The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-07-05
a CALL FOR PATRIOTISM
FOURTH OF JULY ADDRESSES HAVE
A SIGNIFICANT TONE.
Conditions Into Which Corporate
Greed Have Plunged the Country
Remarks Yesterday i'm Churches.

by special arrangement Encampment No
SO, Union Veteran Legion, worshiped at the
Central-avenue Methodist Episcopal Church
yesterday morning and the pastor Or. c.
G L&sby, preached a sermon which was
at times interrupted v tth hearty applause.
The members of the -asampment expressed
themselves as highly lighted with the eff
fort, and many of the old veterans de-
ciared 1t TO be the finest sermon they had
ever heard. In spite of the hot weather,
the large auditorium was well filled. The
music was fine and the whole service very
inspiring
The preacher took for his text Psalm
cvll, Z: And He led them forth by the
right way and an outline of his discourse
follows After paying special tribute to the
late jubilee exercises Of Queen Victoria, and
pointing with pride to the sincere tributes
paid her Majesty by the American people,
he called attention to Tennysons lines eu-
logizing the American revolutionists of a
century ago, and to the fact that English
historians and statesmen had alike con-
ceded the Righteousness of their cause
Among the nations America is the pet
child Of God Almighty, and His guidance
Is manifest at every stage of her history
The time of her discovery the character
Of her early settlers, the charters and con-
stitutions under which they lived are all
eloquent of His dealings.
The crual eXactiOns of a tyrannical king
and the merciless acts of his mercenaries,"
said the minister, were overruled by
Providence, and it is interesting to n0te
that when Ethan Allen summoned Fort
Tfconderoga to surrender I'm the name of
the Great Jehovah and the Continental
Congress-" the only one of these forces
then in actual existence was the Great Je-
hoVah. Through all the struggles of that
trying period God was leading this people,
and when from the field of carnage men
turned to the council chamber, He still was
present in their deliberations. Hence the
matchless Constitution issued, which has
stood the test of a century and compels
eulogy from the magnificent Gladstone and
other foremost political thinkers.
The Declaration of Independence was
the coronation of manhood, and America
man history The monument to her fallen
at Lexington is inscribed Sacred to liberty
and the rights of mankind And this
sentiment pervades all parts of our coun-
try. God has made it come to pass that a
man is more precious than fine gold and
our leaders who have most furthered His
will have been like the martyred Lincoln,
who spoke his own sentiment we'll
that of grateful country in aftiXing his
signature, for the last time, to an act of
Congress-, to the act requiring in God We
trust to be inscribed upon our coin. The
finest type of manhood in the world is here
What peaceful conquests, what material
glory! Compare the puny fighting of the
Greeks with the hand-to-hand struggle of
the Texans under Houston lighting for lib
erty; recall the awful conflict of more re-
cent years, and note how one million men
have died that our flag might float tri-
umphant and untarnished, and know the
American manhood is equal to any strain.
The peaceable disposition of our govern
ment is shown in the fact that she has
taken part in more than one-half of the
.,lAg&
has led her forth towards peace with hon
or and it is unpleasant thought that
her flag of stars and stripes was suggested
from the floor of a church, the particular
abode of God There are many dangers
confronting our time. Lowells accusation
that the nation loves the smell of blood
seems borne out by the more than ten
thousand murders last year. No civilized
nation equals this disregard of human life.
Public honor is at low ebb; Leglslatures
corrupt. The franchise is lightly esteemed
and ignorant and vicious immigrants hold
the reins Of power in some of our great
centers.
'Monopolies Cypress and rob the people
Wealth is too unequally distributed. Great
corporations debauch the public conscience
There are 1858 miles of street railways In
our country, and these are bonded and
stocked for $4,000 per mile. Would not 1000
per mile be a reasonable expenditure? Why
then this additional theft and burden of
$4,000 per mile? Why nine millions of
stock on two millions of property? And
throat and robbed of a sufficient amount to
pay dividends upon this outrageous sum-
how the soul of the patient longs for the
men of 70 Shades of jefferson, of Patrick
Henry, and of Washington appear once
more, and write a new Declaration of In
dependence against such unjust tyran-
ny. Can any one imagine the
president of a street railway com
pany approaching George Washing
ton and offering him a $4,000 fee to jus
tify such an inquity and defend such an
outrage upon the rights of the people?
Then there is the saloon with its awful dew
astation, the direst foe the country knows,
to be wiped out of the land"
The speaker closed by abiding to the
Sabbath day as one of the strongest pillars
of society," and urged a recognition of its
claims upon all his hearers. These fields
of more peaceful conflict required no less
courage than the veterans of the war dis
played in facing shot and shell. An I'M
pressive feature of the service was the
reading of the Declaration of Independence
by Charles f. Coffin. The offering at the
close of the service was given to the en-
campment to be expended in relief work
among their needy comrades.