Pleasantville weekly press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1890-1911, 1910-06-04

Pastor Wells, of the Wesley Methodist
Episcopal church, held a big congrcea-
ton spell bound on Sunday morning
while he delivered the following patri-
otic sermon to the w. c. T. L.. Jr o. t.
A. NJ. and Grand Army OF the Republic
all of whom had accepted Il special i'll
vitation from the church:
Some Things to be Remembered
Text: Deut 32:7-
Remember the days of old, consider
the years of many generations ask thy
Father and He will show thee; thy
elders and they will tell thee"
Memorial day was officially set apart
by Gen. John A. Logan, shortly after
the close Of the Civil War, at which
time he wars Commandcr-in-Ghief of the
Grand Army of the Republic 1t has
since been recognized the country over
as Il grceat National holiday. Like the
Fourth of July and Thanksgiving Day.
it is purely an American holiday. It
is a day for calling to mind the solemn
memories Of the days of the sixties, aud
the teaching Of lessons of patriotism to
the youth of our country.
This week the following notice oc-
CURED in one of our papers: Monday
will be Memorial Day, and Salem viii
have horse race and a shooting match.
That is mot the proper way to celebrate
the day. 1t is all wrong. 1t is using
a solemn occasion to promote frolic and
fooery. No. No, Memorial Day is moi
the time for mere pleasure seeking and
fun. It is rather time for patriotic
reflection and the decoration of the
graves of our fallen heroes and dear ones
with the flowers Of springtime- the sym
bols of immortality.
The text instructs us to remember
the days of old, and to consider the
years of many generations There are
several things that { desire you to re-
member this morning. First of all. be
sure to remember that Memorial Day
grew out of the Civil War, the greatest
war of its kind in history. | would also
have you remember the causes that pre-
cipitated that war
Proud of His Church
Last summer ! talked with minister
from the southwestern part of Virginia.
! asked him if there was Methodist
Episcopal church in his town. He said
No: our people would not tolerate
Methodist Episcopal church in our town
! said, Why not!' Because he replied,
our people say that The Methodist EpS
copal church came down South to educate
uiggers | said, If that is all the fault
that can be found with our church. | an
proud of it, lie said. L believe in yotir
church. and | do not share in the feeling
of the people of my town, for ] think
the colorcd people ought to be educated.
Our church has Il larger mission in the
South than the mere education of the
negro populations. But that is the small
estimate that some people have Of our
denomination in its work in the South
ern States. Just SO there are those who
say that the Boys in Blue went down
South in the sixties TO free the niggers.
Such expressions are either the result Of
blind prejudice or ignorance. The free
dom of the slaves was one of the results
of the war, and am not unmindful that
the anti slavery agitation entered into
the list of causes of the war. But the
great issue that was uppermost i'll every
soldiers mind was the preservation Of
the Union.
Several of the southern states claimed
that they had the right to leave the
Union whenever they saw fit to do 50.
They further claimed that inasmuch AZ
they had ccded to the Federal Gover:i-
ment certain lands for fortfications.
arsenals, etc. they had the right to de-
mand the cession of this property back to
the sovereign state at any time. Conse
quently, South Carolina sent commits
sioners to Washington to demand that
the President and Congress turn over
II; u
Sumpter in Charleston harbor, and other
Federal property throughout the State,
to the State of South Carolina. Florida
demanded the ccssion Of the naval sta
ton at Pensacola. Fort Picbins on Santa
Rosa Island and other forts within the
State. One after another of the South
ern States followed i'll these demands.
President Buchanan who had Il shoe
string for back bone, wavered aud
waited and instead of taking hold of the
situation with firm hand, he saw the
Southern States conliscate United States
property, which had been left i'll charge
of only a few troops in the several garri-
sons, instead of sending reinforcements
to hold the government property.
Sumpter Surrendered
nGovernor Pckens, of South Carolina,
demanded that Major Anderson, in com
mand OF the defenses in Charleston har
Dor, should turn over the forts and their
arms and ammunition to his State. This
the Major refused to do. And on the
night of December 26, 1850, he spiked
the guns of Fort Moultrie, destroyed the
gun carriages and set the fort on fire,
and with colors flying he and his little
band of forty-iye men, embarked for
Fort Sumpter, where they remained for
three months without ever hearing Il
word from Washington, receiving rein
forcements or supplies, although tele
graph communications We're open be
tween Washington and Charleston.
Never was there brayer lot of men
than these men; never was more dis
graceful neglect accorded the servants Of
the government. However, without let