Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1898-07-14
DR.. BRISTOL 3 SERMON.
An Eloquent Discourse in Response
to the Presidents Request for
Thanksgiving and Prayer.
THE MIRACULOUS BECOMES OBSOLETE.
ghere is No Chance, No Accident, No Fate
1.-THE Winds and the Waves Are Al
ways on the Side of the Ablest Savi-
gators-Nature's sympathy for Strug-
Cling Mortals.

WASHINGTON. July 11.-1eSterday
was day of Thanksgiving and prayer
in the nations capital. The presi-
dents recent proclamation was fol-
lowed by patriotic utterances from
many pulpits- Prayers were offered
for an early contamination. In nearly
every church where the proclamation
had suggested the topic of the sermon,
special music of patriotic character
was rendered, many of the services
closing with the hymn America"
President Mckinley,
as usual, attended the morning serv-
ices at the Metropolitan NJ. E. church.
He went alone to the church, and was
deeply impressed by the fine discourse
delivered by the pastor, Rev. Frank
Bristol, d. D. The church was crowded
long before the services began. Scores
of persons remained standing through
out, and many more went away una BILE
to gain admittance.
MI. BristOl's Sermon
held the attention of his auditors from
the first sentence to the last. At times
his hearers were so thoroughly aroused
by his patriotic utterances that ripples
of spontaneous applause swept over the
congregation. In part his sermon fol-
lows:
Psalm es:1:
O. sing unto the Lord new song. for He hath
done marvellous thin IS; His right mani and His
holy arm hath gotten Him the vict Try.
The poets ami heroes whose songs and
deeds made the old time splendid" were pure
enough of heart and large enough OF brain to
be abe to hnd the divine philosophy Of human
events
There Is No Chance, No Accident, No Fate.
Law is universal The more scientific e peo-
pie become the stronger will be their belief
and trust in Providence and the less confidence
will they have IN lu,k, accidental chance and
the other absurdi5ieS, In the days OF mans
ignorance the providential was looked upon as
the miraculous and the miraculous as the
providential Butwith the growth OF science
The Miraculous Becomes Obsolete
and unnecessary. wnen Providence becomes
more evident and prominent in human affairs
There was time when the greatest philoSo-
piers did not know that steam mad been pro-
vided as a motive power to serve man; that
electricity had been provided for multitude of
utilities
The Greeks Did Not Know
that more than seven metals had been pro-
vided for the arts, while this age knows that
from 80 to % have been provided The an
clients never dreamed that there had been pro-
vided in the economy of nature the possibili-
ties of gunpowder and dynamite; the posSiOiii-
ties of a modern navy, and the poSslb. lities OF
the Manila and Santiago victories, by which
America doth take accession by the hand and
make the bounds of freedom wider yet"
1t Is Science knowledge
that brings US in touch and ALLIANCES with
Providence. The more science the more Pfovt-
dence. Yes, the more science the IN 1re God in
the worlds history. Tn s;proViden1ial does not
always mean or even imply the miraculous
God may WORK his will by the agencies OF the
laws of nature and the thoughts of men.
We should not quarrel with the elegant old
proposition:
"The Winds and Waves are Always on the
side of the AbIest SavigatOrs,"
for the ablest navigators know how to use the
winds and waves, and are in league with the
mighty laws that govern things. God IS on the
side OF good. favoring good fnancier1ng, good
politics, good guns good battl1Snlps, good dis
cipline good generalship and good causes. In
the oIden time men and nations allied them
selves with Providence By faith; to-day men
and nations ally them selves with Providence by
knowledge
There time when the people found
Nature in sympathy with Their Struggles
for freedom. ami the storm overthrow the
Egyptians in the sea and the sun and moon
stoJd still in the day OF battle to give ri CHIT
eous cause a good chance and the stars in their
courses fought against SiSera. What does all
this mean: Was God teacaia . man the neces-
Sity of mastering the elements and forces OF ma
ture and yoking them to His purposes? Was
He teacnlns them that he who has the laws OF
nature on mis- side wins and that he who con-
tends against the right
Fights Against the Stars,
against the law and order and verS constitu-
ton of things, and must fall. Is this then, a
less providential age than the age of Moses Is
the electric light less providential than the
pillar of fire: Is a Dakota wheat harvest less
proyidential than q shower of mama: Is q
South Carolina cotton crop less providential
than the QuailS OF the wild erneSS? Are the
orange groves of California less providential
than the vineyards OK oil E 'c1oi: was tae dis
covrey of America less providential than tae
finding of Canaan: Was the
Coming of the Pilgrims and Huguenots
less providential than the exodus of the chill
dren of Israeli Was the Declaration of Inie-
pendence less proyidential than the Decalcgue
of Sinai: Were the guns of Dewey AMI Sano-
son less proyidential than the rams horns OF
Joshua, the lamps and pitchers OF Gideon. or
the rod of Moses: Were Manila and Santiago
less providential in the history OF human free
dom than Jericho and All: Is Christian civili-
cation less providential than was Jewish bar
ba-isIn: If God ever had
a Peculiar People
He has then now. They are the product OF
all the struggles and aspirations OF the past
The men who stand before Santiago are not
the product of a day of q century: they
are the rich conSummate flower OF the
ages, the highest evolution of hisso:y- They
represent a manhood that has climbed century
by century up the steps of light and liberty and
now stands in sight Of the glorided su mcliss CT
the universal freedom and
The Universal brotherhood of Man.
The men who offer their lives on libe. tvs
holy altar to-day caught their inspiration from
the men who fought for their convictions in
our civil war. and those great men Of our civil
wa had heard of the revolutionary heroes. and
Ii
valor: but the men OF the revolution had in
herited
The Spirit of the Pilgrim Fathers
aod were deter mined 70 prove themselves
worthy OF their noble sires: the pilgrims had
the nantes of the reformers resting upon their
broad. hercuiean shoulders and the reformers
remembered with reverence the martyrs. and
the martyrs had seen the apostles, and the
apostles had touched the Christ
- There 10 Your Providence in History.
Do you look toward Manila and Santiago and
say superior guns did the business: i say su-
perior men stood behind the schools and God,
the supreme, stood behind the religion There
is our lesson of Providence. The miracle work.
ers to-day are educators. the men and
women who are giving Us an Intellectual mas
terry of nature and armored mastery OF our
selves; the teachers who are placing in our
hands the
InvincibIe, AH-Conquering Weapon of
Truth,
who ara bestowing upon this generation the
power the omnipotenee of knowledge. When
ws compare our American IL per cent OF IL
Iiteracy withSpain'S % per cent of illiteracy,