Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1915-11-22
college presidents IN North ' o"foi''''
were Virginians.

] were PlrSlHldliH.
| Touching reference was fade to lh'
name of Dir. Charles T. Taylor, OF {
well-known Virginia family, who haf
shaped the Ideals of Wake Forest Coi'
| ieee, Virginia and North Carolina
said the secretary, have the same
ideals and the same high purposes
He referred to the remarkable Iac'
that five Presidents had chosen North
| Carolinians to be members OF then
Cabinet. and that in each case the
member from North Carolina was
| made Secretary of tie Navy.
In speaking of the contribution 0!
Baptists to the States and the nation
the secretary said: "Only two States
failed to ratify in short order the
draft Of the Constitution submitted by
the Constitutional Convention. These
were North Carolina and Rhode Is
land. These States did not ratify the
Constitution because it did not con-
tain the bill of rights. religious lib
erty and freedom Of the press. The
movement was led by the Baptist OF
Rode Island, and the Baptists and
Quakers of North Carolina"
Secretary Daniels commended the
stand taken by Roger Williams in re-
fusing to accept from Parliament thf
right to practice freedom in religion.
denying that any government had tn"
uower to give religious lihery or tc
take it away.
The secretary, though not a Bap-
list. is familiar with the principles
for which they have stood. in refus'
inr to seek patronage from the State
or to consent to public FUNDS gong
into the treasury of any church. Hs
referred to the occasion when Patriot
Henry, in defending his client. who
was Baptist, preacher, said to tbs
Judge: "Your Honor, stand here tG
defend this man, who is charged wit!
the heinous crime of preaching The
Gospel"
He told an incident, illustrating the
changes in religious conditions, of d
Baptist preacher who came from
North Carolina some years ago to Wis
it his brother who. at that time, was
representing North Carolina in the
United States Senate. On his return
10 his home church The preacher said:
"I fear that conditions in Washing
ton are far from what they should
be. While there, was invited tc
preach in a prominent church. and
before l had preached two hours and
half, | observed that not few OF
the people had left the house. ! am
convinced that in Washington the!
are not able to stand sound doctrine '
Secretary Daniels said further: "ln
this day many people have come to
say that the church is no affair Of
heirs. In not few communities.
here are respectable people who ap-
pear to have no need for the church,
except when they get married or die.
On these occasions they want the
blessings of the Almighty. They are
religious liberals. There are very
few. now who deny the truths of the
religion Of Christ. Atheists are very
rare. The outstanding sin is the sin
of neglect. They neglect the church.
They are Indifferent. The problem Of
the church is not only to reach the
submerged tenth, but the educated
man who feels no need of the church
There is now no fear of persecution
in religion in this country, but there
is an Indifference which is more fa-
tai and deadening than persecution. In
Europe in many places they have
stopped writing history with ink and
are writing it with blood. The an
swer to the charge that Christianity
is failing in Europe is that it has no:
been tried. So-called Christians have
neglected their religion. They have
not lived up to their ideal, which
have been preached. Recently at ;
, meeting of the Cabinet, when mat
ter Of the gravest Importance was be
ling discussed. and when no light hat
broken through. the President of th'
United States arose and said, 4 hope
all who believe in prayer will see'
Divine guidance in this matter
"That sentiment expressed by ou
! President is the sentiment of Amer
lea in our difficult problems of stat
today"
After the Secretary Of the Navy hat
completed his address and had shak
en- hands with the hundreds of peo
-, ,r,ho ,o,,o ro-,,a,A to or1aet him