Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1884-12-03
THE FAMOUS SERMON
which Has Caused So Much Useless
Comment.
DR.. Smiths Thanksgiving Diseourse---An
Able Address, Entirely Free From
Any Partisan Spirit.

The sermon preached by DIR. ]. E Smith
AT the union services at the Fourth Street
ME-. Church, on Thanksgiving day, wss
read from manuscript From the fact so
much has been said of its partisan spirit
and inasmuch as the Pittsburg Dispatch
announced that DR.. Smith has denounced
the alleged election Of Cleveland as
shameful and fraudulent" REGISTER re-
porter procued and inspected the manu-
script The sermon is entirely aud liter
ally free from anything that could offend
the most rancorous partisan. tits entitled
American Indebtedness to the Gospel
and is ehaste and eloquent Thanksgiving
effort. The portion evidently alluded to by
the Dispatch, though its correspondent is
reproduced in the exact language.
The discourse pays an eloquent tribute to
America, under the caption, Can man
govern himselfY' DR.. Smith had spoken OF
The trials through which the nation had
struggled to glory and how after the storms
of adversely had passed, she was found
riding in the haven of safety and now,
bound together by bonds stronger than
hammer ever forged, united people is pro
claiming to the world. the fact that man is
capable of governing himself. The dis
course then proceeds:
Proofs Of this fact multiply with every
decade, they crowd upon us at every quad
sennim. In this very month we have been
witnesses and participants IN acts OF self
control, in unhesitating submission to law
that has never been equaled and never can
be surpassed. We have seen great party
which, for nearly a quarter OF a century,
has administered the affairs of the nation,
dividing among themselves the spoils Of
Office, quietly submitting and preparing to
place the reins of government into the
hands of the incoming president. Nor does
this fact express the moral grandeur OF the
action. The eagerness Of the victors on
the one hand to grasp the prize, is equaledi
by the readiness Of the vauqulshed
on the other to yield it to
their grasp. The fact is undeniable.
Every organ of the party, from sea to sea.
has repeatedly proclaimed thai plurality
of a single vote in the pivotal state, would
secure to its recipient the office with all Its
honors. Regrets there may be, but every
loyal American bows to the will OF the
yGople. The moral grandeur of the scene
$ worthy of the chisel of an Angelo TIT
pencil Of a Raphael and the pen of Milton
no other nation under heaven is such
scene possible.
We roint to ii on this day of Thauksgiv-
ng, With pride. Every patriot heart should
well with gratitude Our ship Of state ha'
,assCG the narrow strait. For time her
every timber trembled with the dreadful
pressure; but tie people spoke, and III
| clouds lifted, the storms ceased, aid our no
,ie craft, freighted with the liberties OF a
Nation, and tie s avyvS Of asWOrId gently
| located in;o the deep quiet seas.
And yet, we do not, we dare not claim
perfection. Atrocities In or American pol.
! itice are all too numerous and too hideous
10 permit the feeling of complacency. Why,
We even tremble at the audacity Of the
crimes that even now we are compelled TO
front. But there is vitality enough in the
body polite to slough off the ulcerous sores
and to send soundness and Wilderness to the
furthest verge, and 10 the weakest member OF
this great republic. Thee is wisdom enough
and virtue to relegate the authors OF these
crimes and frauds to the shades Of private
life; and to pillory them in the infamy, con-
tempt and scorn they have sorichly merited.
There is patriotism enough to throttle the
shotgun policy and ballot box stufing Of
our country, whether North or South, and to
restore the rights of citizenship to every foot
of our territory, and to every founding of
the Nation, whatever his color, race, or pre-
yious condition"