings and slaughter
from his Brooklyn pulpit and declaring
that the Almighly's hand was on their
side and within Il few months would
Wreak his vengeance upon the slave
holder and set the bondmen free. And
the editors knew nothing at last. | tell
YOU. my brethren. that preachers and
editors are Just human like the rest Of
us. and the world will never nave a
fair chance to get even with them until
every man has 4 pulpit and a newspaper
of his own.
But the war is on rs and we must
fight it. Our Congressman have said
1t IS right and just and they ought to
know, but | was eliminating about blood
ana tears and ~aGOny-about widows and
orphans and Rachel mourning for her
children because they were not. That
good old Georgia mother in Israel whose
son is IN officer on the Olympia in far-off
waters has ceased to smile. For years
his letters have been her comfort. For
years he has supported her from his
pay and is now educating and maintain
ing an orphan niece. and they love him
dearly. But it may be that the con
tiict has come and gone and he is even
now sleeping in the deep waters, and
they know it not. Who can measure the
glory of wal with Il grief like theirs,
and this is only one ease. There are or
will be thousands like it if this war
goes on.
But we must fight. In the language
of Patrick Henry, 4 repeat it, we must
fight"
Patriotism is q G~od-given emotion in
the human breast. True. sincere,
thoughtful love Of home and country
hol .Hit klnd Which IS q prCtenSe ana
which Dr. Johnson said was the last
refuge of Il ScOUndreI. Politics and
greed and religious fanatacism are often
c~onfounded with it and woman is al
ways the chief mOurner both in victory
and defeat when war ~afflicts a country.
Nations make war in haste and repent
at leisure. The saddest picture ever
painted was that of q mother with 4
babe at her breast hunting over a bat
tleheld for the body of her husband.
The hid Of misery baptized in tears"
But enough of this. I'm afraid [ am
becoming Il confirmed pessimist. l will
go out in the garden and with some of
the little offspring and pick strawberries.
These little chaps always comfort me. |
don't see what we grow uD for nohOw.
for the scriptures say unless We become
as one of these little ones We shall not
enter the kingdom of heaven. What
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