New-York tribune., 1919-03-10

! "The glory which the ministry offers
to the robust young man to-day is the
glory of fight" DR.. Fosdick's eyes
CLEANED He stepped forward just
pace. He showed his teeth Then he
brought them down upon his lower lip
as if he would bite right through.
There were few gestures. The few
were made with arms held close in to
the body. His palms occasionally were
outstretched; then the fingers were
turned in. He stood constantly upon
his toes. He nodded his head back
ward and forward and Sideways He
ttoyed with button on his coat. He
let his right hand go forward and
hastily readjusted his gown. The cid
conventions seemed q little difficult to
let go, despite his vision of the fighter
in the pulpit. The clutch at the gown
was betrayal. And the precision Of
speech, the choice diction, the studied
repress sion-these seemed Indicative of
man who might be fighting but was
not yet out in the open. Then, too,
the utter lack of emotionalsm seemed
TO belle the fighting spirit, for wars
are waGcd. whether in the souls of men
or on the field of battle because of tie
dynamic of great emotion.
Setting and Sermon Conflict
Yet the setting of that sermon and
the sermon itself. in sharp contrast,
bespoke real conflict.
In pew was former Governor Whit
man. BY his side and all around him
were men of great wealth and women
from the most substantial homes in
the city. And the preacher was speak
ing of the issues between capital and
labor The laborer is worthy of his
hlre, he declared. The CAPITALIST is
worthy Of the return upon his invest
ment. But the hire and the return
must be construed socially. Each must
contribute to the other The day is a
day OF readjustment of thought The
meeting ground must be found and
sides.
lie called to mind the spectre of
bolshevlsm and compared it to the old
superstition that the spirit of a giant
lay beneath Mount Etna and that when
Vne grant turned over an eruption took
place. The giant below the ground
to-day was Bolshevism and it turned
over when labor demanded too much
or capital gave too little
lie alluded to the league of nations
ana SAID that he was going to take ad-
vantage OF every opportunity to press
for its consummation as the noblest
80 Ni'iNii <AillCIlCd 0dQ ever en-
gagged. He told of the pictures that
had been drawn of the grandeur and
glory Of war. If it be true, he pointed
out, as some ministers have pro-
CLAIMED from their pulpits, that bless
lngs nave come out of the war. then
who shall say that this country is not
IN Germany's debt?
Product of War Is Ruin
"rhe product of war is dead men.
ravlshed women and mutilatcd chill
dren-and a debt that will prevent
some people from having for genera
tons even the bare necessities" This
was has reply to pulpit complaccncy
about the war.
Courage, and self-sacrifce he called
only the by-products of the strugrle.
The most must of made of them With
that understanding.
Speaking of the courage that had
been revealed DR.. Fosdick told of a
| little child who had been mortally
injured by falling piece of masonry
IN the Paris church shclled by a long
range gun on Good Friday.
The mother, who had lost her older
boy IN battle, gathered the little body
and laid it on the shrine of the Virgin.
She knelt beside it in deep PRAYER
AS the child expired she seemed to
hear him say: "Be of good cheer
mother |, too, die for France"
Story Only Buttressed Argument
Told by any other preacher, the story
might have caused distinct emotional
appeal. AS told by DR.. Fosdck it was
simply the buttressing OF his argument,
that out Of the grief and separations of
war there come the by-products of nt-
tunement with God, Of resignation, of
the spirit of sacrifice
His experience as a college preacher
in Yale, Cornell, Amherst and Prince
ton has had marked effect upon DR..
Fosdick's preaching. 1t accounts for
/ his complete lack Of emotionalism. In
the colleges he met the keencst young
minds Of the country. He met the
young men that were demanding to
know the why's and whcrcforcs. For
them he arraycd facts-stern facts.
The method he learned or acquired
through contact with them he has car
ried into his new pulpit.
In his "Atlantic Monthly" article DR..
Fosdick told Of the men at the front
who had passed through such vivid cx-
pcricnccs that they were not quite mr.
tculatc. In spite Of his precise speech,
in spite Of his wonderful flow OF Ian
guagc, he impressed some Of his hear
crs az If he, too, were not quite articu-
late yet. 1t is as If he had glimpsed
something something vast, something
for which men the world over have
been reaching 1t is as if he feared
lest he should undcrstate or ovcrstatc.
II L.. q L. hn u /