The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-10-28
Churches.

Yesterday was set apart in procla-
nation by Governor Hastings as a day
of special thanksgiving for the return
of peace and the end of the Spanish
American war. The banks of the city
were closed, and so were most of the
offices in city hall. The postofIice en-
ployes also observed 1t as a holiday.
Special religious services were con-
Quoted in the First Presbyterian church
in the forenoon, beginning at IL o'clock.
The services began with the hymn,
God Bless Our Nation" Rev. DR..
James Mcleod in Offering prayer
thanked God for the fraternity of the
North and South: and he said the coun-
try is grateful for the closer union of
the two great nations speaking the
same tongue, the mother country and
her children.
The pastor read the thanksgiving
proclamation of the governor and then
preached the sermon. Surely, he said,
we ought to be thankful to God for
cessation of hostilties with Spain, and
to join in prayer that it may result in
a righteous and enduring peace. AS
lovers Of peace and righteousness we
ought to pray that rectitude Of life.
devotion to home and country and the
faithful performance of every public
and private duty may characterize all
our people.
FOR A PERMANENT BLESSING.
Nor should we forget to pray that
these virtues may be more carefully
cultivated and more largely exempli-
fed by all who are in authority and by
oil
of trust in the state and nation. We
should all join. he said, in the prayer
that it may please God, who is rich in
mercy, so to overrule the war we have
waged that it's results may prove a
permanent blessing to our land and to
the cause of advancing civilization.
The word peace is full of music. To
| live and die in peace and be at peace
with God would be n little heaven.
| But while peace is sweet war is some
! times necessary in order to secure 1t.
God loves peace, but not peace~at-any-
price. That is not peace which Is secur-
ed at the sacrifice of truth and honor.
Contention is unpleasant but some
times necessary. We did not threaten
to strike a blow until Spain's barbar-
Gus and inhuman treatment of her
| OWL SupJtCiS llclu SIlOSIhSi tiiN NlNil'N-No
! world.
No war in the history of the world
| was undertaken for a more righteous
reason than our war with Spain. With
no thought of adding an acre to our
domain, or the shadow of a thought of
| revenge, or with no thought than for
humanity's sake and the saving of
lives and securing the liberty of those
who We're treated most barbarously,
did we go to war with Spain. And
history will confirm the Judgment that
the war proclaimed by William Nc
| Kinley was for q cause as holy-if not
so far-reaching-as We're those wars
with which the names of George
Washington and Abraham Lincoln are
inseparably linked
The future will disclose, he said,
what is to become of Cuba, Porto
Rico, and the Philippines. The United
States will never permit them to fall
back into the hands of their tyrant Op-
pressor. Their inhabitants must be
taught the value not only of civil but
also more especially of religious lib
erty We must enlighten them. These
islands may become rich fields for
commercial enterprise, but the Chris
tian church in it's various branches in
this nation must utilize the occasion
which Providence has placed in its
hands.