The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1917-05-31
4 q & Z n &
PAGE TWO

Cross, so speak the Stars and Stripes.
If yesterday we chose to be neutral,
today, when authority has decided
otherwise, we can be neutral no longer,
as our Savior Himself bids US remem-
Der in the words: 'He that is not
with me, is against me, and he that
gathered not, scattereth."
Equally clear are the words OF St.
Paul: "Let everyone be subject to
higher powers" We invoke the pro-
tecting hand of civil society in our
home, our life, our property; how then
can we refuse to come to her assist
ance in the hour of danger?
If anyone should feel inclined to
ask: "Why should fight for Ameri-
CAP" he will find the answer in the
stirring words of our Archbishop OF
st. Paul: "To defend America is to
defend not only the nation that pro-
tects you, that nurtures you, but the
nation that stands in the universe for
the highest ideals, the noblest princl-
pies, governing mankind. When we
Speak of our country, we have in mind
not only our homes and the homes OF
our fathers, but the great hnd noble
thing for which America stands
erty and order and order and liberty:
America rises before the nations OF
the earth as that great country which
above all others gives democracy to
mankind, which makes every man feel
that it is pleasant to walk upon the
earth, and which showers blessings
untold upon all it's people. Sacred is
the duty to defend our country, to
make sacrifices for it. America did
not provoke war. She sought peace.
But her honor was attacked, her dignl-
ty assailed, her power defiled."
Hence tie motto Of the true citizen
y must ever be the words of the Chief
Commander, our divine Master, KEN
der to Caesar the things that are
Caesars, and to God the things that
are Gods"
And where can we find more per-
feet model for our imitation than IN
Him to Whom we bow and bend our
knee in alteration? For Christ was
the greatest patriot that ever lived.
Being the son of God Himself, He be-
came obedient to the laws of man
whose Master He was.
Long before He came in person to be
our guide and redeemer, He had made
use Of prophets lips in pointing out
the cornerstone upon which must rest
the enduring life of the individual as
we'll as the nation, W hen He said:
Righteousness exalteth a nation"
And when he was about to appear
among us in human flesh He began to
teach by example our religious and
civic duties. We see Mary, His
blessed mother, and Joseph her God
appointed spouse, travelling long dis
lance to Bethlehem in obedience to an
edict of Caesar, the chief of the land,
to have their names enrolled there
among the rest of the descendants of
the house of David.
And when He was born in that hum
BILE cave while angels proclaimed to
the wondering shepherds His power
and divinity, even then the King of
kings had already taught the first les
son of obedience to the laws of the
land.
AS a child of twelve years we find
Him vending His way to the temple,
saying that He "musc be about His
Fathers business" And later on,
when His diciples asked Him how to
express their wants to God, he ut
tered those sublime words that are so
often found on the devout Christians
lips: "Our Father who art in heaven"
Never once do we read that He re-
sisted legitimate authority, but on the
contrary worked even miracle, as we
read, in order to pay His tribute to
the government.
In the Garden of Olives, where He
had chosen to begin our redemption,
He prayed: "Father if it be possible
that this chalice pass away without
me drinking it, let it pass" but added
as a sign of his obedience, "neverthe-
less not Mine but Thine will be done. -
He became obedient even unto the
death Of the cross, praying for His
enemies even in His dying hour:
Father forgive them for they know
not what they d." and SO in his last
moments left us the beautiful example
of the love of God and our fellowmen.
Since that day the Cross He thus
consecrated by His own blood has gone
forth into all lands blessing the ma
lions and imprinting it's wholesome
lessons on the hearts of man, to be
loyal to God and country.
But we have another banner, one
which stands beside the cross, conse-
Grated by God and sacred to every
American heart-the glorious Stars
and Stripes, the flag of our nation.
Have you ever considered, fellow
citizens, the origin and significance
of our national banner? Well, 20
back in mind to those colonial days
when the hardy immigrants had sue
ceeded after years of courageous toll
and grit in building UP their homes
and little commemorative, they began
to aspire to emancipation from the old
world oppression.
1t could not be otherwise, for every
feature OF the new world told of liber-
ty. The ocean waves that laved it's
rugged, shores proclaimed in organ
tones the song Of freedom; the winds
that swept the western prairies bore
the breath of liberty upon their un-
seen wings; the beasts of the forests
were free. the red savage roamed the
continent in proud freedom, and was
the white man, the heir of Christian
centuries, to be the only slave in this
land of liberty?
1t could not be so, Providence would
not have it so. And when an attemnt
was made to drag the chains of on