Milford chronicle., 1904-06-03
serrIces Of Chnr1es A. Damn.

major generals than he could have los
that genius of railroad organizing
Thomas Alexander Scott. 1t is a yer!
grave question whether U. S. Gran
would not have been depOsed from hi!
command and sent back home in dis
grace had it not been for Charles A
Dana, who, as the personal representa-
tive of Lincoln, went to the front anC
exposed and denounced the false scan
dals which were being circulated about
the silent warrior" of the west Il
is a very grave question whether Sal
mon p. Chase could have ever success
fully financiered the United States
bonds which paid the running expenses
Of the war government, costing at that
time millions upon millions of dollars
each month, unless he had been backed
up by Jay Cooke, the Philadelphia cap
italist, who was to Lincoln what Rob
ert Morris was to George Washington
/ in the Revolution. So today l Impair
tally praise the patriotic soldier, the
patriotic railroad man, the patriotic
editor, the patriotic financier, the pa
/ triOtic contractor-McClure and Dana
and Scott and Jay Cooke, as well as
Grant and Sherman and Sheridan and
Lee and LOngstreet and John B. Cor
don.
In this Memorial day address We
would not omit the need of recogni-
ton due to the ministers Of the home
churches as well as the chaplains who
labored in the field hospital and by the
wounded and moaning men who had
the pallOr OF death upon their cheeks
the night after the battle. We would
praise men like Henry Ward Beecher
OF Brooklyn and Moses d. Hoge Of
Richmond and DR.. Palmer of New Or
leans. These men were never identi-
fed with any one particular regiment
or brigade, yet in their utterances of
inspiration. in the divine comfort
which they carried to the bereft homes,
in their words of faith and love. which
through the printed page went to the
boys in the camp. they became mighty
evangelists Of light, mighty gospel
messengers for God and their native
land.
We have all read about the noble
services Of Dwight L. Moody to the
soldier boys at the front. We know
that many a dying soldier boy was
able to answer Here" to the roll call
of heaven because some faithful chap
lain on earth had prepared him for
that Fall inw on the other side of the
grave. We know that many and many
a dying message sent to the mother or
the wife at home was penned by the
faithful chaplains who looked after
the boys of their regiments as a father
might care for the children about his
own fireside. But what about that
gray haired old minister Of the village
church? Did he not serve any patriot
ic purpose?
JacLsOn's Advice to a Minister.
We cannot today too much praise the
WORK OF the gospel minister during the |
agOnies OF Americas four years Of /
carnage. One day a man applied to |
General Jackson for a position in his .
army. what is your businessT' /
asked jackson. Il am a minister of /
the gospel" was the reply. Then jack
son, the Christian soldier, said: My
friend, l can give you no position as
hign as that which God has given to
you. Go back to your own church. In
the name Of Jesus Christ, give comfort
to the widows whose husbands have
been shot; to the children whose
on account OF this bloody war.
will never come back; to the young
maidens who can never again see their
sweethearts. Go back and preach the
gospel Of sacrifice to the young men
who must be enlisted from your town.
Go back! In Gods name, go backp
Aye, the duty which Thomas j. Jack
son assigned to the ministers Of Jesus
was grandly and nobly fulfilled by
hundreds of consecrated clergymen,
both in the north and the south. To
day l honor the memories Of the noble
men Of God who at home were true
and firm to their Lord and their people
during the awful conflict.
But l have still another long list of
lnpraised heroisms. would not
praise the boy in blue or the boy in
gray for what he did in 1861 and 1860
more than would praise him for what
be did after peace had been pro-
claimed. 1t was a spectacle that as
the world. a spectacle unprece-
Tented in history, that Of the soldiers
If those two huge armies laying down
heir muskets and taking up the
)lOwshare. To their honor be it said
hat they were ready to turn their
)acks upon strife and, side by side.
work together in the vocations Of
,eace. The vast armies of America
,oing forth to battle is not nearly as
from historic standpoint
o the student Of sociology, as those
rmies almost instantly melting away
nd then and there their ex-members
with one another and
triving TO the uttermost to build up
he country with as much earnestness
S they had shown in fighting each
Their to the death.
Without any doubt, Robert E. Lee