The Yale expositor., 1900-09-28
God Has Expanded U.s." Says
Bishop c. IL. Fowler.
a Powerful Sermon on Expansion and
tie Duties OF the Hour, Preached
by tie Noted Methodist Divine.

coin. we see nm ms one ol hou
prophets.
History repeats itself. one generation
stones the prophets. aud the next their
children, build them monuments. Only
a few souls have the intuition TO rccog-
nize living prophet. These prophets
neither dress nor act like the old proph-
cts: that would he mere oharlatani>m.
Every prophet must be fitted into his
own time, suit his own environment. One
comes as pilgrim, like Abraham; an
other as hired man and herdsman. like
Jacob: another ms leader and lawgiver,
like Moses. Another ms a warrior, like
Joshua; another as an cXecutOner, like
Elijah; another as a scholar, like Paul;
each man fitting his own age.
To find Il prophet, we must not take
the grave clothes of the dead secrs. and
run through the mart. trying 10 find some
man whom they will fit. We must 50
read events as TO recognize the man who
fits and fills his time He must hc in
league with events. Napoleon on st.
Helena said: AT Waterloo events desert
cd me-" He dropped out of the nick Of
time. The prophet must he history
maker. TO find our prophet, we must
find the trend Of events; then we can
easily find the hand that is making the
bend in the stream Of history.
This hand we find in the White House.
President Mckinley may not fit the
clothes of the old prophets, but he is
h.. o In
He so stands in the midst Of the world :
forces that he reaches results in civiliza-
ton. He is bending the streams of his
tory in the right direction. Sink down
into the undercurrent, down below the
party strife on the surface, down into
the great stream that sweeps on through
the sea OF the centuries hearing the races
mp 10 higher ATTITUDES and levels, and
catch the moral forces that are evolving
the worlds destiny. and you will find that
this statement is not politics, but rcig-
ion-GOd's religion, thar moves always on
i'm one direction.
The three greatest missionary events Of
the Christian era since the crucitiXion of
Jesus are: First. the conversion of ST.
Paul. This opened the door TO the Gen
tiles: this was our chance. Second, the
firing on Fort Sumter. This made the
Saxon race fit for evangelical uses. Third,
the blowing mp Of the Maine. This uni
fed the nation and sent MS out about
our work
II melted the American elements in the
furnace Of war, and made all Americans
one. The son Of Gen. Grant and the
nephew OF Gen. Lee marched side by side
under one flag and against a common en-
ony.
These Saxons are said to he bad neigh
bOrs. We have some dark sTo.s in our
history. The Saxon sometimes has made
a bad record. Yet il must also he said
that we have never cnSlaved a race, with
out leaving it frcer than it was before we
ensIavcd il. For the ages through and
the world around, there can be found no
such lbcrti"l anywh--c else a are found
under the Stars ana Stripes.
The blowing M of the Maine was an
cye-oprneT Ia us, and soon to all the
world. Our great Washington TIVE shor,
never speak his name hut 10 honor in,
our great Washington said 10 us, az y
little strip of Atlantic colonies, Beware
Of foreign cntanglemcnts." Ii was the
height Of wisdom. IL suited our infancy
like bib. He pinned this bib uTon -
and snid, keep in the middle of the lot,
or the boys on the next lot viii throw
mud on yOnr bib" So we kept in the
middle Of the lot. and grew till We out
grew the lot We grew from three mill
ions 10 sevCniy-iivc millions. The -,
was too small for MS II looked Ike n
cotton patch on the breast Of orr uni-
form. We had moro becfsteaks and silk
dresses. more spelling Cooks and New
Tcsiamcnts, to the thousand people, than
could be found anywhere else in the
world.
We were as much under obligations 10
help Tie poorer and more ignorant, races
as ever. ~. Paul was to 40 Tar hence
10 the Gcntiles''; but we stuck to our At
lantic waters. coaStod by our shores, we
held OH To our little big, contented, eX-
pecting 10 stay always in our western
waters.
But one day the Spanish touched of a
magazine under us Then the jig was up.
Come what might we must fight t0 the
finish. We went up into the air, and
came down cverywhcre-to strs
This sent us ont about our proyidcn-
tial job; This made missionarie. OF us
We arr in Manila. We are ready to help
China.
God has expanded us: we can't help il.
You might as well try 10 catch yondcr
eagle perchCd ON crGg Of the mountairs
pluming his pinions 10 wrestlc with the
whirlwind. and then try to crowd hia
back into the little egg~hell out OF which
he has broken. as to try Ia throttle this
american race and crowd il back into
the thirteen original colonies. Some ~
the old gentlemen ON that old soil of some
az those old thirteen colonies, who have
nevev left IL. may think 1t would be
Go1d thing for our great contincnt-cm-
brseing penple to come back home But
IL is impossible.
God has expanded NJ.
Long years ago. back IN forbes.
Thomas III. Benton, United States Sena.
tor from Missouri. standing in his Ilarc
in rhe Senate, pleading for n Pacific rail-
road. pointed toward The setting sun and