The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-07-11

l 'PAchNAu NhCtOFleS by ouE hElhS-kNtNs
 Bertrand M. ripple Preached on the
 Topic s'Let Us Give Thanks,,-He De-
 cIared That "God Has Set His Seal to | the Holiness ofThts Cause"
 At Epworth M B. church yesterday
 morning the pastor, the Rev. Bertrand
 M. ripple, preached an able sermon on
 the topic Let us give thanks" It was
 in accord with the proclamation by
 President Mckinley, issued several
 days ago and deeply interested the
 large congregation present. He said in
 part:
 | o come, let us sing unto the Lord
 let us make a joyful noise to the rock
 of our salvation.
 1 ? Let us come before his presence
 with thanksgiving, and make joyful
 noise unto Him with psalms.
 For the Lcrd is great God, and
 great king above all gods.
 I III HIS HdHu are the Qeep placeS or
 the earth; the strength of the hills is l His also.
 The sea is His and He made it; and
 His hands formed the dry land. l o come let us worship and bow
 down: let us kneel before the Lord our
 maker
 ! ' For He is our God; and we are the
 people of his pasture, and the sheep of
 His hand.-Psalm 95:17.
 Whether or no these words ever ex- 4 pressed truthfully the mind of a na- tion, certain it is that they breath a
 spirit of thankfulness which ought to
 be alive in the breast of all Americans
 at this hour In the past week the L president has issued a proclamation calling upon the people of this land
 to assemble in their accustomed places
 of worship, there to utter praise unto l, the Eternal God for the striking suc-
 cess of our arms. This to me seems
 eminently proper and right. I shall
 base my remarks upon the thoughts suggested by the words of the procla- , nation since they appear to respond to the exhortation of the text. To-day 2 we give thanks and we offer prayers. The speaker then traced in brief the l growth of the American people from : the time of the Pilgrims, telling how they toiled on through vicissitudes and } dangers, but ever clinging with a l steadfast hope to the God of nations 7 Continuing he said: The thirty years of peace have been marked by tremen-
 dous activity in the industrial world Factories have arisen on every side, valuable inventions have been made, l great enterprises have been carried [ out successfully, wealth has accumu-
 lated and showed itself to the vulgar gaze in costly trappings. Wherefore, the cry has echoed throughout the land
 that we have transferred our worship : from the divinity to the dollar. Great hordes of the worst element in the for : eign kingdoms have swept in upon us and we have been changed into another
 race. Rum and riots, these are the ? products of atheism and anarchy. Now 7 another testing time has come and what do we find? Citizens leaving 3 home and comforts at the summons of 3 one who Is higher than the rulers of g earth. Our heroes singing paeans to 2 the Most High as they bear the flag over the ramparts of the enemy. Cap- ] tain Phillips on the battleship Texas r after the naval victory at Santiago l calling his men around him and offer T ing prayer until Him who sitteth above . in heavens, our chief magistrate send
 ing forth a proclamation that breathes t as beautiful trust in the God of the S Puritans as has been recorded in the n life of the nation. Let us thank God e then that to-day we find our distinct t religious character has been preserved g and is still the grinding force ir t American life. A friend once asked
 Wendell Phillips if ever he had conse- . crated himself to God. "Yes," he re. piled, 'when I was a boy fourteen years of age in the old church at the n North Eng (Boston) I heard Lymar !, Beecher preach on the theme You be. t long to God. I went home after that Il service threw myself on the floor ir t my room, with locked doors, and pray. Il ed, Q God, I belong to Thee; take what Il is thine own.' Blessed will it be fo, l. this land of freedom while she remem.
 bers to whom she belongs.
 r The progress of the war thus ia = makes a wonderful record. The sigma q victory of our ships in the far off Pa U cific, without the loss of a vessel-in T deed, without the direct loss of a man : and almost the repetition of this stor,
 in the last naval triumph off the coas f of Cuba! I do not wonder that the rul | CTS of other kingdoms look with star c tied amazement on the spectacle. Som $ one has expressed the thought tha God is always on the side of the heavi 1T est battalions. Not infrequently this i interpreted as slur against Provi It dence. It is not true that He is eve It on the side of the heaviest, but it i true that He is always with the bes e soldiers: best because He is working i
 them and through them. He does no o necessarily intervene with His super - natural power at the moment of tn y battle, but through the years He Ina e been training the powers in this rae that will enable it to rise master of cri u ses, whether such crises come in wa IL or in peace.
 e Strange that we have transferre l. | soldiers thousands q