Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1896-07-09
A Patriotic Sermon.

dependence Day sermon on sunday
morning, July 9Th, that deserves more
than passing mention. He took for
his text the following:
If forget thee, 0 Jerusalem, let
my right hand forget her cunning. Ii
do not remember thee, let my tongue
cleave to the roof of my mouth: If
prefer not Jerusalem above my chief
joy."-Ps. 13T: 5-6.
Proceeding from which the preacher
said, in part: We have been called a
commercial nation, whose god is the
dollar, and our 4th of July efferves-
ence only, or buncombe, The civil
war, and recently the Venezuelan eX-
citement, showed that we are patri-
otic to the core. Underneath this, and
inspiring it, is our loyalty to Gods
truth as preached in the churches;
and the church is sacred because
Christ is there.
Ours is a great country, measured
by any standard; growth, numbers,
size, wealth, influence, resources. We
must remember that its growth and
influence have been because it was
founded on the principles of Gods
moral law. Its development has been
under the working of those princi-
pies. True there have been violations
! of that law, and these have been pun
ished; but our growth has been be-
cause Of the righteousness in our
laws and in our national life.
This point, that national growth
depends on moral power, is illustrated
by the men of our country. Take our
two great wars, the revolution and
| the rebellion: In the former the
British soldiers were better armed
and better paid, but the continentals
| fought for the better principle, and
were victorious. In the rebellion the
northern army has been called the
| finest body of troops ever gathered
together upon this planet. Of course
| there was also the poorer element, but
| the army as a whole was magnlfi-
cent body of intelligent freemen.
! The mass of these men fought for
principle, not for money. In paying
pensions we should remember that
there was no money in the treasury
when the soldiers marched to the
| front. President Buchanan tried to
borrow $10Oo00o0 and failed. Presi-
dent Cleveland asked for $65,000,000
in exchange for bonds of the United
States, and the people subscribed for
$200000O00 in single afternoon. The
credit of this country is all that we
can ask. 1t was not the bankers who
restored it, nor the manufacturers
nor the merchants. They did their
parts, but their united efforts would
| have been in vain without the men
who risked their lives, receiving the
nominal pay of thirteen dollars per
month. Now, what gave these men
their moral principle? Not the writ
| ings of Paine nor the teachings of
Ingersoll, though both Of these men
| fought for their country. 1t was the
teachings Of the Christian church,
| the Zion of oEr land. Men have crit
icized the church,and sometimes with
reason. Individual churches have
| failed at the critical time. Some
| churches feared to denounce slavery,
and the church today does not take
the stand it should on the liquor
question. Some churches compro-
mise with money because of LIBERAL
paying members. Admitting all this,
there is no institution or society on
earth. open or secret, that undertakes
4 to do what the church has done and
| is doing in the saving of mems souls;
and this is the power that has been
making the world better from the
coming of Jesus Christ until today.
To sum up the matter; Men do not
die for that which is vile or worth
less. Few men would die for cour-
tesan; many would die for mother,
wife or sister. 1t took only whisper
to raise an excitement about the
little red school house." / never
heard Of men Offering to die to save a
brewery or a saloon, or lottery busi-
ness. Our country inspires loyalty
because it is rightoous country; it
is righteous because the church Of
Jesus Christ is its conscience. If any
one doubts the influence of the
church over the state, consider what
effect the permanent closing Of the
churches Of this city would have on
the community. The better class Of
citizens would leave at once for some
town where churches were used.
Therefore, be loyal to Jesus Christ.
Zion was sacred to the Jew because
God dwelt there; and the church is
a holy church because 1t is the home
Of Jesus. BE loyal to him because Of
his great love for US. BE loyal to
him because such loyalty makes us
| augWer tbe highest end of at1r haiou