The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1886-02-25
ULTIMATE AMERICA.
Lecture by Rev. Joseph Cook In the
Stockbridge Course.

City Hall was crowded last evening with
people eager to see and hear Rev. Joseph
Cook, who lectured in the Stockbridge course
on ultimate America" Rev. A. Dalton in
introducing the lecturer of the evening, made
mention of his great friendship for the Rev.
DR.. Hill, under whom he studied, spoke of
the English authorities who accuse us of
having grasping propensity for land, and
referred to the English domains which have
been annexed to the little island of Great
Britain; he spoke of the great success of the
orator he having delivered his one hundred
and eighth lecture in Boston last week, then
said, The best definition l have ever seen of
Westerner is that the Western man is dis
tinct from the New England man as Yam
kee. We are not obliged to go out of New
England to make up a specimen of this dis
tinction, but we find him in the person of
Mr.. Joseph Cook" Mr.. Cook then, step
ping forward, spoke as follows:
"Twice within a little more than hun
bred years, Mr.. Chairman, and ladies and
gentlemen, our continent has been washed
in blood, and twice within little more than
twenty years. civilization has been startled
by the assassination of the American Chief
Magistrate. ] do not come here to show the
guiding offenseS of national vanity, but to
picture them, and let us believe that Ameri-
ca is prosperous enough in its present de-
gree OF prosperity to. be worth saving; and
yet, out of the very fairness of promises are
very likely to spring many of the perils of
our future, and if we are to serve God we
must do so now or never.
The soil of this continent has been made
to-day more sacred than it was yesterday,
for there has been lowered in the grave, the
foremost temperance orator OF our time,
John B. Cough, mourned by two nations,
but there thousands of other graves, such as
this, which harrow the land, the spots
where lie Washington, Franklin, Madison,
Jefferson, Sumner, Emerson, Longfellow;
our fathers; my fathers
The speaker then went on to show the
comparative size of America with the other
parts of the globe, and that while the spots
of arabic land in the Old Country are few
and far between, in our country we not only
raise wheat, we also raise gold and silver.
two empires, you cannot cut out of the
other side of the globe more than one empire
of arabic SOIL and that is China"
He then proceeded to show the rapid
growth of population in the United States,
and said that if he should live to behold his
72d year, in 1910, he should expect to see the
sun looking down upon our fifty or sixty
millions, increased to one hundred and
twenty millions, and quoted from Daniel
Webster, THAT he did not know of any
WIN W OuANuiotS pltS
probable increase of the population in
fifteen or twenty-five years"
He compared the resources of this country
with those of England, showing. that we
with all our advantages, are capable OF sup
breeding England in every direction. He
dwelt upon the iniquity in the large cities of
the country, but believed that all our cities
put together were not equal in misery and
crime to London, but we should soon be If
the liquor traffic was not stopped. He adj
+ba Of o1nciOo tho RIM ShOnc
and establishing schools, and thought there
should be a law, that if any person in this
enlightened age could not read or write he
should not be allowed to vote.
Wendell Phillips used to assert that Bos-
twenty years. The greatest temperance re-
former, Gen. Neal Dow, said to me this very
day, that Wendell Phillips was right, that
any city of Importance was under the con-
troll of whiskey rings"
advanced civilization, while we have not,
as yet, laid the cornerstone nor built sim
gle wall to fortify ourselves. He called
special attention to the evils of scheming
politicians, and left it to the Imagination to
predict what would be the result In the
future should the evil continue.
Let me ask you what are the perllS
which will invest our politics IN crowded
population? Let me ask you to mark well
the fact, that from the size of the political
supplies to be distributed by the government
will arise great temptations"
Mr.. Cook then delineated how the civil
service movement was increasing as the ma
ton advanced in age and was likely to prove
great source of evil The cry was now to
turn out all office holders, and here, in al
luding to the Presidents policy, he said
that he had rather pleased most of his
former critics in his policy.
He closed with fancy picture in which
the several virtues, Liberty. knowledge,
probity, and conscientiousness, should, in
conjunction with the all-powerful influence
of the Creator exercise benign influence
over the land and finally establish Ultimate