Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-12-04
, celebration Of the sixtieth anniversary

in celebration Of the sixtieth anniversary
of the founding Of the Washington Hebrew
| Congregation, said that there was need
of restoration Of former time reverence
of tho Bible and the flag His subject
was Bible and Flag: Sheet-anchors Of
Our Nation" He said, in part:
There was a time in the history OF
our nation when love Of God and love of
country were interchangeable terms, when
the one could not be thought of apart
from the other. AS long as that holy
union obtained, all that was noblest and
best in our nation f1ourished. Right was
might. Liberty was sacred. The oath
was holy. The franchise was a precious
privilege. Position of public trust was
white and blue. waving over a free, in
dependent. God-loving people, was the
emblem of the nobest government ever
known in the history of man.
AS long as the people cherished the
memory of that time, the nation pros
pered and the future looked bright. When
we permitted the memory of 1t to fade
away, our decline of what is greatest and
best commenced. 1t is said that for three
hundred years after the battle of Their
mopylae every child in the public schools
of Greece was required to recite from
memory the names of the three hundred
martyrs who fell in the defense of that
pass. 1t Is also said that, when Greece
Ihermopylae 1t forgot its patriotism, and,
forgetting that, it became corrupt, and in
ITS corruption found it's grave.
Forgetting Source Of Inspiration.
Like unto the Greeks of old, we are
forgetting the source whence the
founders of our nation drew the in
spiration Of their patriotism, and, for
getting 1t, we are losing our patri-
otisn, and, losing that, our politics are
more and more becoming corrupt and
our morals more and more lax. We
have grown out of the habit of look
ing back with reverence to the found
erS of our nation, to them that came
in the Mayflower, that accompanie
William Penn, Roger Williams, Pas
torius and the others to the deep re-
ligious fervor. to their exalted ideal of
loyalty. to their rugged sense of right
and honor.
'Degeneracy and corruption tester
on the very surface of our nation.
Lines between right and wrong, be-
tween proper and improper, between
decent and Indecent, are becoming more
and more blurred. 1t is said that a
young woman recently appeared in a
style of undreSS SO conspicuous that
she was asked whether she had come
dressed for the opera or undressed for
an operation. Girls scarcely in their
ICC4io IiFdliitu ny DoyS VI the Same
age are allowed to stay out in weekly
sociables till past midnight. Mere boys,
who ought still to be under watchful
parents or teachers eyes, are permit
ted to sow wild oats, to poison the well
springs of their own lives, and, later,
those of others. Women vie with men
in public revelries, smoke and drink
with as little concern as if the very
foundation of the respect due to their
sex were not undermined by such vile
practices.
Greed puts even the most important
of the Ten Commandments to flight
What matters it that thousands OF in
nocent human beings are slain or Grip
pied, that the homes of thousands are
laid waste. so long as r.ch profits are
made by the manufacture and exporta-
ton of munitions of war? Unscrupu-
lous bosses run politics for gain; cor
rupt machines manipulate our elections
to their own advantage. Forgetful of
the origin of our nation, of the vast
ness of it's areas and resources, there
are those who, blinded by selfshness.
would deny asylum on our shores to
the needy and downtrodden from
among the peoples across the sea.