The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1902-02-28

which elsewhere Is called the middle
class. but Which IN this cenntry y 60
nearly universal as 20 make or.otnSr
was neither rich nor poor neither proud
nor bumble;. he knew no hunger nc
wes not sure OF satisfying, no luxury
parents were sober. God fearing people;
intelligent and upright; without preten-
sion and without humility. He grew up
in the company Of boys like himself;
They looked down on nobody; they never
felt II possible they could he looked down
uron. Their houses were the homes of
probity, piety patriotism. They learned
In the admirable school readers of fifty
year ago the lessons of heroic and splen-
did life which have come down from the
papers the story of the worlds progress.
In which they were eager to take part,
aud of the sins and wrongs of civiliza-
ton with which they burned to do bat
| tie. 1t was a serious and thoughtful
| time. The boys OF that day felt dimly,
but deeply. that DAYS of sharp strug-
gle and high achievement were before
them. They looked at life with the won
dering yet resolute eyes of Young es-
auire in his vigil of arms They felt
| time was coming when to them should
apostle. quit you like men; be strong"
THE VALLEY OF DECISION.
1t is not easy to give to those of later
generation any clear idea of that extra
| ordinary spiritual awakening which pass
ed oyer the country at the nrst red sig
| 1t was not our earliest apocalypse: q
hundred years before the nation had
been revealed to itself, when after long
discussion and much searching of heart
| the people of the colonies had resolved
| that to live without liberty was worse
| than to die, and had therefore wagered
| their fortunes. and their sacred honor"
| In % stress of heat and labor ttnutterable.
the country had been hammered and
welded together; but thereafter for near
| ly century there had been nothing in
our life to touch the innermost fountain
of feeling and devotion; We had had ru-
not without sacrifices and glory-but
nothing which went to the vital self
| consciousness of the country, nothing
which CHALLENGED the nations right to
| live. But in 1860 the nation was going
down into the valley ofdecision. The ques-
tion which had been debated on thou
sands of platforms, which had been dis
cusscd In countless publications, which,
Numbered from innumerable pulpits. had
caused In their congregations the bitter
strife and dissension to which only ones
where pressing for solution. And not
merely in the various channels of publici-
| ty was IL alive and clamorous About
every fireside in the land. in. the con-
versation of friends and neighbors and
! deeper still, In the secret of millions
of human hearts, the battle of opinion
was waEing; and all men felt and saw
with more or less clearness-that an an
swer TO the importunate question,
Shall the nation live? was due. and not
to be denied And / do not mean that
| In the north alone there was this aus
tere wrestling with conscience. in the
south as well, below all the efferves-
cence and excitement of a people per-
haps more given to eloquent speech than
we We're there was the profound agony
of question and answer the summons
to decide whether honor and freedom did
not call them 10 revolution and war II
Is easy for partisanship to say that the
ono side was right and that the other
was wrong. Tt is still easier for an in
| dolcnt magnanimity to say that both
| were right Perhaps in the wide view of
ethics one is always right to follow his
conscience, though II lead him to disas-
| ter and DEATH But history Is inexorable.
She takes no account 4. @ of, Of sentiment and
eyes that side is right which fights
| in harmony with the stars in their
courses. The men are right through
whose efforts and struggles the world is
helped onward ana humanity moves 10 a
higher level and n brighter day
| The men who are living today and who
were young in 1860 Will never forget the
glory and glamour that filled the earth
and the sky when the long twilight of
doubt and uncertainty was ending and
the time. of action had come. speech
by Abraham Lincoln was an event not
only of high moral significance. but of
far-reaching Importance; the drilling of
a militia company by Ellsworth attract
ed national attention: the fluttering OF
the flag in the clear sky drew tears from
the eyes of young men. Patriotism,
which had been rhetorical expression,
became passionate emotion in which
instinct. logic, and feeling were fused.
The conutry was worth saving; II could
be saved only by FIRE; no sacrifice was
too great: the young men OF the country
were ready for the sacrifice: come veal.
come woe. they were ready
HEARD THE SUMMONS
At II years of age William McKin-
ley heard this summons of his country
He was the sort Of youth to whom q
possess no attractions. His nature would
far different from, that of the ordinary
soldier. He had other dreams of life. It's
es and battles. But to his mind there
was no choice or question. The banner
floating in the morning breeze was the
Sring notes OF the tr"mpet m calied him
him and none other-into tho ranks. His
portrait in the first uniform Is familiar
to you all-the short stocky figure. the
quiet. thoughtful face; the deep. dark
eyes. 1t is the face of a lad who could
not stay at home when he thought he
was needed in the field. He was of the
Had he been ten years older he would
have entered at the head of a COM
pany and cone out at the head of a d.
vision. But he did what he could. He
81
His serious. sensible ways. his prompt.
alert efficiency soon attracted the at
tention of his siperiors. He was so
faithful in little things they gave him
more and more to do. He was untiring
in camp and on the march: swift. cool,
and fearless In fight. He left the army
with field rank when the war ended,
brevetted by President lincoln for gal
lantry In battle
In coming years when men seek to
draw the moral ot our great civil war
nothing will seem to them so admirable
In all the history of our two magnificent
armies as the way in which the war
came to close. When the Confederate
army saw the time had come, they
acknowledged the pitiless, logic of facts.
and ceased fightings When the army
OF the Union saw 1t was np Logger need
ed without a murmur or question. making
no terms asking no returni IN the flush
Of victory and fuliness Of might It
laid down its arms and melted back
into the mass OF peaceful citizens There
is no event, since the nation was born,
which has SO proved its solid capacity
for self-government. Both sections share
edually In that crown of glory They
had held a debate of Incompatible Inn
portance and had fought 1t out with