The Portland daily press., 1896-10-19


The following is the sermon preached
BY Rev. j. Battell Shepherd, from tex
taken from Psalm, xiv /, 4.
The victory of Arminius, the greatest
and noblest of the ancient Germans oyel
the Romans has been considered by
Greasy as one of the decisive battles OF
the world. No one who comprehend
the vast results of that victor. on ths
German tribes can question The accuracy
of that historians Judgment
The blow Arminius struck for Gar.
man liberty must ever be mperishable.
Never says Greasy was victory more de.
cisive. never was tho liberation of an op-
pressed people m ore instan taneous and
complete.
AT Rome the tidings of the battle
were received with an agony of terror, -
Terrific portents were believed to have
occurred. The SUBMITS OF the Alps were
said to have fallen and three columns of
fire to have blazed up from them. Com
cts blazed in the sky. The statue of vic
tory which stood on the frontier pointing
towards Germany of its own accoru
turned and pointed toward Rome. The
Emperor Augustus months after the
news Of the battle had arrived often beat
his head against the wall and exclaimed,
"Quintilius Varus give me back my
lsgions" IA
do not hesitate to say that the strue-
gle of the 13 colonies for independence
far exceeds in Significance the struggles
of the ancient Germans for freedom from
the yoke of Rome. We have no record
that George the Third beat his bend
against the walls of his cabinet when
the independence of the United States
was achieved, and cried, "Give me back
my colonies. But we have q record
that he used every means in his power to
reduce those colonies to submission to
the British crown and aoknowledR ed
their independence most unwiliingly.
The treatment tho American colonies
received from the British crown years
before the revolution finds no para llel in
all history Joined to England by the
strong ties Of blood and religion yet they
were Outlines treated with neglect and
contempt. ALI they asked was fair and
generous treatment. They were not will
ing to be taxed without Representa- tion
but entered no protest because England
held the monopoly of their trade. Mag
sachusetts was the first to protest against
unjust taxation ard she did 1t on con !.
stitutional grounds. prohibitions of
trade are neither equitable or just, but
the power of taxing is the grand banner
of British liberty. If that is once broken
down all is lost"
Pitt was i'll when the stamp act was
passed, but he adopted to the full the
constitutional claim of America. In
Parliament he said, I'm my opinion this
kingdom has no right to lay tax on the
colonies. America is obstinate. America
is almost in open rebellion. Sir, l re-
joice that America has resisted. Three
millions of people SO dead to all the feel
ings OF liberty as voluntarily to submit
to be slaves would have teen fit instru-
ments to make slaves of the rest,n He
spoke said a locker ON like a man in.
spired, and ended by demand for the
absolute, total and immediate repeal of
the acts.
Chatham said, sit is not cancslline A
piece OF parchment that can win back
America. You must respect her fears and
He introduced a bill
which provided for the repeal of the
stamp act, the security of the colonial
the abandonment OF the claim
of taxation AMI the recall of the troops
An assembly made up of delegates from
the colonies with power to provide means
for the payment of the public debt was
also advised. But the measure was "a
iected. What might have been the future
Of America had the oounses of such man
as Pitt, Burke and Franklin
prevailed no man can say. In all proba-
bility the American colonies would have
remained the most valuable Jewel in the
British crown. Insteadsof meeting this
to commemorate the bombard-
ment of Falmouth by an English fieet
we would have found ourselves loyal sub.
jects of the Bristish empire, content to
pray for the Queen of England, rather
than the President of the United States
Tho old classic proverb says, "wbom
the gods would destroy they first make
mad. +" The polioy of the England In the
treatment of our fathers borders on in.
sanity. The method used in the conduct-
ing of the war for the suppression of the
revolution DESTROYED the last spark of
affection Americans had for England
The destruction Of Falmouth will serve
as an example Of that method.
Ii an English feet had been anchored
in the harbor and English troops had
taken possession of she town it would