Omaha daily bee., 1899-05-29

the malarial swamp and all other hardsIips
and dangers Of war. And this is the self
sacrifice with which these men went to the
front A story Of how federal private
faced danger to remove to the rear a
wounded officer illustrates how this bravery
Is honored even by opponents in battle. The
officer had been shot, and wien the private
rushed to his rescue fifty rifles OF the
enemy were pointed at him, but the officer
in command OF the confederates ordered his
men to hold their fire. 1t was a pretty
recognition of the courage of the private
and was acknowledged by himself and the
officer, who lifted their hats to tte enemy
as they retired to shelter.
There were those at home who were brave
as we'll as the soldier who went to the
'front.' among them the mothers, and sisters
and sweethearts whose heartaches cannot
be portrayed, to say nothing Of the heroines
who followed the camp A mother who got
word Of the death Of her son in battle i'm
mediately offered her only remaining boy for
her countrys service. In the face of the
protestations of friends she urged that this
son was just as loyal as the other, and that
she wished him to go to the front and
shoulder a musket for his country
The children Of today ask what was the
cause of this war Those who are A years
of age only remember with what eagerness
the mothers watched for the news from the
front. Others cannot even remember the
roll of the drum, and some can only re-
member the farewels. 1t was four years OF
ghastliness of funeral dirges, of grave dig
ging, and of weeping. And so the chill
dren ask: What was the cause?" The
question is easily answered Royaltys gift
to this nation in 1907 brought with it royal
blood, but there also came a serpent. In
1920 the Pilgrims arrived as refugees and
settled In the north, while the royaists went
to the south This serpent they had brought
was the serpent of slavery There has
been abundant time for retrospect, and
there has been atonement with four years
Of bloodshed with hundreds of thousands of
lives lost Lincoln said: "a nation half
slave and half free cannot live" Great
abuses have never melted away under an
April sun. The, Greek saying, Whom the
gods would destroy they first make mad"
has ever been true Pharoah ever flogged
the slave in his brick klns in Egypt without
a thought that he would day come into
contact with the wrath of Jehovah as well
| as the tears of the Hebrew mother. When
Jehovah's wrath was kindled he swept
Pharoah into the sea and delivered Israel
safe on the other side
Divine Power.
We should recognize divine power as
we'll as a divine purpose. When Israel dis
persed Jehovah blew blast upon the pur-
pie arrayed Assyrians and they were driven
to their own destruction. Napoleon said
God was always the side of the mighty
artillery, but Bucher, following the advice
of the shepherd boy, annihilated his forces.
1t was the clergy who taught equality upon
the throne of heaven. 1t was the English
King John. Puritan theology built our free
institutions-free churches, free schools and
fress press and the liberty of conscience.
1t was the fnit-loc of the minute men
that drove the British soldiers down Bunker
hill. 1t was the growing conviction that
human slavery Is never separated from hu-
man suffering, it was the armed hosts with
the tramp, tramp across the nation that
| broke the rebellion, liberated the slave and
restored the nation.
! Gods hand is evident in battle. There
| are events which are incorrigible by rea
| son, NUT will lever be crushed by force. We
| are not only invited in the bible to con-
| slider the lilly and the sparrow, but to come
| and see the judgment OF the Lord, what des-
| olations he hath wrought Belshazzar was
| feasting with hi shign captains, lords and
concubines whe athe crack o fdoom struck
| his throne. 1t was when Rome had reached
the height of her ambition and got furthest
| from her simplicity that she was nearest her
| doom. Spanish tyranny could hold the rod
| over her subjects for centruies, but the
| spirit of liberty fro mthe land OF the free
| and the home of the brave finally let loose
| and shot across the waters fifty miles and
| struck the chaskles not only from the Gu
| bans, but fro mthose who are sweltering in
| the eastern seas.
| BY this national service we mean the
| future defense of the nation and its in
| terests. Future generations will rise up i'll
the face of the enemy who may encroach
| upon our rights. Patriotism is as essential
| now as in 1861. The tendency OF peace is
| to exhalt the material God How much
was ne WORTH" is the common question
when we follow a fellow citizen to the
grave-fifty thousand or ten thousand? Many
| OF our old comrades were worth not dol
| lar, and they have held their own. We think
| of the vast wealth of the nation IN Its
varied forms, but there is a vaster wealth
| than that which is noted by the dollar mark
| the wealth OF manhood and of patriotism.
Prizes go with domestic soap.