The Washington herald., 1907-05-05
THE SOLDIER
By Rev. D. ]. Stafford. D. D.

From address deliseled at the dedication Of the
Rough Riders Monument Arlington. Alril =, l9g5-
The greatest thing in the world is self
sacrifice BY sacrifice nations are found
cd. by sacrifice they wax great and grow
strong. by sacrifice they are defended. by
sacrifice they endure. Victories are won
afar eff. and defeat Is determined before
the serried ranks meet in the shock of
battle II is the normal life Of the nation
which decides its fate in Var, and no
deed of heroism. no genius on the part
of the commander can change the result.
A people that lives for law, respects mo-
rality. keeps the family pure, and has
coUrsing through its veins healthful tides
Of life. is already assured of victory
Temporary defeat it may indeed. en-
counter: but in the long run strong arms
and stronger hearts viii eventually carry
lis banners 10 victory
II there is any lesson taught US by his
tory, it is this. Rome, it has been said,
conquered the world, not by the steel
of its legionaries, but by the virtue of
its citizens and when that virtue deeayed,
there was no one TO carry the Roman
Eagles TO victory.
one after another the great empires
come and go, and each repeats the same
sad history. One after another the great
nations hold, each in turn. the destinies
Of the world, and. one after another. they
have passed away. or have been crowded
into a small space between the mountains
or the rivers or some other natural line
of demarcation. And a nation which has
once lost its prestige never regains it.
The star SETS never to rise again. Nine
veh, Babylon, Persia. the empire of the
great Macedonian, Rome. France. Spain
all passed this way. Sacrifice and virtue
founded success, and ease. and luxury
destroyed Men become listless. 1t is
Hannibal at Capua
Isl Wis paeem para bellum. Yes; if
you want peace prepare for war. The
best preparation for war is not fleets and
armies. but the moral. clean, healthy,
pure plain life of the people In which
civic virtue and patriotic ardor, religion
and morality flourish and keep free from
all taints the source Of life Ne have al
ways been prepared for war, because we
have been a plain, simple, and uncOr-
Tupted people not, indeed, without our
problems, ana dangers. and tendencies.
which threaten dire consequences: but
these problems. whatever they De and
how threa tening soever, have not yet
touched our national life nor impaired the
vlgor and freshness of our youth II any.
this is the lesson which we learn from
this place and this occasion.
In the three great crises OF our history,
We have been sustained by the character
OF our people in 70 '6l 10 -G5. '9S
In the last event the regiment in whose
honor we dedicate this shaft to-day play
ed a conspicuous part, and as on the Two
former occasions of strife. after the FIRST
baptism Of fire, they became soldiers
TO say that a man is soldier is
sublime thing; for soldier IS one who
knows how to obey and how % die
soldier by a sublime act OF self-re-
precision, self-sacrihce. lcses his indiyidu-
aiity and SINKS into tha cause. becomes a
nameless one of multitude And his
act is greater than one vino equips an
army or builds a navy. For the latter