The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-02-22
SONS OF AMERICA
ATTENDED DIVINE SERVICES AT
 CHURCH OF REDEEMER.

sl,"ne That Foiioweth After Right
 eOnsness, aud Kindness, Findeth Life,
 Rishteousnessa and Honor.n
 All of the local camps of the Patriotic Sons of America attended divine ser vices at the Church of the Redeemer last evening in body, in accordance with their custom of thus celebrating Washington's birthday. Rev. Dr. Phil- lips delivered the sermon, taking his
 text from Proverbs 21:21: He that fol- lloweth after righteousness and kindness findeth life, righteousness and honor"
 Rev. pr. Phillips sermon was as fol-
 lows:
 Our national heroes are coming into
 their own. In the truest sense we busy practical Americans are becoming hero-
 Worshippers. We have lived long enough to get some sense of perspec-
 tive and proportion, and to feel some of that reverence for the past which char acterizes the older nations. Out of the mists which already dim our beginnings certain great forms are rising which captivate our imaginations, inspire our hearts and give us a sense of property
 in the glories of history.
 We can engage in no more profitable exercise than to celebrate with patri- otic fervor the anniversaries of great births and great events, that their memories may be kept green, and the facts of our illustrious record may be deep-planted in the hearts of our peo- l pie. But the best service of these cele- brations is not in the rehearsal of inci- dent or anecdote-the historians and novelists are doing that for us infinite ly better than it can be done from any platform. It is the man, the character and the deed, whose study is of most value to us.
 Washington and Lincoln are typical 1 Americans; the one springing from the landed gentry representing the best blood and culture of Virginia, the other rising from the common people, repre- senting the saving common sense, the humor. the pluck and patience of the Yankee character at it's best. These two colossal figures indicate to us how 1 the two elements have been blended in the development of our national life. In the early morning light rises the dig l nified, graceful figure of the rich and cultured southern planter, busy laying l the foundations of liberty's temple; in l the stronger light of the later hour stands forth the angular homely figure of the western rail-splitter, busy mend ing the rent in the temples walls and cementing them with his own blood; the one no less attractive, no less rep resentative of American qualities than the other Ten days ago we paused to honor the martyr; tonight we are call- ed to contemplate some of the qualities which made the Virginian great.
 No man can study the period when the sentiment which led to separation from the mother country was ripening without being impressed by the purity of Washington's motives. He was no hot-head no restless revolutionist, no seeker for the prominence and power of I the demagogue; he accepted the alter native of war and separation, but he accepted 1t because conscience led in ! that path. It was not easy for him to break the persoWnal ties which bound him to England, to go against his gov. ernor and the proud social set in which he moved He was a man of property and of large personal interests to which war could bring no advantages: but l when the issue was at last drawn he l did not hesitate He cast his lot with the struggling colonies for no other rea-t son than this-''The Right and the I Duty.
 The motive makes the man. Patriots and saints and heroes are not the pro duct of base and selfish motives. The great men of history the men who have brought inspiration and uplift have all ways been men whose motives God and their fellow-nen could approve. That the men of their time did not all see that means nothing they stood too near; the men of a later time have read their hearts, and history has given | them their crown. Washington calls men up to the region of pure, unselfsh motive, where the temptation to little ness and baseness offers the least re- sstance. Every public man must be, 1 in a sense, an opportunist, but if he is to minister to any permanent human l advancement he must put back of all a motive that is pure and high.
 Lincoln's immortal credo is the inter- pretation of Washington and all other heroic souls-"Let us believe that right makes might, and in that faith let us l do our duty as we understand it." ! Washington had clear perception of duty, and that is always the product of a pure motive. To see what one ought to do and then to do 1t is the highest | expression of manhood
 ITO put your cdeed into your deed Nor speak with double tongue.' Deep in his manly heart this stalwart Virginian knew that duty called him to range himself with Massachusetts and the struggling cause of liberty, and knowing that he was incapable of way ering or retreat Duty is not an easy word; it does not always lead one into green pastures or beside still waters, but it is one of the divinest words in human speech and helps to interpret, as few words can, the riddle of life. q slept, and dreamed that life was Beauty;
 I woke, and found that life was Duty' But this universe is built on such plan that Duty is everywhere the. root of Beauty, and the man who plants that royal seed in his soul will by and bye find his life filled with color and | fragrance.