All honor to those who, during the dreadful war of recent years, perished in the blood-soaked trenches, or fell in the open field with Prussian or Austrian bullets in their breasts! All honor to those who met death by accident or disease, in training camp or at battle-front, on land or on sea, losing their lives while faithfully playing their part in the great world tragedy! Heroes, every one! But the gallant fellows who lived through it all, patiently enduring hardships and privations, dying daily by anticipation, and by willingness to sacrifice all for the common good--be it not forgotten that in spirit they gave as much as any; and the fact that their offering was not taken, does not discount the motive that actuated them, nor diminish the credit due. "As his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff; they shall part alike." [6] The Just and the Unjust.--All blessings come by obedience. When the Savior said of the Father: "He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." [7] he did not mean that no distinction is made between the two classes. He meant that the Great Judge is just to both--just even to the unjust, sending to them his rain and his sunshine, causing their orchards to bloom and their vineyards to bear equally with those of the righteous, provided similar conditions surround, and both classes are equally obedient to the laws governing the culture of the soil. They Kept the First Estate.--But rain and sunshine, like all other blessings, are for those who merit them. If the unjust (unjust here) had not "kept their first estate," had not manifested in a previous life some degree of obedience to divine law, they would not have been given a "second estate," would not have been placed where the sunlight and the showers could reach them. Obedience Must Continue.--In this life, however, further obedience is necessary, in order that greater blessings may come. God's gifts are both spiritual and temporal; but whatever they are, their bestowal is regulated by the great Law of Obedience. A good man may be a poor farmer, and thus fail to raise the full crop that he might have reaped had he been more skillful or more thorough in the practice of his vocation. On the other hand, a bad man may be an expert tiller of the soil, realizing bounteous returns because of his strict observance of the law in that particular department of industry.