Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-07-05
Caln,age
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaec, d. d.

sermon, appropriate to the Independ-
ence day festival, the preacher makes
powerful appeal for further indie.
pcndencc which shall result in the re-.
demption of our cities from official
corruption The text is Jeremiah vii.
II, 'Seest thou not what they do in the
cities of Judah?'
This is the Sunday preceding our ma
tional holiday. During the coming
week we shall commemorate the time
when our forcfuthers signed the Decla-
alton of independence, which declares
that all men are born free and equal.
This IS the hour when thousands Of
patriotic sermons arc being preached
over this land. most of them in culo-
CYSTIC strain. to prove that this country
Is the greatest of all countries, our PEG.
pie the best of all people and this mar
velous national conultion OF affairs the
direct result of the work of the Con-
tincntal congress which assembled in
Independence hall at Philadelphia July
4, 117G. But though I allow no man to
| immortal document pcnncd by Thomas
Jefferson. yet am not one who would
cry. Peace, peace. when there is no
peace" l am not one who would as
sert that our government and our
people have reached the acme of per
lection, for as our ancestors had
wrongs to right in 1916 we have GOV
! ,+ol ~.
want this morning to place my finger
upon the most fragrant weakness of
our national life. This is not the weak
ness OF national or state legislation.
1t is tho weakness OF municipal cor
ruption. which we find in most of the
large cities scattered over our land.
The cancer which is gnawing and
eating toward the vtals Of mans phys
icnl body is even more fatal in it's re-
suits than the dangers which are threat
ening him from without. Indeed, the
only enemies which are threatening to
undermine our national foundations are
domestic foes and not foreign invaders.
Mr.. Lincoln in one of his addresses well
said: AT what point shall we expect
the approach of Il national danger?
Shall we expect some transatlantic mil
tary giant TO step across the ocean and
crush us at blow? Never. All the
armies of Europe Asia and Africa
combined, with all the treasures of the
earth ,Our own excepted in their mill
tary chest, and with u Bonaparte for
commander. could not by force take
drink from the Ohio or make n track
on the Elue Ridge in trial of a thou
sand years. At what point, them is this
approach of danger to be expected
| If it ever reaches us it must spring up
among us. IT cannot come from abroad.
If destruction be our lot. we must our
selves he its author and hnishcr. AS a
nation of frccncn We must live through
all time or die by suicide" That state
incnt is literally true. No foreign foe
can suhir.gate us. England could no
more conquer us upon our own ground
than we could land at the LIVERPOOL
docks and conquer England. The At
lantic and Pacific oceans are two great
meats. thousands Of miles wide, which
say to foreign foes. "Kecp out" and
also TO Americans. Keep in" No
drawhrid2es will ever be made big
enough TO span those moats. AS long rs
an invading army has 90 come to Amer
lea 10y ship that army is doomed to de.
feat before it starts.
The Horrors of War.
Most great statesmen are as loath to
enter an International controversy as
ia the present head of the German em-
pire. Some years ago the Young emper-
or was looking at the Nereschagin pic
lures depicting Napolcon's invasion Of
Russia. He said, "Nereschagin, never
lid the Judgment Of Cod so plainly
strike man as it struck Napoleon at
Moscow" Then he looked a little lon
ger ut tho pictures and said "Ncres-
2hagin. your pictures are an excellent
corrective Of warlike appetites" Then
he looked little longer and again said,
"Vcrcschagin, the statesman who
would needlessly plunge his country
INTO an international strife is fool :"
Emperor William shudders Mt the
thought of war. The great statesmen.
both trans and els Atlantic, have the
same dread. The one great purpose Of
their lives is to prevent international
! complications. 50, in all probability,
yon and l will never live to see the
lay when this nation shall be warning
against another first class nation
Thus in our present patriotic sermon
let us turn our attention to the internal
rather than external dangers. BY the
help Of God let US go forth rs bravely
md heroically as did our forefathers
at Concord and Bunker Hill to cradi-
rate the greatest weakness of our ma
iional ife-name!y, corruption IN our
municipal or city governments. These
evils of orr great cities are to be seen
everywhere. Either we must conquer
them or they in turn will completely
overthrow us.
The civic problem OF our land will
American voter has intelligence and
manhood enough to divorce national
and state politics from municipal af
fairs. The two politics, the national
and civic, are entirely distinct. The
one to n great extent does not repre-
sent personalities, but principles. while,
on the other hand, civic politics does
not represent principles so much as
personalities. Let me try to illustrate
the demarcatlon in a few words.
Principles, Not Personalities.
Come back with me to the year 1896