The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1904-04-27
ULTIMATE AMERICA"
An Eloquent Sunday Sermon By Rev. ].
A. jenkins.
This Country the Spiritual Teacher Of th;
Natlons-0ur Social Ideal

IN address to large audience on "Uiti.
mate America. the Spiritual Teacher Of
the Nations" He said among other things
1t IS commonplace of the newer think
INC that the evolutionary process culmin
ties in the soul of man, the whole mighty
movement being satisfactorily explained,
recording to the thinking of the thestic
svolutionist.. when matter endowed with
Sfe and perfected through countless gener
,tions, has at last given to the mind of the
human being the instrument for the ele
nentary exercises of its endless life. The
,truggles OF the ages are justified in the soul
The student of history is perplexed as he
,ears the groanings and witnesses the ira.
;ailngs of the nations through the centur-
n es and his natural and legitimate query
n Is he beholds the rise and fall of nations
j ;. Where lies the goal of the peoples and
y What jnstities the tolls and agonies OF the
a ace! The answer to this inevitable ques
lion is this; Almighty God IS leading the
latlons toward tine goal of the highest life
j md the struggles of the ages find justihca.
4 hon in the birth OF the woEld-sou. And il
4 lhe fact that God breathed into mans nos.
\ .rls the breath of life, so that he became
living soul is sufficient recompense for
4 the bloody brute battles of the worlds
uay dawn. the thought that He will
4 breathe soul into the nations should like.
wise ne deemed ample compensation for
Il the gropings and grapplings of the aspir-
,nts tor national permanency and suprem-
hey.
4 The American colonsts were not the
4 irst men to fight for independence, but the
| motives that produced the Declaration of
| independence made their fight epoch
/ marking as no other fight had ever been.
| Other nations had given up slavery, but
4 40 nation was ever before called upon to
furnish SO awful a proof of sincerity of
motive in striking the shaclSles from the
/ lmOs of the enslaved Other nations have
bad to deal with the problem of undesr.
/ tblc aliens, but no nation ever felt as feels
America the imperativeness of course of
action based upon righteousness and jus.
'lce. Other nations have seized the terri.
tory OF the weak and helpless, but none
has felt such deep, unselfish solicitude for
dependent people as has characterized
>ur country in her dealings with a primi.
i've people committed to her care as the
outcome of her intervention in the inter.
ssts of humanity. Other nations have had
70 effect adjustments between employer
md employe, but no nation has ever been
:alled upon to effect such an adjustment
when the conditions presented revealed so
.leariy the fact that great principle of
universal Importance is involved. The set
llement of the labor problem in demo
.ratlc America means the settlement for the
world, for here the employer of the high.
est type meets the worker of the highest
type. and the final result will be in keep.
ng with the character of the contestants.
So we are learning the lesson of deliber.
iteness; and one of the most promising
ngns of the times is the tendency to deal
with great questions cautiously and calmly.
The result OF this course will be that what
the new America settles will stay settled
She will settle. and that for all time, the
question of the rights of inferior peoples.
os tn tha ,bar &c -,
,ation most to be desired, the question of
The relation of employer to employed.
America is to-day solving the accumulated
problems of the ages. And God is willing
that she should have time to complete her
task.
In view of what has been said. it will
strike us as a fact of solemn import that
bur country is preparing for her yet larger
iervlce through the slow, constant develop
ment OF her religious consciousness. The
existence and growth of this consciousness
the superficial observer of our life and in
stitutions might feel inclined to deny.
nevertheless, we are convinced that this
most necessary condition for present and
future leadership exists
Where shall we seek for this religious
eonsciousness? Shall we look for it in the
institutions set apart as avowedly relig-
lous! No man has the right to scoff at or
sanized religion. Our schools, our churches,
Dur synagogues are, on the whole true to
their mission. But tine truly effective re-
hglous consciousness must be found in
nther places as well-in the editorial sane
tum, in the political gathering, in the mart
and the busy street. Let us find this con.
sclousness in these places, no matter what
lts form, and we shall have as good guar
antee OF the divine favor as though we had
gazed upon overhowing houses Of worship
and listened to the eloquence of the elect.
Inc religious spirit which makes for Amer
~an pre-eminence may be discerned in
many phases of the national life, but it is
strlklngly evident in the new press, the
new politics and the new social ideal
There are many, doubtless. who would not
eoneede that the press of the country fur.
nlshes an evidence of growing national
righteousness, but the fact remains, that in
the newspapers of our land there is dis.
,,lnct trend toward righteousness and god
illness.
The truthfulness and force OF our pres.
ent contention will seem to many hard to
reconcile with the well-known fact that in
The United States the avowedly religious
Journals are steadily losing ground. But
even this fact, rightly interpreted. is not
an evidence OF national decay. The relig-
ious papers OF to-day have choice between
degeneration and evolution. The signs of
degeneration are stubborn adherence to de.
homlnaational shibboleths, fierce champion.
snip OF exhausted dogmas and growing i'm
patience with progressive Interpretation OF
ruth. The signs of evolution are the
throwing overheard of useless issues, and
the adoption of the leading features of the
great secular" papers. The great relig
ious papers OF the country to-day are such
IN name only. Were the contents of one
oi these papers rearranged and printed in
newspaper form it would pass as a news
paper, minus the newspapers up-to-date
freshness. In the secular press, on the
other hand, there is steady progress and
increasing vitality. The moral tone of the
american people is reflected in the new
Journalism, and the fact that the citizens
oi the republic desire righteousness is pat.
ent to all who seek the underlying motives
oi JOURNALISTIC enterprise of tine highest
type. And this fact is most significant
when we remsmber that these great agen.
cies OF publicity, free discussion and edu.
cation have direct bearing upon the shap.
,ng OF the ideals of the inhowing millions
OF our population. The spirit OF the
american journalism is communicated to
me Americanized representatives of these
foreign peoples, and they in turn give it
10 their dependent fellows through the col.
umns OF their publications. We have no
right to assume that papers published in
foreign tongues stand for Old World an.
archy; We should, the rather, heartily con.
cede the fact that these journals, printed
IN, Italian, German, Hebrew, Welsh and
other languages. constitute great mis-.
slonary agency for doing foundation work
IN Americanism and altruism. Indeed, the
very TACT that our citizens in the making
eagerly grasp these informing agencies is a
prophecy OF great things to come. We
have here no isolated, lethargic, sef-satis.
ned aggregation of human beings, but we