Norwich bulletin., 1914-06-01
Memorial Day Address.

Central Baptist church. The theme ! was, "A Perpetual Memorial" There were two Biblical verses which were quoted as basis for the construction of the address. One was Psa 45: 17: T will make thy name to be remem- bered in all generations" The other l was Exodus 2s:29: And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Is- upon his breast when he goeth in un- to the holy place. for a memorial be- fore Jehovah continually Among other things. pr. Slocum said:
 The breastplate of Judgment was an elaborate regalia rich in colors. each In materials. embracing within gold en settings twelve different gems each of which on it's polished surface bore the name of a tribe of Israel. Whenever the high priest entered the full insignia in recognition of Gods perpetual remembrance of his people. A Perpetual Memorial. ! No setting is too costly for the names of those who gave themselves beautiful for their graves. No place is too holy to be used as sanctuary
 where these names are to be hallowed.
 "A Perpetual Memorial" is the sub
 ject to which l wish to call your at tention. The significance of Aaren's
 
 never forgets his people. At the same time, 1t was desirable that the people themselves should constantly remem- Der that God never forgets. God needed no reminder. but the people needed one, and it must have been a lofty joy to know that their names were honored in the secret place of the most high So there has come to be an increas- inging recognition of the heroic souls l~s T ( Al r-s- ID public, and also of those others, who, through great stress and sacrifice, carried the structure well on towards it's present continuation. Though we are familiar with the story of that struggle, there is need of a remind soon forget all sectional animosities: we cannot too long remember the de- votion of all those who offered them selves upon the aItars of their coun- try.
 A Great Gall.
 There are as many and as precious gems in our perpetual memorial. as
 there were in the breestpiate of Judg- mcnt which Aaron wore. But I wish to speak of only one or two. The first one might be designated the sapphire of a great call.
 The call was the call of great
 cause. A Republic was on trial before
 
 fields ot the nation there should be brought a negative answer, then that government of the people. by the peo- pie, for the people, would surely per 1 ish from the earth.
 Dominated by Principle. It is recorded in the Book of Chron- icles. that there went forth a call for volunteers, and at least 350,000 ex- perienced veterans responded "Al1 of hn1 hntr rx,2r f.f rro ho keep rank came with a perfect heart to Hebron to make David king" That
 was great cause and to meet with a
 magnificent response. So in 1861 there went forth a mighty army. moved ever forward by one dominat- 1 a principle, and to make that princi- pal king. That principle was more precious than any one mans own life to himself: dearer than a thousand lives; dearer than a whole generation of men.
 The Mayfiower brought a priceless cargo of 102 passengers. But vastly more valuable were the principles | wrapped up in their souls-the love | of liberty and the love of God. An Unconquo-ed Hope. The cause of our Civil War was a cause that tried mans spirits. but it was also a cause that gave birth to faith and transformation of character. | The lure of the Holy Grail was inten- sified by vision of the sacred thing. so that as the brave young knights
 went forth, they endured a sseeing that which was invisible. In like
 manner, as our boys in blue went to the front there was in their eyes the ! star of unconQuered kope-the hope of a coming day when North and South, and East and West, would be | elapsed in the bonds of blessed peace. Those were dark days, but it was the I darkness of the dawn rather than the | darkness that deepens into night. | There were those whose souls were
 overwhelmed by the gloom, but there | were others from whose minds the vicion of the better day had never van i ished. Walter Whitman says that in | the gloomiest period of the way. Lin- | coin was waited on by a delegation of bankers. One of them asked the pres ident if his confidence in the perman- ency of the Union was not beginning to be shaken. For reply Lincoln told | this little storyi,
 | "When I was a young man in H. | linois, I boarded for time with a | Deacon of the Presbyterian church Ore night was reused from my sleep by rap at my door. and I heard the | Deacon's voice exclaiming: 'Arite Abraham, the day if Judgment hi.s
 come;' I sprang from my bed an rushed to the window and saw the stars falling in great showers. But presently, looking back of them in the heavens. I saw the grand old con- | stellations with which I was so well l acquainted, fixed and true in their l places Gentlemen, concluded Mir.
 Lincoln, the world did not come to an ] end then, nor will the Union now T l A Priceless Conservation. | There is just one more stone in the 1 breastplate of our perpetual mem 1 orial that I wish to hold up to your | eyes today, We might justly name 1 it the diamond of a priceless conse- eration- The whole story is right here 1 They counted not their life dear until
 then. They were thinking, as they passed through toilsome marches, oi 1 the safe highways of liberty for all ] coming generations: they were think l ing, as they fell amid the wild tumuli | of battle of the Union that would not ! die
 ! How awful was that transaction And yet how sublime. The cost was SC ation. Ahe whole land was drenched with fraternal blood. It must have ! seemed like that first impenetrabe chaos when darkness brooded over the face of the deep. But like that otheI ] night, the Spirit of God moved upor | the face of the waters. And God said: Let there be light" Then came fulfil1ment to the faith of those who had waited for the morning. And l in the new day, 1t could be seen that 1 the night had not fallen in vain Nearly a generation had been strick-
 en from the land. but the new gen.