The news & observer., 1905-11-05

ets y 10 LI
which blights and ruins all that It
touches; the gambling mania that
poisons the very fountains of personal
and political honesty; the social evil,
that threatens the integrity of the
| American home, and continental
sabbath that would. with resistless
hand, pull down one of the firmest pill
lars of our Christian civilization.
| While in no wise sympathizing with
Lord Macaulay's gloomy prophecy of
| our future as a nation, 1t is well Tor
us to heed the voice of great his
torian and political philosopher, "As
| for America said he, Il appeal to the
| twentieth century. Either some Caesar
| or Napoleon will seize the reins of gov
| ernment with a strong hand, or your
republic will be as fearfully plundered
and laid waste by barbarians in the
| twentieth century as the Roman en-
pre was in the fifth century, with this
difference: That the Huns and VAN
| dals who raviShed Rome came from
without her borders, while your Huns
and Vandals will be engendered with
in your own country, aod by your own
! institutions.
All Perils from Within.
This much is doubtless true, that
all our national perils are from with
| in. No foreign foe will ever tread the
| soil of this great continent. There may
be conflicts on the high seas, but our
land is sacred to the feet of American
citizens. If, therefore, we are ever
| threatened with the uprooting of our
society, the overthrow of our civil IN
stitutions and the blight of this fair
land, it will come from forces and in
! fluences that have been nursed in our
bosom. Our perils are moral-those
things that affect personal social and
political character.
The strength of every nation is
measured by the moral qualities of
it's citizenship. And everything that
strengthens and nourishes the moral
character of the people is of concern
to a genuine Christian patriot. TO no
purpose is the country great if the
men are small.
The glory of Greece went down with
the decay of her men, and they de-
clined with the loWerin~ of their per-
sonal and political ideals-with the
moral corruption of the individual and
the home. How great the fall There
are yet the same soft skies and blue
seas; the same purple hills and shad-
owy wales; the same Olympus and
| Aegean, but it is no longer the land
of Homer and Pericles, of HesOid and
Demosthenes. Greece lives only in
memory. She has become little more
than a national "reminiscences.
The issue is sharply defined and the
lines are rigidly drawn. We have come
to the parting of the ways. Choice
must be made between two antagonis-
tic principles. Elimination of all ir-
relevant questions that have been
dragged into the contest, and you are
to decide between righteousness ano
evil-between the ethics of Christian
ity or the maxims Of satan. 1t is well
| for us to have these testing times.
once to every man and nation comes
the moment to decide
In the strife of truth with falsehood
for the good or evil side.
| Then it is the brave man chooses,
while the coward stands aside.
Doubling in his abject spirit, till his
Lord is crucified.
Such as testing time had Moses and
| it brought out all the great Qualities
that fitted him to be the leader and
law-giver of a mighty nation.
Demand Upon Christians.
| Edmund Burke, on one occasion, ut
| tered these wise words of warning,
which need special emphasis in Amer
lea today: He tranSgresses against
the law of duty who sleeps upon his
watch as we'll as he that goes over to
the enemy" In affairs of State. in
difference and neglect are national
crimes One as much betrays his
country by dsregarding her needs as
in the desertion of her colors. Activity
| in public affairs is the present and
imperial demand upon every Christian
patriot. 1t is idle, even to crimnallty,
to deprecate the course of national
events and vigorously aSSail the acts
and motives of those in responsible
position, when we are doing nothing
to elevate the standards or character
and wisely guide the affairs of gov
! eminent The criticisms of slothful
citizen are worse than the omptieSt
cant At an important election some
years ago, in New York, an election
| evolving not only the interests of ;
great city, but the entire nation, on
Fifth avenue from Fortieth street to
Sixty-eighth, distance of one mile
and a half, just twenty-eight votes
were cast. And yet those are the
;neglectful citizens who are loudest in
| their denunciation of corrupt NUM-
oipal and national politics.
| Upon the statue of Benjamin H. Hill,
! in Atlanta. a statue erected to that
great Senator, the echoes of whose
marvelously eloquent voice yet thrill
the heart of Southern patriotism like
the notes of a bugle, are these words:
who saves his country saves all
things and all things saved will bless
him. Who lets his country die, lets all
things die; and all things dying curse
him" That sentiment | will write
upon the hearts of every young Amer
ican and make it the inspiration of
every patriotic service.
War of determination.
In the name of Cod let us lift UP
our banner. Fling it to the winds and
let it catch the breath of heaven. On it
would inscribe the lofty motto that
blazes in the shield OF grand old Vir-
ginia. Ours is war of determination.
We have no truce with rum, no parley
with gamblers, no compromise with
Satan. Take down the trumpet and
let it's echoes over hill and valley sum-
mon the friends of freedom and hu
manity to the field where God mar
shals the hosts of war. Strike with
the courage of heroes and the strength
of men of God. But let me warn you,
friends of reform, our cause is not
to be won in a day. We must expect