Show MISSiON Of THE NATION Dr Iliff Speaks on Growth of the Country iII ADVANCE LIBERTYS CAUSE I History of Freedom Sketched and tho Convulsions Through Which America Hns Passed in Securing1 tho Greatest Blessings of Liberty Discussed Tho New Problems that Confront tho CountryThe Greatness Great-ness of the Nation Through Gjjri ous Deeds i Dr T C r I1C spoke at lIlt church last night oti The Mission of Greater America the Spirit and March of Liberty I Lib-erty the Safety and Gory of the Ro publlc 1 > Dr lllft piefaccd his address by saying that he believed in the full est individual liberty in matters of religion re-ligion and politics that when anyone I paid to him that his l church was to save the world he could not accept It andS and-S that when anyone said that his party and his alone could save the country he discredited that statement also He believed J to be the duty of every S American citizen to be with some political polit-ical party but the choice of that party should be left to the free judgment of everyone Dr Iliff then said The four greatest events of American Ameri-can history since Its J discovery by Columbus Co-lumbus first the I are landing of the S pilgrim fathers Thin gave to civil and I rciiglous llbfrty n chance Second the 1 farmers shot at Jxlngton This served 3 notice on the Old Wftrld that the New World could do and A dare and die Third the firing of Fort SUmter This I demonstrated to the world that the American Republic free and entire should not perish from the earth I Fourth the blowing up of the Maine This unified the Saxon race ud > expanded ex-panded lib mission of civil and rollS j roll-S gious liberty around the globe S CORNERSTONES OF REPUBLIC l I I The four cornerstones upon which rests the Republic are religion patriotIsm patriot-Ism home and Intelligence Time will not allow me to discuss these separately separ-ately The two mighty pillars that must sustain the fabric of the Republic Repub-lic arc The true spirit and march of 1 1 civil and rcliglous liberty The two are Inseparable They are not of human origin They came from God They k were born at Bethlehem They took dual form in the father hood of God and the brotherhood oman S o-man No such Ideas hitherto had S dawned upon the race The Clew called thl Samaritan a dog and the Greek inc I In-c turn called the Jew a barbarian Even Athens whosE temples shone with splendor whose marble almost breathed under the touch of Phidias whose birds pecked at tho grapes of p Apelles and whose academic groves J weie vocal with the hum of bees the philosophy of Aristotle and the tragedies S trage-dies 1 of Sophocles Proud Athens with all her unbapticd learning eloquence I philosophy art and civilization could say no more than this There arc three things for which I thank all the Gods First that I am a reasoning ill eieature and ijot a brute second that 1 I am a Greek and not a barbarianS barbarian-S third that I am a man and not a woman wo-man The crowning glory of liberty I Is that therc Is neither Jew nor Gentile Greek nor barbarian bond nor free male nor female The struggle of the race for the supremacy of such Immortal Im-mortal ideas has been long and hard They have had contend with priest w and king warrior mid prophet state and church nobility and aristocracy 1 position and wealth but running S through all the dark past there is a L bright chain of destiny leading up to lone goal civil and religious liberty s finding I resting place at last on PlY moth Rock For the sake of our faith I and hope let Us review briefly PROGRESS OF LIBERTY On June 5 121fi King John of Eng q land signed the Magna Charter which has been considered by all succeeding A1i ages as the basis of English liberties and to which event America in part owes the germs of her Independence I On May Ii3 H98 Savonarola was hanged burned and his ashes flung into l the Arno but after 100 years the liberty lib-erty for which he was a martyr hastens hast-ens to perpetuate and honor his memory mem-ory To one of the most beautiful squares rln Florence they have given the name not of a kinglut whom they woujd honor nor yet of a pope whom they would reverence but Savonarola On the apot where he was hanged and burned they have erected a fountain of which all Italy may well be proud I and In front of St Grccla a monument I to his nipmory which i OI Italy gladly I I contributed In the sixteenth century when tho murderous Inquisition had iJ crushed out the hopes of all southern 5 Europe and had reached as far north S n the Netherlands the obscure William t Wil-liam of Orange and his Beggars of the Sea hurled the legions of Alva back over the plains and broke the yoke of proud Philip of Spain that the Dutch republic might become another light of liberty at which America lbrty n century cen-tury later should light her torch ADVENT OF CROMWELL i In 1C 10 the wanton and cruel Charles sj I of England summoned his Parliament Ll Parlia-ment for the last time to do hlu bidding i bid-ding Among the members appeared a i mysterious personage sent up from rJ Bedford he Isjlcscrlbcd as wearing 0 plain threadbare suit made by a country S coun-try tailor a slouch hat without band I and a sword stuck close to his side If Someone Inquired of Hampton who II that sloven Was his reply was prophetic pro-phetic That slowm whom you see there if we rfhould ever come to a breach with the King which God forbid for-bid will be the greatest man In England Eng-land The crisis soon came and under un-der the flashing sword and fervid ole quence of that sloven the peoples battle L I bat-tle cry of God and Liberty rang out over the bloOdy fields of Marston Moor il nnd Dunbar and Oliver Cromwell became tt be-came the hero of the English common 1 people and an Inspiration to the pilgrim l 3 l pil-grim fathers Two hundred and eighty years ago a small company of men left i the oppressions of the Old World and Vi landing upon these shores began the conquest of the New World on the principles il prin-ciples of liberty and cqunl rights for all men I vas not an accident but a Is rosiilt I wus the working out by l mighty forces through many centuries tin problem of selfgovernment The S time the country and the noble courage f of its friends gave to libertyafter ages 5 of defeat this Immortal victory I is truo that seeds of liberty were afted to us from Holland and England Eng-land but they took root undor our f free sky pure air and virgin ioll and S we cent back and Bowed through all Europe the same blessed truths which emancipated us Of the same character il char-acter of this long line of historic events IH that sublime declaration of J our fathers We therefore the representatives S rep-resentatives of the United States of America In general Congre assembled I as-sembled appealing to the Supreme Judge of tho world for the rectitude of our Intentions do In the name and E by the authority of the god people of those united colonies soleninly publish and declare that these colonies are I and o right ought to be free and Independent States More fully than any other body that had ever assembled as-sembled did the first irontlnental Congress represent the victories won from arbitrary power for human liberty Of the same character as this long line of historic events was the war for lnt Union and liberty In 1SCOG5 I was the crowning act of all preceding struggles for liberty I was the consummation con-summation of eighteen centuries the fruition o hopes long anticipated I refer to that struggle not to awaken sail or bitter memories of which some of us are too familiar but to show the bend In tho stream of history and impress lessons that must not be forgotten for-gotten For when the sons of God came to present themselves before the t Lord Satan came also among them amonS themTWO TWO ANTAGONISTIC TYPES I In the wonderful growth of the American Republic two antagonistic I I types of civilization vied with each k other for supremacy They were born antagonists and conflict between them I was Irrepressible The one type started from Jamestown and spread along I the southern shore of the Atlantic I over the sunlit fields of the South bearing upon its aristocratic coatof arnis the emblems of the imperious I cavaliers of Charles I from whom b they delighted to trace their origin J I through the first families of Virginia I and yoked to their slow car of progress I pro-gress was the groaning engine of human slavery The other type of civilization leaped I from the deck of the Mayflower to Plymouth Rock unfurled Its banner of freedom and began Its conquest of the New World with God and Liberty I as the battle cry I swept along the coast of the Northern Atlantic to Man I hat tan Island where among the Dutch settlers the spirit of William the SileH had been planted THIS TRIUMPHANT HOST carried as their coatofarms The peoples inalienable rights of life I liberty and the pursuit of happiness Their political gods were free thought I ice wpcech fiee press free labor free schools and free ballot They bore as their credentials the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man Their number Increased so rapidly that in I860 the population of the free States had reached over nineteen millions lions The leaders of the South had sought to meet this overwhelming food of freedom hosts First they clothed themselves with a representation I representa-tion In Congress based upon a ratio of I their slaves Then they passed the Fugitive Slave law Then came the I Kansas struggle and the repeal of the J I Missouri compromise and finally the contemplated changes in the Constitution Constitu-tion by which slavery should be a national as liberty Dark times wore upon us from 1S50 to 1860 when it looked as if God intended to break this Nation in pieces to teach the world the terrible guilt of human bondage I was only a boy of from 10 to 13 hut I had drunk in the love of liberty and from the day my mOther gave me birth my soul was on lire for the freedom of the black man ELECTION OF LINCOLN In the great contest that resulted In seating of Stephen A Douglas in the United States Senate Mr Lincolns challenge was a summons to battle A house divided against itself he said cannot stand I believe this Go eminent cannot endUe permanent ly half slave and half free r do not expect the Union to be dissolved I do not expect the house to fall but I do expect that It will cease to be divided 1 On this Issue was fought the Presidential Presi-dential campaign of 1SCO Memorable year I illustrious names Sumner of Massachusetts Dlx of New York Cur tin of Pennsylvania Chase of Ohio Morton of Indiana and Yates of Illinois Illi-nois In november of that year the people asserted their will at the ballot box and by ISO votes out of 303 in the electorial college God and liberty placed the Invincible wand of power in the hands of that incomparable and Incorruptible patriot and statesman Abraham Lincoln Those whom the bds would destroy they first make mad The South recklessly began to lire on the Stars and Stripes that waved above grim walls of brae old Fort Sumtert I vividly l recall that Sunday morning April 12 1SC1 I was only a boy of fifteen years but I had drunk in the love of liberty from the day that my mother gave me birth and 1 do not remember an hour in those dark days when my soul was not on lire for the freedom of the black man I had been taught that my countrys flag of stars represented all that was glorious and enduring in the country Itself and that nab lived upon THE CIVIL WAR The North was slow to comprehend the Impending crisis but l it was soon made clear by Piesidcnt Lincoln In his first call for 75000 troops I appeal lie said to all loyal citizens to favor facilitate and aid this effort tb maintain honor the Integrity and existence of our national Union and the perpetuity of popular government I and to redress wrongs already long enough endured My comrades lo that call you responded and the munlcr in song was taken up all over the S North Wo aro gathering from the East Wo arc gathering from tho rC Shouting tho battle cry of freedom The Almighty permitted that struggle to wage for four dreadful years He permitted a million men to lay down their lives and twelve thousand thou-sand millions of property to be lost and destroyed But by l these terrible tacrlflces union and liberty were fI ever enthroned In the hearts of the oJ American people Secession and slavery forever burlel In ho same grave And one country and one flag became the pride and glory of North and South alike FOUNDATION FOR FUTURE Thus far I have sponken of the past The spirit and glory of that magnlfl1 ecu1 past ought to be the foundation uppn which we will build for all time The Union must and shall be preserved pre-served When Lee surrenderc1 to Grant at Appomattox courthouse thirtyfive years ago It was doter mIned that this American Republic from Plymouth Rock to the Golden Gate from where the waters of the great northern lakes dash < hem cle8 over Niagara to where tho father of waters rolls onward beneath the tropical I tropi-cal sun shall forever constitute Ontu country under one flag When the war began four millions of human beings were held In bondage I was Lincoln who said certainly the black man is not our equal in color and perhaps I nut hi many other respects still In his right to put in his own mouth the bread that he earns with his own hands he i O J equal to any other man black or white On January 1 1863 this great war President Lsaued I the Proclamation of Emancipation whereby where-by the seal of liberty was placed upon up-on these millions of slaves The contraband con-traband of war became a free man n soldier and a citizen and heniutjl forever for-ever be protected in all his rights In every part of this Union or God will wi break to pieces this Nation to teach uo the awful crime of nullification WORLDWIDE INFLUENCE There Is one more act In the development develop-ment of universal liberty The blowing up of tho Maine was the herald of the coronation of Americas worldwide Influence I In-fluence und of Gods worldwide liberty For thirty years p acc had been the happy possession of our reunited Republic Re-public A new generation had been born and reared since Appomattox and the scars of 1SGL and 3865 were fast disappearing dis-appearing All outward signs Indicate that the Republic was content with A union of 1iiko a union of landH A union of States that none could ever A union of hearts a union of hands Ard thu Mug of our union forever But the American spirit was not lobe locked up between Plymouth Rock and the Golden Gate Niagara Falls and the delta of the Mississippi The seeds of liberty that had been waflcd to our Hhorcs und had expanded from ocean to ocean and from tho lakes to tho Gulf had also been borne across the South I AUantlr to our nearest neighbor Jtibu and with pitying wall fhe oppressed cried day and night Come over and I help us Could we tie indifferent to such appeals and still be libertyloving Americans Could we be contented to see I people Inspired by the same spirit ns were our fathers outraged robbed and driven from their homes I such had been the spirit and policy of the great Republic It would have been fitting that Bunker Hill monument monu-ment be hurled into theseanml I mouth Rock washed by the tides Into I I mldocean Lexington and Valley Forge Gettysburg and Shermans march to the sea pass from the memory of our children But a united Republic did I not misjudge its duty Her song quickly quick-ly manifested the spirit of their ajres and to the call of our corrjmandriln chief urged on by the Congress the descendantsof those whT > 3vorQHJthto blue and gray followed a Shatter and u Wheeler to Immortal fame at San Juan and El Caney while Dewey and Schley served notice on the Old World that American valor and genius were as great on sea as on land WORK IN THE PHILIPPINES I was not an accident but n rcnull that our ships sailed into Manila liar bor May 1 1898 and planted the Stars and Stripes on Fort Cavlte I wa tho working out by divine guidance Gods proclamation J of civil and religlpus liberty throughout thu world and toni to-ni the inhabitants thereof I shall not here and now discuss the Philippine problem This however I will say that wherever our flag and our aoldleia go there my sympathy my prayers 1 and my support go I It Is a question between the brave boys doing their I sworn duty on the Islands or Aguinal I do and his rebel Insurgents shooting I them down I am with the comrades i every lime I it is a question between 1 the President of tho United Stales doing do-ing a duty Imposed upon him by his loath and by Congress or the malcontents I malcon-tents and dlstuibcrs at home duty as j I see it compels me to stand by the President and tho Congress I Bear with me In closing while I sum up in a few words the four great events 1 of American history referred to at the outset First the unfurling of the banner ban-ner of liberty at Plymouth ROck never to be hauled down second the farmers shot at Lexington which still echoes round the world third the grim walls of brave old Fort Sumter on which was written in blood The Union must and shal be preserved fourth the blowIng I blow-Ing up of the Maine which as Bishop Fowler has said was an eyeopener to us and soon to all I the world Come what might we must fight to the finish We went up In the air and came down cown everywhere toto stay In the march of liberty God has expanded us from Massachusetts bay to the waters of China Back In the forties Thomas D Benton United States Senator from Missouri pleading for l Pacific railroad rail-road pointed toward the setting sun and shouted In the Senate See there gentlemen there Is the east Let us maintain the open door and prevent tho dismemberment of China and hold the Philippine islands then will the far East furnish a market for our over productions and tho greatest missionary mission-ary field for civil and religious liberty and America become the richest and greatest nation in the world |