The Washington herald., 1909-05-31
War ECHOES MIGHTY
DR.. j. r. Shannon Pays Trib-
ute to Gettysburg Dead.
BATTLEFIELD TEACHES MORAL
Pastor of Metropolitan Methodist
Episcopal Church Tells of Spiritual
of the Great Pivotal Battle of the
Civil WRr-A heartrending Word.

Spiritual lessons learned upon the bat
tleheld CT Gettysburg. the pivotal battle
Of our civil wal" was the subject upon
which Rev Dr.. John Reid shannon
preached last evening at Metropolitan
Methodist Episcopal Church.
Dr. Shannon said: ''The battlefield OF
Gettysburg takes in thirty miles Of fields
and woods. Of valley and hills and noun
tain The Gettysburg conflict IS made up
OF seven great battles. the landmarks OF
which are preserved This whole field IS
as tie burning bush Of Horeb, out Of
which comes the voice saying. Put
OF thy shoes from OF thy feet for the
place whereon- thou stsudest Is holy
ground Hundreds Of tablets and monu-
ments make the field OF Gettysburg Ike
q great OUt-of-dOOr art gallery. which has
cost millions Of dollars. Patriotism IS
IN every breath that an American draws
on this field; here everything touches and
lifts and thrills him
Here IS one Of our great national Gene
teries- Here long. long lines % graves
are marked by white uncut mzr5eI-'()ur
unknown dead Our government spends
more than Sl03 900 a year IN caring for
the cemeteries. IN these burying grounds
sleep more than a5fG19 soldiers whOss
names are known, and more than 81. Co
whose names are not known The Gettys-
burg field teaches rs he awfulnsss OF
war Americans are u0I given 70 the
cultivation OF the military spirit: we take
no pride IN bloated armamenrs. in large
standing armies we rejoice in the char
acteristic benediction Of Americas s great
est soldier. Let Us have peace
War HeartrendIng Word.
War IS a heartrendin- word. cen
Pickett. after the magnificent charge
which the Confederates make up the long
slope OF Gettysburg. returns. and with
tears streaming down his face reports 10
Gen Lee, saying as he points 10 the
bloOd-soaked valley, Ny noble brigade
has been swept away Gen. Lee re-
spends. You and your soldiers have
covered yourselves with glory Gen.
Pickett replies: Not al the glory in
the world. Gen Lee. can atone for the
widows and orphans this day has made
And yet. awful as Is war. Il is some
times as jusJifable as Is righteousness
itself. such, on our part, IS the Spanish
American war; such IS the American
Revolution; such. on the part OF the
North. Is the civil war. with its trans
fusion OF blood, reaching from Ma
nassas 20 Appomattox. No gran5er SOL
diers than those al Gettysburg wiz ever
walk human battlefield Here we have
thundsTbOlJ OF magnificent soldlerly
qualities clsshing with thunderbolt Of
magnificent soldieriy qualities. When
Gen Pickett IS asked whom he considers
the hero az Gettysburg he replies:
The hero Of Gettysburg on both sides
is the private soldier
These soldiers in military warfare
Illustrate the invincible determination 10
achieve victory that should characterize
Christians IN spiritual warfare. The
Bible, IN describing the Christian life is
full Of war echoes. mighty battle shouts.
for al who I've godly must waEe war
fare There Is not an arrow in the
Quiver OF hell but that is shot az them
and they never VIII be out Of gunshot OF
Satan until they have passed through the
gates of peace and find themselves walk
ing the streets Of tire New Jerusalem"