The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1906-06-14
Address Of Welcome
Delivered by Le Want Dodge at
the State Enesmpment Of
the @. A. r.

Dear Comrades, from City and
Country, from Mountain aud Plain:
You have been welcomed already TO
historic Berea. You have been vel
coined 10 the classic halls and lovely
shades OF Berea College. The mem
bers Of Capt. James West Poet wei.
come you 10 our hearts.
None OF us know you all person.
ally. Our welcome must be 10 the
ideal soldier OF the Union. No single
ono OF you may measure up 10 that
ideal. Many Zines have been com
PEELED 10 admit that even Of Capt.
James West Post no one Is perfect,
except possibly myself. The heroes
aud saints Of the past were not per.
feet. But history does estimate bod
les OF men boy the worth Of individ.
uals. The Union Army, with God
directing. no partook Of the nature Of
the directing force that, measured by
the results secured, II was almost an
ideal body. Aud what were those
resultsY The firmer establishment OF
she Union Of our iorefathers; suprem
acy Of the constitution aud national
law; freedom for four million slaves;
equality Of rights and opportunity;
the due recognition Of woman; nc.
acknowledgement OF obligation 10 chill
dren. in whom are wrapped up ouI
hopes Tor the future; sacredness OF
the family relation; the towering in.
auence OF the United States in the
affairs Of the world.
AYE, my comrades, yours was a
glorious work. | remember the boy
iah awe with which, nj a Fourth OF
July celebration, l looked upon tho
bent form of revolutionary soldier
the chief attraction Of the occasion
We were engaged in a war even more
noble IN liz purpose and more nom
sntous in It's results. II will not b,
long before its few lingering surviv-
ors will be like objects OF veneration
How weighty our responsibility
And 10, in welcoming the ideal
soldier, We welcome the incarnation
OF patriotism. What does that mean
Not. OIL surely not, glorying in mere
tinsel and show, in gaudy badges
and trappings OF lace, in the boom o
cannon and loud huzzas, in boastful
references 10 n bloody past. II you
and | are tobe worthy OF veneration il
She evening OF our lives, We must ad
dress ourselves 10 the arts Of peace
Soldiers Of the Republic once, oughi
70 mean soldiers Of the Republic for
ever. That was a poor soldier who
did not come home with the fires o.
patriotism, on the altar OF his heart
giving forth an intenser heat. We
are in the employ OF the nation, still
Most Of us are pensioned; not WHOLLY
for what we did In the war, bu
partly for what we are supposed I,
be doing now. The expression. "Vet
Grams Of She War;" ought 10 be- /
synonym for integrity. sobriety, pur
ity, self.respecting Independence o
character. The fair test for you ant
for me is this: Is he living in uttel
selhshness, or are those whose lives
he touches made happier and better
l enter my protest against the notion
that anything short OF highest civic
virtues is appropriate in q. A. X
affairs. From your heart OF hearts
know there comes sympathetic re
Spouse. The better soldier is bet
ter man. Physical courage we share
with pirates and robbers. Mora
courage we share with the beneiac
tors Of mankind, even with Jesui
Christ himself.
We estimate a comrades merit ant
gauge the warmth OF his welcome
not by his length Of service, hi'
marches, his exposures, or his bat
ties, but by the way he measures up
10 the requirements OF the present
For our colored comrades the wal
had a meaning all It's own. It's open
ing found them in the shackles oil
bondage. When the war clouds rolled
away, their letters had been trans
formed into the weapons OF freemen
with which they had proven theil
right 10 be classed as American cit
liens. In Boston, three years ago
nothing thrilled me more than the
statue Of Col. Robert G. Shaw, who
showed his moral courage by accept
ing the command Of the first regi-
ment Of colored troops. He fell al
their head. just separated from ths
II. = ~. -. -. l. ii ..hn rl.n..