The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1898-06-03

great rs AL tnIs seems, tue motives Tor Wnlcu
the nation prosecuted the war OF the rebel :
lion were greater That great war Involved
tnt Question Ot tue liT- aud Integrity Of the
nation. There nah been growing at its very
vitais and for AL The years OF its existence
AL ugly evil threatening every thilg. Aud
while this present war concerns great things
it does not touch the heart OF the nation
The rebellion came rs the Outw0I kiug OF
forces which had been .aated with the ma.
uon itseif. We had then to grappIe with
the cumulated power ot centuries. IL
ARA, I'd against each other aud on the same
soil the brothers aud heirs OF a common
past Then underneath the strife there
was found the great Question OF brother
hood. The question as to that second great
command, love TO your neighbOr. was up
for some practical solution. Aud so 1t is
that the war OF the rebellion mounts into
greatness 1t was a war for the life of the
erhoOd as taught by Jesus Christ. 1t con
cerned the whole OF the state and at least
the larger half of religion For II
we love not our brother In black
whom we see we shall have precious
little love for God whom we have not seen.
And so, my old soldier of the rebellion, IL
, you have been inclined to feel little as IL
the nation might forget you, now that we
have on hand another great war, let me bid
y0u quiet your fears. Moses fought no bat
| ties but he gave a constitution to the
lsraelItes and his work was therein greater
than that of Joshua. You gave no consti-
tuition, but you did prevent the one our
fathers made from being torn into pieces by
C. disloyal south. Because you fought for the
perpetuati0n of that charter of the nations
liberties and for the great doctrine of the
brotherhood of man, you have a place on
the roll of eternal fame.
Ihave read OF no war 10 all history in
| which l should have been more proud to
engage than In that for the Union In the
rebellion. Napoleon once struck off
great many medals with the simple inscrip-
ton upon them, II Was There" giving one
to every man who had been with him In a
certain severe engagement. To wear an
old G. A. r button is higher honor than
could come from any medal given in CON-
memOraion Of any or all the battles Ma
poleon fought.
But l cannot permit the higher religious
significance of this occasion aud of the
words of Moses to go unnoted. Moses was
here an old man; his great life work was
over. There Is a sOmber tone to the text.
The shadows are lengthening. Moses &C
tive life is ended and there Is but one thing
that he can do more, and that Is to admon-
ish this younger generation as they 90 over
to the conquest of the land that they forgot
not the covenant of their God. Is it not
even so with you? An old college friend of
mine said in memorial address not long
ago, 1.-THE march of the remnant on me.
mortal day thrills me as does no other sight.
Years ago in st. Paul watched the memori-
al march to the cemetery. The youthful
cadets Of the state university made pretty
show; the state guards In their natty uni.
forms made me thankful that patriotism was
not dying out; the swinging into line of the
U. s. regulars from Fort Smelling started
my pulses with the thought that true
patriotism implies readiness to fight; and
then came the men with bent forms and
hating step, many In carriages following
their exhausted comrades. Tlen was l
thrilled to the depths of my SOUL What an
nf Tod In,
swamps. What an array of disappointed
ambitions, which might have been fulfilled
had the soldier boys been deaf to the call of
their country" All, yes, that Is the spec
line up to march together to decorate the
graves of your fallen comrades. 1t seems
ain ost cruel to say 1t, and yet true it is that
the very country for which you sacrificed so
much to save does not want you any more
In the ranks of her armies. And, like
Moses, you must die permitting younger
men to take your places. And as we today
think of service Of country which was
once yours and which Is now denied you
because of the infirmities of age, Is It not
well to think OF that other service of Al
mighty Cod which will never be denied to
the soul. After the last ''taps" shall have
been sounded, Oh, my comrade, In this life
Of struggle, and all the lights are out,
when the quiet OF the camp has be-
come eternal, then whats There is some
thing beautiful about this love of country
which God has implanted In all breasts.
The only people of whom I ever saw it
asserted that they had no love of country
Is the Turks, 1t being maintained that zeal
of religion and love Of race had with this
cruel people eaten out that almost divine
flame of the soul. A couple Of years ago
when Greece was waging her hopeless war
against the Turk, her sons from this land
and from other lands hasten ed home to
bear arms In her defence. Love of country
is a divinely implanted instinct of the soul.
1t helps for ward the cause of freedom
throughout the world. In the power of 1t,
peoples have risen up as one man to throw
oa de-