Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1901-05-31
Mr.. DAYS Address.

Rev. c. o. Day spoke of the signn-
canoe of the civil war and it's conse-
auences in the light of the suggestions
presented by the view from Lookout
Mountain, Tennessee. From the fact
that seven states are visible from that
point, which held on the one hand $780,
600 slaves at the beginning of the war,
and on the other some of the most loyal
Union men in the country, comes the
thought that the war was something in
which the entire life of the people was
involved. 1t was war OF the people,
by the people and for the people. The
seeds of liberty were sown at the begin
ming of our history. The great men Of
the revolutionary period did but express
the principles of the people. The war
was the result of a long process There
was always opposition to slavery, and
on the other hand the multiplying spirit
The leaders kept patching up; the people
kept breaking up. BY and by they came
to the parting of the ways; they came to
see the Internal baseness of an aristOc-
rncy founded on slavery So the pcO-
ME themselves went to war about it,
II was the rank and file that saved the
Union Abraham Lincoln himself
counted the greatest military genius de-
welcomed by the war. illustrates the point
that it was fought by the people.
A study of the constitution Of our ar
mics SETS in noblest light the character
of the "citizen soldier" Gen. Sherman
said leaders and orators were all In con-
fusion. when the volunteer soldier step
ped upon the arena. He took the oath
and kept it," And that the war was
for the people as well as of and by them
is the supreme truth about it. II was
for the best good of the South, but this
was so because it was for humanity. Il
was a war for a sentiment. Its consti-
tutional objective was the Union; its
moral motive was the freeing of the
slave. It's inspiration was the sacred
ness of man. Thus it gave to the flag
its worldwide redemptive meaning and
caused it to be true that that flag,
where justly lifted up, must never come
down because to take it down means to
pun down human rights.
From the exalted ground upon which
we stand, we also can see at what ire
mendous cost the blessings which came
from this war were purchased. The
contents of the view from Lookout
Mountain of the battle fields at its base
and upon its slopes are enough. We
need not try to measure the immeasure-
able figures of the war, nor the TRACE
dies held in the stories of the 800 900 men
who are buried in the national ceme-
teries alone. Enough to consider the
monuments which surround our point Of
vantage and the graves in a single one
of these great resting places. In the
battles near Chattanooga came to the
front all of the great leaders who decd-
ed the war. As a result of these strug-
giles the gate was opened for Shermans
march to the sea. And in that quiet
cemetery there is not grave which does
not hold a record OF conservation. for
it was for martyrdom that the call came:
and when the voice came from the coun-
try in its deadly peril, He that loveth
father or mother more than me is not
T1,w~ Of
Amen"
So as we look down upon the peaceful
scene. the quiet flowing river, the bright
and modern city of Chattanooga, upon the
land where there are no more slaves
ana where every mar may; stand up free
as God made him to be- and to grow. 70
strive and to hope, we can best see the
results of this struggle. The blood
drawn by the sword not only repays
that drawn by the lash, but has in it
infinite purchasing power for the future.
One great word sums up all of these re-
suits; 1t Is emancipation. Not only the
emancipation of the black race but of
the spirit of the nation itself in a more
terrible prison than Libby or Anderson
vile. There was achieved the fourfold
emancipation of conscience with the
overthrow of compromise; of human
feeling and tenderness Of heart together
with Righteousness Of indignation which
swept the country into the Spanish war.
There was the emancipation Of power.
material, intellectual. racial. There was
the emancipation of influence: and it is
the influence of the people by their char
acter, their institutions. their ideals.
their hopes for humanity which is the
monument which we decorate on Memo
rial daY. In fact the best result is the
emerging, fun grown. of the American
manhood and the Crandest fact about it
all is its summation in the supreme char
acter which we can measure truly only
as we stand upon a mountain; the char
acter of Lincoln.