, 1873-06-01
CHRISTIAN PATRIOTISM.
The Evils Threatening Society,
and the Remedies
for Them.
A Discourse Delivered by the Rev.
Abbott E. kittredge,
1T the Third Presby yterian Church, Chi
cago, On Sunday Evening,
fay IS, 1873.


Tkzt-u. Chronicles, 1st chapter, 11th and a2sh
!vcrses.
A true Christian patriotism will be alive to the
,eyi1s which th1eaten society, and also to the
;fearless advocacy Of those measures which Will
xenoys tho Causes Of alarm, and will tend to
tho strength and purity OF the nation. And !
ask your attention to some Of these evils, and
to their remedy, that our patriotism may be
active and earnest in deed as well as in word.
And remark, first, We must guard more
xlg1lantly
TEE PURITY OF THE HOME
1he nation is an assemblage Of homes; tho
Commonwealth grows out Of the family; the
nakional structure rests upon the hearthstone as
= foundation; and, whsn you study the history
OF the growth Of nations, you will find that the
nucleus was the family; then the clan compriB-
ing the family and it's dependents; then the
tribe: and LASTLY the nation. In the early his
tory Of 1lome, the fteside WAS the most sacred
spot On earth, There we're two guardian daities
Ln1es and Psnates> who watched over it, and
tradition informs us that, for ITO years, there
wss no separation by law between hus-
band and wife; and, go long as the
home was inTio1ate, the Roman
Commonwealth was politically and socially pure
In the character Of its citizens were blended
virtue courage, manhood. Female chastity Was
the honor OF woman, and We find among the
rites OF the nation whist Was called the 7estal
n1e,-an eternal fire, constantly replenished,-
the belief being, that, 60 long as the purity Of
her 1natrons and virgins remained unsul1ied,
Rome would Inst, and no longer. And history
proved the truth Of this maxim, for it Was when
Rome 1earnad from Greece the morals OF the
latter when the esnctity OF its domestic ties Was
knruiahod that the death-me1 OF the nation WAS
struck. It was not political corruption which
tainted the home, but first domestic impurity,
and then, ~ q consequent, corruption in the
Henate. Tho strength Of England in the past
hiss been the English home,-a sacred, pure
hearthstone. Tho weakness Of France, tbs &C.
cret Of her SO easy disinteg1ation, has been.
that Franco, as nation, has no homes that
the national life il an outdoor life Of amuse-
msnt and excitement. The strength Of the
German Empire, steadily aud firmly con-
'eolidAting in the centuries past, has
been the German home-as rule,
beautiful in its purity, in it's reverence for age,
md in its heart-songs OF love and truth. The
keakness of Easte1n nations lies in the fact that
they are collection Of units, like particles OF
sand, cohesive only by the power Of the whirl-
wind, and falling apart when the power is re-
snoyed which called them together And, when
We Open the Bible, Gods te1t-book of morals,
N thu home-1ife, and domestic impurity always
followed by calamity. Our Savior, by His obe-
Hent childhood in the home in Nazareth, BY His
blessing upon the marnage-feast at Cana Of
Gsl1ea, by His love for the pleasant household
IN Bethany, recognized and
coNsECRATED THE HEARTHBToSE
ss the foundation of true prosperity, and the
hope ct the nation and Of the world And SO it
h1ayhower brought to Plymouth Rock colec-
sion OF homes to form the nucleus Of American
life and strength and, 80 long as the marriage
vow waa sacred, and the honor Of woman kept
snyo;te long thsss was purity N rnont natonal
Of our nation, in its intensity of mercantile life,
In the aggregation to our citizenship OF other
nst.onahnes, snd, to grest 81 s1tent, Of ~ living
felt the influence OF this peculiar growth. enter
prise, and immigration, and the Vesta1 fire burns
not "a clear and full as it once did. The fre-
quency Of f'divorces; !; the accommodation OF civil
law to this 1ooseness Of morals touching thu
EnaHisge-1ow; !; the Inconsistency Of husbands and
wives; tho increasing number Of unmarried
men, many Of whom, in the free indulgence OF
passion, -disdain the restraints and expenses Of
home and family; the large number Of nnse1ed
women who boldly aud sha1neleasly advocate the
abolishment of all walls Of purity, exalting p.-4-
zion as tho ruling sovereign OF the BOIL, ,-these
are signs of the times, which are alarming; they
WIDENING ,sEAMs n TEE WALLS OF TEE NATION
Tor the saaredness Of the home and the purity Of
woman fce the essentials to our very existence
as people; and it is from these disorganized
homes, from these broken hearthstones,
a5rom these slime-pita of free love, that
pour corrupt politics and our dishonest trade
are born, and come forth to curse the nation
Lot The dfyorce-1aWyer be despised and scorned
bJ az decent people; drive him out Of society;
an MhT mn1$@ DAE- r.. -n$--
even IN social lite or On Change, tha man whom
you know to be corrupt in morals. Refuse to
ADVERTISE IN the paper which is stepped in sen
suahty and hatred to the Churc1, Of God; re-
seen in our houseB. Demand greater strict
ness Of the civil law, that it guard, instead OF
demolish, the wallis OF our homes. Lay it down
as rule which has no exception, that the man
be pure statesman, and refuse TO elect him to
any Office. Keep your children until they are
men and women. Fill your homes With the |
sweet, fragrant flowers OF
LOVE- PURITY, TRUTH, RELIGION;
80 out and carry these flowers into other homes,
nnW gloomy and discordant; and DO assured that |
YOU will thus be working at the very founda-
tions Of :. tho nation, and that your 1abo1n.
though silent, viii be mighty in their results.
y, as We are told, wo1nan was the first tempter
of man, and, in some way, has been connected
with an the evil OF the world, 30 woman is at the
bottom OF al the good in the Worjd.-woman in
he home, aa mother, as sister, as friend; and
eere Is her mighty and jeweled sceptre Of power,
srander and more vast in it's sway than the plat
'orm Or tha ballot eau ever give her.
NTEMPERANCE
another evil which 1mperils the future Of our
and, and claims the thoughtful, prayorful con-
liberation Of true patriotism It is not neces-
ary for me to spend a moment this evening in
getting to you Statistics Of the extent Of this |
vi; OF tho heavy burden Of taxation which it
ays upon our communities; Of the crime and IL ]
entiousnsss which it breeds in our rnidat and |
t its terrible power to drag down into the mire
sin and debasement the strongest intellect
nd the nob1est characters, the pride Of the i
ome and ths pillars of society. You are al :
'sdy familiar, by reading, by obseryation,-pcr-
sps some Of Jon by experience, with these un- 8
,ubted facts. It is no fanaticism which declares,
IT fanatioism Of unaccountab1e, determined :
indness which denies, that the saloons Of '
ia and every city where liquors are retaned +
ID: drank on the premises, are batteries OF g
sth, firing their burning shot at al that is no.
,, Strengthening, and elevating in society, and
pecially attacking. the fortress Of civil law, j
lich licenses these saloons to I'LL its prisons q