The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1904-06-05

faith In God he accepted n humble posi-
ton as the president of one of Virginia
bankrupt schools. Rather than live Tor
mercenary gain he quietly and yet nobly
and unselnshly went to live among the
shattered walls of Washington college in
Lexington He lived there until the close
of his life Some people may tell you
that the greatest service the American
soldier did for his country was when he
suffered upon the field Of battle. tell
you that the greatest service the Con-
feaerate army and the Federal army ever
did for their native land was when they
dissolved and when their Christian SOL
diers became the earnest, eonsecrateG adj
vocates of Christian peace. So today |
praise no less highly than the soldier
who went out in 1861 to fight his eoun-
trys battles the soldier in 1866 returning
To civil life and striving in home and
factory and store to heal the wounds
of the nation and reunite its people In the
bonds of Christian love.
| The Sentneps Call
Some time ago ] stood on the ton OF
the Washington monument and looked off
upon the battleheds of America and
dreamed my dreams. I saw hundreds of
thousands of human bones bleaching in
the sunlight, gnawed of the vulture and
the wolf. [ heard the muffed drums
| beating the tattoo at sunset. AS the
artillery wagons rumbled away to Inc
rear and star twinkled to star, ! heard
sentinel by the glare Of the campfire call
to sentinel: "All's we'll AIS well along
the Potomac
There go the booming of the cannon
and the sharp commands Of the officers,
steady. boys: steady, steady There
| is the ping OF the bullet, and the dying
! soldier clutches at his heart as he means.
! my babies, o God my poor babies"
an, then drops dead There comes the
blood curdling Confederate cry, Hi! Hi,
! HI III! Hir There is the long line of
set faces behind the glitterng bayonets.
The heavens redden and glow The
flames leap and hiss and dance and make
merry over the burning homes The fall
ing beams go crash. crash The rivers are
deep with flowing blood; the grave
trenches are filed with million dead.
As 7 turn and look upon the great
white dome of the capital the old nation
al flag flaps and waves Its stars glitter
like the eyes of the mothers waiting for
their boys who never came back, and
like the eyes of the maidens who after
awhile as old women. read and reread
the torn and the yellow letters which
wrote about the bridal homes which were
destined never to be built. And as |
loo upon the old flag again the white
stripes look like the white handages
which were put about the shattered arms
The long deep streaks Of red prove that
its folds had once been dipped into pools
of human blood Then the great white
dome of f11e legislative hall gllstening
in the sunlieht. looks ms though 1t were
built ont # the broken tombstones Of
Arlington Heights and Gettysburg and
the wilderness.
War Forever Ended.
Then, as | look up and down the great
Pennsylvania avenue. l seem TO see the
united armies OF the boys In blue and
of the boys In gray marching, marching.
marching | see the lines melt away.
Following with my eye one soldier. | see
him take hts discharge, and he starts
for home | cannot tell whether this dis
charged soldier Is now heading for the
Michigan hills or for the Georgia planta-
tions In his civilian dress he has no
distinctive Insignia telling me whether
he fought under Grant or under Lee.