Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-03-12
TALMAGE
SERMON
BY Rev.
FRANK DE WITT TALkiAcE. DID,,
Pastor of Jefferson Park Fresby-
terrain Church, Chicago

the preacher shows that there are other
than commercial and financial obliga.
tons between nations and that Chris
tan America owes a debt, both in the
spiritual and philanthropic sense, to the
modern Greeks and barbarians which
she now has opportunity to pay. Tho
text is Romans |, II, II am debtor both
to the Greeks and to the barbarians."
A national debt. It is popularity I'M
derstood to he a financial obligation
which government has pledged itself
to pay. Sometimes this is contracted
in the interest of single subject
About thirty years ago the English gov
eminent assumed a debt of over S25.-
100000 to liberatc single man. Cap
tain Cameron, who had been unjustly
endunSconed by tho king of Abysslnia
in the rocky fortress of Magdala 1t
took six months for the news of the
outrage TO travel TO England but in
less than eleven days aftcrward n Brit
ish army of 10000 men. under General
Napier was on its way 1t not only
crossed tho seas, but also marched n
terrible journey of 400 miles under n
tropical sun, until the troops reached
Magdala and battered down the for
trcss and rescued their incarccl..tcd
countryman. A civilized country is
usually ready to begin any undertake
ing, assume any financial responsible
ty in order TO protect its own from the
tyrannical clutches of n foreign foe.
Sometimes an extra financial obliga-
ton is assumed by a government in
times of peace as we'll as in times of
war. A depleted treasury during the
financial panic of 1893 caused the pres
ident of the United States to issue
5000, 100000 worth of government
bonds. Some of these interest bearing
bonds were purchased by foreign cap
italists and others by American citi-
Zens. But there are still other forms
and causes of interna tional obligation.
\ government can owe to foreign lands
more than money. Such definitions as
we have given are right as far as they
go, but they are too circumscribed.
When the Hebrew Paul wrote, II am
debtor both to the Greeks and 10 the
barbarians.' l do not believe he had
B Il
referring to Greece. he was abiding
to the intellectual influence of the Athc-
MAN capital. which made itself felt
throughout the world That city sway
ed the scepter in the domain of intel
lectuality; it ruled the world of culture
with the sCulptors chiscl, the poets
pen and the Demosthenean oratory Of
utt-in fn un
war against King Philip. When Paul
spoke of the barbarians, / believe he
was abiding to the strength and the
virlity which the world had absorbed
from the different provinces. AS n
man of learning he was indebted to
those people to whom he was about to
present Jesus Christ. So today | want
to speak of Americas national debt in
Il moral and spiritual sense as we'll as
in a financial want to show what we
should give back to the lands across
The seas in return for what we have
absorbed from them consciously or I'M
consciously. AS we balance our ma
tional books the debit side Of our ledg-
or must be cleared off. If we are ma
tionally honest, We are ready to pay
for what we have received
We Have borrowed EurOpe's Best.
Our country has been the reservoir
for the best and the richest blood of all
Europe. A few years ago a noted Irish
. leader. now Il member OF the British
parliament. was addressing great
gathering of Irish Americans in Chica-
go. During his speech he made this
suggestive statement: You Irish Amer
every year you send over few thou
sand dollars TO help us in our struggle
for home rule. But / want to tell you
that you are doing no more than you
ought TO do. America owes q greater
debt to Ireland than Ireland does Ia
America. America has not taken from
I us money. but she has taken from us
what is of more value than money
, Her magnetism has come into our large
cities and villages and factory towns
and wooed from our shores the best
and strongest young men and young
! women we had. She has taken them
p away annually not by the scores and
hundreds, but by the thousands and
the tens Of thousands; she has taken
away the strongest young men and wo
D men we had and has left only the weak
lings-those who are afraid to start Out
, in the new world. Meanwhile we, the
70 stay at homes, must go on struggling
while our stalwart Irish American
brothers and sisters are winning sue
r cess in another hemisphere" What
X that member of the British parliament
q said in reference to Ireland can bt
said in reference to almost every cOun
. try of Europe. Go down to the grca
t seaport towns of Norway and Sweden
IT. Germany, France, Italy, Holland an(
k England and Scotland and ask those
. emigrants, those stalwart young fel
t lows and those red checked lassles
where they are going. Everywher,
you can hear the same answer: "r'
America. We are sailing for America.
c Has America no obligation to NEE
D. when she has taken from other land
such foreign born leaders as AleXande
d Hamilton to run her finances and Agas
n siz to read the records of her rocks an,
y Ericsson to save her navies and Johl
!, Summerville and John Hall to preacl
,- in her pulpits and Andrew Carnegie t
IS build her steel works and John w
y Mackay to develop her mines an