The National tribune., 1902-12-04

field hilltop and called it "Jehovah-nissi,"
''tile Lord is my banner" iExod. II: S-16l.
Similarly, in tribal conflicts in the
Hauran and the Jaulan. east of the Jor-
dan, and in MesOpotamia, today, it is the
leaders standard-a staff with or with
out Il distinguishing streamer-displaye
upon a hilltop above the field of battle,
that animates the fighters. While that
stands. they are firm. When tat goes
down, they waver or fall With hem as
with others the standard is thei:- irspiFi-
ton, ard the object of their dev On IN
like manner in modern times. throughout
the civilized world, the ensign or flag cen
ters attention in battle, and is the ma
terial symbol of the sentiment Which in
spires soldiers to do and to die for that
which is more than life itself.
Among the treasures i'll the Imperial
Arsenal at Berlin none appeal more
strongly to the soldier heart today than
the gathered standards taken by the
armies of Prussian and German soldiers,
from the days of Frederick the Great to
the Emperor William the First. No sign
of the humiliation of the great Napoleon
could speak with such impressiyeEess as
those tattered French colors, with their
surnounting eagles, which were upborne
so brayely and followed so faithfully, as
inspiring assurances OF the great COM
marder's presence and power, before even
the most overwhelming force could beat
down their defenders and wrest the sym
bols of national life from the grasp of the
dying.
Devotion to the country's flag animates
all peoples, from the blind subjects of an
autocrat to the intelligent citizens of n
republic. The stolid Chinese look up to
the dragon flag as the banner of the Son
of Heaven, and are content TO live or to
die for it as he may order. At a corona
ton of n Tsar of the Eussias, one of the
imposing ceremonies, in which ruler and
ruled have a common interest, is the com
mitting TO his care the standG rd of the
Empire, with accompanying prayers for
its preservation, he swearing fidelity to
it in the presence of the representatives
of his vast realm and Of the outside pow
ers of earth.
REGIMESTAL FLAGS IN ST. PAUL's CATHE-
ORAL.
The worn-out regimental flags of the
British army have n sacred resting-pl: ce
III the cathedrals of the nation, when they
can no longer do duty at the head of the
columns of living heroes. In grand old
ST. Pauls, where the tombs of Nelson and
of Wellington, the mighty captains of the
ages, teach their lessons of patriotism and
of heroic action TO successive generations
the tattered flags, long upborne by men
inspired and led by them, also bear wit,
ness TO these virtues on the venerable
walls of the sacred fame.
Good Dean Church, writing to Lord
Blacidord, in 1876, of service in connec.
tion with the reception of wOrn-Out regi
mental flags in St. Paul's, said: 1--WE
have just been having an interesting mill
tary Misunderstanding the old colors OF
the 18th Regiment TO be hung up in the
cathedral. They were ii. e., the colOrsl
in the Crimea, where the 71th were the
first considerable body of English who
came in contact with the Russians on the
morning of Inkermann, and knocked bacb
one of Simonoffs columns in n wonderful
way, according to Kinglake. They (the
soldiers came, some two hundred, laid
their old colors on the altar, and then took
them to the place where they nre to be
band playing Aud Lang Syne, and thu
Colonel giving a parting kiss to the flags
as he delivered them to me-"
More than 20 years later it was said o.
a similar service in st. Pauls, on the re
ception of another set of regimental col
ors: THE escort of the Royal FusiIiers
marching up the nave, We're received bt
the choir and the clergy. The subalterns
carrying the colors to the chancel steps
delivered them TO the Dean, who laid
them upon the altar. After a short ser
vice the flags were presented by the Dean
TO their former bearers, who, accompanied
by the clergy and choristers, placed them
in position. The Dean then gave tie ad.
>aGess, and the service concluded with the