The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1918-02-14

| ioSS ol lives oh IIle transport IuS-
| cania, which was delivered Sunday
night last by Rev. DR.. Webber. al
| the First Christian church. Manv
inquiries have been made for an ex-
] tract, and for the benefit of all con
/ cerned, part of the address is
printed herewith. This extract fol-
lows:
| Sermon on Tuscania.
We meet here tonight to conduct a
| memorial service for the brave men
! who went down to sudden death at
the sinking of the Tuscania. Our
J text is found in Ps. 1916. He sent
from above. He drew me out of rnany
waters. He delivered me from my
strong enemy.
In the noble psalm from which the
text is taken the keynote is praise
for Gods deliverance. The warrior
King David was encompassed by
| powerful foes. AS the natural man
would estimate strength, the enemies
were too strong for him. He ac-
knowledged his weakness, yet he I'M
dertook the conflict in Gods strength
and out of the struggle, the turmoil,
the seemingly doubtful issue came
victory, because God entered the con-
flict on David's side. So David
sings, l will love Thee, o God, my
strength, in whom l will trust. The
Lord is my rock and fortress, and
my deliverer. Militant souls, like
the great Protector Cromwell, often
have turned to this psalm.
We know the purpose of our meet
ing. The sanctuary is turned into
place of mourning. We seek to get
into spiritual, sympathetic touch
with those homes where the shutters
are closed, where father and mother,
brother and sister, wife or sweet,
heart sit in the shadows mourning
for the dear one dead. We would
enter into their sorrow for our good
as well as theirs for saith Holy
Writ, 1T is good sometimes to be in
the house of mourning, to weep with
those who weep.
Great voices are speaking to the
world today. The sinking of the
Tuscania is a voice heard around the
world. 1t is trumpet call to
America from Hudson Bay to Cape
Horn. Mourn as we do most heart
lily and sincerely for those brave
young men whose bodies were washed
up from the sea upon the Irish
coast, and for those not found, Gov
cred, wrapped in the great, green
shroud of the sea, we still need such
terrible lesson to awaken us out of
a complacency, numbness, an
apathy, already harmful to our
cause beyond measure, and already
actually imperilling it.
From million pulpits tonight
there ought to go forth this word:
1t is high time to awake out of sleep.
1t is the height of wisdom to cease
to assume that we will win this war
anyhow and someway. 1t is strenuous
serious business we have in hand. But
we have not learned our lesson. We
hear the great voices as in a dream.
Greater voices are yet to speak. Soon
after the overturning of thrones.
and the fury of man is spent. we
shall hear a great voice sounding
come the kingdom of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ and he shall
reign forever and ever.
l know there is sorrow deep and
sincere in our hearts for the I'M
known lost, the pride, the strength,
the flower of our nation They are
incurred and their memory is hon
ored in every hamlet in our land to-
night But shall there nothing come
of this beyond downcast faces, sor-
rowing words and idle tears? I say
God forbid! There shall be more pa
triots as a result of this, million
young men shall spring to the de-
tense of the flag, million young
women shall offer their ministry of
mercy, and millions shall arise to
their strong support.
Shall we be among them? I trust
so. l believe it. Then what shall
we do?
In the first place we ought to alb
stain from destructive criticism of
the administration and the soldier.
There is a cheap and contemplate
brood of politicians in our land who
would rather win the offices than
win this war. They should be made
to feel the strong pressure not only
of national but of our personal dis
pleasure The government in the
face of unexampled difficulties has,
on the whole, done well. Help make
its burdens lighter. Remember that
a merecritic is a total failure.
Secondly: Spend your money for
right things. God is good to our ma
ton. Look across the water and see
what is the condition there, and then
thank God you are an American.
Spendthrifts and MASTERS in an hour
like this are criminals. 1t is not all
a question of absorbing bond issues.
1t is more a question of practicing
Spartan virtues. Can we and will
we deny inordinate appetites? Can
we and will we forego harmful lusts?
We must put ourselves and our fam
lilies under discipline. If we do not
submit to United States discipline
we will submit to German Kultur.
Take your choice.
Thirdly: Help the boys in every
way you can. Help them specially
by keeping harmful things from
them. If you put temptations in their
way you are helping Germany. Booze
and prostitution are submarines that
will sink every boy they can touch.