The Forrest City times., 1898-07-15
DR.. BR|S1OL'S SERMON.
An Eloquent Discourse in Response
to the Presidents Request for
Thanksgiving and Prayer.
The MIRACULOUS BECOMES OBSOLETE.
There is No Chance, No Accident, No Fato
THE Winds and the Waves Are Al
ways the Side of the AbIest Nayi-
circumstances sympathy for Strug-
Cling Mortals.

NASHlNGTON. July Ill eSterday
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. L. church.
He went alone to the church. and was
deeply impressed by the fine discourse
delivered by the pastor Rev. Frank
Bristol ID. ID. The church was crowded
long before the services began. Scores
of persons remained standing through
out, and many more went away unable
to gain admittance.
Mr.. BristoIs 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 9s:i:
Q, sing unto the Lord new song, for He hath
done marvellous things His right hand and His
holy arm hath gotten Him the victory.
The poets and heroes whose songs and
deeds made the old time splendid were pure
enough of heart and large enough OF brain to
be able to find the divine philosophy of human
events.
There Is No Chance, No Accident, No Fate.
Law is universal The moro scientific peo-
pie become the stronger will be their belief
and trust in Providence and the less confidence
will they have n luck, accidental chance and
the other absurdties In the days OF mans
ignorance the providential was looked upon as
the miraculous and the miraculous as the
proyidential 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 phi loso-
piers did not know that steam had been pro-
yided motive power to 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
clients never dreamed that there had been pro-
yided in the economy of nature the possibli-
ties Of gunpowder and dynamite the possibii-
ties Of a mo Tern navy, and the possibilities 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 or knowledge
that brings US in touch and ALLIANCES with
Providence. The more science the more Provi-
dence. Yes. the more science the more Goi in
the worlds history. Ths;provldential 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:
1.-THE Winds and Waves are Always on the
Side of the Ablest Navigators,"
for the abest navigatois 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, favorlng good fnanciering, good
politics, good guns, good battleships, good dis
clpllne, good generalship and good causes In
the olden time men and nations allied them
selves with Providence by faith to-day men
and nations ally themselves with Providence by
knowledge.
There a time when the people found
Nature In sympathy with Their Struggles
for freedom, and the storm overthrow the
Egyptians in the and the sun and moon
'NNNH
eous cause good chance. and the stars in their
courses fought against Sisera What does all
TINS mean: Was God teachn man the neces-
slty of mastering the elements and forces of ma
lure and yoling them to His purposes? Was
lie teaching them that he who has the laws OF
nature on his side wins and that he who con-
tends against the right
Fights Against the Stars,
against the law and order and very constitu-
ZION OF things and must fall Is this then, a
less providential age than the age OF Mosesg Is
the electric light less provldential than the
pillar OF fire? Is Dakota wheat harvest less
proyidential than a shower of mannag Is
south Carolina cotton crop less proyidential
than the quails of the wilderness? Are the
orange groves OF California less providential
IMAM the vineyards of OLD Eschol? Was the dis
ooVrey OF America less provdential than tae
hndlng OF Canaan? Was the
Coming of the Pilgrims and Huguenots
less providential than the exodus of the chill
uren OF Israel? Was the Declaration OF Inde-
pehdence less providential than the Decalogue
vi Slnalg Were the guns OF Dewey and Samp-
son less providential 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
aom than Jericho and All? Is Christian ciyili-
zaton less providential than was Jewish bar
oarism? If God ever had
Peculiar People
lie has them now They are the product OF
al the struggles an aspirations OF the past
Inc men who stand before Santiago are not
the product of a day or of century; they
are the rich consummate flower OF the
ages, the highest evolution of history. They
represent manhood that has climbed century
uS century up the steps of light and liberty. and
now stands in sight OF the glorifed su mmits OF
Inc universal freedom and
The Universal brotherhood of Man.
The men who offer their lives on liberty's
noiy altar to-day caught their inspiration from
the men VINO fought for their convictions In
our clvil war. ana those great men OF our clvll
war mad heard of the revolutionary heroes, ana
were proud to emulate their deeds of patriotic
,alor; but the men OF the revolution had IN
herited
The Spirit of the Pilgrim Fathers
anu were determined to prove themselves
worthy OF their noble sires; the pilgrims had
.he nantles 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
lad Oh ha hriS