Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-04
EVENTS OF PAST YEAR
REVIEW BY DIR. RADCLIFFE I'M
SERMON YESTERDAY.
Wine Of Gods Impress for Upbuilding
OF NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. to As
sault Upon Religion.

In his annual review sermon, preached
yesterday morning. DR. Wallace Radcliffe,
pastor of the New York Avenue Presby-
terrain Church. hkened the year just closed
to Gods wine press, out OF which has flow
ed a red stream for the upbuilding of hui
mainly. He said that the wines from God s
impress had been Of different kinds, and
classified them 1.-The wine of astonish-
ment." the wine of bitterness" 1.-The wine
OF exhilaration,' ''the wine of fury and
1.-The wine Of strength"
He touched upon the most important
events Of the year, and among other things
said that the recent production Of Par
sifal' in New York was a travesty on reli-
gieus things. He also held that there
would be no federation of man until the
Anglo-Saxon or the Slav should conquer.
He amplified these thoughts in part as
follows:
l. The wine Of establishment, in the added
triumphs of electric power which attains
the rapid transit Of 134 miles an hour and
the economy and marvellous brilliancy OF
the Hewitt light, in the startling tragedies
OF the railway and the holocaust of the Chi
cago theater, in the unreasonlng and tyran-
meal strikes of labor, in the feminine silli-
nesses of the recent ducal wedding, in the
preposterous claims and sordid dawn of
DOWieism, il the six opera comique revolu-
tons in South America, in the gigantic
Humbert swindle, and in the marvellous
sleight-of-han craftsmanship which can
not only assure US nation born in day,
but can provide republic while you
wait"
Production Of Parsifal.
2. The wine of bitterness. Not the least
Of the years bitterness in it's assault
upon the religious sense is the produce
ton of "Parsifal' in New York as a
bewldering seduction to the land. 1t is a
mixture of Christianity, Buddhism and
twentieth century materialism. Whatever
the skill and artistic power and attractive
ness Of music and management, 1t is a play
In a playhouse for dollars, and not a sin
cere worship Of Almighty God. And yet its
central idea is the holy communion Of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and 1t undertakes to
represent the glory of the divine presence
with electric lights. 1t is a travesty of
things sacred, spectacular representation
of the Deity. and especially of the very
blood of Christ. which presents a bitter cup
which should be Indignantly wavede from
him by every Christian.
3. The wine Of eXhilaratfon comes from
literature, small and evanescent though 1t
be. A book may be short lived. but a
thought or impulse therefrom may abide i'll
the blood. Shorthouse, author of John
1nglesant;" Henley. Titanic personality,
great in person and character, who, out
of his invalidism, sung the Song of
Speed and in his very weakness boosted
himself 1.-The captain of my SOUL" Stoddard,
oldest and best beloved Of recent poets, the
connecting link between the earliest and
latest group of American authors.
Calling and Krupp.
4. The wine of fury. The deaths of
Calling and Krupp suggest the source of
their millions. The sound Of the cannon
still echoes. Russia and Japan stand fac
ing and waiting for the signal gun. The
furling of banners and federation of man
will not be until in some arena, physical or
Intellectual, once for all, it has been de-
termined whether the Anglo-Saxon or the
Slav shall rule.
5. The WINE of strength, which comes
In the life work of Dietrich, authority in
Arabic scholarship; Lecky, author Of His
tory of European Morals and Mommsen
one of the most striking figures in Ger
many, greatest humanistic scholar master
of Roman historical research, unexceiled
organizer of scientific enterprise. philo-
logist, epigraphist, numismatist, historian,
teacher, jurist, publicist, iiisputant.
1t came in the example and conservation
Of upright and self-sacrificing citizenship
of Hewitt, Dodge and Arthur. 1t comes in
contrast with Spencer's agnosticism, with
the faith and honorable service and heav-
enliness and holiness of each as Leo XIII,
Cardinal Vaughan, archbishop Of Canter-
bury, Dean Farrar, Bishop Clark, Dana
Boardman, Rabbi Gotthel, H. c. Trumbull.
Mrs. Gulick and Mrs. Booth-Tucker.