The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-06-04
NATIONAL LIFE AND LOYALTY;
ADDRESS BY REV. 7. ROSS PADEM

selfish comfort or even for self i'm
provement are suicidal if we neglect
the outgoing pulse of life. If we
would live the fullest personal life we
must not neglect the sound of philo-
sophy of the soundest of all philoso-
pliers, "He tina saveth his life shall
lose it." "And he that loseth his life
for my sake shall find it. Washington
and Lincoln were great because the
consciousness of individuality in them
was well balanced by the consciousness
of the commonwealth They undertook
great things for the common good and
their minds grew to the magnitude of
not vote or take any interest in pub
lie affairs is narrowing and cramping
his own personality. He may think
he is minding his own business but he
is neglecting the business which will
do more than anything else to develop
and enrich him own individual lire.
Selfishness like ambition overleaps it
self and defeats it's own end BY
entering into and sharing the life and
passion of others we bring to them the
riches of our own personality and
they in turn bring into our lives a
wealth never to be gained in isola-
ton. Yet there are those who seem
to enjoy being puddle while the river
runs by. They build themselves fine
homes but have no pride in the civic
improvement in their own community
Our country can do for each of us what
we cannot possibly do for ourselves
Along the line of individual effort we
can become at best the merest frag-
ments of men.
Not only are there many causes
which need our loyalty, but we our
selves need to become loyal to some
cause. We must choose our cause
and then give a willing voluntary, thor
ough going and practical devotion to
that cause. Nothing is so much mis-
understood in our day of loyalty. 1t
is too much looked upon as if loyalty
to cause led to a spirit of subser-
vience or slavish submission. The low
alties OF the past have lost their
! meaning because people have confound-
ed loyalty with mere bondage to ira
dition or with mere surrender of indi-
| vidual rights and preferences. But 10y
atty is not something forced upon us
by convention or tradition but is a
voluntary and willing devotion of my
self to some cause. Now these who
| hold themselves aloof from every
| cause which binds them in fellowship
| with other individuals in service in
| order to assert as they claim their
moral independence are simply seeking
sovereignty over their own life with
out any life over which to be sover-
| eign. For it is evident that the very
development of that personality and
individually over which you so much
desire to be the sole and Independent
sovereign is possible only by the will
ling, voluntary, complete, surrender of
| yourself to some common cause which
unites you in practical sustained and
selfsacrificing labors with and for
others. Veterans of sixty, you have
| done great things for the cause of
national unity and before | speak the
| praises of a grateful nation redeemed
by your loyalty let me remind my fell
| lows that the cause has done great
| things for you.
| know the veteran will demonstrate
| against being idolized or idealized but
nevertheless it is true that our nation
has never felt safer than when the helm
of state was guided by men whose low
| atty had been trained and developed
| through fire. The first great epoch Of
our national history began with Wash
lngton and the struggle for indepen-
dence, and fort forty years the nation
was governed and controlled by men
who were a product or a part of the
struggle for independence. Our first six
presidents Washington, Adams Jeffer-
son, Madison, Monroe and John Quincy
Adams were products of the first great
struggle. Then we passed through a
long period of conflict in which our
greatest statesmen were perplexed and
driven to shifting compromises for fear
the ship of state should strand upon
the rocks. Then came the great test.
ing by fire under president Lincoln.
Again our presidents for forty wears
were products or parts of the great
civil struggle. When Mckinley fell
by the assassins bullet the last of the
generation or our veteran fathers ever
to guide the helm of state paesed away.
When Roosevelt accidentally became
president new generation assumed
the responsibility of government and a
new era began in our country's history.
When we remember that the epoch
which closed with the death of McKin-
ley began with Abraham Lincoln it be-
comes us to speak softly of our be-
ginnlngs and first of all to profound
~ study and respect the labor and
devotion of our fathers, oh. fathers
we bare and bow our heads at the
thought of your sacrifice and service
we pray God that we NAV never he
tested as you have been but we also
pray that if tested we NAV be as true
Second. We begin new era of national
history with strong consciousness of
national unity accepted and well estab-
llshed The revolutionary fathers who