The Portland daily press., 1899-05-29
RIGHTEOUSNESS.
The Services at the New Jerusalem
Church.

The Services at the New Jerusalem
There were in attendance at this church
the mem hers OF Thatcher Post, No. Ill,
&. A. r., Thatcher Relief corps, No. 20;
Shepley camp, s. of ", and Ladies' Aid
society, and full representation of the
battalion of the Portland High School
Cadets :,
MIR. Worcester took for his text "Righte
business Exal.eth Nation" Prov. 14:34,
and 1.-The Nation and Kingdom that will
not serve Thee shall perish; yea, those
Nations shall be utterly Wasted" lisa.
C0:i2. He spoke in part rs follows:
Comrades of the Grand Army to you l
extend a soldiers greeting, and as pastor
of this church l welcome you and he
those who have honored us with thall
presence today as we are met to recall teir
past and learn the lessons for the future.
When we met year ago the war clouds
hung heavy around us and we were on
the eve of what promised to De long and
bitter con tiict; but a conflict entered into
at the call of humanity for the freeing Of
u people long crushed under the heel of
an iron despotism. And We thank God
with swelling hearts that victory has
been given to our arms, and that the
cause in which we engaged has
triumphed. But whilst the heart of every
true American can but thrill with pride
| when he thinks of the bravery shown by
our men in the teld, and by our gallant
sailors whether in Cuba, Porto Rico or
az Manila, 1t also burns with indignation
AS we think of the needless suf1erings IN
tiicted upon those dear to us by the crimi.
nal Incompetence and indifference OF
fhoSa hi1h an official DOsition
Comrades, for the tirst time l face a
body OF my comrades with troubled
heart and with the wish that some one
else was to address you in my stead. For
weeks there has been surging through my
nina the words, righteousness exalteth
a nation" and those words of Isaiah,
1.-THE Nation and Kingdom that will not
serve Thee shall perish. The message
that those words bring presses upon me
with irresistible force, and yet loyalty to
country calls for prudent utterauce. On
the one hand devotion to the principles
for which that flag has always stood.
Justice, equal rights, relief of the op-
pressed, human liberty and duty to God,
demand no uncertain speech; on the other
hand the spirit of patriotism forbids any
disloyal utteIance even though for the
time our country is pursuing a course de-
struotive TO that principle for which we
fought for four long years, that nowhere
SuOulu d Vi uuo pCoPASs uhN
for the people, and by the people perish
from the earth. Comrades is this prin-
oiple that our government has In MIND
and Is seeking to impress upon the Fill
pinos at the lannon's MOUTH
A year ago we were carrying deliver
ance TO an oppressed people. and nobly
and bravely was that work accomplished;
all honor to the men who did the duty to
which they were called. Today We are
engaged in subjugating another people
who for FEARS have been struggling alone
and unaided to free themselves from the
hated yoke of that same tyrant master, a
people whom we called to our assistance;
we are shooting men for the crime OF de-
string to be free and to dwell in the quiet
possession OF their own land. We have
pledged self-government to the Cupans,
we have persistently denied it to the Fill
pinos. whom Admiral Dewey says are the
better fitted to enjoy that privilege. We
gee a great nation. one OF the mightlest
on the earth, free republic, whose
fundamental principle Is the right OF sell.
government, in the assertion OF which 1t
rose against Great Britain and won in
dependence, exerting all its force against
q people whose country IL claims TO have
BOUGHT, and that as in days of ancient
feudalism the people are sold with the
soil If they object to such peaceful as
simila ton they must be shot and killed,
the terms of unconditional surrender.
The civil commission, however, more HUI
name, and less ambitious to shed blood
and cover itself with military glory,
seeks to settle affairs in more concilia-
tory fashion, but.the result is the same
| that those men who were nghting Tor
liberty and self-government for years,
are to be compelled to bend under the
rule of those who came to them in the
ouise of friends and allies.
IL is true that the President in virtue
of his war power offers or rather declares
his intention to establish provisional
government in the island pending Con-
eressional action. but he psrsistently
ignores the fact that long before Manila
fell into our hands the Filipinos had
established Congress OF their own and
organized local governments throughout
| the island of Lu2on. Last week commis
| sioners from the Filipin0s conferred with
the American commission seeking to ar
range for peAcs. just previous to their de
parture their president put the whole cast