Norwich bulletin., 1915-06-02
VETERANS AT SERVICE
AT FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH,
Rev. G. II. Strouse Points Out Present
Day Lessons of Memorial Day.

The First Baptist church had as
guests at the Sunday morning service
the Grand Army men and the Wom-
ans Relief corps. The American flag
made effective decorations.
A special programme of music was
rendered by a double quartette the
regular choir, Mrs. Louis A. Wheeler,
Mrs. Herbert Wiley and Messrs.
Stephen Peckham and William Case,
being assisted by Mrs. Charles Pierce,
Mrs. Charles Burke, and Messrs. Har-
ry Howard and John Peckham Of Pres
ton.
The programme opened with organ
voluntary, William Douglas; hymn,
Forward to the Battle, double quar-
tette; offertory, The Boys Who Wore
the Blue, male quartette; Under the
Flag, male quartette.
The pastor, Rev George H. Strouse,
gave an able sermon, taking for this
text: This day shall be unto you for
a memorial Elk. IL: IA.
He said in part: Men in Blue, we are
glad to look into your faces today. I
an not hero worshipper, but a great
admirer of heroes. Your presence with
us today will make Us more conscious
of the wondrous significance of Me-
mortal day. You have seen the far
flung battle line and the bloody battle
field. You have fought and suffered;
many of your comrades spilled their
blood We, not you need a, Memorial
day. The battlefield is indelibly fixed
in your memories. But we need the
constant reminder of this day with all
its sacred associations, lest, we forget.
AS Memorial day rolls around year by
year we love to think of you and do
you honor.
Memorial day commentaries a great
fact in American history. We never
want to forget it. When we see the
soldiers dressed in blue, follow them to
the cemeteries and watch them dec
crate the graves of their departed COM
rades, and fellowship with them around
their campf1res, then there comes to us
the awful reality of a civil war. The
lesson of Memorial day for US is stop
and think. And when we stop and
think, we see, first the triumph of
right. God is everlastingly against the
| man who is on the side of evil. Again,
we are reminded that true men form a,
nations greatest asset.
This country has been rich in men.
When the great crisis came we had
| men. We had a man in the presiden-
tial chair. He was forged in g. Ken
| lucky log cabin. Any nation on earth
| would be proud to call him one of their
sons. And when he called for men,
there were men to respond. You were
among the men who stood by him and
the cause of right. And you won be-
cause you were in the right.
Memorial day reminds us of the lofty
ideals which characterized the men
who fought and died that this land
might be saved and slavery might be
banished.
AS we stop and think we naturally
compare the past and the present. The
climb upward has been a painful one
The pages of history are stained with
blood. Are we making any advance?
An affirmative answer at the present
time may meet with ridicule. One
thing is certain. Lofty ideals are
cherished nv q larger T1@1x
than ever in the worlds history. We
have advanced. But still there Is a
great sea of greed and injustice and
misery which rolls it's waves at our
very doors. Men with brave hearts
are needed to grapple with the mon
sterS of sin all about us. Great moral
principles must still be worked out
through sacrifice and blood.
Have faith in God Be sure you are
in the right-then go ahead!