Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1902-07-04


Lord. are there any Methodjsts I'm
denizens OF the skies?" Christians
one, Christians all" SO I'm the scatter
ing OF the gospel seed by the American
nation there are no religious sects. In
the sight or the government there are
only Christians. The Calvinists aud
the Armenians. the close commune
cants and the CongreSationalists, the
Protestants aud the Catholics, can
work side by side because these differ
ent religious denominations believe in
the atonement. They can and should
scatter the gospel seed unto all ma
lions because the American nation
was settled and ccnsecrated by our
forefathers to the service of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Americas second mission is emphat-
ically the establishment OF an interna-
tional court of arbitration SO that
bloody wars in the future shall be an
impossibility. That n great interna-
tlonal court of arbitration can be es-
tablished by the united action of the
ten or twelve principal nations or the
4
court will be ultimately established is
also unquestionCd. When such n court
is established. the United States. Eng
land. France. Spain. Austria. Germany,
Italy. Russia. Japan and China will
each have representatives upon that
tribunal. Then when international
difficulties arise these difficulties will
be peacefully settled, as the Alabama
claims were amicably settled before
the Geneva tribunal which assembled
in 1871. composed of the five repre-
sentativcs which were furnished by
the United States. Great Britain. Italy.
Switzerland and Brazil: as the Vene-
zuela claims were settled before n tri-
bunal which met in Paris I'm 1900; as
the Alaska boundary line was AMIGA
bly, settled and as the war claims
against the Chinese government by the
different allied forces are now being
amicably settled.
For Universal Peace.
Now. my friends. what civilized ma
tioD on the face of the globe is better
fitted TO lead I'm the establishment of
this supreme court of international ar
bitration than the American nation?
The different nations of Europe, 1 care
not how strong some of them may be,
are unable to successfully lead in this
movement for universal peace because
those nations are jealous of each 9th
er. Those different European nations
cannot do as they would. no matter
how noble and Christian their motives
tr1, 1,, q
wished. they long ago would have
wiped Off the face of the earth that
most cruel and corrupt of all govern
ments. the government of Turkey.
When the sultan gave orders to his
soldiers TO massacre i'm cold blood the
Armenians, great wave of horror
rolled over all civilized lands. Though
William L. Gladstone was then dy-
ing old man. he took up his pen and
wrote a godlike protest. Indignation
voicing the sentiment of every civil
lized government was heard alike I'm
London. Paris, Berlin. Rome. Vienna.
St Petersburg and New York; but.
though men and women were slaugh-
tered by the hundreds and the thou.
sands, though In midwinteT young girls
and boys were stripped OF their gar.
ments and driven forth naked into the
mountains to freeze and to starve and
TO die. though whole families were de-
stroyed and whole regions desolated,
yet not one nation OF Europe was able
TO prevent or avenge the massacres be-
cause the European nations were jeal-
Gus OF each other. The nation that
would attempt 20 obliteratc the Turk
ish government would have the swords
Of other European nations plunging at
its heart. But the American nation.
being removed 5000 miles from the
European nations. is hand free, foot
free and heart free. IL can lead In this
movement TO establish supreme court
or arbitration because all foreign ma
lions VIII realize that Ii is not making
such move TO upset the balance Of
European power or to absorb new ter
ritory, and "A Christian nation like tho
American which does not try To turn
the sword into the plowshare and the
spear into the pruning hook deserves
TO lose its influence, TO fall from its
proud position as great and free ma
ton and TO perish from the earth.
Recognizing the fact that many peo-
pie are looking forward TO the time
when war shall forever be abolished
an imaginative writer once described
how that blessed condition was to be
accomplished. He declared that the
ume would come when all Europe
would be convulsed by a great inter
national struggle. He pictured that
event in the dim future. He arrayed
every European nation upon one or the
other side OF the combat. But the
night before the great battle was to
open an angel in human shape would
be seen going through the CAMPS of
the two armies. This visitor would
stop long enough 10 pin upon every
soldiers breast sign And when the
TWO vast armies should next day pre-
pare Tor battle and the command
should be given to the troops to fire
not rifle would fash, not a sword
would be unsheathed, not a cannon
would speak, because the sign pinned
upon every soldiers heart would be
the sign OF the cross. The picture
drawn by that imaginative writer may
be accepted as a truthful one except in
TWO or three facts. He describes that
day as in the dim future. believe
the day is now almost at hand. Again.
That writer describes the peacemaker
VINO Will attach the emblem of the
cross 10 the breast of the common sol
dlers rs man. believe that peace-
maker will not be man, but a ma
ton. and that peacemak.ng nation the
American nation. America shall hin n
sign of universal peace upon every
European nation by the means of a
supreme court OF internationa, arbi.
tration. This sign shall decree that
war, bloody, fendish, demoniacal war
SHAH be no longer; that war shall for.
ever be as dead as the multitudes of
cead soldiers whose bodies are now
decomposing in the grave trenches all
round the world.
Defenders OF the weak.
Americas future worldwide mission
VIII also be found in her emphatic pro-
frph fc,