The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-05-28
SERMON TO VETERANS.
STIRRING MEMORI1L SERVICE IN
 GRACE M. F. CHURCH.
Patriotic Discourse by Rev. A. J. smith Sons of Veterans and WOmen's Re lief Corps in Aitendan ce--address or Welcome by John T. Manson.

-SODS or veterans anu VI As'
 lief Corps In Aitendance--Ad Of
 Welcome by John T. Manson.
 The memorial services which were
 held at the Grace Methodist Episcopal
 church last evening were the occasion
 of much patriotic enthusiasm and one
 of the largest congregations ever gath-
 cred there filled the beautifully decorat-
 ed edifice. The entire square body of
 the auditorium was filled by the aele-
 cations in attendance, which represent
 ed the following organizations: Admiral
 Foote post, No. 17, G, A, R., John C'
 Jackson, commander; Admiral Foote
 Relief corps, No. 8, Mrs. Eliza Woodtord
 president: Henry C. Merwin post, No.
 52, G. A. R., James Goodwin, command-
 CT; General Von SteinWehr post, No. 76. G. A. R., Frederick Brill, command
 CT; Nathan Hale camp, Sons of Neter- ans, Arthur B. Cornelius, commander,
 and Henry c. MerWin Relief corps, No. 27, Mrs. Bena Reinwald, president. The
 music by the choir and the male quar-
 tet was patriotic and inspiring, and added much to the success of the ser vices The services were presided over by John T. Manson, who welcomed the veterans and others present. Charles A.
 Baldwin was called upon to make the opening prayer, and the responsive read ing was led by John w. Schroeder. Miss Hattie Smith, the pastors little daugh- ter recited in an inimitable manner Our Grand Army of the Dead" The sermon of the evening was a stirring one by Rev Arthur J. Smith, based on the text He hath not dealt so with any nation" Psalm cxlii, 20. In part his address follows;
 External circumstances often develop the most powerful nations, the most courageous of human characters, just as the mountain rivulet sWelled by the rising freshet overleaps it's banks and sweeps down upon the husbandman, destroying both harvest and home, at the same time ploughing up the earth, and disclosing vein of gold, thus mak- ing the poor man rich; so moral torna- does and tempests of persecution bring out all that is mighty in the resources of a nation, all that is manly and di- vine in man. Had not Darius, the king of the Medes signed the decree that no man should ask any petition of any God for thirty days save of the king, the story so familiar to our childhood days of Daniels deiverence from the den of lions would never have been told.
 Had not the enemies of religion inn prisoned John Bunyan in Bedford jail, truth never would have walked the earth in the rich, flowing drapery of Pilgrims Progress. Had there been no persecution for conscience sake in the old world, the keel of the Mayf1ower never would have cut the brine of Ply mouth bay, and the character of this continent, instead of receiving the God honored stamp of Puritan piety, might have been formed and fixed by the dis ciples of Pzarro and the Spanish caval- iers. Events, opinions experiences, may seem chaotic and meaningless like the foaming fages whirling with white annihiation at Niagara; but as every atom of water is held in the curve of na ture, and moves with resistless sweep onward to the sea so with the rise and fall of dynasties and nations: they are governed they accomplish their work, and over the most terrible anarchy there arches the Providence of God In deed there is not page of human his tory, there is no world movement, no time agitating change which does not bear the impress of God, which does not show an unseen but mighty hand sift- ing the plot, changing the scene, and everything all things for His glory.
 We invite you then tonight to review with us the history of the past century, | noting briefly the Providence of God in | the world and especially in our own be- loved country.
 MT Smith then minutely sketched the events in England and other countries ante-dating the landing of the Pilgrims, | following it with a resume of the events | to the close of the civil war. In closing he said:
 When the smoke of the battle is lifted | we see the fair form of Liberty standing [ upon her lofty pedestal looking out with | calm and serene countenance upon a nation redeemed by the blood of it's heroes, liberated from the lakes to the gulf, from the Atlantic to the Pacific The Star Spangled Banner still waving over land and sea. "The government at Washington" in the words of our mar tyred president, "still lives'
 And when the mists have rolled away we may discern the God of Providence sitting on the cycle in the heavens We may hear the voice like the sound of many waters or of mighty thunderings. For the Lord God by his right hand and holy arm has gotten us the victory. We look again and we see placed highest the banner of the cross of Christ, just underneath, no higher, may it never be lower, our country's flag, not a single star plotted out Long may it wave! Let its white be the em- blem of purity, its blue be the symbol of truth, it's red be indicative of the bloody sacrifice by which it was won.
 Mi. Smith here seized the flag and waving it over the heads of the soldiers said: Forever float that standard sheet He must be cold indeed who can ook upon it's stars and stripes without l cheer. Wave on, thou peerless, match ess banner of the free Wave on, over he army and the navy, over the public school and the church, over the cottage and the palace over the living and the lead, over the land and over the sea,