Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1903-03-13


which wrapped their fiery tongues
about the shriveling bodies OF John
Huss and Ridley and Latimer and Gran
mer; 1t was cast among the burning
logs beaped about the dying body of
Savonarola whom the Italian priest,
Eiijah-like was about TO go to heaven
In a chariot OF fire; it was cast centu-
rles back among the MERIDIAN persecu-
tons in The days Of the apostolic mar
tyrdoms.
Can we ever reach the day when we
shall feel that our religious liberty Is
not natural outgrowth of the Chris
tian heroes and heroines who dared to
defy Bloody" Alva. the prosecutor Of
the Netherlands. or Lord Claverhouse.
the prosecutor Of old Scotland. or de-
moniac Catherine. the fiendish female
instigator of the st. Bartholomew mas
sacre, or the bloody Queen Mary of the
English thrcne? When that grand old
man. Hugh Latlmer. then over eighty,
stood among the burning logs that
were crematiug him. he turned TO Blsh.
op Ridley. his fellow martyr near by,
and said: "Be OF good comfort, Master
Ridley. and play the man. We shall
this day light such a candle by Gods
grace i'm England as, trust. shall new
err be put out" Aye. they did: they
did, They not only lighted a gospel
torch for England, but n torch which
would blaze i'm America centuries after
ward. We have religious liberty In
America because the first great battles
for the enchainment and the decapita.
ton OF Satanic bigotry were fought up
on the other side of the seas.
Our Artistic Debts.
In a commercial and an artistic sense
as well as In q moral and spiritual
sense. Some political speakers love to
boast that commercially we ere indie
pendent OF the world. They assert II
would make very little difference TO us
whether or no foreign countries held
any trade relations with US at all. But
this is not true. You are n wealthy
man. You invite me to your home
some night to a banquet. 1 accept
As l sit waiting for the other guests to
arrive l say: Mr.. So-and-so, this is a
beautifully designed home. Where did
your architect get the ideaT" You an
swer: The plans OF this house are not
his ideas. He merely worked them
out In Detail after / had described them.
Some years ago, while l was in Eng
land. l came across a beautiful coun-
try home. I then said to myself that
IL should ever have money enough
would build house upon that plan.
fe hn ~ I've
made at that time" Under my feet is
q rug of exquisite workmanship. Where
was it made? In the city OF Damas-
Gus. Ii is an imported rug. When
your wife comes I'm to greet me, she Is
dressed in n beautiful costume. 1t
came from the silkworms OF France.
That diamond glittering upon your fin-
ger was dug out OF the African mines.
Up to a comparatively recent date
our commercial dependence upon Eu.
ropean markets for nearly all our goods
and chattels was almost absolute. In
1920 the Edinburgh Review OF Scot
land tauntingly asked: "Who I'm the
four quarters of the globe reads an
American book or goes to an American
play or looks at an American painting
or statue? What does the world owe
TO American physicians or surgeons ?
What new substances have their chem
lists discovered? What new constclla-
lions have their astronomers discover
cdr Who drinks out OF American
glassesl Who eats from American
plates? Who wears an American coat
or lies down to sleep in an American
blanketT Foreign manufacturers Of
the present day know only too we'll
that since 1920 the commercial depend
ency OF America upon commercial Eu-
rope has nightly changed. But we are
still dependent upon Europe In many
ways. Finsen, the Norwegian, reaches
across the seas to lessen the horrors OF
smallpox. Charles ii. Spurgeon and Jo-
seph Parker sent their messages OF the
Christ love, Queen Victoria gave us tho
example or bow n royal queen could be
n domestic queen, and the ships which
ply the Atlantic still return with as
heavy cargoes as whom they left our
shores.
How We May best Repay.
How, then, is America TO cancel the
national debt in moral and spiritual
sense which she owes TO the modern
Greeks and TO the barbarians? "Wen."
answers some one, II suppose the best
way TO repay the debt we owe to for
eign lands Is to make our goods better
and cheaper than they can make them
and then so forward and capture their
markets for our home Industries" All,
my brother. l am not here to fritter
away my time answering these selfish
propositions prompted by mere COM
mercialism; am here today to tell you
now, In the language and the spirit of
the apostle Paul. we are to cancel the
national debt We owe to foreign lands;
am here today to tell you how best
we can pay the debt as individuals as
well as nation. We can repay our
national debt first by conveying TO for
eign lands the sweet message of the
Calvary cross. When many years ago
i've humble, consecrated students met
behind haystack In old Williamstown.
Where / used to go to college, and
founded the first American foreign
missionary society, one OF the greatest
given practical form. Those five young
men planned an evangelistic work
which had the same worldwide scope
that Paul's mission had for the Chris.
tian religion. If the religion OF Jesus
Christ is the benefcent thing that we
profess to believe II, are we justified In
keeping the knowledge OF it to our
selves? Are we not bound as debtors
to the whole world to repay our obi.
cations by making 1t known far and
widef
The medical profession sets us an
example In its performance of this
duty. No sooner does a physician dis
cover q means of alleviating physical
suffering than he places ii at the dis
posal OF his professional brethren the
world over. When Edward Jenner
demonstrated the marvellous immunity
OF human being who was vaccinated
with cowpox, did he keep his discovery
from the worhl? Did he refuse TO adj
vocate II lest he might be prosecuted