The Penn's Grove record., 1907-08-30
Subject: patriotic Manhood"

" hd WeHimell henderson,
TOOK as his text II Sam. 1912, Let
us snow ourselves men for the sake
oI our people and for the cities of
our God" He said:
me history of the world is rich
win the record of the achievements
oI patriotic manhood. In no untrue
sense we may say that the fairest his
tory OF humanity is inseparably
mixed with the deeds of its heroes.
whether IN war or peace, it has been
ever SO. The valorous of all
ages have made the enduring story of
the worlds advance.
Not otherwise is it with America.
The story of the States is the story
Oh heroic living both in war and in
peace. No nation under the sun has
a prouder list of valiant warriors
tina have we. No country can boast
a more unblemished record-despite
our acknowledged sins-than ours.
n memory of the men who braved
the wilds of an unknown land, of the
souls who dared at Valley Forge, on
the waters of Lake Erie, at Gettys-
burg, at Santiago, that a new land
might be discovered to a waiting
world, that a nation might be born
and saved, that liberty might be en-
larged, will eve be forgotten. The
remembrance of such manhood is
lm~perishable. Of such a manhood
America has her share. BY the de-
yot.on of such a manhood our heri-
tage OF freedom was procured, and
by 1T the priceless liberties of a free
people have been conserved to US all.
But glorious as is the history of
militant America, greater still is her
pre-eminence as a nation that is be-
ing perfected under God in the arts
Of peace. Delightful as are the deeds
OF u warriors, still more entranc-
ing are the peaceful achievements of
our civilians. The P%uritans, as stern
and ~unrelenting warriors, are not
half the picture that they present as
the architects and builders of a gov
eminent founded deep in the ever
lasting principles of individual and
social Righteousness. Washington
as a general is eclipsed by the first
President of an united people. The
5outherner as a fighter is supreme,
but the fruits of a rehabllitated
Southland tell to-day in tones that
are thunderous of the patriotism, the
:hivalry, the indomitable p~ersever-
ance of the manhood of the South.
Some day we shall elevate Edison
above Grant and the heroes of the
moral warfares we have waged above
he Valorous upon the field of strife.
For, in the last analysis, the heroes
If peace are, from every point of
view, more m~asterful, more inspir-
ing than the mighty men of war. 1t
Is easier, when once the fever of
the battle has gotten hold upon a
man, to go to death to the mingled
roar of music and of musketry than to
live and struggle in the face of over
wHelming odds, without a cheer and
without the fanfare of the field of
battle, for the civic welfare of a ma
ton and for abstract right. And
many a man who has served with
devotion under the stimulus of the
common call to arms has been a
traitor and a coward and has sold
his country and his soul because he
lacked the courage to risk all and to
dare and to attack against moral and
spiritual wickedness and exalted sin
in the quiet hours for the common
veal.
America needs more men to live
for her-men who will dare to show
themselves men "for the sake of our
people and for the cities of our God"
For it would appear that this is a
land of promise, that Emmanuel is
with US, that this country is His
country, that the municipalities of
this united commonwealth are the
property, the possession of Divinity.
In the face of national weakness and
of civic unrighteousness, in the face
of the unquestioned exploitation OF
the people for the benefit of the few,
we need men who have a call to live
for the general good, and who will
heed and serve.
The problems of America are as
stupendous as her sins. The situa.
ton demands, however, not revolu.
ton but solution. The land cries out
for men who can solve-solve large
problems in a large way. We mus
have solution, and that soon. If it i;
delayed for long we shall have "tht
prosperity is fragrant, but every live
man knows that it has its thorns
The body polite is the most cultured
that the world has seen, but ever!
careful diagnosis proclaims it sicl
with a low fever that must be elm
mated. We need saviors to-day, mel
who are a sweet V to God ano
who have power with men,; men who
will be straight; men who Will bt
honest; men who will value recti'
tude above riches and the popular
welfare above personal reward.
America needs manhood. AnG
first of all she needs a broad-mindeC
manhood. The Puritan was sturdy
but he was narrow. The manhood o.
to-day must combine the ~sturdines:
and integrity of the Pilgrim Father!
with the intellectual breath of al
enlightened member of a twentieth
century society. 1t must not be mar
row, it must not be shallow. Pos
sessing the ethical capacity of
man of God, it must have that ca
pacity for sound and proficient judg
ment that shall command and retail
the confidence of men.
America needs a moral manhood
She needs a race of men who will
have more respect for the right thai
respect for law. The reason so man.
men have not proper respect for Law
is that they have no comprehension
of the mandatory qualities of tina
which is right. The nan who love
the right rarely has to ask what i
the sanction of the law. The mai
who is chiefly concerned with squar
ing his actions to his sense of ought
ness" will never land in jail or be
subject for investigation. We wan
first a larger love for the right. The
we shall secure a due respect TO
law. Our multi-millionaires VIII
haunt their defiance to the civic lay
in the face of an outraged publ
sentiment would never think to d
so had they any decent regard 70
the dictates of the right. Moralit
alone can secure the law the sane
ton from each soul it should receive
America needs a religious mar
hood. From the point of view of
minister of the Gospel of Jesu
Christ, l am bound to say that W
need a Christian manhood. For with
out religion morals cannot exist. Nc
rality and religion are so related tina
a mans religious capacity will. sure
ly be an indication of his morality
Religion and ecclesiasticism are nc