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    May 5, 1898

    “Editorial” American Sentinel 13, 18, p. 273.

    ATJ

    THE “force” which represents Christianity is the Holy Spirit.AMS May 5, 1898, page 273.1

    THE blood that counts in the Christian warfare is the blood of Christ.AMS May 5, 1898, page 273.2

    THE best protective armor that was ever devised is the “shield of faith.”AMS May 5, 1898, page 273.3

    NO law of man ever contributed to the stability of the government of heaven.AMS May 5, 1898, page 273.4

    THE best declaration of independence is an acknowledgment of dependence on God.AMS May 5, 1898, page 273.5

    THERE is tremendous power in a thirteen-inch shell, fired from a modern navy cannon; but there is infinitely great power in one word of God.AMS May 5, 1898, page 273.6

    THE church is about the only body of intelligent people in civilized lands who cannot see that the future of the world is dark with the clouds of war.AMS May 5, 1898, page 273.7

    IF God cannot preserve the Sabbath in the earth without the aid of civil governments, it is because he cannot preserve Christians; for Christians always observe the Sabbath.AMS May 5, 1898, page 273.8

    YOU cannot appreciate the Sabbath unless you appreciate God; and you cannot appreciate God so long as you think you must the help of an earthly power to enable you to do right.AMS May 5, 1898, page 273.9

    THE giant of war has at last been roused from his slumbers, and he does not mean to go to sleep again until he has imposed a heavy task upon civilization.AMS May 5, 1898, page 273.10

    “THE Sabbath was made for man,” and when God had finished making it for man he gave it to man—to every man. And what is needed now is not more of the gift, but more people to accept the gift and appreciate it.AMS May 5, 1898, page 273.11

    “‘Peaceful’ War” American Sentinel 13, 18, pp. 273, 274.

    ATJ

    WAR is a terrible thing; and it was never more terrible than it is and must be to-day, by reason of the deadly elements with which modern science has supplied it. Appreciating this fact, but convinced that hostilities are a necessity of the situation, the Government is conducting a “peaceful” blockade of Cuban ports, the commanders of the naval forces having been instructed not to fire into the cities nor against the forts of the enemy. A blockade of course means the cutting off of supplies, with the object of forcing the enemy to choose between starvation and surrender.AMS May 5, 1898, page 273.1

    But wherein is it worse to kill people by a bombardment than to kill them by starvation? Starvation is a lingering form of death, and attacks every individual in the beleaguered place, while a bombardment would at the worst be short and would leave many of the inhabitants uninjured. There can we think be no question but that a bombardment is more merciful to a city than a “peace” blockade, when the blockade is, as it is meant to be, effective.AMS May 5, 1898, page 273.2

    No, Mr. President; you cannot conduct war in a peaceful manner. War—if it is war in fact—is the opposite of peace, everywhere and always. There is no use trying to make real war by Christian and humane methods. Such methods do not apply to real war at all, and the attempt to unite things so incongruous can only make it worse in the end. “You can no more conduct a war on benevolent principles than you can let a gun go off easy.”AMS May 5, 1898, page 273.3

    “A Christian Duty” American Sentinel 13, 18, p. 274.

    ATJ

    FOR two years or more the Cuban “reconcentrados” have been dying of starvation in the cities whither they were sent by the decree of the Spanish general Weyler. They are still dying from the same cause, and we are told that the American people have a Christian duty to perform in the matter.AMS May 5, 1898, page 274.1

    Now is it s Christian duty to relieve distress, certainly. It is a Christian’s duty to deal his bread to the hungry; there can be no doubt about that. And it is his duty to do this under all circumstances. If he has bread to give, he is to give it to those who are perishing for the lack of it, knowing that such is the will of God, and trusting in God to enable him to perform that will, and to take care of the results.AMS May 5, 1898, page 274.2

    But what did the people of this country do in performance of this plain Christian duty toward their fellow-beings in Cuba during the two years following General Weyler’s decree? That a little was done, we do not doubt; but it was only a little It was not enough to prevent the death of hundreds of thousands of the women and children who were the victims of Weyler’s cruelty. Plainly, they left their Christian duty in this matter unperformed.AMS May 5, 1898, page 274.3

    It may be said that they could not do this; the Spanish forces would not permit it. But who knows that they would not? Perhaps they wouldn’t, when supplies of food were to be sent in ships of war. Spain did object to that, and quite naturally. But would Spain do not have permitted the Christian people of this country to feed the starving Cubans in a peaceable manner? There is no proof that she would not. Miss Clara Barton, we are told, testifies that the work of the Red Cross Society in Cuba was not hindered by the Spanish forces, and that the food brought and stored by the society for the Cubans was not disturbed by the Spanish troops.AMS May 5, 1898, page 274.4

    The Christian people of this country might have fed the suffering people of Cuba in a Christian way, and thus have discharged a plain Christian duty and have received a blessing from the God of mercy. Of this we do not believe there can be a particle of doubt.AMS May 5, 1898, page 274.5

    But is it not a marvelous thing that these Christian people, having failed for two years to discern this Christian duty, now discover that it is their Christian duty to relieve the suffering in Cuba by fighting the Spanish! And what seems chiefly to have impressed this duty upon them was the blowing up of the battleship “Maine.”AMS May 5, 1898, page 274.6

    The carnal mind can quite readily discover “Christian duty,” when it is something to be performed in a carnal way.AMS May 5, 1898, page 274.7

    “The War, and the Result” American Sentinel 13, 18, pp. 274, 275.

    ATJ

    WHAT events will follow as a result of the outbreak of war between this Government and Spain, are as yet matters of conjecture; but there is one result which it requires no supernatural vision to foresee. It is one which the nations have already foreseen, and which is giving them no small concern. It is the development of militarism in the United States.AMS May 5, 1898, page 274.1

    Whether this country wins or loses in the contest will not be a matter of so much consequence to this country and to the world as will the development of the military power in this country which the war must inevitably bring.AMS May 5, 1898, page 274.2

    For be it remembered that the situation to day is governed by vastly different circumstances from those which prevailed at the time of the contest between North and South. At the end of that war the great armies which had been called into the field melted quickly and easily away into the general body of civilians engaged in the peaceful pursuits of life, and so far as the military power was concerned, there was soon little evidence remaining that the nation had fought one of the greatest wars in modern history. But the ascendancy of the military power to day would not be followed by a like result.AMS May 5, 1898, page 274.3

    The world is dominated to-day by the war spirit to an extent that was not dreamed of thirty years ago. For years Europe has been a great armed camp, and the peace of the world has been in unstable equilibrium. The nations, in reaching out under the impulse given by advancing science, exploration, and the desire for colonial extension, have come into closer contact with each other; so that a move on the part of any one of them is liable to cause a serious disturbance. There has come to be a “balance of power”; that is, the military power of Europe is balanced, and as every person knows, it requires no great thing to upset things when they are evenly balanced. Let something be added to one scale, or taken from it, and the balance is upset at once.AMS May 5, 1898, page 274.4

    And this “balance of power” really extends over the whole civilized world. For in these days of swift travel and intercommunication, even the broad expanse of ocean does not isolate the affairs of one nation from those of others. The interests of the nations of the Old World are in intimate contact with those of the American republic; they touch the shores of every nation of the Western hemisphere. And a disturbance on this side of the Atlantic may easily be of such proportions as to throw the balance of power out of its present equilibrium and necessitate a readjustment which could only come after a fearful expenditure of life and treasure.AMS May 5, 1898, page 274.5

    It is stated—and there is every reason to credit it—that the real reason why the threatened “concert of Europe” against the United States was not put into effect, was that the Powers of Europe feared that such a step would so arouse the military spirit in this country that Americans would not be satisfied until they had built a navy which would be one of the most formidable in the world. The Powers fear that they will have to reckon with this nation, not only in maintaining their possessions in American waters, but in pursuing their policy of dividing up the rest of the world between themselves; and there is certainly ground for their apprehensions. Hence they are most unwilling to see the United States become a power which could back up any of its demands by a tremendous armament on the seas.AMS May 5, 1898, page 275.1

    Already it is beginning to be talked that as an outgrowth of the present state of things, the near future will see an alliance between England, the United States, and Japan, which will entirely upset the present balance of power throughout the world. An alliance between nations of a common origin, language and religion is only naturally to be expected in the face of hostility from other powers; while force of circumstances has put Japan where she may be looked upon as a probable third party in such a compact.AMS May 5, 1898, page 275.2

    But most significant of all is the fact that the United States itself is beginning to favor a departure from the traditional policy of keeping aloof from the affairs of other nations. That was the policy urged upon the Government by Washington, when the nation started out upon its career as an independent power. That policy, it is now said, was good while the nation was in its infancy and needed to give its attention to the development of its own territory; but—and this is said by men in positions of influence—it was not meant to be the policy of the nation for all time; and the time has now come when the United States should assert its position among the nations, and take a part in the dividing up of the territory of the earth.AMS May 5, 1898, page 275.3

    This policy is being advocated to-day; this sentiment is growing, and it is growing rapidly. And these things being so, it is evident that whatever may be the events of the war, the outcome will be one which will vitally affect the interests of the nation, and of the world. For, at the least, the war will greatly stimulate the military sentiment which is already too prevalent in the land, as witness the “Boys’ Brigades” which are a common feature of the public—and even of the church—schools. It must greatly stimulate the growth of the navy, and the tendency to an alliance with some one or more of the Powers of Europe. In short, its direct tendency must be to join this nation with the military powers of the Old World in a general melee of war and strife for which the nations have long been in arms, and which is set down in prophecy as the final catastrophe of the world.AMS May 5, 1898, page 275.4

    “Archbishop Ireland Is Going to Explain” American Sentinel 13, 18, pp. 275, 276.

    ATJ

    ARCHBISHOP IRELAND has publicly announced that he is going to “make a public reply to the attacks made upon him.” By “the attacks made upon” him, he means what has been said upon his and the pope’s meddling with the affairs of the United States, and their manipulating the President, and making a Punch-and-Judy show of Congress. He says that when he does come out, “The publication of his letter will be timely.”AMS May 5, 1898, page 275.1

    Yet, with this preliminary announcement of what he is going to do, he takes occasion to explain at considerable length why he did what he has already done, and to tell a good deal of what he expects to do. And in this there are some points worth considering.AMS May 5, 1898, page 275.2

    He says that when the pope wanted to use his “good offices for the preservation of peace, it became necessary that some one in Washington should be in a position to send him hourly bulletins, if necessary, of the attitude of the Admistration [sic.].”AMS May 5, 1898, page 275.3

    Of course for anybody to do that, he would have to be in the very inner circles of the councils of the Administration. He says that the papal delegate “Martinelli was first selected for this place,” but that “he decline to act, upon the ground that he could not possibly have any standing at the White House, being merely an ecclesiastical representative of the Vatican.” And lo! when one who was “merely an ecclesiastical representative of the Vatican,” could not act, because he was that, then one who was an ecclesiastical representative of the Vatican was chosen to act because he was that—and more.AMS May 5, 1898, page 275.4

    Martinelli could not act because, being “merely an ecclesiastical representative of the Vatican,” he could not possibly have any standing at the White House. Then the thing is shifted and an ecclesiastical representative of the Vatican is chosen who can have such standing at the White House, as to be able to send hourly bulletins of the Administration. In other words, in order to get in his work, the pope must have an agent, a representative, in the inner circle of the Administration; Martinelli did not have the qualifications; and Archbishop Ireland did have the qualifications; therefore Archbishop Ireland was chosen.AMS May 5, 1898, page 275.5

    But what were these qualifications that adapted Archbishop Ireland for a position that the apostolic delegate could not fill. The archbishop tells us. And here they are: “It was then determined that the close and cordial friendship which existed between Archbishop Ireland and President McKinley and his whole cabinet, joined to the fact that he is an eminent American citizen, made him a fit instrument through which negotiations could be conducted.”AMS May 5, 1898, page 275.6

    Now ecclesiastically President McKinley is a Methodist. How is it that there exists such a “close and cordial friendship” between a Roman Catholic ecclesiastic and him, as to gain for that ecclesiastic a position and knowledge that would enable him to send “hourly bulletins of the attitude of the Administration”? How is this, when it is perfectly certain that there is not a Methodist bishop in all the United States between whom and President McKinley there is such a “close and cordial friendship” as to gain for said Methodist bishop a position or knowledge that would enable him to send “hourly bulletins,” or perhaps any bulletins at all, of the attitude of the Administration? How is it that ecclesiastically or otherwise there is a more “close and cordial friendship” between a Methodist and a Roman Catholic archbishop, than there is between that same Methodist and any Methodist bishop.AMS May 5, 1898, page 275.7

    Of course everybody knows that this “close and cordial friendship” of the archbishop’s, is altogether political and solely because of political advantage. Everybody knows that it is the archbishop’s political power which was exerted at the St. Louis Convention and through the campaign of 1896, that makes “the close and cordial friendship” between him and “President McKinley and his whole cabinet” and which made him “a fit instrument through which negotiations could be conducted” that could not be conducted at all by Martinelli. Martinelli is an Italian and has no standing in American politics yet. All of which demonstrates that the greatest Roman Catholic official in the United States out of politics, has not the power and therefore is not so dangerous to the United States, as was, and is, a subordinate Roman Catholic official who is in politics. And this is equally true of every other ecclesiastical connection in the United States. No ecclesiastic or religionist of any kind can do the mischief out of politics that any one can do in politics. Therefore the eternal principle is, and this papal trick lately played is a forcible illustration of it, that ecclesiastics and religionists of every sort should forever keep out of politics.AMS May 5, 1898, page 276.1

    And when it had been “determined that the close and cordial friendship which existed,” etc., “made him a fit instrument,” etc., the result was that “In view of this he received a formal letter from Cardinal Rampolla, papal secretary of state, authorizing him to represent the pope. This was presented to Judge Day, and semi-official relations began.”AMS May 5, 1898, page 276.2

    It is then a fact that the Secretary of State of the United States has formally received “a formal letter” from the “papal secretary of state,” appointing a representative of the pope “through which negotiations could be conducted” with the Government of the United States in an affair with another nation. Accordingly the archbishop’s statement proceeds: “Since that time Archbishop Ireland has been in communication with Europe. Through him the official texts of the concessions which Spain was willing to make for the sake of peace, have been laid before this Government, and before the European ambassadors. The composite news of the situation has been cabled to him, and by him disseminated.”AMS May 5, 1898, page 276.3

    The pope and his representative to the United States Government did not succeed in securing a peace to perpetuate the papal power and revenue in Spanish enslaved Cuba. But they did succeed in getting what the papacy for years has been working for—the formal receiving of a representative of the pope to this Government, upon a formal letter from the papal secretary of state; and thus established the precedent of formal official relations between the papacy and this Government.AMS May 5, 1898, page 276.4

    This much has been gained already. And must more is planned; of which we shall have occasion to speak. Just now, however, the report says that when the archbishop shall have made “public his reply to the attacks upon him,” in which he “will go into details,” “he will proceed to Rome.”AMS May 5, 1898, page 276.5

    Of course he must hurry off now to Rome and the pope to report in full the progress made, and laugh together with him while they map out their program for further official recognition when the time comes to settle the terms of peace between Spain and the United States.AMS May 5, 1898, page 276.6

    We hope he will go into details and give the whole story exactly as it is. And then we wish he would go to Rome at once, and, for the good of the United State, stay there forever. And then let all other ecclesiastics and religionists in the United States keep out of politics here forever.AMS May 5, 1898, page 276.7

    “The Sabbath Needs No ‘Fence’” American Sentinel 13, 18, pp. 276, 277.

    ATJ

    MRS. J. C. BATEHAM, who has been prominent in connection with the “Sabbath reform” work of the W.C.T.U., makes the statement, in a contribution to a “Sabbath reform” journal, that—AMS May 5, 1898, page 276.1

    “A Christian Sabbath cannot long be maintained if the protecting fence of civil laws be thrown down.”AMS May 5, 1898, page 276.2

    If this is true, then of course “civil Sabbath” laws are necessary, and we should have them by all means. But is it a fact that the Almighty is so dependent on human legislation for the perpetuity of one of his institutions? If we believed he was thus dependent, we would at once lose confidence in him as a God.AMS May 5, 1898, page 276.3

    The very essence of Christianity, as we understand it, is the all-sufficiency of the power of God to uphold that which is his, in the face, if need be, of all the power of man and Satan combined. The church never lost anything by the attack of the world upon her. Christianity never lost anything because earthly governments failed to support her. Christianity and the church have always gained in such conflicts. The church loses only when those within her fold voluntarily relinquish their hold upon spiritual things. But whether Christians loosen, maintain, or regain their hold upon spiritual institutions are matters that human laws cannot affect.AMS May 5, 1898, page 276.4

    So long as an individual really has hold upon the Lord, there is no danger that he will lose the Sabbath, even though all the laws of earth were against his keeping it instead of giving it their pretended support. When he relinquishes his hold upon God, it is always done voluntarily; other wise he would not be responsible before God for his lapse from righteousness. And when he has lost is hold upon God, he is in a position to be frightened by the opposition of men, or even by their failure to give him their “support.”AMS May 5, 1898, page 276.5

    At the very beginning of the world, God set apart the seventh day of the week to be the Sabbath—his Sabbath, made for man—and from that day to this the seventh-day Sabbath has continued in the earth, and has a respectable number of adherents to-day, although no human law was ever enacted in its support, and many have been enacted against it.AMS May 5, 1898, page 277.1

    The God to whom the Sabbath belongs is one in whom we can safely trust, without any anxiety as to the attitude of worldly governments. The Lord let Satan remove all the fence there was around Job, but he preserved Job just the same. There is no need that his Sabbath should be fenced about with the straw of human statutes.AMS May 5, 1898, page 277.2

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