Evening star., 1914-10-05
BRITISH AMBASSADOR
AMONG THE ATTENDANTS
Sermons Delivered by Canons Brat
enahl and De Vries and
Rev. DR.. McKim.

Z
at the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral
Of IS. Peter and Paul at Mount St.
Alban.
The clergy had announced one serv-
ice, to be held in the open air. in the
cathedral "close." Because of the large
size of the close it was expected that
this would prove the largest service. in
point of numbers. held in Washington
yesterday. in accordance with the proc
lamation Of President Wilson, setting
aside October as a day upon which
the people should go to church and
pray that the war in Europe might be
brought. to an end.
The attendance, however, was so un-
expectedly larger than the estimates
made in advance that it became neces-
sary to hold three services simulta-
neously at Mount st. Alban. and Bishop
Harding, who was present, called on
Rev. DR.. Randolph H. Mckim to preach
Peace cross" while Canon Bratenahl,
who was to have delivered the sermon
at this point, conducted services in
stead and preached in. the newly COM
thedral, and Canon De vries conduct
ed services and preached in the little
Church Of st. Alban.
All the services began at o'clock
with the reading of the Presidents
proclamation. The choir of the cathe-
dfa1 sang in Bethlehem Chapel and the
section of the Marine Band that was
present led the singing of the public at
the open air services around the Peace
cross. The public also sang in Mount
St. Aiban Church. and the music that
sWeIied through the great old oaks of
the cathedral grounds made a visible
impression upon many of those present.
Diplomats Attend Services.
; Persons from all walks of life gath
cred in the grounds and Participated in
the three services, and many of the
hymns used were hymns that are well
known in all the churches of Washing
ton. Men in public life mingled demo-
cratically with the multitudes, refusing
to avail themselves of special reserved
seats, among these being the British
Rice. and his two sons and the Swedish
minister and Nine. Ekengren
The first prayer said was one for par
don. containing the phrase Forgive
ed prayer for the President of the
United States and ..all those in au-
thority. After these came prayers for
the sick and wounded on the battle
fields and in the hospitals of Europe;
for those who are 'in anxiety, in sor-
row, in poverty or in need; that
peace may be restored" and that "the
present distress may be overruled for
the advancement of Gods kingdom"
. Edgar Priest. organist and choir
OF the music. About thirty ushers were
present: under the leadership of Will
liam II. Singleton, and in addition 800
members of the Brotherhood Of st. An
drew served in that capacity when
needed. There were also eighteen Boy
Scouts at hand to serve as couriers un-
der the direction of Rev. DR.. Cady.
Assisting Rev. DR.. McKim at the
Peace cross were Rev. Arthur S.
Johns. Rev. w. J. D. Thomas and Rev.
w. L. Myer Assisting Canon Braten-
ahl in the Bethlehem Chapel were Rev.
William "A. Masker, jr., Rev. Nelson
Falls, Rev.J. M. e. Mckee, Rev Christo-
pher 2. Sparkling and Rev. ]. w. Austin.
Church Of St Alban. were Rev. Charles
7: Warner, the rector, and Rev. Gilbert
Williams.
Canon Bratenahl's Sermon.
Preaching in the Bethlehem Chapel,
Canon Brstsnahl chose to speak on
The Way Of Peace" He said, in part:
ITO find the way of peace we must
first ask the question, From whence
como wars? Let-us turn to the Word
of God. St James, in his epistle, asks
this very, question: From whence
come wars and fighting among you?
and then proceeds to give a direct
his answer the inspired writer does
not once mention 'militarism' as the
cause Of war, though 'militarism' in the
form of the legions of Rome's great
armies was conspicuously in evidence
does say is that wars come because
wrongful desires take the field in the
members of our body (not only the
physical body, but also the body
politic). We set our heart upon some
thing and we do not possess it. We de-
sire emulously. are jealous and are
not able to reach what We want We
are filled with the spirit of self. SO we
wrangle and wage war. The program
of the Prince of Peace requires that we
replace the spirit of self by the spirit
of God.
''The thistle is obeying Gods laws in
growing thistles. and the thorn tree IN
growing thorns. Just as rs m m9eh c lawns as ine
grapes or the fig tree in growing figs.
You and I have complete free will. We
can choose as individuals and as ma
ton whether we will cultivate ct th1ssies sites
laws remain unalterable and what We
cannot do is to cultivate thtstles and
thorns and when the thorns tear and
iacerate. turn suddenly to God and ask
Him miraculously to turn the thorns
into erapesI for our qualification. Still
less will it do us any good to simply
cut off the thorns, and militarisnn is only
the thorn. We can do away with mill
tarism Just as we can cut of the thorns.
but the thorns will promptly grow again
more luxuriously than ever. What We
are called upon to do Is to cultivate
different plant.
Wars Without Militarism.
sIt is not a question of ornaments,
though we may agree that disarma-
ment will be a benefit Mere disarma-
ment never assures us Of lasting peace.
We had a first class war in this coun-
try some years ago and it was with
out any previous militarism. All his
tory goes to show that wars can arise
in any nation or among any nations
whether they have standing armies or
not. 1t is necessary to get this very
clear in our mind. for otherwise we will
not be attacking the real evil. Peace
is a fruit Of the spirit and the spirit is
given us in response to prayer Of faith.
Furthermore, our prayers must be
not simply as individuals. If we are
looking for national peace. the nation
must pray. A nation is not simply an
OF individual units, a ma
tion is more. It Is a body. Let me il |
iustrate. Gunpowder is composed of
about seventy-eight parts lof white |
saltpeter, twelve parts OF black char |
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