The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1903-05-29

Marched in Body to the C,hupch.
Every Seat Filled and Many Unable
to Obtain Entrance. interesting
Sermon by Rev. wm. NJ. Hughes.
on : What the Day Teaches Us. J,
Last Sunday evening the members
Of the Grand Army Post of this city
assembled in their Post rooms in full
uniform and marched from there to
the Church of the Redeemer on South
street and listened to an eloquent
sermon by the pastor, Rev. w. M.
Hughes, D. D. The text chosen was
from Rev. xxi: ?, "And / John saw
the Holy City,"
The church was nicely decorated
and seats were reserved for the vete-
rams, who marched in twos down the
aisle to appropriate music from the
organ Long before the veterans en-
tered the portals of the church. the
seats not reserved were filed. and a
large audience heard the patriotic
address by DR.. Hughes. He said in
part:
There are two ways of seeing
things. The one with our natural
eyes. The other is the look deeper.
the vision of the soul. All of Gods
world has this two-fold quality of
vision. A common leaf contains deli
cate finger posts that guide the soul
into the secrets of creation and opens
up vistas of beauty, order and balanced
design in whose realm God sits en-
throned in the Holy City,"
So there are two ways of regarding
Memorial Day." the one carelessly,
selfshly, as day of sport and play
rather than of praise and tears. Looked
at with the natural eyes we shall see
next Saturday only a few ageing men
and few youthful ones marching
somewhat brokenly along a few of our
streets with tattered flag or two.
All But look at this with your souls
and what is seen +? We see the invisi-
BILE hosts of heroes marching by. We
see far lengthening lines of those who
fell at Gettysburg, Antietam, The
Wilderness, and on numberless fields
OF battle. We see the greater num-
Der that periShed of wounds and fever,
and with falling tears we see the still
greater host of those who, wearied
and worn, have since Joined the silent
camp of '"The Bivouac of the Dead.v
This Is Memorial Day. Off with your
hats, Americans! Present armsl The
whole Grand Army of The Republic is
passing by J And there hovers over it
the Angel of Death holding in his ma
jestic hand the imperishable crown of
nations memory. Salute the living
and uncover to the dead Look long
enough and you may see them passing
on and into the gates of ''The Holy
City"
We ought to turn our eyes with the
second sight toward our nation. For
there is an invincible America dear
to us as was the Holy City Of John
For this second look keeps us patient,
balanced and hopeful in the sight that
meets our natural eyes as we look on
the visible things of our land to-day
Look at our country with only the
half vision Are we "The land of the
free and the home of the brave ~
President Wilson, of Princeton, re-
Gently remarked that to the student
of the present, America is "the land
of the Boss and the home of the
bossed" in political life.
Industrially how is it to-day to the
outward eye? Who is free? Who is
brave Is it free from the tyranny of
either capital or labor? Are we not
scared with the threatening warfare
where each is fighting to enslaye the
other?
How is it socially? Are we dem
ocracy? Say what we will, to the
outward eye money is buying all the
front seats. How is it religiously?
Are we a land wherein the Gospel is
having free course? Free, yes, but
more free to ignore than to acknowl-
edge God. Let us look keenly and in
telligently at things as they appear to
our natural eyes and we shall find
cause to acknowledge the usefulness
of those who ''cry aloud and spare
not, but yes, look long enough and in
the very sincerity of your vision you
will see an America which is free and
brave and even holy. You will see an
America that is working out to higher
political, industrial, social and re-
ligious ideals in the face of the most
stupendous and complicated difficul-
ties. 1t has even raised war into the
realm of righteousness. When war no
longer means conquest, but human
liberty to millions Of former slaves
When it means the rescue of a neigh
boring land at great cost and the free
gift of self-rule after its rescue. We
are holding the Philippines. But the
invisible, the true America will never
consent to hold them one moment
longer than is necessary to their
tuition to enter sanely and health
fully into the sisterhood of self-goyern-
ing people.
What thrills us when we see our
veterans with thinning ranks and
tattered flags marching to decorate
the graves of their fallen comrades IS
the inward vision of this invisible but
triumphing land of the free and home
of the brave.
At Arlington, over against Washing
ton, saw but month ago the serried
ranks Of almost numberlesS resting
places of our soldier dead. Line upon
line, far out Of sight, the simple stones