The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-02-25
daring to slur his uniform, or condemn
his sword. Grateful citizenship rever-
ences the soldier.

FORWARD, the LlgnL Brlgaue!
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.
Into the Valley Of Death
Rode the six hundred.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left Of them,
Cannon in front of them,
Volley'd and thunder'd:
Stormed at with shot and SHE'LL
Into the jaws of DEATH
Into the mouth of hell
Rode the six hundred"
So the awful ordeal on the field of
Balaklava: so, the ordeal, repeated, in
lesser or greater measure, upon every
battlefield. The bugle sounds: on
ward the soldier, in instant obedience,
into the jaws of death.
Those who once viewed battle
field, during or after the clashing of
arms, know the meaning of the sol
dier's sacrifice-the immensely of the
oblation, the single-mindedne of pur-
pose and vaIor of heart needed to
make it.
Honor to the soldier-to him who
was stricken to death on the battle
field, to him who survived it to tell
later of it's horrors, to him who yet
untried in the carnage is pledged to it
whenever the bugle sounds and the
onward rush is ordered.
Honor to the Soldier in Days of Peace.
Honor to the soldier in days of war:
honor to him in days of peace! In
days of peace, he is preparing himself
for war-submitting in stole self-con-
troll to harsh discipline, learning the
tactics of the field, nurturing in his
soul the heroic valor needed in the
actual fray.
Honor to the soldier, when war
seemingly is far away, SO that when
it is near he be the legion, from whose
hands no enemy shall wrest the ma
tons flag to trail it in defeat and dis
grace l do not discuss for the NOM
ent the comparative value of the regu-
lar and the volunteer soldier. The
Civil War proved the soldiership of the
volunteers-though, I might add, in
the Civil War it was volunteer against
volunteer, and war was not then the
| task of science it is today. But so
| that, when the emergency calls, volun-
teers come forward in requisite num-
Der and in requisite valor-teach the
youth of the land to respect and honor
| the soldier, to esteem his profession
as one of the nob1est open to Ameri-
can citizenship. To disparage today
! the army and navy, to censure drill
and tournament, to deride forts and ar
senaIs, torpedo ships and dreadnoughts
is a far leading step towards de-
! fenseless nation, when defense is the
need of the hour.
Moral Lessons Taught by the Soldier.
Yes, honor to the soldier, were it
only to do homage to the great spirit
ual ideas that radiate from his brow
unselfishness of service and readiness
Of sacrifice. There are things to be
dreaded more than war-among them
nations sluggishness on behalf OF
great causes, a nations servitude to
material comfort and sensual enjoy
ment. | am not sure that America is
not marching too fast towards Capuan
fields, as once marched thither the
Conqueror of Thrasymenus, there to
wreck the moral fbres OF his men
there to fit himself for defeat in flu
ture battles A way to avoid such
moral wreckage is to set out into beau.
teous blossomings the virile virtues
symbolized in the soldier-even though
we wish that those virtues be never
brought to bear fruit in actual war.
Peoria's Regiment in the Civil War.
Peoria, honor to the soldier! Honor
to the memories of the bravest OF
the brave-Bryner, Thrush and Nc
Clure: honor to the valorous, the in
vincible Forty-seventh Regiment of Ill
inois Infantry, to which at one time OF
another during the Civil War Peoria
and it's adjoining territory made the
magnificent offerings Of two thousand
and fifty-two willing soldiers. Honor
to the men of the Forty-seventh Regi
ment, to the men of other regiments
made up of sons of Peoria: honor te
all, who today breathe their patriotism
and are capable of their sacrifice and
valor
i I am glad to stand tonight in the
home Of the men of the noble Forty
seventh. know them well; I biv
ouaced with them: chatted and
laughed with them around their camp
fires: I exchanged with them canteens
lin some water SO welcome to the
Iparched lips Of the wounded and the
dying, in others, something else saw
them in battle; T saw them in victory
never in defeat.
il Survivors of the Forty-seventh-s
salute to the old regiment-a salute tC
the Eagle Brigade-the Forty-seventf
Illinois, the Eleventh Missouri, the
j Eiohfh WISCONSIN thn Fifth Mime