m^mnrtal lag ®ratinn 
 
 MAY 30, 1913 
 
 James Shbra Montgomery, D. D. 
 
 (PASTOR METROPOLITAN M. E. CHURCH) 
 WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
 ARLINGTON CEMETERY. VA. 
 
 PRINTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF THE POTOMAC. G. A. R. 
 
./Vl7^ 
 
 FOREWORD. 
 
 "O Beautiful ! my Country ! ours once more ! 
 Smoothing thy gold of war-disheveled hair 
 O'er such sweet brows as never other wore, 
 And letting thy set lips, 
 Freed from wrath's pale eclipse, 
 The rosy edges of her smile lay bare, 
 What words divine of lover or of poet 
 
 Could tell our love and make thee know it, 
 Among the nations bright beyond compare ! 
 
 What were our lives without thee? 
 What all our lives to save thee? 
 
 We reck not what we gave thee? 
 We will not dare to doubt thee, 
 
 But ask whatever else, and we will dare !" 
 
 By" 
 APR 1 ttltl 
 
iUL m \2u 1 
 
 i:;^^^A^^MORIAL DAY 
 
 Oration Delivered by James Shera Montgomery, D.D., Arling- 
 ton Cemetery, Washington, D. C, May 30, 1913. 
 
 Members of the Grand Army of the Republic and Fellow 
 Countrymen : 
 
 As we assemble in this sacred and historic cemetery this 
 afternoon, we are moved by feelings of both joy and sadness 
 —joy for the living and sorrow for the dead. Yet there are 
 mingled with the tranquil confluence a deep gratitude which 
 stretches out toward God and an assurance which claims the 
 future as our own. If we had not schooled ourselves to think 
 no great evil against our fellowmen, the sweet and holy influ- 
 ence of this place would surely steal into our souls, and sus- 
 picion, anger and combativeness would droop and die. Sorrow 
 and joy, discomfort and comfort, restlessness and rest, the 
 pain and the balm speak with subdued tones throughout this 
 heaven-blest grove to-day. This place is full of beauty to the 
 heart that is full of love. The outlook, going up the terraced 
 hillsides and wandering in gardens whose flowers might well 
 adorn the pathways of paradise, makes melody in all hearts. 
 The Holy Land is not alone along the shore-lines of the blue 
 Galilee. Lift your eyes and behold this enchanting picture 
 written in poetry and pathos, as beautiful Arlington com- 
 munes with the spirit world. The majestic trees minister 
 unto us; their green and sun-lit tops are making earth's ap- 
 peal to Heaven while they temper our nerves and soothe our 
 hearts. Holy are the thoughts which the mind flings out, as 
 it scans the white sentinels of the heroic dead, lifting their 
 brows clear to the margin of the billoWy field. Here lie youth 
 
and health, life and love for duty, and much of our mortal 
 greatness in military achievement on land and sea. In conse- 
 quence of their im.perishable services to the cause of the 
 imperialism of humanity, our country to-day yields harvests 
 rich and abundant of universal good-will and brotherhood, 
 quickened into nobleness by tears. 
 
 Around about this place, on these ever green slopes, beneath 
 these graceful bow^ers, with his happy family, and friends of 
 distinction and high renown, used to come and go the Defender 
 of southern Chivalry. We stay our word, "lest we forget," 
 but may all be christened by the Spirit made radiant by the 
 One "who spake as never man spake" ; may all be trans- 
 figured and may God mellow all hearts and hallow all lives 
 throughout the undying and eternal years. 
 
 We lift our eyes from the brow of earth, away from these 
 solitudes, and we behold the fullness of life, the big prospect 
 of an ultimate triumph, our own Capital City. Here in the 
 tumult of human nature, in the discipline of contest, in the 
 great university of life, she challenges both intellect and heart 
 and ministers to the country and the world. God bless her ! 
 May her gates ever be open to allow all their fullest inherit- 
 ance, and on her breast may there ever live a government, just 
 and humane, God-fearing and man-serving, borne of righteous- 
 ness, and wearing the crown jewels of the Father of us all. 
 
 A rich sentiment has set apart this day. Throughout our 
 broad land the people have gathered from city, hamlet and 
 country to pay grateful and loyal tributes to our Nation's 
 dead. The closed school, the shut shop, the suspended labors, 
 the children of our public and parochial schools, the banners 
 unfurled, the strains of patriotic music — all testify that we are 
 a people who love our country, and that Freedom's flag still 
 lives in the very granite of the American heart. To-day a 
 Nation, undergirdled by the best blood of the old world, and 
 over-arched by a holy Providence, gives reverent gratitude to 
 Almighty God and adjourns to the grass-bedded earth whose 
 bowels hold the tombs that treasure the dust of those who 
 preserved us a Nation. Since the day they gave themselves 
 
to the cause of the Union, that awful Rebellion has smoothed 
 its angry brow, many springtimes have called into new life 
 this green-carpeted valley and hillside. The trunnel-beds oi 
 our country have given another generation of defenders. May 
 these stalwart sons ever have as their pole-star that Heaven- 
 inspired conviction that not only African slavery, but no 
 oppression v/hatever shall ever harmonize with "The Battle 
 Hymn of the Republic." 
 
 National Origin. 
 
 Our origin it without parallel. This Republic is the off- 
 spring of a mighty renaissance. It was an intellectual declara- 
 tion, quickly followed by a religious edict, that turned to the 
 New World for its life. These sons of England, Holland and 
 France had in their brains and hearts the fruits of the world's 
 best civilization. Under their guidance the muse of history 
 turned a new page to record the new and most wonderful 
 development. What is the world to expect from such a begin- 
 ning? Those giants carried millenniums in their breasts and 
 republics in their brains, and this fiber did they mold into our 
 national existence, and the decades of the years have demon- 
 strated their genius and wisdom. 
 
 The Rebellion. 
 
 The War! The War! Shall we recall its animosities? No! 
 May the bitter enmities and the hot antagonisms of the fiercest 
 conflict that ever swept across the breast of any nation be 
 forgotten, and may we cherish with the better angels of our 
 natures "malice toward none and charity to all" — with the 
 v/ill of God and the conscience of the Republic as our guide 
 and inspiration. Rather let this day arrest the whole country 
 in its commercial march and learn anew how great the scope 
 and how terrible the character of that war. May these em- 
 phasize our form of government, the safeguard of popular 
 sovereignty, the protection of the rights of citizens and the 
 
 j( 
 
 
promotion of the general welfare of our Nation, and how 
 appalling the cost of the privileges and the opportunities of 
 our united country. 
 
 The statistician tells us that there were 2,731 battles. The 
 slain of the Union Army on battlefield were: Officers, 5,221 ; 
 enlisted men, 90,868; died of disease, 183,287; a grand total 
 of 279,376. The killed, wounded and captured, including both 
 the American and British armies, during the War of the Revo- 
 lution, were about 22,000 men. The loss to either the Union 
 or Confederate army at Gettysburg or the Wilderness ex- 
 ceeded this number. From the discovery of America to the 
 Rebellion, the slain in battle in our country, in all our wars, 
 were less than the combined death returns of the two armies 
 at Shiloh. At Racour (1746) the lost was two and one-half 
 per cent of those engaged; at Lignitz (1760) Frederick the 
 Great lost six and one-half per cent; at Wagram (1809), 
 where the intrepid McDonald, under the Emperor's eye, 
 charged the Austrian center, the lost was scarcely five per 
 cent ; at Austerlitz — the battle of the three emperors — with 
 its "sun of promise." vvhere Napoleon prevailed against the 
 combined Russian despotism and Austrian tyranny, his loss 
 reached only about fifteen per cent ; at Waterloo, where set 
 Napoleon's star, the Iron Duke Wellington lost about twelve 
 per cent. Gettysburg, the turning point of the War, where 
 the thoughtful Meade wrung victory from a brave and :i 
 chivalrous foe that battled for another destiny, and the Wil- 
 derness, and Spottsylvania, where death was like a monster 
 from hell, each shows losses above thirty per cent. This is 
 enough ! Here was the spirit of the Cavalier and the fidelity 
 of Cromwell's ironsides battling for supremacy. It is now 
 too late to say what ought to have been done, or what might 
 have been done, but let this be said : We cannot measure the 
 gallantry of our heroes on this, our Nation's funeral day — it 
 is written on the page of history in letters of divine illumina- 
 tion — for it is inestimable by any standard that we possess. 
 Even the rarest gift of eloquence cannot compass the task. 
 The fillets that once set upon their youthful brows have long 
 
 6 
 
ago blossomed into enduring fame, and it remains for some 
 bard, inspired by the majesty of his theme, to unite their 
 deeds to immortal verse and song, and both shall become 
 immortal. 
 
 Patriotism. 
 
 The power of patriotism. It is the passion which prompts 
 the citizen to serve his country in the hour of invasion, or in 
 upholding the institutions which safeguard all that is dear to 
 a free-born people. Herein root those civic virtues and 
 national pride vv^hich bind him to the fortunes and the des- 
 tinies of his country. Our Country ! What is meant by "Our 
 Country — our home, our birthright, our liberties — and from 
 these breasts leap skyward the fire of patriotism. No victory 
 for liberty or humanity was ever won except first inspired by 
 the power of patriotism. The barricades of wrong, injustice 
 and oppression have been torn down by its irresistible force. 
 It animated the Declaration of Independence and inspired the 
 renowned document of the Emancipation Proclamation; it 
 waved the flag of revolution from Bunker Hill, and marked 
 the snows of Valley Forge ; it held the broken line at Shiloh 
 and climbed the flame-swept and shot-torn hill at Chatta- 
 nooga, and even burst the clouds on Lookout Mountain; it 
 held the withered arm of Barbara Fritchie and aimed the rifle 
 of John Burns at Gettysburg; it marked the drum-beats of 
 Sherman to the sea, and inspired the dashing Sheridan down 
 the Valley of the Shenandoah, and at the last it found a slave 
 and set him free. The resistless might of American patriotism 
 will direct every citizen under the folds of the Stars and 
 Stripes and vouchsafe to all the privileges and honor of thi? 
 Republic. The people rule and will have their way. 
 
 The World's Commoner. 
 
 Great men are the heritage of a nation and they belong to 
 no one generation ; they are the sons of men ; they mark the 
 progress of the world. To them God reveals his will and 
 
 
 i:<^'/^ 
 
 
 ^TSEA^'^ 
 
makes known His purposes. In every crisis some great 
 one becomes the bumper on the car of progress. In 
 every national emergency the divine One has had a man 
 in readiness. When the crisis of the Revolution was upon 
 the thirteen colonies, Washington was called ; when 
 financial disaster was threatening the new-borne Republic, 
 Hamilton was summoned ; when the public mind was to be 
 supported and instructed in the Constitution, Webster was at 
 hand ; when the very sleepers of our national organism were 
 giving way, and a single brain was needed to carry the vast 
 campaigns of mighty armies, then Grant was put to the front; 
 so on that momentous day in March, 1861, God had a man 
 ready. The kind of a man needed? He must be a man who 
 could hush to peace the troubled waters that were seething on 
 the horizon of the northern sky; a man whose heights of 
 thought were simply the hilltops of the common heart ; a man 
 whose single word could call forth great armies, and, if need 
 be, court death as children go to a festival ; a man who could 
 calm fears and soothe the distracted and tempestuous Repub- 
 lic, renew its flagging spirit and refresh its starving soul ; a 
 man whose character was as the North Star, and whose con- 
 science was the pilot of his reason ; a man whose broad philan- 
 thropy would steal over all sections of the Union with its re- 
 vealing benedictions; a man whose loftiness of patriotism 
 would fall upon the ears of the reluctant and the stupid and 
 summon them to a higher plane; a man who could bear the 
 strain of heartless criticism and count himself an imperfect 
 product of the Infinite God and who must pay the penalty of 
 progress ; a man who could steady the "Ship of State'' ; a 
 man who could stand on the Constitution and find theriein laws 
 adequate to our needs and inspiring to our hopes ; a man who 
 loved his country more than life and with clear judgment; a 
 man who trusted the people, and, above all, a man who be- 
 lieved that he was the Aaron's rod in the divine hand of an 
 Infinite purpose — that man was Abraham Lincoln. This 
 mighty soul touched the Kentucky cabin and took away its 
 curse ; he touched poverty and blessed it with a beautiful 
 
 8: 
 
humility ; lie touched three books and turned them into mas- 
 ter's tools. Yes, mighty soul ! Its music ended on the same 
 minor note on which it began. Falling, yet smiling through 
 tears, he was slain on the only day of his heart's ease. Who 
 was the light about old Sinai and guided the footfall of the 
 wise men on to Bethlehem? Where did blind Milton get his 
 vision, and Handel his genius? Who keyed the lyre of Scot- 
 land's l)ard, and sweetened the soul of Ruskin in his afflic- 
 tion ? God was with them. So he was with this man Lincoln. 
 But it all presents a puzzle in many ways, unless we say with 
 one breath that while he came long after Mary's Child, yet 
 both were heroes, both were martyrs, both were saviours, and 
 one God their Father. 
 
 The Present-Day Message. 
 
 What are the lessons of this day? Standing among the 
 tombs and the mounds of Arlington, let us renew our fidelity 
 to the cause of free government, to the end that these lives 
 shall not have been lost in vain. We are citizens of the United 
 States, and this hour we are one with a deeper sympathy, a 
 grander brotherhood and a diviner ministry than ever before. 
 Our beloved country! Time, ever the challenged test of 
 worth, has passed judgment upon her. She has journied a 
 century and a quarter. How noble to-day her mein! How 
 majestic her onward march ! Behold her and ask. How shall 
 we perpetuate her honor and glory? The commemoration of 
 this day would be thoroughly incomplete without great em- 
 phasis placed on present duty. The American Republic is a 
 subject which embraces the very globe itself, even as the 
 American soldier was not only the soldier for his country, but 
 was the soldier of civilization. The highest significance of 
 this day is a message to the living. It is ordained not alone 
 that we might honor the heroic dead, but that we who are 
 living might be inspired to loftier purposes ; that their exam- 
 ple might teach us the duty and the glory of sacrifice and 
 service. A country that is worth dying for is worth living for. 
 Let us to-day feel a patriotism that is calm and thoughtful. 
 
rather than emotional; a patriotism that not only responds 
 to the old flag, but believes in right and justice. In the order 
 of a divine Providence this country has been chosen to be the 
 exemplar of human liberty— the priest at the altar of justice 
 and truth — and we are the stewards of these for the benefit 
 of the races of men. 
 
 The Sovereignty of the People. 
 
 In perpetuating our heritage we must understand that there 
 can be no genuine National unity unless in the breasts of our 
 citizens there is the deep sense of mutual concern and co- 
 operation. If we are to have fellowship with the people, we 
 must be a fellow in the same ship. He needs direction, but he 
 scorns repression. The primary tenet of democracy is that the 
 people can be trusted and are altogether capable of directing 
 pro!:lems of National necessity, of policy and of destiny in the 
 interest of the common good. If this is not true, and we do 
 not believe in the people, and the masses are not to be trusted, 
 then mass the troops, sow the land with military barracks, and 
 get ready to hold down the yoke upon the necks of millions, 
 for, remember, we must either believe in democracy and go 
 its full length, or give it up. The present-day duty of every 
 citizen is to crucify his cynicism and renew his faith and 
 allegiance to this great fundamental on which this Nation 
 must ever rest for its glory and its perpetuity. The first and 
 the last remedy for the weakness of democracy, as we have 
 been interpreting it, is more democracy. Never be afraid of 
 the man with the dinner pail. He does not belong to a party, 
 but a party belongs to him. The ship never comes in. to the 
 loafer. What an increased assurance would flood the land 
 to-day if the spirit of brotherhood, good-will, fellowship and 
 trust would beat and throb until they would echo to the re- 
 motest border lines of the Union ! The might of these are 
 infinitely more than the might of steel to hold together the 
 people in the bonds of a democratic National life. We must 
 not make phrases ; we are not juggling. The directive work 
 of government must be done by the few — the sagacious few, 
 
 10 
 
tht balanced lew, tlie trusted i'ew. If this is aristocratic, It 
 is nevertheless sane. In public administration the individual 
 ■counts, and he must fit his task, but he must not be a Bourbon. 
 Democracy demands the voice and the judgment of the many ; 
 they must be identified with the great big decisions of policy. 
 Everybody knows more than anybody. While the issues are 
 ■defined by the few, the great fundamental questions — ques- 
 tions related to the common welfare — questions which touch 
 the door-yard of every man — must be submitted to the people. 
 May we build up man fit for institutions, rather than institu- 
 tions fit for man. 
 
 If we have faith in democracy to the extent of conceiving 
 it as being a mutual co-operation between the man and the 
 mass, between the efficient few and the many, then the mar- 
 velous and unlimited possibilities of popular government are 
 ■secure. Its stability will remain as long as every citizen feels 
 that he is a plus quantity and society needs the contribution 
 that he makes. Oh, that our land might be baptized with the 
 religion of good-will — a religion of co-operation — a religion of 
 mutual helpfulness — a religion that runs along the whole 
 human line — a religion of mutual trust — a religion of the new 
 humanity! When the Constitution was being founded and 
 debates were hot and serious, democracy and aristocracy 
 were the burning issues. Quaint Fisher Ames said: "Mon- 
 archy is like a sailing vessel — like a merchantman. It sails 
 fast, but every now and then it strikes a rock and goes to the 
 bottom. Democracy is like a raft. It can never sink, but your 
 feet are sometimes in the water." Here is put picturesquely 
 and in a homely figure the philosophy of the man and the 
 mass. 
 
 Let high joy and solemn pride be exercised to-day because 
 of our faith in popular government. While the Republic is 
 made up of more than twoscore units, yet it is a gigantic 
 integer. We are many states, but one Nation. Political 
 parties have come and gone, yet there is one patriotism. 
 There are numerous forms of religion — the Jewish and the 
 Christian, the Catholic and the Protestant — ^yet to-day in each 
 breast there is one love to God the Father of us all, and one 
 
 II 
 
 
Tove to man, wlierever he may be found. All the nationalities 
 of the great globe are represented in this great country, and 
 may we now and always be Americans. May we not build 
 our country into ourselves^ but build ourselves into our coun- 
 try. Let us have faith from the very depths of our American 
 hearts in our institutions ; let us have faith in our mission and 
 destiny; let us have faith in the conscience and the judgment 
 of the American people; let us have faith, and may our 
 prayers ascend to Heaven's heights, that we shall be free from 
 the lust that covets ; let us have faith that National righteous- 
 ness shall be the magnetic needle by which the grand old 
 "Ship of State" is to sail her course; let us have faith in our 
 leaders and lawmakers, and may they be weaponed in an 
 armor of personal integrity whose armor-plate no shells of 
 sordid greed can break. 
 
 The Constitution. 
 
 The Constitution of the United States — the greatest docu- 
 ment that ever emanated from the brains of the founders of 
 government — safeguards popular sovereignty. Our govern- 
 ment is representative. The tenure of office is so brief that 
 executives and officials could not nullify the will of the people 
 even were they so inclined. Thus the ends of good govern- 
 ment, the destiny of our institutions, are in the hands of the 
 people. Time has demonstrated the wisdom of our fathers 
 and proves how providentially they were guided. They have 
 passed down to us a form of government which maintains the 
 right and the sanctity of the people to rule, and, withal, which 
 is abidingly strong in preserving National unity, securing 
 social order, and forever makes sacred the will and the testa- 
 ment of the individual citizen. Yet new conditions arise. 
 Nations cannot, yea, must not, stand still, any more than the 
 individual. When a tree ceases to grow, it begins to die; 
 when a rock stops growing by the processes of accretion, it 
 begins to crumble away. So in government, it cannot be an 
 absolutely fixed quantity. Many new and perplexing prob- 
 
 12 
 
lems "have risen since tlie days 61 the Constitutional Conven- 
 tion. If in the sohition of these there is demanded that which 
 Is unconstitutional, then alter the Constitution. The last 
 ■sevenscore years have brought marvelous changes, and the 
 -changes to come will even be more wonderful. If faith and 
 loyalty to the Constitution are to abide, then it must repre- 
 sent the deepest convictions of our citizens. This being true, 
 the Constitution must not forever remain, in its every decla- 
 ration, a fixed document, but an expanding, growing quantity 
 to measure up to the needs and demands of our growing 
 civilization. 
 
 International Peace. 
 
 While our citizens cherish with patriotic fervor our Na- 
 tional independence, yet what should be our attitude toward 
 other nations? What spirit should we exercise toward other 
 peoples ? What relations should we sustain with them ? These 
 questions should be considered in the spirit of love to country, 
 of high appreciation of our race, and of a holy sense of respon- 
 sibility to God the Father of Nations. Our country is fortu- 
 nate in its situation. The geographical position of the United 
 States makes it easy for us to attend to our own business, 
 develop our own resourcets, without any serious complications 
 or entanglements from without. Providentially, we are so 
 placed that we can, without suspicion, become the leader in 
 an international beneficent movement. Our very isolation is 
 our moral strength. Again, as a Christian Nation, what 
 should be our position on all questions whose proper solution 
 means the blessings to the peoples of earth? May there not 
 be one false note in our claim to the word "Christian," and 
 may there not be gathered another single glory leaf to bind to 
 the wreath of our martial spirit. The glory of our country is 
 not the closed door of a fortress, but the open door of the 
 cottage. 
 
 In the past victories have been won in the cauldron of war 
 for the people, and yet in it have seethed all the hot passions 
 of man. Marathon made Europe Greek, and not Asiatic ; 
 
 13 
 
Tours made Europe Christian, and not Mohammedan; Nasby 
 and Dunbar scattered the shackles from the English people r, 
 Quebec made America Saxon ; Saratoga and Yorktown made 
 this land American, and not British, and Gettysburg proved 
 that "a nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the- 
 sublime proposition that all men are equal cannot die." Justi- 
 fiable as marshal prowess may have been in the past, and as 
 invincible the proof of its necessity may be, yet we turn 
 aside from these. Christian ethics teach us that Colum- 
 bia, the home of the generous, brave, intrepid freemen of the 
 world, should be the foremost to recognize the obligation, the 
 responsibility, the humanitarianism of the permanent estab- 
 lishment of a Court of International Arbitration. From our 
 present mount of strength and stability may we not turn with 
 quiet confidence and serene faith, with an enlightened vision^ 
 to the future and see the onward march of our civilization 
 stretching its power and influence for humanity beyond the 
 confines of our own territory — on and on, until it has risen 
 to the full grandeur of its stature across the waters of all 
 oceans and all seas, until people everywhere shall be moved 
 by a sublime conviction and a common purpose to adopt that 
 divine precept which fell from the holy lips of "the Son of 
 Man": "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that man 
 should do to you, do ye even so to them." 
 
 Out of every dollar appropriated by Congress about sixty- 
 seven cents goes to pay for wars, past, present and future. 
 The United States Commissioner of Education, about a year 
 ago, said : "It would be possible with war expenditures to 
 build a great National University with a yearly income of 
 $10,000,000; give each State in the Union a new University, 
 twenty-five High Schools, five Normal Schools, five Technical 
 Schools, twenty Agricultural Colleges, and have an additional 
 million for the Public School Fund of each State." 
 
 There arise before me the outlines of a vision of old Israel's 
 inspired prophet. The language is as sure as it is bold, and 
 as bold as it is sure, of that hour when swords shall be turned 
 into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. It is a mes- 
 
 14 
 
sage to the brain, the hrawn and the heart of America's great 
 people, that a Republic conceived in the holiest breasts of the 
 old world and born from the loins of our renowned grand- 
 sires must stand as the Apostle of Peace and be the messenger 
 of Him who is "The Prince of Peace." This is our trust for 
 civilization. May our flag ever live and float for "Peace on 
 -earth and good-will toward men." In the space between our 
 country's ideal and our country lies our opportunity. 
 
 The world is looking to-day in contemplation on one of the 
 most significant scenes in the history of her great drama. 
 Not upon a brazen sea with drawn shields, hiding the hearts 
 of invaders and oppressors, nor does its gaze fall upon a 
 forest of plumes waving over the brows of swarthy warriors, 
 but in this vision great souls are seeing palms waving and 
 glistening in Heaven's golden sunlight, waiting for the gates 
 of the earthly Jerusalem to swing open. Another conqueror is 
 knocking for entrance, another sovereign is claiming her throne> 
 The queen who now stands hailing the dogs of war, bidding 
 them crawl and lick the hands of conquerors and conquered, 
 bears no sword in her hand; no legions are marching at the 
 blast of bugles, no chariots are ladened with the spoils of war, 
 no weeping captives are in her train, rending the air with 
 heartrending lamentations. Above her the grim war-clouds 
 are being chased by the radiance coming from her holy brow, 
 and again are seen the receding skies in their serenity. About 
 her are the exultant peoples, strewing her image with the 
 rarest of undying flowers. Her name is Peace. All hail ! All 
 hail ! ! 
 
 A Plea for Reverence. 
 
 Our Nation's weakness is irreverence. A foreign observer 
 has said that unless this national weakness is corrected, we 
 are facing a Niagara of destruction. One metropolitan daily 
 caricatures an ex-President in the figure of a hog, and then 
 the public conscience is jarred because we have killed three 
 Presidents in one generation ! The lad refers to his father as 
 the "old man," and to his mother as my "washerwoman." The 
 street-car window-sills are marked vvith the initials of tlie 
 
 15 
 
youthful vandal, and on the backs of the church pews are the 
 prints of his shoenails. He calls his college professor "the 
 guy," and the simple-minded soul, who, with sober majesty, is- 
 ready for Heaven, "old baldy." Law, authority. Church and 
 State alike are the objects of his scoff as he pampers the 
 relish of his own vanity. Many an American youth is thus 
 sinning against his God, himself and his country. A nation 
 cannot long survive that does not reverence its God, His Bible 
 and all those high standards that make for the highest order 
 of citizenship. National character, without reverence for law, 
 authority, station and for man, is like the air without oxygen^ 
 the sea without salt, and a fireside without a mother's purity. 
 The whole image of our national life is defaced and impov- 
 erished to the point where the whole fabric of worth and 
 stability is sometimes threatened. May the school and the fire- 
 side exalt the spirit of reverence and more and more influence 
 the young life by driving out of their veins this scrofula of 
 ridicule which is so generously indulged in as a happy pas- 
 time. As a people may we exalt reverence for those institu- 
 tions which are the bulwarks of our strength and perpetuity. 
 Herein is the prime energy by which this Nation shall con- 
 tinue to live for the glory of God and the good of man. 
 
 The Patriotism of Peace. 
 
 Since that day on which the mighty armies of the Blue and 
 Gray were dissolved another generation has been born and is 
 now pursuing the industries of peace. On this Memorial Day 
 the heroism of the American soldier should teach this man- 
 hood and womanhood the patriotism of peace. They should 
 arise to a new consciousness of social obligation and civic 
 duty. We face great responsibilities, and may it be asked, 
 "Where is now thy God?" Our God is not of gold nor silver. 
 There is always present with us a higher mission than to be 
 the richest. Stay your minds here and own that national 
 greatnes is not material, but intelligence, integrity, respect 
 for law, generous philanthropy and loyalty to the fundamen- 
 tals of the Holy Bible. 
 
 i6 
 
^ Civic duty is with us. The burdens of the city are tremeh^- 
 •dous. Here are the breakers of human beings surging 'round 
 with their polyglot speech, foreign tongues, with their strange 
 ideas of privilege and liberty. Here is the burden of poverty, 
 the burden of ignorance, the burden of sin unspeakable. We 
 hear the voices of these monstrous burdens. The call to 
 -service falls upon us from the tops of the topless Heaven. 
 Thrust yourselves into these problems. Politics, you say? 
 Politics never hurts character ; it is the lack of character that 
 hurts politics. The menace to the city is not the muckraker, 
 but the muckmaker. Oh, the vice! We feel the sense of 
 something fearful whirling about us, as though the very earth 
 was chattering her teeth. May the public conscience of this 
 land be aroused until her choicest offerings shall be cast at the 
 altar of civic devotion. 
 
 The Union Soldier. 
 
 The Union soldier, known and unknown, thy work is 
 done. History assigns to him the place he deserves. How 
 well done history records. The voices, low at the fireside 
 and strong in battle, are hushed. The breasts which never 
 turned from the foe are fallen. The stir of events can 
 never break their repose; nor call of duty, nor sob of grief 
 move their great hearts again. But as long as sorrow, hope 
 or love shall fill the hearts of men, so long shall their memory 
 live. Sleep on, heroic dead of Arlington, sleep on; heedless 
 alike of these sweet flowers or the music of birds ; unmindful 
 of change, insensible to the words of praise. Pillowed in the 
 bosom of earth, undisturbed be thy rest. Long after this oak- 
 encircled mausoleum shall have passed away, the living will 
 still be true to the country for which you fought and hope and 
 pray for her highest good. 
 
 The Flag. 
 
 On Prospect Hill, the strongest fortification of our army 
 during the siege of Boston, January i, 1776, the day on which 
 
 17 
 
the new Continental Army was formed, the flag^ was unfurled 
 for the first time. In December, 1777, Paul Jones, on "The 
 Ranger," cast anchor in a French port, and at this time the 
 American flag received the first salute paid it by a foreign 
 nation. How much blood that flag has caused since ! Fellow 
 citizens, ever honor it. Its cost is above rubies. Wherever it 
 waves, at home or abroad, it commands respect. The flag? 
 The flag ! f Emblem of fraternity, equality and liberty ! How 
 dear the old flag is to us to-day ! The red represents the blood 
 of our heroes ; the stars shining on its background of blue 
 represent the States now and forever united. Oh, flag, thy 
 truth was not first proclaimed on Atlantic's borders, but on 
 the shores of old Galilee. Thy lessons were not born on this 
 soil, but on that far-away soil without the gates of old Jeru- 
 salem, reddened by the Redemer's blood. Thy voice was not 
 first proclaimed when the peals of the old liberty bell first 
 filled the land, but it was first heard at the moment the morn- 
 ing stars sang together. Oh, beauteous folds ! Flag of Wash- 
 ington, Jeflferson, Lincoln, Logan and Grant, wave on ! Wave 
 on ! The right is thine ! Wave on, speaking the voice of this 
 young Republic on this side of the Atlantic and the honor and 
 glory of the Union soldier everywhere ! Wave on, securing to 
 all citizens the joys and the privileges of our institutions! 
 Wave on, until all men shall have bread enough and to spare! 
 Wave on, until all human temples wear the crown jewels! 
 Wave on, until every brow is pressed with a regal crown ! 
 Wave on, until all hands are sceptered and until the legions 
 which fight to destroy shall be forever unable to cope with 
 the country which saves! Wave on, until all governments 
 shall become humane ! Wave on ! Wave on ! Over land and 
 over sea ! Oh, stars of heaven's light ! Oh, bars of heaven's 
 white ! Oh, crimson of our Nation's sacrifice ! Wave on ! 
 Wave on ! Until the peoples of the wide, wide earth are 
 blessed now and forever with the angel's song, "Peace on 
 earth, good-will toward men !" 
 
 18 
 
FINIS. 
 
 "He speaks not well who doth his time deplore, 
 Naming it new, little and obscure, 
 Ignoble and unfit for lofty deeds. 
 / All times were modern in the times of them, 
 
 ) And this no more than others. Do thy part 
 
 Here in the living day, as did the great 
 Who made old days immortal ! So shall men. 
 
 / Gazing long back to this far-looming hour, 
 
 / . Say : 'Then the time when men were truly men ; 
 
 Though wars grew less, their spirits met the test 
 Of new conditions; conquering civic wrong; 
 Saving the State anew by virtuous lives ; 
 Guarding the country's honor as their own, 
 And their own as their country's and their sons.' ' 
 
 -Gilder. 
 

 ill 
 
 ■lo 785 245 7 
 
 Pi'^Ss^ 
 
 GEO. R. GRAY, PR.