News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1917-06-20
P. A. Graduation
CONTINUED from page ~


be free to work out her principles of lib
erty and Democracy among the nations
| OF the world. And when our boys today
are called upon to bleed and die that
some great principle of righteousness
may be conserved, | cannot but feel con-
WINGED that out of that sacrifice will grow
something as beautiful tor the world as
the present structure of the worlds lite
must be to the angels who remember it
as it was in the old days of oppression;
when Might was Right.
| Can we too highly honor the men yon-
| der, who in the midst of blood and fire
are delving into those awful depths to
find the paths along which purified and
chastened world may move to its millen-
| ium' How can we best honor the best
men of there stirring times By keeping
| our lives in check and the home forces un-
der control and by being ready to make
something like as big sacrifice for our
selves and our nations interests as they
| are making for us.
When see lad returned blinded from
the battlefield, sitting side by side with
the man who has made his fortune out of
the war profits and is using his wealth
to minister to his own miserable sensu-
BUSINESS, when / see saddened and anx-
ious mother fearfully reading the bulle-
tin, praying that the war may soon close
and her boys return to her, while along
side her is the man who pollutes the air
with the utterance,- don't care how
long the war lasts; | am making my
pile, u want to strike the latter to
earth and trample on him as would a
foul snake, whose poison is deadly. The
curse OF this age is the man who is fat.
tening upon the awful sacrifices of others.
We may we'll rejoice that the American
bird has ceased to be a carrion crow, fat |
tening upon the bleeding forms of Eu- |
ropes dead and has re-assumed the lord |
ly form of the eagle to sour aloft upon |
mighty, majestic wing and help bear the |
world toward the glorious region of the
stars.
We can best honor the best men of these
stirring times only as we strive to weave
the spirit which they show on the battle
field into the lives that we live at home,
and he who expects all the sacrifices to
be made by the men in the khaki is not a
patriot, but a low-down traitor with
whom many a murderer might refuse to
associate.
The obligations of the citizens in these
stirring times are real ones. There is not
too much courage in the front line
trenches. but is it not manifested there
too exclusively
1t has been said that if the capital, the
courage, the power of organization that
has been exhibited on the battlefelds
could be burned in another direction,
that of fighting against humanity's real
evils, we should have in one generation
something like paradise regained. If we
could translate the courage of the Marine ,
into the courage that would show itself
On election day in sending to office men
qualified and pledged to interpret Chris.
tan principles into public life, the
triumph of true citizenship would be
achieved.
3 And the Christians responsibility is
likewise a burdensome one. Until the
Christians life becomes a renewed ex.
preston of the great principles of the
itonement he has little right to the name
Christian.
Surely, my young friends, in this age
when the world is grooming, no greater y
privilege can come to anyone, young or =
I'D, than to learn the ways of making 4
he worlds groans give way to the \
aughter of happiness and the tumult of 4
var to the blessings of service.
Thus and thus only do we master the ?
TT of right living; thus do we build the c
anger temples of the soul, and build them,
OF on the in6nitimal spasms of the mo- r
lent, but on the everlasting securities of n
nth, hope and love.
e true, my friend, and let who will be clever, v
Do noble things, not dream them all day long; v
nd so make life, death and the vast forever
One grand, sweet song.