Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1897-06-18

lue TRUE laws OF economic duJusIiucuIoi
but it is in mems learning to do justly,
love mercy and walk humbly with God.
God is marching on; that is Chrsts sure
position, and that is the great fact to be
taken into account by those who would be
in at the finish
The long look onward sees those greater
prizes which stand at the end, and casts in
ones lot on the winning side with clear
understanding, and does this even though
there may seem to be temp jrary delay in
the mad scramble for passing good II
is the old fable of the race OF Atalanla:
that those who turn aside for the gilded
prizes which appeal to the eye and sense;
the golden apples diverting the strong run
ner 20 this side and that of his course, may
suffer defeat in the noblest ambitions of
| youth, and he may be found to be last who
/ had almost seemed predestined TO be first.
! Therefore, this thought at once strikes us,
| that whomsoever else we may compete with,
our main competition is with God himself.
Now Christ brings out the next great
thought which belongs TO this, namely,
that apparent advantage in competition is
very far from being guarantee of final
success. In saying this he takes the sub
| ject out of purely individual relations and
treats it as affecting nations and races He
|
born fatalism and the most unreasoning
superstition that men cherish; namely,
belief in the s,ary permanence Of
present conditions which seem to suit us.
The relative position of contestants in the
struggle of life is always changing and men
and nations being moved to the front from
unexpected quarters. Now, for ourselves,
we may affirm that leadership belongs to
us, and even for very valid reasons. In
the first place we are Anglo-SaXons and
not even the conquests of the Romans has
seen anything comparable to the march OF
Anglo-Saxon influence within the last 100
years. The Anglo-SaXon blood holds or
controls one-quarter of the earth's surface,
nearly one-thlrd Of its population and one
third of its wealth.
The AngloSaXon alliance might wall it.
self around from al foreign relationships
and scarcely suffer in means or luxury.
Its strength, unlike that OF its other prin-
ciple competitor, the Slavic natiOnalities,
lies in the inner spirit of its institutions
rather than in the consttaint from without
of the iron forms Of society and govern
ment. In the midst Of this great world
occupying power We are Americans and
have in the wealth of our resources, the
liberty OF our forms OF government, the
tions which leayen nations by the truth
the noblest domain. We are New Eng
landers, holding still that part of the ma
ton which has been consecrated 10y the
noblest sacrifices and built up by the wisest
and most far-sighted public policy. No ad-
yautages are enjoyed anywhere in the
world which are surpassed or even equalled
by our own.
We have minds enlightened by the no.
best discipline and lives inspil ed 10y the
purest examples in history. And ye, let
u not be sure aIat this leadership shall be
perpetual for the very point Of the Master
in the words of our text is that God has
vast resources for his plans, immense aud
unnoticed material out of which he will
build his temple. Let US remember that
history has been the successive revealing
of stronger races than those which have
seemed TO be in eternal possession OF the
world. The story Of Europe has been that
of mighty invasions bursting from simple
and rugged conditions upon the unprepared
and enfeebled peoples whose luxury and
carelessness and enervation of moral fibre
have dropped them below Gods par for
human worth. Indeed, the United States
today is a revelation of the working of this
principle. The despised jew holds in his
hands the reins of finance. Chicago is the
most German city in the world except Ber-
lin.
Reference was here made to the possibil-
ity of the negroes and Chinese as factors in
the development of the future.
We must not be too sure that the mate
rails out Of which God will build his world
are the ones which We rate most highly.
1t all depends on the cooperation which
one or the other force may give 10 God,
and the success which any race may have
, in keeping pace with him. 1t becomes a
strife between the civilizations, and the
end of that competition is not yet appar-
, ent. But what is plain is that the last
may be first and that many shall come
from the east and west the north and the
south, and that times a long way this side
of the ju igment day will hold some great
surprises and will fling 10 the winds many
human prophecies and if there be any
real advantage which we possess, it consists
mainly not in our superior development,
but if we will obey il, in the clearer vision
we have of the direction which God is
taking. Thus there is at once a stronger
and nobler aspect of competition and a
mightier motive stirred up within us when
We reflect upon this broader construction
of the struggle for leadership. 1t makes
its appeal to us in behalf of country. 1t is
the spirit of genuine patriotism which will
give itself, If need be, TO die, and will al
ways consecrate itself 10 serve; which
cannot endure the thought that, in the
process of the suns, our own fair country,
Our own dear New England and the insti-
tutions which have cost us so much, and
the type of men and women which has
been brought forth with such birth pains
and sacrifices, shall be remanded to the
rear, and some other nation called upon by
God to carry forward the great torch which
shall enlighten the world unto the consum-
nation of Gods great plans.
We are carried away at once from so
narrow view of the subject as to think
that the business of life, as we start out
from the school, into the world is merely
TO push the nose of our own little boat a
trife ahead of our next neighbours, to
build a little larger pile, to read a few
more books, TO live in little larger house,
and gain little more notOriety in common
fame or in the columns of the daily press
Even from the point of self-interest one
mans life is not worth anything save as
value is given to it by that of the wel-to do
life of the community in which he lives,
and each small section of human life gains
permanent value as it is contributed by an
ever-enlarging circle of life, so that even
nation itself is prosperous as the gift of
the whole world. What we want to do is
TO maintain our leadership in relation to
that world, and therefore what we have to
do is to maintain our leadership by being
most completely and effectively the allies