Adams County news. [volume] (Ritzville, Wash.) 1898-1906, 1906-09-12
PRESIDENT PRESENT
ANNIVERSARY OF The EPISCOPAL
CHURCH AT OYSTER BAY.
Roosevelt Made a Speech Of Hail an
Hour, Closing a Series Of Four Ad-
dresses-he Appealed to Husbands
to Show the Way-Conduet Proof Of
Men-Actions Show Creed's Worth.

Oyster Bay, L. President Roose-
welt participated Saturday in the 200th
anniversary of Christ Episcopal church
which he attends during his summers
here. The keynote Of the presidents
speech, which occupied half an hour
and concluded series of four ad-
dresses, was that the wealth Of the
nation must not be totally disregarded,
but looked upon as the basis for spir-
itual development, clean living and
civic virtues.
The celebration was held in the
churchs edifice which bears the date
1705 on its cornerstone. Admission
was by card and limited to the
church's membership and the clergy.
1t was followed by collation. in the
parish hall, of which the president par
took and where he chatted freely with
the visiting clergy and church mem.
bers.
The speakers preceding the presi.
dent were Rev. H. H. Washburn, pas
tor of the church, who gave the his.
torical sketch of the organization;
Bishop Frederick Burgess Of Long Is
land, who predicted one church for
future generations in America, and
that the Episcopal; Dew. w. Montague
Geer of New York and Rev. George r.
Vandewater of New York.
Mr.. Roosevelt's Beliefs.
The president began his speech with
a confederation of Dr. Geer on the es.
sential need of religion, in its broad
est and deepest sense, to the welfare
of the country. He said in part:
Speaking here as layman l wish
to emphasize the vital Importance of
our people being taught to realize that
the highest value Of Christianity mani.
tests itself in the conduct Of those
who profess 1t. l shall read several
verses from the end Of the first chap
ter Of the general eplstle of James
"'But be We doors of the word and
not hearers only, deceiving your own
selves.
"'For if any be hearer of the word
and not doer, he is like unto a man
beholding his natural face in glass.
"'For he beholdeth himself, and 60
eth his way, and straightway forget.
teth what manner Of man he was.
"'Pure religion and undefiled before
God and the Father Is this: To visit
the fatherless and widows in their az
Fiction and to keep himself unspotted
from the world
ut is true that in many things the
tendencies at work among us today
are evil, but 1t Is true also that there
are plenty of other tendencies fol
good. I am not prepared to assent to
the statement that we are so much
worse than we used to be, but it Is not
of importance whether. as a matter of
academic belief, we hold that things
have grown better or worse. What Is
of vital importance is that we should
be resolved to do all in our power
now as heretofore-to make them bet.
ter.
II feel that there has been a real
growth in broad Christian charity. ]
believe that the different creeds are
in the essentials, in reality vital
things, coming closer all the time, be-
cause think that they are grasping
the fact that the way in which they
can best serve the Lord is not by war
ring against one another, but by join
ing hands in Tie great struggle against
unrighteousness, in the great war for
decency, for honesty. for clean living
in the home no less than in the Lation.
The worth of any creed must in the
long run be judged by the conduct Of
those who profess 1t.
"The most effective service for
Christianity that can possible be given
is to show in actual life that those
who profess it do give in their conduct
an approximate expression to the faith
that is in them. I doubt If any Of us
will be able to give more than such
approximate expression Of that faith;
nevertheless we can each Of us strive
in our conduct to show that the word
is alive in us; that we are striving to
live up to the essentials of Christian
ity. of the brotherhood of God and the
brotherhood of man as they are taught
in the Bible as they are preached to us
Sunday after Sunday.
ut is the conduct of the average
Christian, not on Sunday, but on week
days, not in the church alone, but in
his family, in his relations to his
neighbors and to the state, that will
more than anything else. determine in
the eyes of the general public the
worth of the creed that man processes
"The man is not good Christian
who. In his business dealings, fails to
remember that 1t is incumbent upon
him to hold a higher standard than
his fellows; that it is incumbent upon
him, If he is very rich man, to make
1t evident alike in the way he earns
and the way he spends his fortune
that the word Of the Lord is to him a
living truth, and not dead doctrine.
And, Of course, what l say applies
more. strongly to the man in public
life.
I'VE need material we'll being in this
nation as foundation without which
no superstructure can be raised. But
upon that foundation we must see to
1t that we build the superstructure Of
high individual and national conduct
so that each man in his relations to