The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-11-14

last night, on the occasion OF Thanks
sang Rejoice Greatly" from 'Thc N
patriotic anthems
Text. Sam, 3 "a: "DnGon was fallen
! upon his face to the ground before
/ the ark of the Lord; and the head OF
| Dagon and both the palms OF his
! hands were cut of from the thres-
] hold; only the stump of Dagon was
: left 10 him"
On the eleventh day of the eleventh
month at II O'Clock. French time. hos
Utilities ended in the war with Germany.
Monday was the most mcmentous day
/ since the birth of Christ. For more
than four years the most expensive,
sanguinary and atrocious war of his
tory has ragged on land and sea and in
the air. The cost surpasses the tabu-
lated expenditures in all previous wars.
The slain approximate 10000. 900; the
wounded, is.0o0,o 600. The atrocities of
tho kaiser and his crew would ent1tle
Attila the Hun TO a crown. 1t Is ap-
propriate that reverent people should
assemble In their places of worship to
express thanks and ascribe glory to
God, who giveth us the victory
Through our Lord Jesus Christ"
The agony IS done, the darkness over;
Evil that burned and ravaged dies at
last:
The beast with bloody mouth has run
to cover:
The hosts OF light are marching far
and fast"
Our rejoicing Is Ill the greater be-
cause of the nearness which the al
lies came 10 disaster The allies are
like one who was sick long and unto
death, who looked into the open grave
4 who called upon Cod for help and
was heard ard healed But, just as
soon as after extreme illness the seri-
Gus thoughts of the sick room tend
TO bo effaced from memory, 50 today
some are unmindful of the tense mo
Iments, the anxious hours, the porten-
tous days the melancholy months
from March to July.
IF 1t had not been the Lord who
was on our side when men rose up
against us. then they had swallowed
us up quick when their @wra IN was
kindied against US: Then the waters
had overwhelmed us, the stream had
gone over our soul, Then the proud
waters had gone over our soul Bless
ed be the Lord. who hath not given
us prey to their teeth. Our soul is
escaped as a bird out of the snare of
the fowlcrs: the snare ia broken and
we are escaped. our help is in the
name of the Lord, who made heaven
and earth" Psalm 124:2-S. Our hearts
should be fountains of gratitude and
our lips gates of praise to the God
who preserved us in adversely, deliv-
cred us in the day Of trouble, and set
us on the hill of victory.
| We're Sorrlv Tried
! Down deep in the hearts of many
| Of us was the belief that the God
whom we worship could not approve
the practices or bless the arms Of the
Hapshurgs and Hohenzollerns. Al
times that faith was sorely tried and
we were made to vfonder how long
we would have to he purified by suf-
fering for Him to reward us with
triumph. After we had suffered more
than one hundred thousand casualties
God said, you. too, are chastened with
your allies and the plague shall be
stayed ana Israel delivered"
! Dagon had fallen before the ark OF
God. his worshippers have deserted
him; the hand of the Lord is heavy
upon them of Germany.
1t was the conviction of the justice
and the righteousness of the allied
cause that preserved their solidarity,
promoted their purr ose ana assured
their ultimate triumph. The contrasts
hntMeen- the- defeated rt4leFs-e LReu-
mania, Serbia and Belgium on the one
I, lfFss4 ataff ~ I'm 4 t.sss.tstsr "a md
81 *sersnany, on the other are striking.
though her country was despoiled and
!, her land was under the oppressors
heel, stood erect and defiant in the
: armor OF Righteousness and refused
to submit or assent to the harsh treaty
enforced upon her country. The
hearts of her people beat in unison
with hers and mt the first opportunity
they asserted their resistance.
King Peter OF Serbia driven fron
| his capital and with every foot OF hi
little kingdom occupied by the enc
my set up his court an island @,
the sea and when all that he loved
and ruled seemed wreck, retained
the confidence and loyalty OF his beat
en- and scattered subjects.
King Albert OF Belgium, his land
in ruins. his people dead or worse thar
dead, kept alive the soul Of Belgium
and ruled the remnant in the CON
fidence that the night would pass and
the day would dawn. These sovereigns
knew that,
Truth crushed to earth shall rise
again
The eternal years of God are hers:
, But error wounded writhes in
And died among her worship
pers"
What Difference:
How vast the difference with the
rulers of the central powers, The
king Of Bulgaria abdicated immediate.
ly after his armies are defeated. The
emperor Of Austria Indicates and
seeks a refuge in Switzerland after his
armistice is signed. The kaiser. with
his eldest son, flecs from his owr
people to Holland la search OF safety
There with memory. IL not remorse
to torment him he is a spectacle oil
misery. Boris, Charles and William
the second were seized and appalled,
by something that made them cow
ards under circumstances not sc
trying as those In which the Rouman-
ian queen, the Serbian and Belgian
kings walked erect amid the ruins OF
their kinsdeHfs.- supported by the
consciousness Of their own integrity
and the devotion OF their afflicted
people.
History In the retrospect Is truly
His story" We can see how an all
powerful all-wise providence was over
1 all and made all things work together
for good. At every great crisis in hui
man affairs God has appeared. He
opened the Red Sea and allowed the
people OF. Israel to pass over drysho cd
and He cflgulfed the Egyptians In the
whclmng food. He lengthaned the
dav and ~frenpf heued the arm ri