The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-10-16
Expansionists in Re-
ligion and Poll
tics.
IT is THE LAW OF NATURE.
Life of Church and State
Depends
OMIT.

Last evening at the Adams Square
Baptist church the pastor, Rev. John S.
Holmes, preached from the text Go
and teach all nations"
He said: Are we expansionists in
our religion and politics? An affirma-
tive answer seems . assure popular
applause. DIR. Macarthur, for instance,
before the Baptist Social club of this
city, affirmed with strong emphasis, in
the closing part of his address: I am
an expansionist,' and that announce
ment received a vigorous hand clap
| ping. An evening later at Mechanics
hall, before the republicans of Massa-
ehusetts, Senator Frye concluded a
mastery speech on commerce, with the
sentiment, couched in identically the
same words, I am an eXpansionist,' and
again the announcement evoked tu-
multuous applause.
To-day, in Gods house, am glad to
join these eminent authorities in church
and state, and say: I, too am an ex-
pdnsonist. How could I be anything
else? Expansion is the law Of nature;
not a bird that sings in the forest, not
a flower that breathes fragrance in the
garden, not an animal that offers itself
for service or slaughter, but has ex--
banded its only possibilities into full
tgrowth and perfection. Il is the law of
grace. The kingdom of God is like a
mustard seed, which starts indeed as
one of the smallest OF. seeds, and grows
| to be the greatest of herbs. 1t Is the
| law of society, of business, Of art. In
lone word, it is the law Of civilization.
Not to be an expansionist involves the
necessity of going in the face of scien-
| tific investigation.
Il need not be told that great men
favor this progressive idea, for I find
the greatest of masters accepting 1t in
principle and practice, sending his dis
iciples and going himself into every city
Eof Judea. In view of this highest au
thority am I an expansionist? Say
rather Are YOU one?'
Some of those who now shout the
most vehemently for annexing the Phil
Iippines and sending civilization and
tbeen hitherto the most persistent in the
theory of passing the heather abroad
land working for the heather at home.
What new spell within the last two
Iyears has aroused their missionary
spirit? Has party politics made it nee
lessary?
Let us then draw a trife closer to the
ISuDJ6CL anu examine us e VI
expansion is not all of the same kind
There is one Of force, accretion from
without; there Is another of natural un-
folding from within; there is one like
the adhering of grains in a pyramid Of
granite. A sufficient blow breaks anC
crumbles 1t to dust; and there is an.
other that is like the growth of an or
r ganic body; hand and foot may be sew.
r cred, and even the vital organs at
kno h5
l fore the organism perishes."
t The speaker went on to say thai
while the picture of a vast empire or
, which the sun never sets may be a faS-
r cinating picture, it is not reality anC
t the natural unfolding of life, as in the
I case of the British empire or of Russia
! That country is land-hungry with ap-
petite far from being appeased The
history of Russia's methods of obtain
ing empire were touched upon, and as
, in the case of the pyramid of granite
| these great empires of the past crum-
/ bled away. The speaker mentioned the
Christianizing of certain Of the nations
of the past by royal words that were
/ not Christian in their inner life. AS
when England became Protestant at
the command of Henry VIII, nowhere
can page Of history be found darker
with religious crime. In Spain every
one is Christian by law, but is its
Christian life expanded? And the same
applies to other European nations. lis
! this expansion" the speaker asked
mo; whether in state or church it is
: ACKNOWLEDGMENT extension of power
: compulsion. Nothing is expanded
Neither life, nor blood, nor principle.
America for Americans has been the
. supreme idea, not in It's narrow mean
, ing of knownothingism.' but in its
/ broad meaning of nationalism.
, This American spirit asserted itself
from the start, against entangling alli-
ances with foreign powers, and as early
as the Monroe administration served
notice that whatever nation should at
tempt to take territory on this side Of
the water should be regarded as an en-
envy. Steadily we have gone forward
making the territory next door to us
, American; steadily we have asstmilat-
ed all peoples who have come to US,
making them Americans.
please notice that the true principle
of growth in the church is exactly that
of state Jesus works not by might
or power, but by his spirit. He begins
in the individual, making him a new
creature, and so fits him for member
ship in the new spiritual kingdom.
This new life associates with kindred
life and thus forms the church, vol
untary union of converted people. Ex-
pansion! Do I believe in it? Yes; the
divinest vision that can present itself
to any human being Is that day of tri-
umphal glory when every angelic being
shall join in the last glad acclaim that
all the earth is now the Lords How
will it be attained? Not by might, not
by power, but by my spirit, saith the
Lord. And this is the expansion of
life indispensable both in church and
state. A great republic shall live and
thrive by the life of the people steadily
evolving; a great church shall live and
4 thrive by the life of Christians steadily
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