Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1896-05-16

buttons III your national conventions
take pen full of ink and with bold
hand head the document with one sig
nificant whereas, acknowledging the
goodness Of Ged in the past and beg
ging his kindness and protection for
the future. Why, my friends, this coun-
try belongs to Gcd. and we ought in ev-
cry possible way to acknowledge it.
From the moment that, on an October
morning in 1892, Columbus looked over
the side of the ship and saw the carved
staff which made him think he was
near an inhabited country, and saw also
thorn and cluster Of berries type Of
our history ever since, the piercing sor-
rows and cluster of national joys), until
this hour our country has been bounded
on the north, south, east and west by
the goodness of God The Huguenots
took possession of the Carolinas in the
name of God. William Penn settled
Philadelphia in the name of God. The
Hollanders took possession of New York
in the name of God The pilgrim IA
theirs settled New England in the name
of God. Preceding the first gun of
Bunker Hill, at the voice of prayer all
heads uncovered.
In the war of 1912 AN officer came to
General Andrew jackson and said :
There is an unusual noise in the camp.
1t ought TO be stopped. General Jack
son said, what is the noise?" The
officer said. ut is the voice of prayer
and praise" Then the general said:
God forbid that prayer and praise
should be all unusual noise in the en-
calnpment. You had better go and join
them. % Prayer at Valley Forge. Prayer
at Monmouth. Prayer at Atlanta. Pray
er at South Mountain. Prayer at Gettys-
burg. "Oh," says some infidel, the
northern people prayed ON one side, the
the southern people prayed on the other
side, and so it did not amount to any
thing" And l have heard good Chris
tian people COMPOUNDED with the infdel
statement, when it is as plain to me as
my right hand. Yes, the northern peo-
pie prayed in one way, and the southern
people prayed in another way, and Gcd
answered in his own way, giving to the
north the establishment of the gov
eminent and giving to the south larger
opportunities, larger than she had ever
anticipated-the Harvesting CT her rivers
in great manufacturing interests, until
the Mobile and the Tallapoosa and the
Chattahoochee are southern Merrimacs
and the unrolling of great southern
mines of coal and iron, of which the
world knew nothing, and opening be-
fore her opportunities Of wealth which
will give SO per cent more Of affluence
than she ever possessed, and, instead of
the black hands of American slaves,
there are the more industrious black
hands of the coal and iron mines Of the
south, which are achieving for her fab
ulous and unimagined wealth.
And there are domes of white blossoms where
spread the white tents.
And there are plows in the track where the
war wagons went,
And there are songs where they lifted up
Rachel's lament.
Lincoln's Prayer.
Oh, you are a stupid man if you do
not understand how God answered
Abraham Lincoln's prayer in the White
House, and Stonewall jackson s prayer
in the saddle, and answered all the
prayers of all the cathedrals on both
sides of Mason and Dixon's line Gods
country all the way past, Gods country
nowl Put his name in your pronuncia-
mentos Put his name on your ensigns
Put his rame on your city and state
and national enterprises Put his name
i'll your hearts. We cannot sleep well
the last sleep until we are assured that
the God of our American institutions in
the past will be the God of our Ameri-
can institutions in the days that are to
come. Oh, when all the rivers that emp
ty into Atlantic and Pacific seas shall
pull on factory bands; when all the
great mines of gold and silver and iron
and coal shall be laid bare for the ma
tion when the last swamp shall be re-
claimed, and the last jungle cleared,
and the last American desert Edenized,
and from sea to sea the continent shall
be occupied by more than l, 200, 900, 900
souls, may it be found that moral and
religious influences were multiplied in
more rapid ratio than the populationl
And then there shall be four doxologies
coming from north and south and east
and west, four doxologies rolling to-
ward each other and meeting midcon-
tinent with such dash of holy joy that
they shall mount to the throne
And heavens high arch resound again
With peace on earth, good will to men.
take step farther and say that
before the gavels of our senate and
house of representatives and our politi-
cal conventions pound adjournment
there ought to be passed a law or adopt
ed a plank of intelligent helpfulness
for the great foreign populations which
are coming among us. 1t is too late now
to discuss whether we had better let
them come They are here. They are
coming this moment through the Mar
rows. They are this moment taking the
first full inhalation of the free air Of
America. And they will continue to
come as long as this country is the best
place to live in.
You might as well pass o law prohib-
iting summer bees from alighting on a