The Portland daily press., 1895-12-23
NOT WAR BUT PEACE.
DIR. Blanchard's Christmas Sermon at
Congress Square Yesterday.

Rev. DR.. Blanchard preached sermon
at Congress Square church, yesterday
morning, on "Jesus's Message to His
Followers in America and England-Not
War, But Peace.'' Ths text was taken
from Luke u.-"Glory to God in the
Highest, and on earth peace, good will to
men "
DR.. Blanchard spoke substantially as
follows:
Not war but peace shall be the theme
of this Christmas Sunday mornings SER
mon. We may well believe that in
Heaven the words are repeated lory
to God in the Highest, and on earth
peace, good will to men, Amid all the
tumult of passion, ignorance. folly on
earth, the followers of Jesus Christ
should make them resound in our city,
and our church today. He had spoken on
"Christendom's United Cry for Peace"
two years ago. At Chicago and at
Greenacre, Me-, he had delivered an
grafton on ''War, Peace, aud National
Honor. In this hour Of peril he felt it
his duty to speak for peace again. 1t was
by the authority of his Master that he
spoke. He had heard the voice in his
study saying, ''Not War, but Peace. %
The first word of the message is-There
are hours when war may bs declared
Jesus had said. II came not 10 bring
devotion to truth, goodness, liberty
would provoke opposition. Defensive
war may be approved by followers of
Christ. ..He did not belong to the Peace
at-any price party" Oliver Cromwell
fighting for English liberty Washington
in the Revolution Lincoln in the Rebel
lion drew the sword approved by Christ.
The second word is this: is this tn
hour to draw the sword?'' We are to
study the situation calmly. Lord Sails.
lbury's letter is straightforward, manly,
rogent. The great teachers of Inter-
national Law approve his position. Hart
of Cambridge, Moore of Columbia
Woolsey of Yale, above all Von-Holst of
Chicago University, all say the Monroe
doctrine does not apply in the case Of
Venezuela. We must count the cost of
war. We must be afraid of the carnage
Of modern war. It is not cowardice, but
sanity to be afraid of the horrors of war
The young subaltera at Sebastapol said
to his superior who was pale: "Colonel,
1 believe you are afraid. 'Sir, replied
the Colonel, "if you were half as afraid
as I, you would run from the field. %
Though afraid, he was no coward. He
remained at'his post. The third word of
Jesus message to His followers in
America and England is this--Judge
your rulers kindly. The President of the
United States is honest and patriotic.
He wishes to do right. He is not thinking
Of denomination. but of serving his
country. But his message contained
words which ought not to be there.
While honoring the man, DR.. Blanchard
said he had lost confidence In the Presi-
DENTS Judgment. We should be patient
and generous towards him in his hour of
trial. So too should we judge Senators
and Representatives. The bill to create
a commission was rushed through with
rash swiftness. Thank God, Representa-
tive Boutelle of Maine, called for slow
ness, wished to have the bill amended to
take out its warlike words. But judging
kindly, making allowance for impulse
when one believes the oountry's honor Is
involved, we may well believe that the
many young men in Congress are not
we'll prepared by education to judge WISE
ly on this subject of Venezuela. Sherman
in the Senate could not delay. Even
Senators were rashly swift. The greatest
students of international law are outside
of Congress The business world pays SO
high that the greatest lawyers no longer
help to govern.
Disciples of Jesus must be patient, and
willing to wait for the sober second
thought of our rulers. 1t may be that an
unframed man put into the office of
Secretary OF State is large cause of our
present trouble.
The fourth word of Jesus message is
Judge your opponents in the spirit of
love. England would suffer more than
the United States in the event of war.
Salisbury knows how great the danger
is He would not willingly nor rashly
plunge the nation into war. He is to be
regarded as q brotherman. He must be
cause is just. Not in passion nor in haste
must we judge him, hut In love
What is Jesus's message to His
followers in England2 First it is this
Remem Der that the history of English
treatment of other people is an outrageous
one. DO not be surprised that Ameri-
cans, remembering this, are swift to sus-
pect wrong now. England's treatment Of
the Irish; of the Chinese, concerning
opium, ofhIndia, of the colonies of the
United States in 1861, were sins against
humasity. Let her statesmen, then. be
patient with misjudgment, Lord Sails
bury is ready to arbitrats for part of
the disputed territory. Let him be ready
to submit to arbitration for oil. Let him
see that true honor will not be hurt by
such an act. Would that all the pulpits
Of England might preach this doctrine
this Christmas season.
To His followers in America, Jesus
Have a good (