Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 146, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 July 1917 — Patriotism Reaches Superb Heights in Sunny France. [ARTICLE]

Patriotism Reaches Superb Heights in Sunny France.

Lafayette Journal. Much is printed concerning the spiritual atmosphere that pervades France in her present hour of trial. The great agony has transformed the French people to an extent that has made itself manifest upon the countenance and in the eyes, if we are to believe those who are familiar with the Conditions that exist at present. Patriotism and devotion to native land have reached such exalted heights thftkaiaught else counts, and men only regret that they have but one life to give in defense of France. This spirit even pervades the ranks of Americans who are enlisted under the tricolor. Something impelling within transforms the soul and even the visage of those who fight for France. Surely it must be the sacred fire of liberty that is working this transformation, service to mankind, or whatsoever you may choose to term it. It is said that at certain hours in French hospitals the tricolor is carried through the wards and before each bed it is lowered and each wounded man kisses the folds, often with tears and little cries of ecstacy. Sometimes the soldier is so weak that the hem of the flag must be guided by tender hands to his lips, and not infrequently this salutation of his country’s flag is the soldier’s dying act. Within him there surges the belief in something greater than himself, something that he loves passionately, adores rapturously, and he gives expression to it by pressing the flag of his country to his lips in a spirit of veneration. Can -you imagine an impulse more beautiful, a more touching tribute? Men who have-attained that state have risen to thfe utmost heights of patriotism. Nothing counts but love of cpuntry; it is a state that borders closely upon the divine, and is attained only through an ordeal of suffering and sacrifice that is beyond expression. The United States lacks that spirit today, but we may learn its real significance within the next ; few years.