Memorial Sermon

We have with us at our service this morning, my esteemed comrades of the Welch Post of the Grand Army of the Eepublic, the local camp of the Sons of Veterans, and our city military organization, Co. A of the Mich. State Troops, these together with our regular congregation. What theme will be fitting for such an occasion. This is not Memorial Day. The day which our national government has set apart as sacred to the memory of our patriot soldiers who gave their lives for their country, is next Thursday. On that day it is that your thoughts will be especially invited to the old dark days of struggle, now so happily passed, and to the self-sacrificing and nervie deeds that make those days forever memorable and honorable. On that day you, my comrades of the Grand Army, will wreath the graves of the fallen with flowers, singing in your hearts if not in words, the refrain: Cover them over, yes, cover them over- Parent, and husband, and brother and lover ; Crown in your hearts those dead héroes of ours. And cover them over with beautitul flowers." Since, then, Thursday is to be a day for commemorating the dead, can we do better than make today a time for thoughts for the living? - a time for asking the patriotism of the past to trade us a lesson of patriotism for the present? Twenty-five years ago, my comradeSj you were busy teaching the world a great lesson - a lesson as to the duty of the patroit in the time of war. Shall I take as my theme this morning, " The duty of the patriot in the time of peace ? " I select as my texts these passages, one froin the book of Psalms, one from the book of Proverbs, one from the prophesy of Isaiah. "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth: if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy." "Righteousness exalteth a nation ; but sin ia a reproach to any people." "Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruotion within thy borders; I will make thy rulers righteousness, and thy officers peace." The first of these passages, that from Psalms, is part of a religious poem written by some Hebrew poet in Babyion, while the nation was dragging out its weary years of captiyity there. It is one of the most beautifuï as well as one of the most fervidly patriotic utterances in the Bible. "By the rivers of Babyion," says the poet, "there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion." Zion which you know was the hill in Jerusalem on which stood the palace of the Hebrew king. "We hanged our harps upon the willows. . . For they that carried us away captive required of us a song. . . Saying sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? If I forget thee.O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning." Here, we see, Jerusalem the capital city stands to the Jews as a symbol or representative of their whole country: and this passage is the passionate utterance of their undying love fcr their native land. The second passage, " Right eousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people," is one of those sayings of wisdom which had eprung up as the result of ages on ages of experience that the only path of safety and prosperity and permanent honor for any nation is the path of righteousness. The third passage, " Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; . . I will make thy rulers righteousness, and thy officers peace," is an utterance of perhaps the most patriotic as well as the most eloquent of the Hebrew prophets, predicting a good time coming when war should be done away, and when permanent peace should come to his people, because justice and truth and virtue should everywhere prevail among them. The lesson.. then of all the passages together is, that of patriotism - love of country; and that true patriotism manifests itself in promoting among the people that righteousness which is the onlv possible foundation of permanent national prosperity and peace. Wfaat is the duty of the patriot in the time of peace? As preliminary, let me ask, what is the'duty of a patriot in the time of war? To this inquiry I answer : If the war is an unrighteous one, then it is uudoubtedly the duty of the true patriot sternly to protest againts it, as the old prophets sternly protested against unjust wars in their days ; as so many of the best people of England protested against the recent war carried on by that country against Egypt, resulting in the indefensibie bombardment of Alexandria, and the death of Gordon; and as so many of the best people of tbis country protested against our own war with Mexico. But if the war is a just and righteous one forced on a people, which they must carry on or allow their country or their country'a liberty to be destroyed, or some great principie of right and justice to be permanently trodden down, then are the conditions changed: then it seems to become the clear duty of the patriot, at least in a republican government like ours, to do just wbat you did when your countrjPs life was ia peril, and when the question was at issue, shall America be dedicated to freedom or to slavery? viz.,buckle on the sword, take up the musket, and, terrible as was is, accept its bloody arbitra[CONTIKUEB ON SKOND PAQE.] HKMORIAL SKRMON. ICONTINTJKD.l ment. For there are some things worse than wounds ; there are Borne things more dreadful than death. Liberty and juttice are not to be bartered even for life itself. But, if such are the duties of the lover of his country in the time of war, what are his duties in the time of peace ? Are a patriot's duties and responsibilities to his country discharged when he has once risked his life for her, in some crisis time of her peril? As well claim that a father's duty to his child is done when he haa snatched the child from the fire or the water, in some moment of sudden danger. No, the patriot's duties to his country are never ended but with death. Some one has said regarding religión " Men will wrangle for religión, write for it, fight for it, die for it, anything but live for it." There is a great deal of truth in the saying. What religión wants more than anything else to-day is men to live for it. Much the same is to be said of the country. The time was when she asked men to die for her. A great mul titude nobly responded. Now she asks men to live for her. Does she find as many to respond? She asked her children to save her life in her hour of ger. Uut wnat n mat me aegeneraie in value, bo that men in the future shall ask: was it worth saving? It matters little that the side of freedom conquored in the war, unless we employ our freedom for worthy ends. It matters little that theUaion has been preserved, unless the Union be used as a nursery for noble men. As we look back over the history of the past we find that comparatively few of the nations that have been great and then have passed away, have perished at the hands of esternal foes. The foes that have slain them have been most often such as carne not with sword or spear or martial tread or beat of drum, but silently, unnoticed, rioing up in their own midst, to corrupt, to divide, to enérvate, to poison the fountains of the nation's social, potitical, and moral life. And so the virtue, the purity, the integrity, the character of the people being deteriorated, it could be only a question of time when the nation would f all. Here undoubtedly lies the greatest danger of nearly every nation in the world to-day. There can be little danger to any people bo long as purity, intelligence and justice reign everywhere within its borders. But when ignorance, corruption, intemperance, sensuality, tyranny, loss of moral fiber, loss of justice between man and man and class and class come in, then look out for earthquakes, social and politica] overturnings, blood: or, if not these things, then worse, slow, but inevitable and fatal decay. I do not mean by this that I apprehend serious disaster to our own nation in any near future : I certainly do not. But, I do not, because I believe that the men who have been true to her in time of war, and tbeir sons as well, are going to be true to her in times of peace; that as millions offered to die for her when the cali carne, bo, many more millions are going to live for her, steadily, selfforgettingly, nobly, as the years and the centuries go on. But if I believed that intelligent, eelf-sacrificing, patriotism, purity and virtue were going to die out in our land, or even seriously decline, then I shouid have no hope of the permanence of our government, or indeed of our civilization. There are dangers in this country threatening us to-day, nearly or quite as serious in their different ways as was the rebellion; and they can be overeóme only by meeting them in essentially the same spirit in which we meet the rebellion. What are these dangers ? If you will sit down and think candldly, you will be able to cali them to mind. Let me speak of two or three of the more important. 1. I name first intemperance. This is an evil we hear mucu about, and if our eyes are open we shouid see much of it, wherever we go. Because we are familiar with it we are likely to grow callous to it. But we have no right so to do. It is a practical, a vital matter.of interest to you, and to me, and to every member of society, old and young, rich and poor. Nobody can close his eyes in indifference to it without thereby becoming less than a man. It lies in wait for you, and for your boy, and for your neighbor and his boy ; and for the best brain and heart of the land. It has coat the country far more than war has, - I speak carefully and within bounds, - it has cost the country fr more than all ita wars have, of money, of life, of suffering to men, women and children. If it had brought some good to the country in return for all this fearful cost ; if it bad made some portion of our people more free or in some way strengthened the nation.as our late war for the Union did, then we could think with more complacency of the loss of life and health and happiness and money it has caused and is all the while causing. But it has blessed nobdy ; it has made men slaves and not freemen ; it has weakened the government, not strengthened it; it has hurt our institutions, politica!; social, educational, religious, wherever it has gone ; it has carried blight and mildew everywhere, and life and good nowhere. It follows then, that no man can be a patriot in the time of peace, in anything more than a very poor and imperfect way, without being an earnest temperance man. To love and serve your country you must stand between her and her foes. True, no cali has come from the President of the United States for 75,000, 300,000, 600,000 men, to enlist against this foe three monthg or three years. But froni every dearest and most sacred interest of the land the cali is coming constantly, as impressive as the tears of weeping wives and mothers, as the cries of neglected children, as the prayers of men who have fallen and have no strength to rise, - the cali for volunteers to enlist for Ufe in this holy crusade - holy if ever cause on earth was holy. Young men are wanted in this army,oldmen are wanted in this army, strong men and brave men are wanted- men who will enlist for duty's sake and their country's, and havi'ng enlisted will never turn back, but will he true and heroic, as you were, comrades, in the old days of the war. Your country needs you now as truly ae she did then - your love, your wisdom, your devotion, your fidelity, your bravery, - in helping her to overeóme this her deadly enemy, that is weakening and vitiating her legislation in both houses of congress and in every state legislatura and city common council in America ; that is hindering the execution of law and interfering with the administration of justice throughout the land ; that is corrupting our politics ; that is producng two-thirds of our crime, half our auperism, one-third our insanity ; that s debauching our young men as nothing else is ; that lays a heavier burden upon the country,"poor and rich alike, than all our taxes, all our education and all our religión ; that destroys more homes, beggars more children, and breaks more hearts, than any other single cause known to society Do not our hearts thrill again as in the old days, when we hear this cali? Ifwearestill patriots, if we still love our country, we must enlist in this cause of helping her to rid herself of this awful burden that liquor places upon her. Do not misunderstand me ; in saying this I am not urging you to become political partisans, in this way or that ; I am not urging you to adopt my views, or the views of this man or the other, as to what particular measuresought to be carried out. But I am asking you to be in earnest in the matter; I am asking you to give to it your best wisdom, and your sincerest effort, and not divide over little things. I do ask you to look at thia great and serious matter so candidly that you will be able to see it as I am sure it is, something of so deep and vital concern to all classes and to au jarties, that it should be lifted once and 'or all above partyism ; so that if any measures offer themselves that give reasonable promise of helping in the direction of temperance, all good men utterly regardless of party should unite n calling for their adoption ; and if we lave now any laws or ordinances, state or municipal, looking to the same end, that are inoperative, absolutely all good men should join to insist upon their strict enforcement; just as all good men should do everything in their power by agitation, by the diffusion of informaion, by private example and otherwise to créate a temperance sentiment in their various communities. This question of temperance, this question of trying to rid society and the nation of this awful liquor curse, is not a matter like the tariff for two sides. It is eomeihing like the war to save the Union, in which absolutely all patriots, all lovers of their country and their kind, should stand together, shoulder to shoulder, as one man. 2. Another danger that besets our country is that of political corruption. Political corruption appears in inany forms. Certain features of it are particularly noticable in connection with our presidential campaigns ; but other features of it are more noticable in other times and places. All of na who have reached middle life remember well the long and disgraceful rule of the Tweed ring in New York City. There are few of our large cities that have not had at one time or another similar experiences ; and in some of them such experiences are chronic. In many a state it is said with too much truth, our railways elect and control our legislature. Almost everywhere the saloons and liquor interests of the country have an influence in our politics that is a disgrace and a menace. It is by no means uncommon for elections to be carried on the Bcale of a city or a state (I will not say of the nation, though many candid men would add that) by fraudulent voting and false counting. Money is coming to be used in all our more important elections in vast sums - perhaps never in greater sums than in the presidential election of last fall. Offices of public responsibility and trust are coming more and more to be dragged down to the level of mercenary rewards given for work, often yery disgraceful work, done for the winning political party. The uppermost rule of politics nowadays, is "To the yictor belongs the spoils." Civil service is laughed at as if it were a great joke, instead of one of the most sensible, practicable and needed reforms the country ever undertook. Our publicé men- president, senators, representatiyes, legislators spend so much of their time and strength in distributing offices to the hungry crowd of seekers, that they are compelled often seriouBly to neglect their grave public duties. This seems to be one of the leading reasons why we have so much slip shod legislation both in our legislatures and in congress. Our legislators simply cannot give adequate time to their business of law making when they are pressed from morning till night with applications for office. Now all this is not only disgraceful, but it is seriously evil and dangerous. The tendency of all these forms of political corruDtion is to Errow worse if thev are not resisted. Lut hovv much worse can they get among us without becoming really tbreatening to our political life. What needs to be done? Probably first of all, most of na need to learn to love our country more and our party less. Here appears one of the good effect of the Grand Arm y organization. So far as it has any influence in this matter it helps subordínate party to country. It knows no party linea; it only knows one county - the country of all - to whom all alike owe allegiance. We need to learn to defy party whips. Shall a man who is an American citizen, especial ly shall a man who may have worn the uniform of an American soldier, be dictated to contrary to his own reason and judgment, by party managers, in the sacred duty of casting his ballot? We must learn to daré to vote for Rood men - and to cross party Unes if need be to fiad them. We must learn to think of offices as belonding to the public and not to ty leaders, and insist that the men put in them shall be selected with a view to serving the public, and not to paying off a score to this man or that for party work done. We must learn to frown in a stermer way than we have ever done apon everything that looks in the direction ofimpurityat the ballot box. Hereis the safeguard of our freedom. We must allow nobody to tamper with this. The selling of a vote we must hold to be a political crime. He who is discovered to have bought votes- even if in the indirect ways ia which so much of our vote-buying is done- should be held to be forever disgraced ; never again to be given an office of public honor or trust, no matter how insignificant. But above all things else if we are to get rid of political corruption, the best classes of the people, I mean the most intelligent and upright, and those who care for the public weal, must take au ative and constant interest ia politics. If the men who really care for the welfare of the country let political matters alone and allow them to fall into the hands of unprincipled men, can they coniplain if these men carry them on for their own personal benefit, and if therefore welfare suffers ? No, it is here as it was in the old days of the war. Then the country was in danger. Those who loved her went to her aid. It must be so still. As the patriot in the time of war feit it to be bis duty to enlist and fight for the land he loved, so the patriot in the time of peace must go into politics for the land he loves ; must keep himself intelligent on political measures because he loves his country; attend primaries for the sake of his country ; help make noble platforms and nomínate pure men, for the love he bears his country ; or if he can do no more, at least vote at every election, intelligently, independently and conscienciously, in the way he believes his conntry's honor and good demand, Thus he will be doing guard duty for his country, as truly as he ever did on picket in the farsouth in the old never-to-be forgotten days of the rebellion. [to be concluded next week.]