New-York tribune., 1903-11-30
LISTEN TO DIR. NELSON.
breaches annual Ser
mon for PENNSYLVANIA Society.

Members Of the Pennsylvania Society and their
friends last night at St Thomas's Church listened
to the annual sermon. preached by the chaplain.
Archdeacon George F. Nelson DR.. Nelson said In
part:
1t has been said of William Penn that he had
the success Of cOnqueror in establishing and de-
ever drawing a sword" Yes, his was the peace
But it was not peace like a shepherd of old tuning
Lutte i'm green pastures. 1t was rather a peace
a hgn standard Of Christian manhood with as firm
a front that of any martial hero who ever
answered hOncr's trumpet call.
To serve Gods truth and people! The temper OF
plains the Secret Of Penns greatness. 1t was this
which made him such champion of human prog
the weak and the fallen. With his hands he
him to these Shores We WI was sG tat s Ship called the
Welcome! WELCOME freight Nv II was n that Siie she
heroic service to his stricken fellow passengers was
wrought.
his own roof three times day. but his religion
did not stop there it simply girded Itself there for
service. The laws which he framed shielded the
weak @ & as well as the strong To him the rights of
man. The differences arising between his planters
ana , ms @ IndianS were determlned 6y q Jury o.
ians An offence against an Indian was punished
white man To do justice and 70 love mercy was
night Which gGi3ed him In his p pmage 4n through
the world. And the meaning Of what he and
woven not alone ls' With The life Of pennsylvania
but with the life of this nation and Of the mother
But it was in the throes Of the Revolution that
itself most clearly like certain kind OF ink which
becomes visible on paper only when exposed TO heat
not seem toe much to say that his spirit lived IN
set its sturdy sons an example Of unselsh service
for the common welfare; and the standard which
to them when they took their share of the great
struggle s6 Of the colonies to make good their decara
And that share was not a small one. 1t is a mat
one-fourth Of the entire burden OF the War of In
dependence And the greatest crisis IN that war
turned to Pennsylvania.
And what; men and brethren. shall We say, of
dreams 2 OF fair homes In free state We are not
of all. for independence. We are citizens Of re-
are citizens of a city that has bigger population
than the whole nation had at it's birth But. like
sents vyid contrasts 1t IS great nerve centre OF
piorabie conditions Here religion bitches bv its
standards and schools of good learning flourish.
banners from outer walls and foTtgnes rise in CO.
present mirror somefSi1 U1 OF our tb 5 ere rne
times too much OF it, while electric lights blaze in
lamps But behind this Shining foTegPoGnS G TDgi is
Wrefehedness processfon ~ SHrs th ana
sand prisoners files in and out of our Manhattan
Shadow Of our Churches af the po5Sdn pTo I1e
fesSes no religion whatever. Close to schools
neither speak our language nor read their own.
4
connect with the park thousands of homes little
better than narrow outlets to the almshouse and
other aSylums for the city's wards.
NO. We are not pioneers, like William Penn.
liberty Of conscience. making a hardy
stand for principle. like those patriots who
came after him. but citizens of no mean
city, In which the conditions of our more modern
and stout aim as COnsecrated American soil.
To sigh for wretchedness and shun the wretched'';
20 sigh for the moral elevation of men and abandon
for SINKING soug ana let tbs D am A 70 3 sign @
violent scuttlinS ships and dealing blows but
II wrecks a mans own spiritual life. and ranges
him. whether he is conscious of II not. on the
side of mans inhumanity to man." Such a shadow
OF sympathy without SubStanCe-Such a recognition
of human ills without aim an effort to miti-
gate them or any part OF theu-is sign Of that
fever of the world which iCfiames the hearts greed
and dulls the sense of moral obligation
And 1t Is against such peril that tho voice Of
heavenly wisdom warns The world makes 4
parade OF temptations and calls guides success
1t fosters the race for riches unhandicapped by
science; the idoatry of pleasure; the passion %
keep up appearance at any and everv cost 1t sets
up pride as on a throne, and hardens the heart To
the sweet reasonableness Of Christian brotherhood
IT is doing ali this every day. not alone In the
night of the city's degradation. but in the noondav
OF its splendor. We all know what IL means Ii
means an earthly spell which is stronger in the
cities. IL has more than once caught and held us
something has awakened to our true relation
to God and TO our fellow IL Is simply a dtIes-
tiOn OF ideals. Only when a man follows a divine
ideal, and marches with IL and camps with II. can
Il be said OF him that he is In the world but OF
the world.
His citizenship then means to him not simply a
lever to lift his fortunes but opportunity to
do something for the common welfare. The real
and the forces OF good character are the forces
which feed spiritual food and follow spiritual