The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-05-12
Flowers and Flags in ST.
lent Tribute.
Continued from First Page.)

the Apostle, Whatsoever things are true,
whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever
things are just, whatsoever things are
pure, whatsoever things are lovely
whatsoever things are of good report; ii
there be any virtue and if there be any
praise, to think on these things These
are the things taught us of God and
necessary parts of our holy religion and
so are they proper subject matter fol
on thoughts in this House of Prayer. and
on this, the Lords Day: but as they are
proposed to us not as abstract generali-
ties. but as constituting character and
finding theih illustrations and exemplif
cation in living men and the dead, so
venture to think are they especially ap-
propriate for our contemplation on this
day, which has for years been observed
in memory of that innumerable company
of faithful Southern soldiers who sealed
their devotion to duty with their deaths
Patriotism is a necessary part of true
Fear God and Honor the King are
exhortations of the Apostle, which are
Immediately connected. A memorial day
which does not rest on a basis of religious
reverence is a mere matter of empty
sentiment. A holiday it may be, of idle
gatherings and worldly frivolities, in
stead of holy day when, as with rev.
erent hands we place 'wreaths of remem-
brancc upon the spots that hold beloved
dust We thank God, and delight to recall
whatsoever things were true. and honest
and just and pure and lovely and of
good report in the lives and character
of those whose memory we justly honor.
II yield to no one in my admiration
and gratitude to God for the precious
legacy of glorious memories that these
heroic souls have left us and our chi.
dren for generations yet unborn. But ii
is no part of my present purpose to at
tempt to recount these achievements,
however briefly and imperfectly. Else
where and under more fitting circum-
stances this grateful task is better done,
year after year. They are not likely to
be forgotten. They are becoming more
and more a matter of public record to De
known and read of all men: and their
influence as an inspiration too worthy
lives and noble deeds will be felt for
long years to come. And here certainly
we are in touch with the proper functions
Of the pulpit; and l know of no passage
of the Holy Scripture which so clearly
and concisely sets sets forth the practical
lessons of an occasion like this as does
this brie exhortation of st. Paul in the
text, Thou, therefore, endure hardness,
as good soldier of Jesus Christ
1T is true that it is addressed primarily
to the Apostles Son in the faith ar1 IN
the ministry-St Timothy: but when We
remember-as st. John tells us in the
evelation that the blood of Christ hath
made all Christian people kings and
priests unto God and his Father'-it is
evident that we are all taught the duty
of enduring hardness as good soldiers Of
Jesus Christ. No metaphor is more fre
quently employed in Holy Scripture to set
forth Christian duty than that of the
good and faithful soldier. The Lord
Jesus Christ is called the Captain of our
Salvation At the very beginning, in
tender infancy, the Christian is signed
with the sign of the cross in token that
he is henceforth to fight manfully under
the banner Of the cross, and to continue
Christ's faithful soldier and servant unto
his life's end Very many-too many to
ennumerate-of the Apostolic exhorta-
tions to Christian duty, like this one of
the text, arc but battle calls-'Put on the
whole armor of God Stand fast Quit
you like men, BE strong Endure
hardness as good soldiers
Brethren, ! suppose that to those of
us who are old enough to distinctly rt /
member those trying days of forty years
ago, in recalling, as are this day, the ex-
periences of the Confederate soldier, the
one thought that more than another sug-
gests itself to GU minds is the general
hardness that in the want of all crea-
ture comforts they so unusually and so
patiently endured. We know full we'll
as the world is beginning to learn-that
no Drawer men ever bore arms in defense
of home and Preside and the right and
truth, that their heroism on the battle
field and in the face of fearful odds was
never surpassed in all the annals of
warfare; that no greater courage, no
more self-sacrificing devotion to duty. no
more glorious achievements under diff
culties have ever been recorded than that
which characterized our Southern sol
diers. These things-as the years come
and go are becoming more and more evil
dent, and we have just cause to remember
them with pride and to teach them to
our children and our children's children
but, as have said what probably most
impresses us in the general retrospect is
the unparalleled hardness that circurn
stances forced them to endure especially
towards the close of the struggle. in the
want of the most ordinary comforts and
necessities of life, of which, from OK
perience, are in our peaceful and com
Portable homes know little or nothing.
Hunger and thirst and exposure from in
sufficient clothing and the sickness and
physical sufforings in the field that these
things imply, were their daily experience
for years-and this hardness, of which
much less was said than of their bravery
in battle-must have been in its hourly
drain upon their powers of physical en-
duance the supreme test of their char
acter as good soldiers and of their un-
paralleled sacrifices and patriotic devo-
ton to duty to the end.
"My brethren, this Memorial day, cele-