The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1917-12-20
FLAG SERVICE At THE con-
GREGaTIONAL CHURCH
~ Manchester. Sunday. Deeember i6
1917

n
1917
In spite OF the very cold morning
there was good attendance at thi'
DAG service. Under the direction OF
Mrs. Brooks, the ehorister, the choii
sang the hymns, America, The Battle
Hymn Of the Republic, The Star
spanglcd Banner and Columbia the
Gem Of the Ocean. The address b.
the pastor and the words Of DR.. Hem
snway In presenting the flag, follows
the flag being presented by Dea. VIM
II. Smith and DR.. L. II. Hemenway
both veterans Of the Civil War
Address by =. X. Perkins
Ps. 604
Thou hast given banner 10 them
that fear thee.
In explanation of this passage Cru
den in his Concordance says:
An army Of men united under ore
banner with ability to defend them
selves and conquer their enemies. A
banner being a sign Of victory as
well as Of battle, and Of union.
In Wcbster's Dictionary the syn
onymous words for flag are banner,
ensign, and standard, all which We find
in different passages Of tn e Scrip
tures.
Our national ensign is therefore a
banner AS truly as It is a flag; and so
we are taught by Francis Key to sing
Of The Star Spangled Banner" The
full statement Of the Scripture text Isl;
Thou hast given banner to them
that fear thee that it may be display
ed because Of the truth"
That means that every flag is, or
should be, significant Of something
same truth, or principle, or purpose
1t should stand in national use as
representive Of what the nation stands
for in It's history, its institutions, and
principles.
A certain newspaper writer once
dared to say that the flag was only
piece of bunting anyway.
The statement was bitterly resented.
The editorial writer may have been a
true patriot, his heart as responsive to
what "the colors" represent as any
other citizen, and he doubtless had
what he thought was legitimate
point to make by his unfortunate
wo~As true In q sense, but only n
haIf truth and calculated like many
other partial truths Of making an
utterly false impression. The "shee-
ney" peddlcr thinks the flag as only
n piece of bunting when he profanely
uies it to tie up a bundle of rags.
When a flag is so faded and worn
oft as to be Of no further use it should
be carefully crematcd.
We are today, through the gener-
osity Of those true friends of Man
chester and this church, rcoeiveing q
flag at the hands of the Misses Skin
ner, and ] am sure that ! shall be
Justified in thanking them in the name
of you all.
But some one may ask: How is II
fitting at religious service on the
Lords Day to make so much of a flag
as we are doing and as countless other
churches have done? In reply it may
be said that il would be distinctly un-
fitting of this day,--and this place
II il were not for the deeper signifi- |
cance Of the flag which we receive and
Acdicate--for this flag has history
and it represents the history Of the
aation whose states are represented by
its starry field.
II represents also the institutions
Sf our country, as well as its spirit and
purpose.
The history Of the flag is nearly as
old as the Independence Of the United
States.
When our Revolutionary fathers de-
elared that the people Of the l3 Col
onies were free and independent we
naturally had no national flag ready
for our use.
Il would say here that as ! was
about to prepare this address the Ma
tional Geographic Magazine for Octo-
ber arrived, and | was greatly sur
prised 10 find that it was devoted to
~fag number" the story Of our flag
and Of other flags. 1t will repay you
to read il. shall borrow from It
freely in facts and statements which
are most useful for the purposes Of
this service.)
In the article on the National flag |
the writer discounts the familiar story
Of the origin Of the flag in the hands
Of Betsy Ross Of Philadelphia, saying:
"The well known story Of Betsy
Ross. so-callcd maker Of the Stars and
Stripes, is one Of the picturesque le-
ernds which has grown up around the