Evening journal., 1898-07-18
,orn nation that was heard all over the


as our homes and our affairs. This was
our second baptism, that of our boy
hood. There was yet to come, how
ever, a more fearful baptism in the
flush of Our youth. In 1861 the daugh-
ters of the South put upon their loved
ones the uniform of gray and bade
them go forth to drive the invader
from their sacred soil, and to give their
lives in defence OF their homes and |
their fresides, in the full faith that they
were then in the right and would be fa-
vored by the God of battle. On the
other hand the daughters of the North |
clothed their loved ones in the uniform |
of blue and sent them forth in a larger |
faith to battle for human freedom, for
united country, for one flag and one
government. The blue and the gray |
met in one of the most gigantic strug- |
giles Of the ages. In that struggle the
chains dropped from the limbs Of every |
slave. This one blot was erased for
ever from the charter Of American
freedom. This conflict taught each sec
ton to respect the other and vindi-
Gated American character, showing, as
it did, that typical American manhood,
was confined to no section, but grew
and fourished all over our common
country, that noble men and noble
women were the outgrOwth OF all parts
of this land OF freedom. But this les
son was learned at a fearful cost OF iiie
and treasure. Maybe it was ordered OF
God and for our good.
These three baptisms OF birth, boy
hood and youth, have come to us thus
far as tonics in our growth. They
were all formative and growthful to us.
The first was in birth throes; the sec
ond was a vindication, and the third
was a consolidation. Under them we
have come to what we now are. They
were all home struggles. Fights for
life, liberty and existence.
But now we are to take place and
hand in the outer world. At the call
Of suffering Cuba we have entered the
field as the friend OF human freedom,
3 pledged to strike down the arms OF des-
potism and misrule, that for centuries
has crushed the queen Of the Antilles.
The gray uniform Of our civil war has
[ at last melted into the blue OF an
united people. The stars and bars are
merged into the Stars and Stripes. The
daughters OF the North and OF the
South have united to send their loved
ones in the one uniform of blue, under
l the one flag to sound the battle cry OF
freedom in foreign lands. A Dewey
Q from Vermont, and Hobson from
North Carolina, a Wilson from Della
, ware, and a Wheeler from Virginia
t a Roosevelt from New York, and a Lee
d from Virginia, with many other such
like, move side by side and shoulder &c
shoulder under the inspiration Of th'
S battle-song Of freedom to the straingi
). OF the "Star Spangled Banner" Th'
n last trace Of the bloody chasm has dis
e appeared. This wound Of the nation Il
70 healed; all the people are one people
e breathing a common prayer for liberty
g Possibly this may be the creates
n blessing of this new war.
n All the while this young giant ha
s. been growing marvellously in territory
r in population, in wealth and moral AM
d. political power. This western worl'
lie has been changed from drear.
n wilderness to a land of beautiful
re homes, and one Of peace and plenty
lg We have surely come to our nationa
le manhood, and now must make choic
l. OF our vocation among the nations O
lg the world.
lie To my mind this is the most critica
p and crucial period in our history. Upo
a. our choice may depend the continue
OF favor Of the God of nations, and deter
ed mine whether in the divine econom
O. we shall be his chosen instrument tc
ed human good or fall into corruption an
u decay like the nations who have gon
'd' before us. We are just at the forks {
In the highway of nations. The one roa
u leads to Imperialism, corruption an
.ly death. The other road to nationalisn
ne purity and life. The one follows Z
"a divine will, the other human ambitlo
ce and devices.
ne Hitherto we ha~e kept our han'
lct Gear of foreign complications. Und
lie the prophetic warnings of Washingtt
lu- we have avoided entangling allianc
'ge with the old world, and have sought
MS develop our own marvellous resource
'ur asking only under the Monroe doctri
5ht that no foreign hands shall be laid upt
us, accompanied with the impli
led promise that we would not interfere
nj their policies.
at- Impelled by the lustiness of our wo
ent derful manhood, we seem to have fC
I'M gotten our lesson, and to have leap
sh- at once into the troubled arena Of
nm old world, as the professed champi
'ge' of freedom. Eleven thousand miles