The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1909-06-03


you must try to understand the feeling
of hate that animated the hearts of all
men in pre-christian times. Every
man felt insecure, and this insecurity
was because of the knowledge of the
overwhelming number of his enemies.
Every time he killed man he reduced
the number of his enemies by one.
Therefore, man .warred against his
fellow man, city warred against city,
nation against nation; because of the
prevalent idea that mans sole enemy
was his fellow man.
Our Savior came to proclaim the
truth that we were all friends and
brothers, that we all had a common
Father, and that if we would be
happy here and hereafter, we must
take each other by the ungloved hand;
we must cast away the sword; we
must live for each other: we must love
one another. Our Lord final legacy
to the world was peace: "My peace,
I leave with YOU" From this we see
that christian civilization has re-
duced the number of wars and given
us peace, "not as the world giveth. !"
They who know war best hate it
most. "The sight of battlefield
after the fight" said Napoleon, lis
enough to inspire princes with love
of peace and a horror of war;
War, indeed, is dreadful; yet oc-
casions arise when both reason and
religion sanction it. When the life of
a nation is at stake, when the integri-
ty of it's territory is menaced, when it's
honor is assailed, what remains to a
nation but to take sword in hand and
do battle for the cause of justice and
righteousness? In such case war is
no longer a Reputation of peace; it is
the sole assurance of peace-of the
only peace that a self-respecting
people may covet, peace with honor.
This is what our Savior meant when
He said II came not to bring peace,
but the sword.' The sword is the
instrument of peace. The sword es-
tablishes peace and maintains it.
The soldier is the minister of peace.
Armies do not make war; they make
peace. When there is dissension in
the world and men are at each other IS
throats, when they will not listen to
arbitration, then we call on the
soldier, we invoke the sword; we send
an army to put an end to discord and
to bring back peace. A just and
necessary war is holy. The men who
obey it's call are the country's heroes;
| the sword that it unsheaths is the
token of sacrifice; the flag it unfurls is
the emblem of patriotism; the shroud
that it spreads over the dead is the
mantle of glory.
Happy a nation whose sons are
willing to serve with honor alike in
war and in peace.
1t is good for people that supreme
emergencies arise to test it's patriot
ism. Such supreme emergency did
arise in 1861 when war was declared
against the Union. At stake was the
union of the states, the strength and
life of the country. At stake was the
recognition of human rights. South
of the Mason and Dixon line the
cavalier enslaved the African. He
tore mother from her child, wife from
her husband, on the auction block.
God wiped out this injustice with
suffering; this sin with death. After
the war there was corpse at every
tireside. And not the corpse of the
black stranger, the slave,-but the
corpse of the fair-faced men: the
manly, the noble, the best-beloved.
Thus the God of battles ended our
strife and decreed US nation-one
and indestructible. The victory of
the Union brought peace alike to the
conquerors and conquered. When the
providence of God and the fortitude
of man brought the southern con.
federacy to the dust, not the terms OF
a conqueror we're exacted, but a
brotherly generosity was unselfishly
accorded. The pages of history do
not hold the record of another spec
tacle half SO splendid. From the
gloom, the storm and the fears of 1861
came the peaceful day of 1909. And
who is he to whom we are indebted
for the Republic of today? Who is
he that rescued her from death and
oblivion, staunched her bleeding
wounds, nursed her back to health
and beauty and set her forth on her
march towards power and majesty
where she lives and reigns today?
Who is he that, with his strong hand I,
caught up the old flag when enemies
sought to trail it in the dust: Who is
he? The veteran of the Grand Army
God bless him.
To whom above all others does the
republic look for true Americanism?
To her veteran soldiers. The veteran
of the war is dearer and nearer to
us even than the flag. He is the living
| flag. For the honor of America and
! for tho o1Orv IF h,,,,,oo;4.