Milford chronicle., 1906-08-31

and the tyrannies of the dark ages? It
is said when Gustayus Adolphus the
great king Of Sweden, was fighting his
last battle at Lutzen that amid the
roar and crash of carnage little
frightened bird knew not where to go,
so he alghteG upon the shoulder of
the mighty warrior. Gustavus reached
up and took the little huttering heart
in his hand. Then he spoke a few
soothing words to the bird and hid it
away for protection inside Of his own
armor After Gustavus was slain and
the loving soldiers reverently gathered
about the bleeding corpse it is said
that this little bird few OFT Of the
rloa5 of the dead warrior, and I'd Soc
pr did he start to fly away than he be
gan TO sing.
Burnt Up by Fire.
Have there been no blessings born of
that awful period of fire and blood in
our own nations history? That was
fire that desolated homes, north and
south, that destroyed property, bereft
families. broke many hearts But was
it all loss? Is it nothing that the curse
Of slavery was burnt up in that fire?
Has not the brotherhood that now
binds north and south been cemented
in that fire? Has it not made civil war
henceforth thing hateful and impos-
sible in our bOrdersY Now, God has
a never ending war against sin. He
makes no compromise with sin. He is
going to fight sin to the death. The
saloon must 90. The brothel must go.
Sin must 60 God viii not yield one
inch to evil. With him it is an ex-
terminating war. This war is to be-
come tiercer and more decisive more
uncompromiSing each year. God says;
"Sn must 90. Sin must and shall be
annihilated." Thus. as the two great
armies, the army in blue and the army
i'm gray, used TO encamp upon the op-
posite sides of the Potomac and You
could see their long lines of different
campfres. so there are two lines Of
campfres today They are not the
campfircs of brothers who will yet be
at 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 /?
But. lastly. l learn from the words
of my text that Gods fires are to be
the fires of triumph. The same soldiers
who plod weariy along upon their
forced marches and tramp through the
long hours Of the night doing sentinel
duty; the same soldiers who, week aft
er 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 ut AppOmattOX every com
pany piled on the wood in its com
pany streets Then. as the flames leap
ed hi.aer and higher, the soldiers, like
a lot of schooiboys, joined hands and
danced about these fires. They kept
singing: NO more war; no more war
Peace 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 atiame
with them. In the south, too, there was
ioy 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-
flee and Of parting. Mothers as well 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 now the war was
over. And the soldiers were to come
home. The firesides were again to be
filed. ''War. no more war;" was the
cry everywhere. BleSSeu pedce-
blessed. triumphant peace!' Thus shall
if be when our Divine Leader shall be
triumphant over sin. Then the camp
fires of war shall be changed into the
leaning flames of triumph. Sin shall be
forever done away. Dear ones 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 ones if we are not there
to sing with them the song of redemp-
ton and of Moses and the Lamb? One
of tie saddest sights l ever witnessed
was when the Second Illinois regiment
was aSout to leave for the Spanish
American war. / was its chaplain.
lust before we left the armory the cry
was taken up, "Does any one know
man by the name of So-and-se?
"What is the matter'?" I 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.
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