Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-10-27
INvINCIBLE POWER OF THE
SPIRIT

A MERICANS are a deeply religious
"A people. The outward evidence of the
facts is perhaps not apparent, nor
would church census reveal adequately
the sense Of indebtedness to Divine Provi-
dence which is ingrained in the being Of
our inhabitants. This is a country Of
miracles. A miracle discovered it, an
other miracle peopled it and its never
ending miracle is the melting-pot from
which pass into the American mold men
and women of all nationalities and all
antecedents. There is, too, the miracle
Of achievement, measured in part by
wealth, but more surely by national con-
tentment God takes care of children,
idiots and the United States" exclaimed
Mr.. Taft, who had more than once wit
messed the intervention of Divinity in the
progress of events. No child in all the
country studies his history books without
an Increasing appreciation Of the reliance
the nation has always placed on God and
His manifestations.
We are engaged in a. religious war.
There is no Peter the Hermit preaching
q crusade for the recovery of the Holy
Land, but steadily, as the eyes of human.
ity have been opened, the revelation has
come that the Hun conspiracy is the
negation of all things sacred in the Chris
tian era, defiance of the principles of
eyen pagan religions and the veritable
~abomination of desolaton. We shall have
to rewrite the text book of morality, re.
construct our code of ethics, abolish the
canons of tenderness. abjure charity and
substitute for the goals of the soul the
terrible idols of Mammon if Eaisersm
enforces its will on the rest of the world
1t is in fact, a war for the right to have
ideals, for the privilege of having poesy
in life, for the freedom of man to thrust
his intelligence into the infinite and give
his heart to truth.
Let it be assumed that marriage is the
very cornerstone of our civilization, that
the sanctity of womanhood and the In
tegrity of motherhood constitute the
Foundation of society as we know it,
What has the march of the Germans
been but a saturnalia of sexual debauch.
cry? In their retreat they carry with
them the potential motherhood Of France,
and they desecrate it as they have desc.
Grated the temples of the Lord.
Not since Nerxes drove his luxurious
armies to the gates of Athens has the
Integrity of the world been so threatened.
and kept the faith they professed The
Hun, forebear of the German that takes
his name. did not back his cruelty with
Inventive genius and the paraphernalia
of science. The world has known decisive
battles, but never war waged against
the very soul of humanity as this one is
1t is, indeed, a fight against prayer because
the theory underlying the conspiracy was
based on a belief in the invincibilty of
might and the impossibility of interfer-
ence by supernatural power. Yet France
stopped the Juggernaut at the Marne. Do
men say there is no God?
Tomorrow has been set aside by the
President as day Of prayer. 1t is one
of the significant developments Of the
war that this mightiest of nations should
question its own authority unless sane
toned by Divinity. We do believe that
nation on its knees is a nation that
cannot be defeated. We do believe that
prayer is a mightier power than any yet
brought to bear in Europe. We urge
therefore. that AL the people Of this com
nnunity accept the Presidents Injunction
meet tomorrow in their several houses of
worship and join in the national supplica.
iion for divine aid in this titanic struggle
10 maintain the ideals and the concepts
which are in danger Of ruthless destruc.
tion at the hands of disciplined destroyers
In a war for the sanctity Of religion
We can afford to pray.