Milford chronicle., 1907-05-31

pen, he was brave enough to refuse tc
take position offering a great finan-
cial income, because he did not want
to do another an Injustice.
= SsaS .ss~v.
Second fact: When the god of battles
decided the civil strife the southerners
almost TO a man were ready to accept
that decision When Finland was con-
quered by the Russians in 1909 and A.
SAGE and Lorraine were conquered by
Germany in 1871 and Spain and Italy
and Holland and Naples and Westpha-
liza were conquered by France In the
Napoleonic wars these people were
compelled to bend the knee at the
stroke of the sword, but they and
their cOnquerors never became one
Finland today is no more Russian thap
It is Japanese. Alsace and Lorraine
may pay their taxes to Germany, but
their hearts are in the Tulleries. No
sooner did Napoleon abdicate than thG
kings and queens whom he had de
posed were gladly welcomed back by
their people to their vacated thrones.
Not thus was the ending of the civil
war. The southern people are not q
subjugated people. They are not peo
pie trembling at the sound of the can.
mons explosion. They are a people
who had an issue. They said. Let US
decide this issue once for all at the
cannon's mouth" And when the god
of battles decided against them these
people said, "The issue is forever
dead" The northerner said: Here,
men Of the south, here are your flags.
We have no differences today. Take
them back as heroic emblems Of yOut
glorious deeds on many battlefelds.
Take them and keep them for your
children to look upon with reverence
and awe. They are yours and not ours
We are all brothers. Of one race and
one nation" Oh. today thank God that
these questions are all settled and that
all the old heartburnings are over
The returning of the southern flags
proves it.
There was still another reason why
those old flags were returned. Ne
sooner was the war over than the
southern men began to work side by
side with their northern countrymeu
for the upbuilding of the nation. They
dropped the sword for the plOw, the
gun for the moving machine. But
they did more-they began TO work fOI
the benefit Of the north as we'll as fOi
Bmy and charge" On and on went the
line. Under the whitening fire of the |
enemy the northern regiment broke
and retreated. But the color bearer of |
that regiment, Thomas Higgins by |
name, was heeter footed than the rest. |
He carried high the flag in the charge |
and moved straight on. He did not |
know that his companions had turned |
back. He kept his face toward the en-
emy. And there he was. one northern |
soldier, with the old dag flying high
over his head, charging alone a thou
sand men in gray. Then there rose tho
cry from the Confederate ranks: Don't |
shoot him! Let the hero llvel Don't
shoot" And SO Thomas Higgins. the
color bearer, carrying the old flag OF
the Union, moved on until at last the
soldiers opened their ranks
and swallowed him up and then sent
him back again a free man.
If the brave soldiers Of old could be
so merciful to each other can we not
be just as forglving today7 The north
erners have given back to the southern
states the Confederate flags BY that
symbol we say. The war of 1861 has
forever passed away" But today let
Is enter into another compact. Let the
south today bring out her old tattered
lags. Let the northern soldiers bring
)ut today again their old tattered flags.
And let the ragged folds of these old
banners be wrapped about each other
Is north and south clasp hands and
ayi I'VE are brothers. We have the
anne government. We have the same
and. And as one nation we will al
ways live, blessing the common her
tage of the brave deeds of the boys in
,lue and the boys in gray" Thank
7od for the day when the northern
tates returned the Confederate flags
aptured in battle. By that act they
ruly and forever captured the south
IN hearts in love. Yes. at last the y
.orth and the south are truly united
nd are one. $
copyright. 1907, by Louis Klopsch.I i