The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-02-19
THE MOST REVEREND ARCH.
BISHOPS SERMON.

Honor to whom honor is due-a sa-
lutte to an American, the first to enlist
as volunteer soldier in the army of
the Civil War-Josias r. King.
1t was on the fifteenth day of April,
1861. Abraham Lincoln in Washing
ton Vas signing his name to the proc
lamation callirg for seventy-tive thou
sand men to guard against rebellion
tie flag of the Nation. Alexander
Ramsey, Governor of Minnesota, was
standing by; the signature written;
Governor Ramsey at once made offer
of a regiment from Minnesota-the
first governor to give response to the
proclamation. A few moments later
the wires were speeding to the Capitol
in ST. Paul the call to arms; few
moments later the message of the
Lieutenant Governor was on its way
to the headquarters of st. Paul's mill
tia, the Pioneer-Guard, declaring the
roster open for enlistments. Josias r.
King was in the drill-hall, and instant
lv he exclaimed: Write down my
name" And so the Union had it's first
volunteer soldier, before the Proclama-
ton of the President had time to be
obeyed in any other spot in the United
States of America.
Josias r. King, we salute you as you
stood youthful and patriotic in the
drill-room of the Pioneer-Guard, as,
quick and joyous, you rushed aside all
hopes, all promises opening before
strength and talent, to serve the
Union, to die in doing so, were the
sacrifice of life to be required of you.
Josias R. King, fifty-five years later,
today lifeless, motionless, we salute
you for your act of the fifteenth day OF
April, 1861; and over your coffin we
salute the flag of the American Union,
today so glorious, so powerful, because
YOU, and the hundreds of thousands of
others, equally loyal and brave, hur-
ried to it's defense in its m, nent OF
supreme peril
The murderous seaEgE ball had
swept across the waters of Charleston
Bay, bearing insult and defiance to the
Star-spangled flag. 1t was the wild
threat Of rebellion, the wild threat of
the disruption of the Union, of the ruin
of the Republic of America. And as
Fort Sumter fell, the Union was doom
ed to fall, were not the American pa
triots the legion. But the patriots
were the legion, re-echoing through
the land the words of Josias R. King
in st. Paul-and the Union was saved
Fellow-Americans, shall we, in the
name of peace, blame the soldiership
of Josias r. King, the soldiership OF
the hundreds of thousands who with
him buckled on their swords, to de-
fend against it's foes the Union OF
America! Shall we, on this Lincoln
Anniversary blame Abraham Lincoln
who called the American people to
arms, blame the thousands and thou
sands of Americans who died on the
battlefield, the thousands and thou
sands who, the war over, returned tC
their homes to serve the country in
peace, as they had served it in war
ready, however, again to serve 1t IL
war, did the call to arms again go fortf
from the White House in Washington!
No, fellow-Americans, hundred time:
no! Rather, honor and blessing at
tend their names and memories!
War, we readily confess, is terrible
No government, no people shoulc
view it with light-heartedness. A
needless war we abhor, yet more so
an unjust war But at times there i:
the necessary war-necessary in orde1
that ruin, or dishonor be averted from
the nation: and when the necessar!
war confronts us, we accept it with
out hesitation, whatever the miseries
the sacrifices implied in its exigencies
The individual, indeed, has his value
but above that of the individual is thu
value of the family: and above thu
value of the family and of the individ
ual there is the value of the nation
Without the nation the individual AM
the family have no security of life o
OF property, no hope of peace or o
progress. When the issue at stake j
the social COLLECTIVELY, the nation, saC
rifice of life or property must at ono
DO ultuC W save AIO INV
welfare and of honor.
Silenced be the tongue that tells {
peace, as the sole blessing to be cove
ed, and invokes upon the nation sui
mission at all costs. We hear to
much of this peace, which is nougf
else than the destruction of the N;
ton, and with this destruction, tn
destruction, too, of what it pretend
to uphold as of paramount importanc
the family and the individual.
Let not the teachings of holy reli
ion be made an argument in favor {
peace at all costs. Peace is the ide;
put forward by religion. If the teacl
ings of religion we're the univers
practice among men and nations, ur
versal peace would reign: there woul
be no injustice to be rectifed. no pa
sion to be suppressed, no wrong to
righted. But until the ideal hums
world is reality, until the moral m
lenium has come into form and faC
at times peace must give way to wa
When the invader threatened the fre