Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1902-05-30

never be allowed 10 increase the feeling
OF eXultation among the victors or of
resentment among the conquered. We
must not forget, lest all for which our
heroes fought be indolently lost. But
we can remember lovingly, in the spirit
OF the Union Soldier who wrote OF this
Memorial observance:
From the silence % s0rrovfui hours
The leSol1te mourners go.
Lovingly laden Ith flowers.
Alike tlr the friend ANA the zoe.
Under the SOD ana the dew.
Waiting the IuI. .mtnt Day.
Under the roses the Blue.
Under the llIeS. the GRAY.
Sadly but not with uptralilng
The generous deed was done.
IN the storm ut the years that fading,
No drawer battle was won
Under the SOD ana the dew
Waiting the judgment Day.
Under the blossoms. the Blue,
Under the garlinds, the Gray.
We shall be much more ready to
remember with this far sighted mag
nanimity, if we hold fast the great truth
that God rules the nations righteously
Let this Memorial Day teach each new
generation this important lesson In
Jehovah s plans the curse causeless does
consequence Is sure 10 follow. America
had wronged humanity and dishonored
God 10y degrading man In His image 20
the level of brute, not
simply the gulf and South Atlantic
states We are apt 10 forget that the
North in time past was equally con
cerned with the South in the sin of
slavery; and that it was only Providen-
tal lar 4 .
tiOusness that freed us from the evil be
fore the civil war broke out. New York
owned slaves until slavery was unproft-
able. Newport was built up and mace
rich by the slave trade. As late as 1910
slaves were legally held in Rhode Island
There were 236 black slaves owned in
New Jersey in the year 1850. 1t was
the climate of the South and more es-
pecially the invention of a Connecticut
Yankee, the cotton gin, that rivited the
fetters on the southern negro's limbs.
Had most of those who fought in rebel
armies, been born in Michigan, they
would have worn the Blue instead OF
the Gray. Had we been natives of Vir-
ginia, we would have believed slavery
respectable Lee rather than Grant
would have been our leader, and sincere
success of the COnfederacy. We have
no reasons 10 boast OF our superior right
eousness or condemn those who opposed
us. They were wrong, terribly wrong,
but candor must admit that most of
them were sincerely wrong We need
20 thank our God with humble graft
tude that he made no mistake, but
wrought in mercy and truth, laying
tn tba limo an1 iuotira 20 D..
plummet. He saw that If America was
to work out the fulfilment Of her divine
destiny, the sin she hugged must be
scourged from her. So for every drop
Of blood struck out by the slave drivers
whip he exacted another drop that
flowed from bullet wound and bayonet
thrust, until the sin was atoned for by
long remembered retribution. His
blows were struck in love and not in
wrath We could not see it then; but
now as we look tack across four long
decades we see that thus the Ruler of
the Nations tore away the cancer that
was eating cut the countrys life. Ii
was well done. Our God does all
things well. And TODAY we have bright.
er prospects OF being indeed free ard
united, than ever since the first black
slave as landed on the wharf of James
town. We should be ingrates did we
not acknowledge this today. Let each
Memorial Sabbath in coming years re-
teach the lesson 10 our children, Lest
They Forget Nor is this the only
truth that should be echoed in our ears
each time the day returns. 1t ought to
emphasize another giant fact.
The Christian citizen must never de-
spair Of the Republic. a mightier hand
than that of any human pilot has
grasped the wheel and is guiding the
ship of state upon its course. | know
here are hidden reefs and dangerous
shoals ahead. New issues must be met,
new problems solved. Dangerous class
es are concentrating in our great cities;
wealth Is being massed in fewer hands
dynamite is more deadly foe to civil
zation than gunpowder. Dependent
colonies across the sea make fresh de-
mand for lofty patriotism. But when
our courage fails us, we have only TO
look back upon the stormy way along
which we have steered. Think of the
feeble handful of exiles on Massachus-
cites inhospitable shore. Think OF the
day when untried colonists defied the
English armies, then the most powerful
in Europe. Think of the blood stained
track that led to Valley Forge, and all
the horrors OF that winter of starvation.
Think how the curse of slavery darkened
the whole land,-how weakened
Northerners acquiesced in the Missouri
Compromise and even Daniel Webster
bowed his regal head and accepted the