, 1892-11-25
WORDS THAT BURN.
Danger to America Of Unrestricted
Emigration.
suggestions TO be Considered in
Connection with Our Future
Greatness-A Thanksgiving Ser
mOn by Dr. Bright.


Greatness-A Thanksgiving Ser.
mOm by DIR. Bright.
Every seat was taken at the union
Thanksgiving services held at the Christ.
ian church yesterday, The various
churches of the city were well represented
Within the pulpit sat the evangelical min
listers, Rev. G. L. Diven, Rev. E. w. Prich
ard, Rev. w. H. shearman, Rev. T. } La
mont, Rev. S. A. Bright and Rev. J. S.
McCallum.
The hymns were announced by Mr.. Nc
Callum and the scripture lesson read by
Mr.. Diven.
DR.. Bright preached from the text; 30
give thanks unto the Lord for he is good
for his mercy endureth forever. Let the
redeemed Of the Lord say so."-Psalm
107:1-2. He said:
According to a custom reaching back to
Plymouth Rock, we are come together on
this last Thursday of November, 1892 to
make public expression Of our thanks to
Almighty God for the blessings of another
year Thanksgiving, when first instituted
yonder near where the waves of the stormy
Atlantic pounded the rocky shores Of New
England gave expression to two ideas.
First, protest against the all but mean
ingess Saints Day of the established
church. Second, a solemn and heartfelt
| praise of God for his blessings-they had
been near to starvation and harvest had
replaced the scarcity wilh plenty.
81 come to, in some measure, direct
| your thoughts on this occasion. | can see
no better channel than that followed by
the current of our forefathers' thoughts in
the long ago. This is not because l am
averse to change. When change is right
eous there can be but two reasons, possibly
three, for not changing. First, laziness.
| Second coWardice, and of third, lack of
brains to project and engineer a change.
suggest this line of thought because l be-
lieve it to be the most profitable under the
circumstances. / am of the opinion that
one lesson well IOr this American people
to learn is that
RIGHT is RIGHT
even if it be old fashioned, and that God
hates wrong even if it is fashionable. / am
all but forced to the conclusion that when
a thing becomes fashionable it is half
damned, and the other half useless.
Another reason why ask your thoughts
in this channel is because the Yankee is in
clined to brag. We are prone to compar-
isOns in which all that is to our discredit is
carefully suppressed. We say 600, POSSIBILITY
at the first thanksgiving, sixty millions at
this.
BIGNEss NOT GOODNESS.
"Bigness is not always goodness. A few
all but discouraged colonists cluster
ing about Plymoth Rock Now, we
spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific and
from the lakes to the gulf. Extent. how
ever, may only furnish more ample Oppor-
tunity for the existence Of evil.
Il would not have you understand me as
being pessimistic regarding either the pres
ent or the future of our country. believe
it is the best country under the sun.
81 could give you a thousand reasons,
but one will suffice. Americans are not
emigIating, unless forced, while people
from every nation, cline, and tongue are
coming here.
"The reason throw note ofcaution into
your anthem of thanksgiving is that his
tory teaches that things once pronounced
good" and very good" by God himself
have become "eyil" and "only evil"
"There are the seeds of ruin within our
soil which. unchecked, will grow to a har-
vest of destruction, where before the fields
of peace and plenty grew. The time was
when Israel not only had the lead of the
world in power, wealth and culture, but
she was the exclusive custodian ofGod's re-
vealed will, and to her the Infinite spoke
as never to any other nation on the earth.
LOST NATIONS.
"What is she today A Kissing and
by-word-a sign.
"She, by her cold-blooded greed for gold,
is laying up days yet TO come of sorrow
which, to be chrOnicled, must be by pen
dipped in tears of anguish and wet with
the blood of bleeding hearts. Babylon un-
der Nebuchadnezzar, Greece with her glory,
and Rome with her power. Where are they
now2
81 know you will say civilization marched
by them, and they were left in the race.
But why, pray tell me, what was to hinder
these nations keeping step to the music of
progress. | am not here to recall the we'll
covered pages of history. This story you
know.
BLACK, BLOODY, BEAsTLY.
at is black, bloody, beastly. You know
why it was. The powers that governed for
got justice, contemned the right; and grew
pround and selfish. And then came the
storms which wrecked what had ruled the
world.
81 hold that if a man or a nation works
righteousness, loves justice, and serves
GOd that no ruin will ever OvertaKe him.
."If can today lead you TO really appre-
ciate the fact that righteousness exalteth
a nation, while sin is a reprOach TO any
people, l shall be content.
"ln New York and Brooklyn just before
the last election they made $4,000 voters,
one to every million inhabitants at the last
census. In Chicago they made 4000O-One
to every two millions. Suppose we could
have scattered out this $4,000 and absorbed
their 4 voters to every million inhabi-
tants in their usual places of abode, it
would have been well. But they stopped
two-thirds Of them in New York and vicin-
ity and one-third in Cook county, Illinois.
They
HELD THE BALANCE
of power in these two great eenters. I'm
not preaching politics; its too long before
an election to be profit bic. But hear me
as Americans, not as partisans.
"New York and Chicago decided the
national election in this year of our Lord,
/ 1892. This premisis being true we are face
| to face with the fact that our president
elect (God give him strength for his duties)
was elected by voters who were Americans
of less than one year Of age. Pm an Irish
man, born in this country, and / stayed
here twenty-one years before ] voted. l say
to you that herein is not one problem only
but a bundle Of them, which, unsolYed
much longer,
WOULD WRECK HEAVEN,
let alone an earthly republic.