Which
of us does not feel that patriotism is a sacred thing, and that a
violation of national dignity is in a manner a profanation and a
sacrilege?
I was asked lately by a staff officer whether a soldier falling in a
righteous cause--and our cause is such, to demonstration--is not
veritably a martyr. Well, he is not a martyr in the rigorous theological
meaning of the word, inasmuch as he dies in arms, whereas the martyr
delivers himself, undefended and unarmed, into the hands of the
executioner; but if I am asked what I think of the eternal salvation of
a brave man who has consciously given his life in defense of his
country's honor and in vindication of violated justice, I shall not
hesitate to reply that, without any doubt whatever, Christ crowns his
military valor, and that death, accepted in this Christian spirit,
assures the safety of that man's soul. "Greater love than this no man
hath," said our Saviour, "that a man lay down his life for his friends."
And the soldier who dies to save his brothers and to defend the hearths
and altars of his country reaches this highest of all degrees of
charity. He may not have made a close analysis of the value of his
sacrifice, but must we suppose that God requires of the plain soldier in
the excitement of battle the methodical precision of the moralist or the
theologian? Can we who revere his heroism doubt that his God welcomes
him with love?
Christian mothers, be proud of your sons.
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