The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-12-26
LOVE OF WAR CONGRESSMAN
REV. MR. BEARDsLEY DEPLOREs SOME TEND ENCIEs or TO-DAY.

Christian Ministers Duty to Preach
 Pence-The United States Is Putting on
 the Yoke of Taxation for War Pur-
 poses as Russia Is Seeking Relief from
 Military Burdens.
 At St. Thomas Episcopal church yes- terday morning the church was appro- priately decorated with greens, and Christmas music was rendered by the full vested choir under the leadership of Professor Bonney. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon special Christmas choral service was held. At the morning ser- vice, in response for request made by the rector for $250 for diocesan missions, S255 was contributed.
 At the morning service the rector, Rev. w. A, Beardsley, preached from the text "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and good will to- "e'iu iACH' III liS CoutSS oL eAo SSi mon Mr. Beardsley made the following eloquent appeal against the present ten dencies toward militarsm:
 Nineteen hundred years of Christian influences have come and gone, and Christian peoples still have to settle their difficulties by fighting. by killing one another, just as the different peo- pies settled their difficulties before the birth of Jesus Christ. It is true that we have wonderfully advanced in our methods of fighting, if we have not ad- yanced very far towards the ideal con- dition growing out of the operations of the gospel We do things now on a purely scientific basis. We pride our selves on the clever appliances that are brought into being for no other purpose than to slaughter men by the wholesale in time of war. We build navies and raise armies that we may be ready to fight when occasion demands.
 All the great nations of the world, Christian nations, mind you, are armed to the teeth, so to speak, equipped for an offensive and defensive struggle, and men sententiously and piously tell us that to be thoroughly prepared for war Is the best way to maintain peace. It is very impressive picture of peace, is it not, to see three or four great nations lying around a scrap of land, like dogs around a bone, growing and snapping at each other each desiring to possess it, but not quite willing to take the consequences which move in that di- rection would precipitate. And all this nineteen centuries after the birth of Christ, after the introduction into the world of that gospel which was peculiar in this respect-that it taught forbear ance and forgiveness; that it laid extra ordinary emphasis upon brotherly love. Do you ever think of this, brethren? It is good year for us to think of it. It is good year for us to give some seri- ous thought to the question, "Why are we not .Christians?' ?'-that is, why must we kill men in order that we may settle our difficulties?' '' Making the claim for Christianity that we do men have a right to put that question to us. confess that feel no little humlia- tion at the fact that. the gospel has not yet compelled us to so value peace that we have no inclination to fight and kill one another.
 That we are long ways yet from the ideal which the gospel presents was made clear to us this past year. Among the many who vociferously clamored for war, who shouted, if not quite the Ioudest, yet very near to it? Why, the ambassadors of the Prince of Peace, the teachers of brotherly love, of forbear- ance, of forgiveness, the very men who of all men should have stood at their posts and pleaded to use reason, who should have preached the divine mes- sage of peace. I may be too sensitive for this advanced age, but am free to say that it has grieved me exceedingly to read during the past year the utter ancas of so many Christian ministers advocating war.
 do not care whether war is justi- fled or not the Christian minister's du- ty, it seems to me, is to preach peace, and if he cannot consistently with the situation do that, then silence is his only logical alternative, is 1t not? You have doubtless noticed how certain DOT tions of the press have sneeringly and impatiently spoken of the fighting par sons, of the bellicose ministers. They see the illogicalness of the thing, and if they are at all inclined to make light Of religion, why, this is not going to in- crease their respect for it. If Christi- anity cannot make it's accredited teach CTS Christians before anything else, then there must be something radically wrong with it, they will argue.
 But I suppose I am looking at things in a rather gloomy light, particularly on this glad and joyous day. It is inn possible however, to see how little in- fluence real Christianity has nineteen hundred years after its introduction into the world, and not be saddened and disheartened.
 But if the year, from the Christians s standpoint, has brought it's disappoint- ments, it has also brought something which ought to give us hope for the fu- ture, something which has not yet had the attention it deserves, though in my opinion it is the greatest thing the year has brought forth, even greater than the splendid victory of a rich and pow erful sation over weak and impover- ished one I mean of course the czar's suggestion for the diarmament of the nations Here is the first step, I hope, towards universal peace. When 1t will come no man can say, but this is cer- tain-it never will come until this step is taken, for you never can be quite certain that a man will not shoot until his gun is taken from him. Of course