Milford chronicle., 1912-05-17
HIGH COMPLIMENTS
TO REV. BENNETT
Moral Condition of Town More Healthy
Since His Advent.
Communicated

oANNA WeA0g anu Will nNNNA III SCN 10 hoAI
glazed bricks, and the place of worship
for christians who were prosecuted and
driven from their homes in the days oil
the Spanish Inquisition, and who after
found lodgment in the low wet country
of Holland, where their prosecutors
thought they were we'll rid of them, by
reason that they would starve in the poor
country; but, the hand of Providence
upheld and sustained them, and from
that small church so graphically de-
scribed in the pamphlet, in 1922, as the
pamphlet narrates, the Pilgrims knelt
with their pastor, John Robinson, and
embraced and took leave of friends be-
lieving that it was the last time they
would see them, and embarked for Amer
lea. Little did they dream that they
would be the founders of the greatest
country in the world, and that they were
| to lay the foundations of religious liberty
in free land, which would later hoist
the banner of universal liberty and free
dom for the human race, and give to the
world the best government that ever ema-
mated from the mind of man.
! 1 shall never again feel the thrill of
patriotism as 1 felt it on that dock in
Holland, and as look with my minds
eye after that little ship as it coursed
westward over the pillows of the Allan
tic, until it landed those people at Ply
mouth Rock, can see them fall upon
their knees and thank God for their de-
liverance; and the first thing they did
was to build a church, and then a school
house. They came here as prosecuted
church people seeking freedom. and they
! started this country as a church people,
and they have laid. the foundation of a
nation of church builders which has
built churches and school houses from
the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans and
from the Gulf to frozen Alaska. This is
the rock bottom bedsione of our country's
natural greatness and wonderful pros
perity, which has made us the granary
of the world and the beacon light of
christendom.
When the church is alive, the laws are.
obeyed and the nation is blessed with
law and order, and she is our bulwark
and defense for freedom. Behind the
GOd-fearing this country has never yet
suffered famine or pestilence, but has
AAOMN0 viii hlAAk anu AAOANFs W Adh =
never lacked statesmen or generals to
lead or counsel, and we have whipped
the greatest nation on earth twice, and
survived the greatest civil war ever
known, and the country is cemented
stronger than ever before.
We are a world power. A few years
ago, when the Boxer Rebellion was rock
ing the foundations of China, the great
powers of earth was about to divide that
country, but the United States of Amer
ica said No, and as a result China has
been christianized, and now has a Re
publican form of government, and is max
ing rapid strides to a larger manhood.
When Spain crushed the Island of Cuba,
the churches of this land took up the
cause, and now the oppressed are freed
and what is the cause? 1t is the peop
Who are church builders and valiant
champions of freedom everywhere. The !
first cause was this 1t impelled the Pill |
grims to leave Holland and plant them |
selves in America. 1t caused the Wes- |
leys, Whitfield and others to come to a |
wilderness and establish religious free |
dom, and caused ministers to endure |
hardship and of extending His kingdom. |
The same power that made us a nation, |
the God of destiny who has been with us
from the beginning, and who gave to us
some of the greatest preachers since the
days of Paul; men like Talmage, who |
preached to more people than any man
who ever lived, and a score of others, has
been our God of destiny. He was with |
our forces and interests at Manila when .
Dewey smashed the power of despotism
and set millions free without the loss of
man. He was with our fleets with Samp-
son and Schley when christianity pre-
vailed over the persecution of the Cuban
patriots, and the same hand of destiny
has sent to Milford for the enfranchising
of our people in the kingdom of God, L.
A. Bennett, who came without prospect
of reward; and yet he was mysteriously
impelled Our oldest inhabitants never
saw so great an ingathering of souls and /
a revival of a religious spirit in Milford.
L. A. Bennett has been used for the pur
pose; he saw and did the work, and it
has been of inestimable value to the COM
munity It is hard to tell all of the ben
eft to all, even to other churches. They
were stimulated to renewed effort, and
law and order is preserved. The money
spent to enforce the laws and the efforts
of the police, was as nothing when COM
pared to the cleansing influence of the
gospel of Christ and the church.
The best people of the town of Milford
will tell you, that it is not like the same
place since this great revival led by L. A.
Bennett has been in Milford. Drunken
ness, gambling and other offenses were
common even on the Sabbath day prior
10 this revival. It has been a cleansing
home mission, a reclaiming of the bad
and the vicious, and facing of them in
he right direction The commercial
tell us that they see plainly the
marked improvement.
Whatever purifies also fortifies and I
these people who once spent
heir subsistence in ways that degener-
lte They are now. living better, and are I
-aising and paying their minister's S sal
Try, rent of parsonage, and at the same
ime have paid $40, 900 on beautiful new ,
.hurch, which is one ofthe best arranged
md up-to-date churches on this Penin-
ula, and of which the town of Milford is I
Justly proud. These people who only
.ighteen months ago were sinners, have
oul abiding religion. A gentleman at