Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-08-30

could see their long lines Of different
campdres, so there are two lines of
camphres today. They are not the
campfres Of brothers who will vet be
ut peace, but Of eternal uncompromis.
ing foes. The two lines are distinct
and separate. These two campfres are
warning against each other. BY which
campfire are you and l?
But, lastly, I learn from the words
of my text that Gods fires are to be
the fires Of triumph. The same soldiers
who plod YEARLY along upon their
forced marches and tramp through tho
long hours Of the night doing sentinel
duty; the same soldiers who, week aft.
err week and month after month and
year after year, suffer exile from home
and loved ones; the same soldiers who
make the battleields destructive, with
the flames leaping out of the cannons'
mouths and with the tongues Of fire
splitting bullets from rifle barrels, are
the soldiers who will most joyfully
build the campfires of triumph after
glorious peace has been declared. 1t Is
said that when the peace agreement
was signed at Appomattox every com.
pany piled on the wood in its com.
pany streets. Then, as the flames leap
ed higher and higher, the soldiers, like
a lot Of schoolboys, Joined hands and
danced about these fires. They kept
singing: mo more war; no more war;
Feaee has been declared! We are all
going home to our loved ones. No
more war! Thank God, no more war;
Not only were the fires in celebration
Of peace built in the armies, but these
fires were also built in the streets Of
our northern cities. and every hillside
and every fertile valley was aflame
with them. In the south, too, there was
10y that the long and bitter struggle
had ended. 1t had not ended as the
south hoped, but at least there was an
end Of of the slaughter, an end Of sacri-
fee and of parting. Mothers as we'll as
gray haired fathers, and wives and
sisters and daughters as we'll as sweet
hearts, wept about these fires. They
wept tears Of JOY. They embraced and
kissed each other, for nov the war was
over. And the soldiers were to come
home. The hresides were again to be
filled. war no more war;" was the
cry everywhere. blessed peace
blessed, triumphant peace Thus shall
1t be when our Divine Leader shall be
triumphant over sin. Then the camp
fires Of war shall be changed into the
leaping flames Of triumph. Sin shall be
forever done away. Dear oncs shall
then be reunited. Oh, the glorious tri-
umphant fires of earth and heaven
when God shall conquer all his enemies
and everlasting peace and everlasting
reunions shall be ours.
Can heaven be a truly happy place
for our loved mes If we are not there
to sing with them the song Of redemp-
ton and of Moses and the Lamb? One
Of the saddfSt sights | ever witnessed
was when the Second Illinois regiment
was about to leave for the Spanish
American war. / was it's chaplain.
Just before we left the armory the cry
was taken up, Does any n know Il
man by the name Of So-and-so?'
what is the natter" | asked. One
of the majors turned to me and said:
"a young boy ran away from home to
enlist. His mother is here. and she
thinks he enlisted in our regiment.
She wants to bid him goodby and give
him her blessing" No sooner did the
major speak thus than l saw this little
old mother in faded dress mong the
soldiers. l followed her. She looked
from face to face. and as she looked
she kept saying: "Do you know where
my boy is? Do YOU know my boy 2"
Not a soldier laughed. Hardly an eye
was dry. Why? They were watching
a mothers breaking heart hunting for
n lost child. Can it be that such a
scene as this shall he repeated in hcav-
en- on account Of our absence? Can 1t
be that in the most momentOus hour
of all time, when Christ shall build his
fires of triumph. olr mothers and ia
theirs and our wives and dear ones and
our Christ shall he looking in vain for
II faces among the rejoicing hosts of
heaven? Shall it be? Shall some Of us
never be seen by the camptires of heav-
en- which shall leap and blaze when
the flaming torches Of sin shall be for
ever snuffed out?
copyright, 1906. by Louis Klopsch.l