The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-09-29

The subject. the myriad phases Wnlch 4
oears ~ bought. the mind is overwheim-
ed ana the pen paralyzed. To giv yoics
to the JOY and gratitude of millions o.
men. TO the soaring spirit Of a great city
and a great nation is a task that mig
bent the tongue of a Burke or a webster
the hand Of a Gibbon or a Macaulay. Inc
newspaper press, however powerful IN d
transitory way. is impotent to treat o.
st,ch an occasion in its higher signifi-
cances. II can do no more than chronicle
The facts and leave it to others to philoso'
phize upon them.
stlll there are one or two characteristic
Of this celebration, which are SO obvious
that they must impress themselves upon
even the most casual observer He snouio
80 dense Of mental abre, indeed, who die
not become aware that, under the SURFACE
Of bunting and lime light, of shouts and
cannon firing. of mere curiosity and COM
monpiace expression, there are impulses
At work ~springing from the very roots OF
human nature and National life, and tha'
they are exercising an incalculable innu-
ence upon individuals and the State, pro-
dncing results which will be felt not only
nv the generation of today, but by our
children and our children's children. In
4 word. the importance of this festiVai
transcends the hour and the man. HUI
manity in mass proclaims in it eternal
right n truth.
There Is nothing SO glorious as war, and
there is nothing SO ~ennopling to a people.
It IS the hnaI expression Of the altruistic
idea. It is the ultimate expression OF the
willingness of men to suffer, to sacrihce
even life, more than life. for a cause
for the cause OF fellow men. And II IS
this ~capability of voluntary sacriice'
which Is the climax of human character.
Wnen the preachers of universal peace
cry ont that War is hell" they are
eroyeling In the slime of sensualism and
. s~elfishness, they are false prophets, mis-
leading the people and trying to Kill, in
the National soul, the only inspiration
which efectnally arouses it out of purple
ease, and excites It to the passionate
sense of duty and responsibility and as
piration after Divine ideals.
In the apotheosis of an individual hero
the people today and tomorrow are really
worshipping the spirit of sacrifice, the
very spirit of Christianity itself. 1t is not
the Dewey who destroyed the Spanish
fleet to whom we pay homage. HI per-
formance was a mere circumstance. The
Dewey who has awakened the highest
sentiments of a whole Nation, of an en-
tire race, is the Dewey who steamed into
Manila Bay, In the dead of night, to en-
counter a. future as obscure to human
ken in that hour Of ecstatic uncertainty,
as the blackness of sky and sea and air
into which his ships bored their way. In
that hour, the Great Captain offered as
q sacrifice not his own life-for to a man
Of his training this would be a trife-but
ne took upon himself the lives of two
thousand brave men h manned his
neet, ne took upon himself the response
the charge OF the fortunes of the Repub-
lie. Loaded with such paramount cares
as man has only seldom supported, he
went against the unknown. the doubtful,
the desperate, knowing the risk. imperil-
ing everything that men esteem, even
reputation; he went calmly, r~esolutely,
without ever a momentary hesitation,
whittier duty pointed the way. And the
motive for this act was devotion to the
nag Of his country and what It repre-
scented; In other words, he made the
superlative offering Of self for h well
fare OF others.
This Is why the people have put up
statues n draped columns in his honor.
This Is why the very sky is assailed with
prpclamations Of his glory from the
mouths Of cannon, from instruments Of
brass and from the threats of millions
And In prociaiming the greatness Of the
hero, all Of the millions partake Of his
exalted qualities, for the echo of his deed
has responsive cords in the
souls Of even h humblest and dullest
Of his fellow citizens. In this way again,
he is the National benefactor, and his in
luence win live long after the iron frame
Of every ship that went with him into
Manila Bay has persisted into rust.
Throbbing through the ages, and adapting
itself now to this and now to another
emergency Of human life, his fame, like
the forces. which, men of science tell us,
are transmitted but never become extinct,
viii enkindle patriotism, win inspire self
saeriice. so long as there Is a man left
On the American Continent to recall his
name.
Sensible Jersey veternus.