The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1917-02-15

MS with bands OF humble ministry. He
had never before addressed so large an
audience as this. Sunday after Sun
day, the ten or twelve who made nm
MS little Calvlnistic flock, lacking a
church building, gathered in the homes
OF his elders, Henry Rice and James
Armstrong; the foundations of Goshen
chapel had been scarcely planned; but
| today he found 4 hundred men and
women watching him, expectant of
spiritual comfort. No one appreciated
better than he the sufferings, the be-,
reayements through which they had
passed. In his meek and heroic spirit
he thanked God for the high honor be-
slowed upon him, that to him should
be given the words to address so great
a company. In a voice that rang
with prophecy, he read aloud that
thrilling call which concludes the four
teenth chapter of the Gospel of Luke
and as he lifted his eyes from the
book, he found resting on him the clear
steady gaze of the threescore back
wOOdsmen.
81 am going to speak to you about
tenacity of purpose" he began, "the
quality of soul which enables you to
hang on to the thing you have begun
until you have finished It.
"Not one of you men and women but
despises a man who gives up in the
midst of fight. This feeling is part
of your very blood, for you have been
brought up in the midst of dangers
such as no other generation of men
has known. 1t is upon resistance up to
the last notch that your lives them
selves depend. That man among you
who surrenders imperils the lives of
all of you. There is not one Of you
whose resolution has not been tried
and tried sorely by the almost insuffer-
able burdens of this new land. A hun
dred times you have said, why did 1
not remain in the land which my IA
theirs have made safe and pleasant for
me? And hundred times you have
fought off that feeling OF discourage
ment.
you are about to be put to a test
more severe than any you have yet I'M
dergOne. You have won the fight at Tip
pecanoe; but do not be mistaken: all
| the pitileSS warriors Of the forest will
gather again and crush you out en-
tirely if they can; and behind them is
the power of that nation across the
seas, whose tyranny our fathers have
overthrnwn at such tremendous cost.
| "'And whatsoever doth no. bear his
cross, and come after me, cannot be
my disciplev
1.-THE words are those of the greatest
| fighter Of all. They are the words of
a man who, without single follower,
| proclaimed his convictions before the
most hostile and unfriendly of all gen.
| eratiOns. The whole crushing weight
of it's hate fell upon him, but he chung
| to those beliefs to the very last-gave
up his life, rather than give them up.
| He, of all men, knew what it mean to
cling to a purpose in the face of ire
mend0us difficulties. Yet he says that
whoever cannot equally endure the
burdens of the march through life is
not fit to be man.
'Thirty-twO years ago a little band
of men-settlers like you and not so
many as are now before me--fOllOWed
George Rogers Clark through unimag
| Unable hardShips across the wintry
prairieS from KaSkaskia to VincenneS.
Last week I passed by the crumbling
timbers of the old fort and found their
|
embrasureS. Some Of you men in this
| audience were with him in that ter
rible march and daring assault. 1t is
useless to say that we will never for
| get what you have done for us. Gen
eral Clark is now a pennileSS and pal
sled cripple in his sisters home. Do
not expect that republic which has
no rewards for the leader will be less
forgetful of the man in the ranks.
"YOu have not entered on this death
| lesSly heroic struggle with the wilder
ness with the expectation of material
reward alone: you have come here
from the old quiet places in Virginia,
in Massachusetts, in Connecticut, in
Pennsylvania and New Jersey because
you have the fighting spirit in you;
and you stay here because the fighting
spirit stays in you.
"'FOr which of you, intending to
build tower, stitch not down first,
and counteth the cost, whether he have
sufficient to finish it?
"Lest haply, after he hath laid the
foundation, and is not able to finish it,
all that behold it begin to mock him.
"'Saying, "ThiS man began to build,
and was not able to finish."'
1.-THE tower that you have begun to
build is an invisible tower: a new and
mighty nation. Today you sit down to
count the cost of the building, to see
whether you have sufficient with which
to finish the vast edifice. What is the
cost? The world watches you, and not
only it's generations of today but those
unborn generations who will weigh
your work to see whether it was good
or bad. L know that you have counted
the cost and are willing, ready to pay
it: treasure of sacrifice, treasure
of blood and wounds and dreadful
agonies and bitter tears. But you will
pay it. You will pay it to the utter
most, holding yourselves to the grim
account with iron wills, forcing your
selves on with unconquerable resolve.
"Not of you shall it ever be said:
After he hath laid the foundation, and
;e, oh RI oil ho