The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1899-06-02
SERMON 10 VETERANS.
Continued from First Page.

1lluStrlOuS not that In which their bones
lie moulding, but that in which their
fame will be preserved, to be the occa-
sion whenever honor shall be the burden
of word or act-of eternal remem brance. -
Fit words, only exceeded in simplicity
and grandeur by the words of our own
greater Pericles-our martyr President
on the field Of Gettysburg: "We are met
on great battlefield of the war to dedi-
cate portion of it as the final resting
place of those who here gave their lives
the last full measure of devotion-that
the nation might live. But, in a larger
sense, we cannot dedicate. we cannot
consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground
The brave men, living and dead, who
struggled here. have consecrated it far
above our power to add or detract. The
world will little note nor long remember
what we say here, but it can never for
get what they did here"
But | am profoundly impressed with
the thought that we assemble this
year under new and peculiar conditions.
Since last year we met in service like
this, strange and unforeseen events have
crowded the page of American history.
One year ago, the heart of the nation was
thrilled with unwoHted emotions of Joy
and wonder over the matchless naval
victory, under the incompatible Dewey
name ever memorable! in Manila Bay;
soon to be followed by victory after vic
tory on land and on sea, till at last the
Stars and Stripes, flag of the free, waved
in triumph over Cuba, the "Gem of the
Antilles and its glorious folds were
flung to the breeze at the gates of the
morning, in the far distant islands of the
Asiatic Sea.
Suddenly, and far beyond the widest
dream of craftsmanship, this nation has
taken new place among the nations of
the world The position, in which the
American people find themselves to day
was not sought by them, but is the To-
gical result of conditions thrust upon
them, in the providence of God, BY a
course of events beyond our control.
1t would seem-sseem" do | say, nav.
it is so-as if the God of nations deemed
it necessary that new war should prove
the manhood of the nation and put to
their supreme test American institutions
and the American system of government.
Grave indeed are the response oilities
thrust upon us, but surely a people uni
ted and free, people brave and gener-
Gus, a people who know the blessings of
liberty and of peace can be trusted to
meet them. The war with Spain has
discovered to us our strength as nation
and revealed a spirit of loyalty unsu-
spected before, and shown us also that
the largest generosity and humanity go
with true bravery.
In the battles of the Civil War, the
conflict was with men of kindredblood.
with the same birthright of freedom, i'm
bued with the same spirit of liberty, but
contending-howeve conscientiously-
for ideas that imperiled the very exis-
tence of the nation. AS in all Civil Wars.
where both sides claim the right of their
cause, the bitterness of defeat could not
but rankle in the hearts of the defeated.
The life time of a generation had indeed
softened the memories of that conflict,
but it needed the call of the oppressed
and downtrodden of alien blood, and for
the sake of humanity and freedom, to re-
move the last element of bitterness and
dissension; and side by side, shoulder to
shoulder, the men of the North and the
men of the South stood together
in battle against a foreign foe. The
flag of the Confederacy may be-
and doubtless always will be-cher-
ished as a memory; but, now and al
ways. the flag of the Union-the love-
lest flag the winds of heaven ever kissed
floats alike over North and South, on
land and on sea. The "Boys in Grey
and the ''Boys in Blue" have carried it
up the heights of San Juan and over the
rihepits of Santiago; under blistering
heat and drenching rains, through mo-
rass and jungle, through rivers and for.
ests in the far-away islands of the eastern
sea; and wherever it has been carried,
it means freedom for the oppressed bet
ter laws, righteous government, purer
civilization.
Comradesof the Grand Army of the Re-
public-veterans of '61-65-you thought
perhaps that never again would be wit
messed such courage, endurance and 10y
atty, as fill the annals of the war for the
Union, but tonight we salute the boys
of $500, and pay our tribute of honor
to the memory of the brave fellows who
sleep beneath the blue waters of the
Southern sea and under the waving
palms of tropic isles.
Three young men of our own neighbor-
hood laid down their lives in the Spanish
American war. James Babcock, Com
pany M, End New Jersey Infantry, died
at Jacksonville, Fla, on September 10,
1898, of typhoid fever, and was buried
at Evergreen Cemetery. Louis Skinner,
71st New York Volunteers, killed in
action, battle of San Juan, Cuba, July l,
1898, and his brother, w. Kenneth Skin
ner, 4th California Volunteers, killed in
action near Manila, Philippine Islands,
May, 1899.
said the war with Spain has shown
us that a noble magnanimity and the
spirit of true humanity go with the high
est courage and daring. Does any one
doubt it?
Listen. When the U. S. battle ships
stretched in that memorable curve be-
fore the entrance of Santiago harbor,
day after day, week after week waiting,
watching with sleepiess vigilance for
the coming of the Spanish fleet, not
a man of all those gallant seamen
but was ready to give his life at the
call of duty. The Merrimac, steaming
into the narrow channel, under the fire of
the enemy's guns, to what seemed to them
inevitable destruction, carried eight brave
men, but those eight represented hundreds
of equally heroic spirits, who envied the
choice that fell to their comrades and
when on that beautiful July morning the
Spanish ships at last appeared, every man
was in his place ready to do or die, in the
engine room, in the coal bunkers, on tur-
ret and deck, and as ship after ship of the
enemy's feet torn with shot and shell, was
driven in sheer desperation into the
breakers, without waiting for the signal of
surrender, the boats ofour war ships were
speeding over the waves to rescue from the
flames or watery grave, the helpless Span