The Washington herald., 1907-10-28
TALK ON PATRIOTISM
Rev. DR.. Van Schaick Defines
the True and the False.
SOME TIMES USED AS SHIELD
Pretense and BIuster Often the
Cover from Which the Assassin
Strikes-Men Who Do Their Duty
without Expectation of Reward
Are Those Among the Blessed.

True and False Patriotism" was the
theme of an eloquent sermon delivered
yesterday morning by Rev. John Van
Schaick. jr., at the Church of Our Father,
before large congregation. among whom
were many members of the c. A R and
! Confederate Veterans.
! Patriotism means love for and devo-
ton te 0ue's country" said the speaker.
1T is said that old Samuel Johnson felt
so outraged and indignant at the misuse
of the word in his day that when he
/ first published his dictionary he defined
it as the last resort Of a scoundrel I'm
happily that has been too often true. A
man with neither honesty nor manhood
/ fills MS mouth with great swelling words.
puffs out his chest and calls himself
patriot
! No man renders a service to his coun-
try who stirs UP the passions of the past.
The traitors of forty years ago, like the
/ traitors Of to-day, were false to their hon
est convictions and Indifferent to their
responsibilities and duties as citizens.
No soldier of the civil war need fear the
| future. The young men of to-day are not
ungrateful for the past They want the
| soldiers of the North and South to forget
| that there were ever any sections, and to
unite TO make this the greatest the no
blest, the purest, and most unselhsh coun-
! try in the world.
False patriotism, in the first place. is
the patriotism Of pretense and buster,
tinseI and dress parade. It is a shield
behind which the hypocrite hides and
from the cover Of which the assassin
often strikes.
The True Patriotic Toast.
False patriotism, In the second place,
is InaI which exalts toast like that Of
Stephen Decatur: Our country, right or
wrong. True patriotism instead offers
the toast: Our country right. and never
otherwise Where a country makes a
mistake, adopts a wrong policy, stands
for oppression or injustice. true patriot
ism spares neither toll nor effort to make
the country right
False patriotism, in the third place.
is that which is provincial. which seeks
to exalt our country at the expense of the
other countries Of the world. True pa
triotism, on Athe other hand. shows us
that the advancement of one nation
means the true advancement Of every
other nation, that their interests are not
autag0nistiC, but mutual
True patriotism means to live for ones
country as Wen die for ones country. 1t
means to give OF love and loyalty and
service In peace as well as In war He is
the patriot who will yield neither to the
pluotcrat nor the mob. who insists for
himself and for others upon absolute
! obedience 10 the law. It is poor patriot-
! ism that shields a rich criminal and puts
a poor man behind the bars. II is poor
| patriotism that favOrs one class at the
| expense Of another What Burke thun-
| dered in Parliament what our fathers
tried TO write in the Constitution was that
every man is alike equal before the law.
Promoting General Welfare.
Patriotism consists in promoting the
| general welfare. First it is his duty TO
live 10 the highest standard Of which he
is capable, and, secondly. he is to con-
| tribute of his brain and heart TO the great
educational reform. and philanthropic
movements Of his time.
Il think Of one man in this community
who never speaks Of patriotism. All
through the summer, when his associates
were away. he was in Washington at
work. To Starmont SanitOrium he gave
his services without a dollar Of compen-
satiOn. He cared for the sick. He ran
the business end. He tramped hot streets
10 find a cook He carried financial bur
dens. And he did these things because
! they were in the days work. because he
| loved humanity, because ne was devoted
TO this city, and he knew that tubercu-
/ losis, which he attacked. was q scOurge
which destroyed hundreds Of our people
every year. II is not often that I men
ton names Of living men in public. But
I am glad and proud to-day TO say that
that man is the surgeon general Of the
United States army. retired His name
! is George NJ Sternberg. He Is my kind
Of a patriot.
Making Better Washington.
Not in one direction only. but in a
score, the line of duty opens up before
Us to make this a. better and a greater
Washington, and to show that patriotism
hath her victories in peace as in war.
I speak Of but one. Once more this fall
We renew our attack upon tuberculosis.
/ Once more we raise the cry. S32 died last
| year whose lives patriotism would have
saved. In crowded negro quarters there
are tuberculosis patients who refuse TO
! be moved and refuse 70 take the precau-
| tions to prevent infection. They are
menace TO others. They are centers of
| contagion. We want power invested in
our District government TO remove and
| care for such cases We want authority
| from Congress that will compel the regis
/ tratiOn Of every case of tuberculosis. so
| that these danger points can be discov-
/ cred and protection afforded the cOmmu-
nifty.
| Night after night. men Of science, men
/ Of religion, officers and civilians. doctors
and laymen, work together along these
/ lines. It is not easy to educate public
| sentiment. II is not pleasant to seek help
! from Congress. It is. however. the part
/ Of patriotism to face everything unpleas-
ant and disagTeeable, tOilsOme, and diff
cult, to bring about those things that
will cleanse and purify this city and make
/ IL a safer place in which to live.
/ The kind Of patriotism in which I be-
/ lieve, with all my heart and soul. is the
kind that avoids publicity day by day
does its work, and takes hopeful, broad
minded, courageous views about the
future Of the community and the country
| In which We live. It never brings TO men
| the cross Of the Legion of Honor, but In
the record Of Almighty God II inscribes
! their names among the highest on the
roll Of patriots"