The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-06-12
THE VOICE OF THE PULPIT
THE INSPIRATION BORN OF THE
BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL.
A short Sermon by Rev. Walter e.
Bentley, Vicar of st. Marks Epis-
copaI Church, New York City.

| Genesis X, g.
Il will make them one nation
| neither shall they be divided any more
And will rnake of thee greater nation.
I'm thee shall all nations be blessed. ''---Ezek.
xxxvii, Y; Mum. xiv, II; Galatians Iii ),
There's an inspiration in great memories.
Nor is this confined in the case of history's
wars, to success alone; some of the worlds
signal defeats have had their lessons of en-
| couragement and cheer. A smooth sea never
made a skillful mariner. The storms Of
adversely and failure, like those OF the
ocean, excite to invention. to prudence. ia
| skill, fortitude and persistence.
Such was the battle of June II, ITS. That
| grim, gray shaft at Bunker Hili stands an
| enduring monument to perseverance in
| righteous cause; 1t bids us remember that
| the struggle for American independence
| was not without its reverses. To paraphrass
| Shakespeare somewhat, "Our overthrow
heaped happiness upon us; for then and
not till then, we felt ourselves and found
| the blessedness of being Httle'
Likewise, in the crusade upon which we
| have entered century and a quarter later,
to help others Of our fellowmen assert their
independence, there may be dlscomftures
before the final triumph War is seldom
/ one grand march to victory.
We can trace in these two conflicts many
ruling hand. 1t is not difficult to connect
the events of ITS with those of 1898 The
echo of the shot heard round the world"
has never ceased; it marked the hour OF
| democracyS birth and awakened echoes
here at home in 1861; it is awakening echoes
| in the Philippines and the Antilles to-day;
| and its reverberations will keep on till need
of battle ships and artillery shall pass for
ever. In ITS, in 1861, In 1898, the same spirit
| is seen-liberty, larger manhood. human
! rights.
Up to the struggle at Bunker Hill the
doctrine that the government is the source
of power was practically unquestoned in
| every part of the world, but the young re-
public began It's existence with the new
and dynamic principle, that the people are
the sole source Of authority and that tbs
government has such powers as they grant
| to it and no others. The application of such
a principle demanded sturdy men with
| hearts of steel, and our forefathers were
equal to the emergency. Drawing the dam
| gers of the great deep, the trackless forest,
the severe climate and the savagery OF the
| natives, they were early trained to endure
| suffering, overcome hardships and develop q
resoluteness of character and an inflexbility
of will and purpose which fully qualified
them to be the progenitors of the nation IN
| whom 'all nations will be blessed"
A KINGS FOLLY.
We all know the story. George III was
| not satisfied with the repeal of the OBJ
noxious stamp act and regarded it as fatal
| compliance to the demands of the rebels"
as he already styled the Americans. He
therefore seized the first opportunity to
undo the blunder, and ended by committing
the greatest known in the worlds history,
4adp
Briton and American now fully agree that
those who made the attempt to tax with
out giving the right to representation were
wholly wrong and that in resisting it the
colonists indicated their rights as British
citizens, and therefore only did their duty.
The struggle was not against rightful au-
thority, it was a struggle between inherent
freedom and arbitrary authority, 1t was
democracy against tyrannous monarchy, 1t
was people against king, and, thank God,
the people won. Hence we believe in
America.
And it is significant that the country
whose yoke we threw off in 76 is now the
warmest sympathizer in our championship
of an issue similar in kind, though induced
by far more grievous oppression.
When this Republic was born. the Bunker
Hill glory attained, and the Bowling Green
statue of King George peppered with bull
let's, it was the triune jubilee Of common
manhood. Our forefathers did not die TO
establish a plutocracy; they died, IL we ur-
derstand it Alright; for democracy, the
democracy of man. If they denied the king
| illness of one man, it was to assert the king
Illness of all men. They denied the divine
right of George III and affirmed the divine
right of common manhood. The very corr
| ner-stone of this Republic is the sacred
ness of human life. the liberty Of the sons
| of God.
| Likewise in the religious sphere, the di-
| vine freedom of the Jews was offered by
| the new Adam to the whole world; all
| privileges, except to suffer and to serve
were torn to shreds in the rending Of the
| temple veil, and the Jewish local was full
| filed by Jesus and merged into the Chris
| tian universal. In other words, democracy
was born on the cross, but politically 1t did
| not see light until the framing OF the char
ter of independence-frst tdealized IN the
crucinxion, but not fully materialized until
1776 so much slower does the state mcvo
than the church.
But in that memorable year politics ana
religion-twin sisters in the worlds destiny
embraced, and for the time the law Of Christ
became the creed of the street. Opportun-
tiles and privileges were equalized and so
set free, as the truth always frees. There
was neither palace nor hoveI, pauper nor
millionaire. tramp nor dude. Practical
human brotherhood. energetic production
and just distribution prevailed. Then fol-
lowed the ages Of invention and Industrial
ism. and machinery invented to serve and
bless has served in many instances TO
crush manhood. National wealth trebled.
From the close of the civil war It jumped
from sixteen billions to sixty-six, an in
crease Of fifty billions in thirty-five years.
Had the principles Of healthy democracy
kept pace with this vast increase working
out in the law Of just distribution, there
would not be found anywhere between the
Atlantic and the Pacific an unemployed or
hungry man, suffering woman or starving
child.
SOCIAL PROBLEMS.
But-conceding the vast improvement I'm
the general condition of the masses. by the
beneficent industrial changes of the times
and the wider dissemination of the means
of comfortable living unhappily for thirty
years the financial and business interests OF
this land have been used by many so-calIed
representatives of the people, who have rep-
resented themselves in the interest of the
strong against the weak, OF monopoly and
rTxr