Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1915-11-01
FRATERNITY IS
SERMON THEME
Delivered B., ReI. ]. l.. Wilson AT
broadway Presbyterian Church
Ut Evening Service.
ATTENDED By SECRET SOCIETIES
Every Organization Represented. Com.
ing in "A Body and Occupying Re-
served Section.

4 congregation that filled the audi
enee room Of Broadway Presbyterian
church was present last evening in at
tendance upon meeting in the inter
est of fraternity. in which all frater-
mai and secret societies and organiza-
lions had been invited 10 participate.
Practically every such organization in
the city was represented. many of the
societies attending in body and oc-
eupying portion Of the audience
room reserved for them The pastor.
Rev James Edgar Wilson, delivered a
popular lecture on Fraternity"
speaking in part as follows:
"If should see brother anguish
ing in sore distress, and I should turn
and leave him comfortless. when I
might be messenger of hope and
happiness; how could I ask to have
that | denied in my own hour Of Bit
terness supplied? II I might share
/ brothers load along the dusty way.
and l should turn and walk alone that
day; how could I dare. when in the
evening watch / kneel to pray, to ask
for help to bear my pain and loss, il
| needed not my brothers crosse
As the truth Of that poem sinks
into our hearts. let US turn to the con
clusion of a certain old Puritan who
said that fraternity is marked by the
same three widening circles-the love
of race, the love Of place, and the love
OF grace
''The first circle Of fraternitr-the
inner CIRCLES the love OF race. This
is the love of d parent for mis- child,
and Of a child for his parent It is
I the love OF kith and kin. We find it.
in a crude form, among the animals
and birds The mother bird will fight
/ to protect her fledgliugs. and the moth
er bear will fight for her cubs This
! is d natural love And when we have
applied this love to the various rela-
tionships Of life, We have worked out
system Of Insurance and mutua!
/ heIpfulness whereby we can care for
the fatherless and the widows in their
affliction, and keep ourselves unspor-
ted from the world And this is pure
religion and undefiled
! Outer Circle, Love OF Grace.
THE third circle Of fraternity-the
outer circles, the love Of grace.
/ This is manifested in the love Of God
and in the love of our fellowman. II
! is alone by the grace Of God that We
| are what we are and where we are
I BY. grace We are saved through faith;
and that not of ourselves, it is the gift
of God And the man who Ioveth his
/ Cod with all his heart, and with all
I his soul, and with all his mind. and
with all his strength, cannot help bur
! love his neighbor as himself He will
/ develop into a good Samaritan in spite
of himself Deep down in the bosom
of this truth there lies the meaning
and the necessity Of fraternity
The second circle of fraternity
the middle circle-is the love Of place.
/ This is the circle that interests me
most And therefore, I am dealing
with it last It is the mean between
I the two other extremes. II begins
with the love of home, the oldest and
most sacred of all our social institu-
| tons, the foundation stone Of our ma
ton Take away the sacredness and
the sanctitv Of the home. and you
have undermined our national life:
YOU have taken the heart out Of our
civilization
Then this love widens until il en-
braces the love of country And in
this love of country We discover the
true secret of national prosperity
Here we find the hidden germ Of true
1 patriotism. hidden beneath the spirit
/ Of fraternity. In a country where the
orphans are neglected; where the
poor children are left to starve: where
the widows are left without food or
clothing or shelter, it is impossible to
build up a strong. robust, national
life Our national prosperity is not
measured by the number of wealthy
men We find in the country: it is not
. uEkEt EilueA Dt tue hAEi4ttA VI ttAht1t~
ed men we find among our citizens.
It is fixed by the number Of hungry
that are fed: by the number of naked
that are clothed; by the number OF
orphans that are sheltered; by the
number of fatherless and widows that
are visited in their affection Why is
it that we witness in our nation at
this present time so many strikes. SO
many riots. so much dissatisfaction
II is because the wealth and resources
of our country are controlled by the
few And between the few who are
rich and the many who are poor there
is no bond Of fraternal sympathy.
John D Rockefeller, Jr,, said a most
truthful thing the other day when he
returned from Colorado: If capital
and labor do not get together in the
right spirit the future Of America Is
doomed. If they do not come to see
that the interests of each are insep-
arahly bound up with the interests OF
the other. and that each must be mu-
tuaily recognized and respected. then
capitals resources are doomed Just as
the workers prosperity is doomed
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