Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-02-14
FUTURE OF THE REPUBLIC.
A Timely Sermon by Rev. Woodman Brad
bury at the Pleasant Street Bap-
tist Church.

pufy AT the Fieasant StreeI Dap
tist Church.
The sermon Of Rev. Woodman Brad
bury at the Pleasant Street Baptist
Church. Sunday morning, was upon
''The stability Of the American repub-
lic." His text was taken from Deut.
xviii: /. '1f thou shalt harken diligently
unto the voice of the Lord your God, to
observe and do all his commandments,
the Lord, thy God, will set thee on
high, above all nations of the earth"
He said in part: Yesterday the
thoughts Of a great and powerful nation
turned gratefully to the memory of
Abraham Lincoln and recalled that If
the hand of the assassin had spared him
to the nation he would have been SO
years old. We are not unmindful Of the
fact that next week we will celebrate
the birthday of the father of his coun-
try. 1t is natural for us with our eyes
directed toward the land for which these
two heroic men lived and suffered and
died, to ask ourselves this morning
whether the nation of their love and
ours is likely to survive the foes with
out and the disintegrating forces within.
In other words 1t is our duty to inquire
into the stability of the American re-
public.
To some, such an inquiry may seem
absurd. There are a great many opti-
mists among us who refuse to open their
eyes to any danger lurking in the body
polite and disdain to consioer the down
fall Of other republics They linger, as
every true patriot may we'll do on the
marks of providential ordering in the
history Of our land, from earliest settle
ments, through all our present and past
eventful history to the present time.
And they ask, has God brought forth
this infant only to let it die before its
prime? Have such laborS been spent
upon us for naught? To make such a
question is to reply negatively, say these
optlmists; it is inconceivable that
America should perish. To live and
prosper and lead all other nations into
freedom is our manifest destiny.
On the other hand there are a great
many people among us in whose opinion
the possible downfall of the American
republic is by no means an idle ques-
ton. The presence OF great evils op-
presses them. They see the prevalence of
sins that attack the individual, such as
lntemperance, lust, brutality and cruel
ty. If they live in Worcester, they can
not help recalling the horrible murder
in Brookfield the condition of our
streets where saloons are located, and
the prevalence of such brutality which
delights In cocik-fighting.
They see too the presence and the
power of great national evils which prey
upon the life of the state. The dealings
of many corporations with their en-
ployees is unsympathetic, the relation of
organized capital to organized labor are
strained, our cities are in the hands of
bosses of foreign birth who mismanage
them so successfully as to extract pri-
vate fortunes from them, or elections
are characterized by an increasing use
Of corrupt money, crime is constantly
on the increase, the homes of the ma
ton, it sacredest shrines and its strong
est bulwarks, are threatened by the
laxity Of the marriage laws and the ease
and frequency of divorce, and foreign
religion with political intentions is
gaining ever stronger hold upon our
country, The baleful influence of these
evils cannot be counteracted by saying
Pooh" The freedom from the noise
of escaping steam gained by sitting on
the safety valve of an over charged
boiler may be dearly bought, not only
to the man who holds it down, but to
the whole ship and its cargo.F
The reply to these veXing questions is
that in the masses there is vast
amount of common sense. resident,
which is brought to bear upon the Vari-
Gus speeches made by campaign speak
ers. The average voter usually makes
UP his mind how to vote with an aston
ishing degree of wisdom. Another re-
ply is a challenge. The American Sys-
tenn of universal manhood suffrage may
not be perfect, but point out single
government in the worlds history where
there has been sc much liberty for the
common people and so much happiness
in the masses. A democracy by making
men think and throwing responsibility
upon them is developing high stand
ard of manhood, while every other form
of government is both considering and
keeping them children, and we must
confess the triumph of the American
idea.
While we with reasonable optimism
regard tine future of our land as as
sured, yet it is very important that our
hopes be based on foundations that will
not deceive. Moses told the Israelites
that if they would obey God and harken
to his commandments, national security
and eminence would come to them; but
if they failed in this and followed the
wickedness of adjacent peoples, they
would be destroyed. The message of
Moses is Gods own voice to the Ameri-
con people. There is no possibility Of
security for any nation apart from God
Diffusion Of culture, fine arts and the
luxuIqeS or lie are not pledge of fu-
ture greatness to us, for tine ancient re-
public of Athens teaches that the pos
session Of these gifts even in a superla-
tive degree, is no insurance against per-
sonal and national sin; and is, there
fore, no guarantee of continuance Of
existence. Rome repeats history There
is no reason to suppose that the Roman
empire would not be in existence today
with greater power and prestige than
ever II the virtues and moralities of the
primitive Rome had been continued.
Great commercial life will not save a
natlon The argosies of Venice once
Whltened every sea, and controlled the
commerce of the world at one time: yet
these qualities upon which we as a ma
tlon pride ourselves did not preserve
Venice, neither will they of themselves
preserve the United States. France is
now for the third time a republic; in
tense enthusiasm for humanity has long
been her characteristic Her watchword
is Liberty, fraternity and equality" a
trinity of words which is a legacy from
the French revolution and very dear to
her people now. Yet this republic is un-
stable. The sensational trial first of
Dreyfus and next of Zola, now in pro-
Sress, gives witness to a fearful cor
ruptness in the ministry, in the civil
service and in the army BY reason of
forgetting God, the republic of France
is even now tottering.
oh a..