Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1907-03-08

the site of the old church and it's
present ruins at Jamestown. 1t will
| indeed be the treat of churchman s
! lifetime, to meet there with his
brethren from all parts of the world.
amIo those magnificent displays and
in that historic atmosphere But the
church desires to do something more
than merely shouting and Boosting
and singing and Danqueting. We are
anxious that the men shall become IN
terested in a great forward movement
A movement that cannot help but
make itself felt over the whole coun-
try, and that they shall give to the
church at this coming convention a
grand missionary Manufacturing.
The movement is already we'll
under way, lawyers, physicians and the
business men of the church are even
now holding enthusiastic meeting every
where and thousands of dollars have
already been given for this mighty
offering To be indifferent to this
present cali, is to be Indifferent to the
greatest impulse our church has felt
during these past three hundred years
in America May not we even here IN
Watertown join in this triumphal work
of the church? Rejoice We with
Jerusalem and be glad with her all ye
that love her by doing something
practical towards this grand forward
movement.
Surely as Christians and civilized
people we have many reasons for
expressing gratitude. Is not the
civilization which we enjoy today,
largely the work of Christianity?
Compare the power of Christian
nations with the weakness generally
of heather countries. If there is a
single exception IN the far east, is
this not because that single nation
has acquired the means of her present
greatness from Christendom? What
are the evidences of this Christian
influence, is it not seen in the matter
of education, Philanthropy, art and
literature?
Take education for instance. Even
in the days before the printing press
when books were scarce and the daily
papers were unknown, IN the days
when the world cared more for the
troubador, the knight and the warrior
u.
ing and letters, who was it that kept
the Pickering lamp of learning, shining
brightly? Was it not the Christian
church? Were not most of the great
univ ersities of Europe, in the middle
ages, founded and nourished by the
church and can modern learning today
forget her debt to those early funda
tions?
Who taught the world to care for
the orphans and waits, to take them
up off the streets, giving them shelter,
food clothing and education? Was
1T not Him who SAID suffer the little
children to come unto me? Who
taught the world to erect refugees for
the fallen, and homes for the aged and
hospitals for the sick, and schools
for the poor and ignorant? Who was
it that first told US to bless them that
curse US and to love them that hate
US? Are not these some of the evil
dences of Christization and did not
the Divine founder of Christianity first
inculcate these lessons?
And can you show any great master
pieces in literature imbued with lofty
and noble aspirations that do not
breathe with Christian sentiment and
principle. Our very literature of
today is indebted to the gospel not
only for their high deals but often for
their very phraseology. These things
are all true and the most skeptical
will realize that they are SO, if he will
but stop to think and reflect.
The quality of our citizenship in the
present age is largely due to the
Christian mothers and the Sunday
schouls of a past generation. Our
public sense of the distinction between
what is right and what is wrong has
been the result of centuries Of Christian
teaching and precept. An atheist is
even frequently heard to remark that
he would not want to live in place
where there were no churches. Take
the churches out of Watertown for
twenty five years, destroy all the
Bibles, prescribe Christianity in every
form and what kind of town would
you have in couple of generations:
We can feel grateful to God not only
for these things but wer may well
be thankful that the early leaders of
our country were in almost every in
stance trained in the religion of Jesus
Christ, and that the free institutions
which we enjoy today are the product
of Christian principles which were
stamped upon their hearts and minds.
These advantages which we enjoy
have been dearly paid for by the
generations which now sleep beneath
our feet. BY their blood in many a
stormy battle of militant warfare, by
their time thought, perseverance and
means, they have left US rich heri-
tage. But what are you guing to do
with this heritage? Are we only in