Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1899-06-22
Now, church Of God, now, all ohrIytiap


the redemption Of the world and the thou.
sands OF glorious missionaries who have
gone forth among barbaric nations were
given and enlisted under great and i'm
measurable idea. But when they come to
add to the great and immeasurablei idea
the Idea OF definiteness we will infinitely
augment the work. More than three hun.
dred million of heather in India more than
three hundred million of people In China
and more millions of heathens than can be
guessed outside OF those countries some
times stagger and confound and defeat our
faith. But here In these islands of present
controversy We can farm out the work
among the churches and In five years, under
the blessing Of God, not only fit the peo-
pie for the right OF suffrage, but pre-.
The difference between the general
idea OF the worlds evangelical
ton and some particularized field OF
evangelization is the difference between
the improvement of agriculture a mong all
nations and the Improvement of seventy.
and industry. BY all means let the gen.
eral work go on. But here is the specific
field for religious concentration and de-
velopment. This is not chimerical or i'm.
practical. I read this morning that the
American Missionary Association of the
the work at San Juan, Utuado and Albon-
ito, and all denominations of Christians In
six months will be in those islandy fields,
and we all need with our prayers and
contributions to cheer them on to take for
God and righteousness those regions
which our American navy has captured
from Spanish perldy.
1t has been estimated that this America.
Spanish war cost us $500 900 900. 1t would
not cost half of that to proclaim and carry
on and consummate holy war that will
rescue those archipelagoes from satanic
domination. Who will volunteer? beat
the drum of a recruiting station. Who will
enlist under the one spared, blood striped
banner of Immanuel? Cuba and Porto
Rico and the Philippines are stepping
stones for our American Christianity to
cross over and take the round world for
God. We need a new evangelical alliance
organized for this one purpose. In all de-
nominations there are those with large
enough hearts and who have been thor
oughly enough converted to join in
such an advanced movement-men who,
putting aside all the minor differences OF
opinion, "believe In God the Father
Almighty, Maker OF heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ His only begotten
Son." and who would march shoulder to
shoulder In such Gospel campaign. The
result would be that those islands, after
such scene of gospelization, would assort
themselves into denominations to suit
themselves, and some would be sprinkled
in holy baptism and others would be i'm
mersed In those warm rivers and some
would worship In religious assemblage
silent as the Quaker meeting house, and
others would have rs many iubilant ejacu-
lations as II backwoods camp meeting, and
some of those who preached would be
gowned and surpliced for the work, and
others would stand in citizens apparel or
in their shirtsleeves preaching that Gospel
which is to save the world.
Mark you well that craftsmanship, how
ever grand it is, and wise men of the world
however noble, cannot do this work. Mere
secular education does not m moralize. Some
of the most thoroughly educated men in
all the world have been the worst men.
Quicken mans intellect, while at the same
time you do not make his morals good and
you only augment his power for evil. Geo.
graphy and mathematics and metaphysics
and philosophy will never qualify a people
to govern themselves. A corrupt printing
press is worse than no printing press at
all, but let loose an open Bible upon those
islands and let the apocalyptic angel once
fly over them, and you will prepare them
to become either colonies OF the United
States Government, or, as l hope will be
the case, independent republics.
God did not exhaust Himself when He
built this nation. The islands will yet have
their Thomos Jeffersons, qualified to write
for them declarations sofindependence; of and
George Washingtons, capable of achieving
their liberties; and Abraham Lilo ncolns,
strong enough to emancipate their serf-
doms, and Longfellows and Bryants, cap
able Of putting their hills and their rivers
and their landscapes into poems; and the
Bancrofts and Prescotts, to make their his
tories; and their Irvings, to write their
Sketch Books; and their Charles O'Conors
and Rufus Chontes. to plead In their court
rooms; and their Daniel Websters and John
]. Crittendens, to move their Senates.
The day cometh-hear 1t all ye who have
no hope for those islands Of be-dwarfed
and diseased iliiterates-the day cometh
when those regions will have a Christian
civilization equal to that which this coun-
try now enjoys. while hope by that time
this country will be as superior to what 1t
now is as to-day Washington and New
York are better than Manila and Santiago.
DO you see in this process of gospelized
intelligence those archipelagoes will as
a nation be protected from the two woes
prophecised In regard to this country-the
one woe prophecised by the expansionists
and the other woe prophecised by the
anti-expansionists? 1t is said by those who
would have US take all we can lay our
hands on as a nation that, unless we enter
the door now open for the enlargement of
our national domain, we will decline the
mission which God In His providence has
assigned us. But surely no woe will
come upon US or upon them II we
Christianize them rs we now have the
opportunity OF doing. The political tech
nicalities are nothing as compared With
the importance OF this movement. i'm.
plore all political expansionists to aug
ment us In this work OF moral and relig-
ious expansion, for unless those islands
are moralized and elevated in intelligence
and habits We do not want them, and their
annexation would be political damnation.
On the other hand, inplore all anti.
expansionists to take q hand In the gos.
pellzation of Cuba, Porto Rico and the
Philippine Islands. The only way to pre-.
pare them to take care of themselves is tc
give them the Ten Commandments that
were published on Mount Sinai and let
them hear the groan Of sacrifice that wat
breathed out OH the heights of Golgotha
What they most want is the Gospel the
pure Gospel, the omnipotent Gospel, the
Gospel that helps heal the wounds OF the
body and irradiates the darkness Of the
mind and achieves the ransom of the soul
But on this platform the so called ex'
pansionists and so called danti-expansionists
will yet stand side by side. Though I ap
not prophet or the son of a prophet,
within Ave years, II this sreligio-educationa
work is properly attended to, there will be
Cuban republic, a Porto Rican republic