The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1907-05-31

hehts Oh human activity, attain
; ment and achievement, antagonist,
: forces are indispensable to the best
J possible development. So war, aw-
ful, hellish, as it is, under circum-
stances which have made It neces-
sary and justifiable, has been one of
the greatest factors in human de-
velopment.
From this point of view we can
see why the overthrow of the Per-
/ sian Empire by the soldiers of Mac
edonia, the downfall of Carthage,
and the elevation of I Rome, were
stepping stones in the path of human
progress. What gave to Anglo
Saxon freedom its first mighty i'm
petus? The signing of the Magma
Charta by the papal puppet, King
, John, forced thereto by the English
! Barons on the field of Runnymede.
the birthplace of English independ-
ence. 1t was war that preserved
Greek literature and art from the
| inroads of Persian Satraps, and
which has caused Greece to shine
| for all time as the brightest star in
the diadem of human culture. 1t
| was the wars of Napoleon that broke
up the petty states of Germany and
| Italy swept away an effete feudalism
| and so.prepared the way for the in
tellectubl development of the most
scholarly and progressive nation of
Europe.I
OUR own Civil War, terrible be-
yond comprehension as were the
character and the cost of it, one Of
the greatest and bloodiest conflicts
OF all times, and, most awful of all
to contemplate,-a family war,
brother iagainst brother! that war
as we see in the light of subsequent
history, was blessing in disguise;
needful discipline and baptism for
the making and mclding of the
greatest of nations; the vanguard in
the on-marching army of liberty and
civilization, which, in the name of
the Lord God of Sabaothy Shall ulti-
mately subdue and possess the
whole earth. The differences be-
tween the North and the South
could only be settled, settled righ-
teously once and forever, by the
bloody arbitrament Of war. The
real unification of the Nation could
only come about by the blotting out
of the colossal iniquity of slavery,
and that could only be accomplished
by deluge of tears and blood. But,
what latent powers and possibilities
of North and South and East and
West were developed by it! Whar
marvellous expansion of National
life followed it! as was the case
again after the war of 1898. 1t ar
oused the finer as we'll as the coarser
feelings. The heroic impulse open
ed the hearts and minds of the peo-
pie to larger things in all the depart |
ments of life. 1t quickened the SEN
sibilities, it sweetened the songs, it'll
tory, it gave the people something to
think about, to live for and to die |
for. 1t strengthened the ties of love
and gave to life sweeter, diyiner
meanings, in the separation Of hus-
band and father, brother and son
from home and dear ones, anh the
lover from his love. 1t gave us this |
beautiful Memorial Day, the in |
fluence of which upon the Nation for
its good is incalculable, and can
never die. Common cares, material |
interests, and every day selfishness
would get the better of us but for
these heroic devotions which make
break and show us higher things. |
The National institutions, which |
have cost great sacrifice and toll, we
do not value as we ought until we
see brave noble men dying for them.
then we are enabled to appreciate
them at their true worth. Our /
earth-blurred vision, too, is clarified,
so that we perceive that death is not
best that eternal things are real,
and that the things that so often
seem to us real are temporal, tran
sient and unsubstantial.
To-day the Nation pays her trib-
ute to the valor Of her immortal He
roes. Someone has said that "a Goth
ic cathedral is a petrfied religion.
On the lines Of this quaint aphorism,
it may with equal prbpriety and
force be contended that the graves
of our soldiers enshrine the record
Of the most momentous epoch of our
National history. Responsive to the
demands of duty and the dictates of
patriotism, they fought and bled and
died to preserve intact, to quote the
words of the martyr lincoln, "A new