The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1907-06-20
LEST We FORGET.
Extracts from the Memorial Sermon to
the Members of Kenesaw Post G. A. R.,
in Eastside congregational Church, Los
Angeles, California.
BY REV. F. S. FORBES.
BY REV. F. S. FORBES

BY REV. F. S. FORBES.
An old Hebrew patriot, who, with his
companions, was slave in Babylon,
made VOW, recorded in the 18th
Psalm, 5th and 9th verses, which read
as follows:
'lf l forget thee, 0 Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget her skill,
Let my tongue cleave to the roof Of my
mouth,
If remember not Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.''
More than two thousand years have
passed since these words were spoken.
Since that time many nations have
risen and persisted, but no nation has
ever died with old age No nation ever
died until the forces of patriotism first
died in the hearts of its people. 1t was
unselish patriotism, coupled with
righteousness, that made of the He
brew people the greatest nation of an
Gent times. 1t is this same spirit of
righteousness, which has made this ma
ton what it is today. This morning |
do not wish to dwell long on the past.
The past is the past. Let the dead
bury the dead. What has been written
has been written, and we can neither
add to nor take from it. The best way
to remember the past is to prepare for
more glorious future. The best way
not to forget the deeds of the dead is to
do just as true in the present. If this
morning the silent voices of the noble
dead, who gave their lives for their
country in its darkest hour, could
speak across the mystic gulf, | believe
those voices, with one accord, would
tell us to 60 forward and fight the bat
ties of our day as heroically as they
fought the battles of their day. They
would tell us that the best way to per-
petuate their names on earth is to carry
forward to the coming generations the
priceless liberties purchased with their
blood. The soldiers who fought in the
war OF the sixties presented the noblest
example of self-sacrificing patriotism
this world has ever experienced. They
gave the best years in their lives, the
years when other men of their age were
laying the foundations for their life
work. They gave of their health, for
no man, however strong by nature,
could endure what they did of hardship
and deprivation without drawing from
the future supply of physical manhood.
This nation can never repay the old
soldier the full value for his services.
His was a service which cannot be
measured in dollars and cents. If we
could realize the reality of the cost of
our liberties we would guard them with
hands more sacred. Because of what
they did our way is made easier; be-
cause of the battles they fought and
the victories they won, our battles will
be easier and our victories greater.
CRISIS APPROACHING.
The battle for freedom in this coun-
try has not yet been fought This Ma
ton is rapidly approaching crisis more
serious than that of fifty years ago,
which plunged the nation in civil
war. That was a sectional strife; the
one approaching is a class struggle;
that was fought in the open; this is be-
ing fought i'll the dark, behind barred
doors, under secret oath, and in Skin
mlsh which is the most destructive
method of warfare. | do not mean to
lnslnuatG chat we are on the verge of
civil war in this country with organized
armed forces such as the war of the
sixties, but it requires no great prophet
to see the signs of an irrepreSsible con-
tIct which is rising higher and becom-
ing more intense each year. Unlike
the nations Of the old world we have no
iron hand OF autocracy to hold in check
this class conflict. We are free, easy
gong people with no strongly develop
ed central power, no iron hand to re-
STRAIN us, no sovereign power to clip
our wings and no check to our passions
save the civic conscience of the com
mon people. 1t is doubtful if this re-
pubic could endure for any length of
time the class conflicts, riots and
revolutions which have swept over the
nations of Southern Europe and west
ern Asia. Even these Old autocratic
empires tremble in the balance, and
some of them have gone to pieces be-
meath the strain. With the coming of
this class contllct upon our soil new
problem is thrust upon us, one more
serious and far-reaching than any we
have hitherto faced Our very democ-
racy is on trial; and within the next
two decades we must solve the problem
as to whether government of by and
for the people shall live forever or
perish from the face of the earth, III
dislike the term class struggle" and
still more do | dislike to speak of the
people of this republic as divided into
classes; but the facts are such we often
have to do this. For convenience we
will say there are three classes of peo
pie IL our country. About ten per
Seut lolul one Grass VINO seem to have
pretty much Of everything i'll their
hands and are determined to control
the affairs OF the nation by any means
TO their convenience. Another ten per
cent form another class who have moth
ing to lose and everything to gain bv
constant turmoil and agitation, and
are Just as set upon running the coun-
try as the former.
The remaining eighty per cent. form
the great middle class, whom Lincoln
termed the plain people," and who, by
the grace OF God, must control the at |
fairs of this nation if it is to advance
in the future as it has in the past. The
trouble is that the plain people are too
often the silent people. BY mere force
of noise we let the fellows who have no
thought of their country, save what
they can get out of it, carry the day.
Eighty per cent. of the people of this
republic are law-abiding, honest, |
patriotic, and, when the real test
comes, are ready to sacrifice all for
their country's welfare. The only fault |
with this class of people, the common
people, is that they are too busy look
ing after their private affairs to devote |
much time to the nations affairs !
There is a need of a revival of that
spirit of patriotism which swept over