Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1900-12-06

ages ago.
Another achievement of the century hal
been the establishment Of popular self
government the government OF til.
| people, by the people, for the people, il
the immortal language Of one of thu
centuryis greatest men. Through all tht
preceding ages the world has been wrest
4 ling with the problems Of government
Empires had risen, fourished and passed
/ into inevitable decay Rome, Persia
| Egypt, Assyria, these had filed the world
with the glory of their history, but they
never reached the true ideal of govern.
ment. They were monarchies-the few
ruled-the multitudes were oppressed and
down-trodden. For ages, men were taught
that the people belonged to the King, a:
sheep belonged to the shepherd, to be
sheared and slaughtered as he might wish
Through such expressions and false cOncep.
tons Of the rights of humanity, men strug.
gled blindly toward freedom, and toward a
dignity and the sacred rights of all men,
but God in his own wise purpose, was
shaping events Here on these Western
shores he was holding continent in
trust for freedom. For centuries he kept
the new world waiting until all things
were ready to consummate the Proyidential
scheme. Then he opened the gates Of this
choice continent Of the West, and brought
here the very material needed to form a
nation that should teach the world the
lesson Of seIf-goyernment God famed
the threshing-hoof Of Europe, as it has
been said, to find the finest of wheat for
the planting Of Ameriea-men schooled by
fire and scourge, men who heated oppres-
sion and believed nightly in human
rights" Here the problem Of self-goyern-
ment has been solved for the world, and
this closing century confirms the success
of the enterprise.
At the beginning OF this century, our
form of government was but a new. and
somewhat doubtful experiment. Its speedy
collapse was freely predicted, and devoutly
wished for by our English cousins. All
nations were watching with Jealous and
scornful eye the rise Of the new Republic.
1t was predicted that, like an RECONSTRUCTED
building, the new nation would fall to
pieces of its own weight. Even Lord
Macaulay declared: Either some Caesar or
Napoleon will seize the reins of govern
ment with strong hand or your Republic
will be as fearfully plundered and laid
waste by Barbarians in the twentieth cen
tury as the Roman Empire was in the
fifth" We are almost on the threshold of
the twentieth century, and there seems to
be no sign of such political disaster Surely
we have profound reason for gratitude as
citizens of this Republic, as we behold
her to-day, the growth Of the civil life of
all generations into one grand century plant
of humanity
Let me call your attention to other fea-
lures of this closing century, which increase
our reasons for Thanksgiving to-day. This
century has witnessed the triumph of
individual liberty. At the close Of the
eighteenth century slavery existed almost
everywhere-now it exists nowhere within
the bounds of Christendom.
Now recall for a moment some OF the
practical ways in which the spirit of Chris
tianity has embodied itself during this
century. There are asyluns for the insane,
the aged, the decrepit, the orphan homes
for the reformation of fallen women and
drunkards and truant boys and girls, who
are starting on the downward path of
sin-rescue missions that reach out after
the young and the tempted-summer out
ings for the poor in the large cities-prison
associations which help the liberated con-
vict to better life. So we might 90 on
indefinitely ennumerating the fruits of the
divine ministry, which belong to the record
Of this closing nineteenth century
One thing more will mention, as having
been developed within this century, and
that is the spirit of Christianity Fifty
years ago, a service like this, with a Presby-
terrain minister in a Methodist pulpit,
preaching to Methodists and Baptists,
would have been an impossible thing.
Calvinists and Arminians were too busy
lighting each other to fight the devil. Now,
NE spend our time, not in nlagnifying our
'iiferences, but IN Studying our likeness
nd seeing how closely we are allied to the
nc head Of the church On the head
tone of one OF the graves back among the
lead things of the century is this inscrip
ion-at least in imagination we can read
t: Here lie the remains OF Dcnomi-
rational Bigotry, who departed this life
omewhere between the years 1900 and
900; peace to his ashes, and may there be
or him no resurrection. =
Cardinal Gibbons, the head Of the |
catholic church in this country, and Bishop
oaret. of the Episcopal church, were in
iffu 10 a III n1llCli3 fSfsSoiA
Il its official character, the rank of the \
,arious guests was matter for considers
ion. Said the Bishop to the Cardinal |
Which has the higher rank, Cardinal in |
5he Catholic, or Bishop in the Episcopal |
church ?'' II do not know, was the reply, /
slet us not raise the question, let us go in
side by side, 2 he said, which they did.
That is the spirit to-day. As never before, /
we stand side by side, shoulder to shoulder,
keeping step to the music Of the Skies so
much absorbed in our common warfare |
against sin, that we almost forget that there
ire regiments and divisions in the Lords
army. Such is the century which has so
nearly passed into history. We have taken
but feeble survey of it. 1t is the best,
the most wonderful century that ever
rolled out OF the darkness OF the unknown,
into the light and life of the world. 1t /
stands on the shoulders of all the past, and
towers above every other century.
It crowns the stalk of time with the consul
mate flower of civil and social progress,
Ours has been the privilege of enjoying its
blessings We live under the Stars and
Stripes which these hundred years have
to be the proudest and purest
national banner that floats in the common
air. Verify we have cause for Thanks
giving
An old lady to whom an unexpected
benefit came, said: Il know am glad and
trust ! am thankful We Americans
in this nineteenth century of glowing and
glorious history ought to know that We
are grateful as well as glad Standing on
our point of outlook to-day, between the
two centuries, we ougt to give free course
to our grateful emotions We look back
ward, and To- all the past has been working
together for our national and individual
beatitude
We look forward and the eye is dazzled
with the glory Of the coming time. do not
mean to imply that the twentieth century
will witness achievements as far exceeding
those that exist now, as they exceed what
were known at the beginning Of this cen
tury. Someone has facetiously said, that
communication may be established with
Mars-and the mountains of the moon
may be laid out into convenient summer
resorts. ] am thinking that the new CEN
fury will be greater and better than the old,
in the future reach andwider influence of the
Kingdom of God among the nations The
world in the next century will be very
much what Christian America makes it,
God has given to America mission to all
the nations of the earth. For this Republic
the true mottor-God's motto for us--is