{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_20446/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_20446","id":"gutenberg_20446","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20446","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. Deuteronomy XXVIII, 1 -- Sermons","Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: History - American","Category: Politics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Nationalism -- United States -- History -- 19th century -- Sermons","Thanksgiving Day addresses","United States -- Emigration and immigration -- Social aspects -- Sermons","United States -- History -- 1865-1898 -- Sermons"],"text":"Produced by Bryan Ness, Richard J. Shiffer and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This\nbook was produced from scanned images of public domain\nmaterial from the Google Print project.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\"AMERICA FOR AMERICANS!\"\n\nTHE TYPICAL AMERICAN.\n\n_Thanksgiving Sermon_\n\nOF\n\nRev. John P. Newman, D.D., LL.D.,\n\n\nAT\n\nMETROPOLITAN M. E. CHURCH,\n\nWASHINGTON, D. C.,\n\nTHURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25TH, 1886.\n\n\nSubject: \"OUR PLACE AMONG THE NATIONS.\"\n\n\nPUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE CONGREGATION.\n\n\nWASHINGTON:\nRUFUS H. DARBY, PRINTER.\n1886.\n\n\nFOR SALE BY C. C. PURSELL.\n\nTen Cents per Copy.                   Fifteen Copies for One Dollar.\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n                              WASHINGTON, D. C., _Nov. 26th, 1886_.\n\nREV. J. P. NEWMAN, D.D.:\n\nDEAR SIR: The universal approval by every loyal, liberty-loving\nAmerican citizen who listened to your Thanksgiving sermon yesterday,\ntogether with the philosophic and fearless manner with which the great\nthemes therein discussed were treated, prompts a desire to extend its\ninfluence by a wider circulation than even that large congregation can\ngive. We would, therefore, to meet the wishes of the congregation as\nexpressed by their unanimous vote at the close of the discourse,\nrequest that you furnish us with a copy for publication.\n\n                              Very respectfully,\n\n                                                  J. C. TASKER,\n                                                  J. D. CROISSANT,\n                                                  A. P. LACEY,\n                                                  GEO. H. LA FETRA,\n                                                  B. CHARLETON.\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nWASHINGTON, D. C., _Nov. 30th, 1886_.\n\nDEAR FRIENDS: The sermon has excited a public interest beyond any\nthought of mine. I herewith send you the stenographic report of the\ndiscourse, made by Messrs. Dawson and Tasker. The wisdom of your\nrequest is confirmed by many letters from eminent citizens here and\nabroad, commending the sentiment and demanding the publication. I\nwould like to print some of these letters, indicative of the deep\nfeeling on this great subject. As stated in the sermon, intelligent\nforeigners approve my course. The Germans of Wisconsin have sent me a\ncopy of their memorial to Congress, asking for such a modification of\nour naturalization laws as will protect our free institutions from\nselfish and ignorant immigrants. The intelligent foreigners have taken\nthe initiative. Your Pastor,\n\n                                                  JOHN P. NEWMAN.\n\n\n\n\nAMERICA FOR AMERICANS.\n\n\n  \"I have set thee on high above all the nations of the\n   earth.\"--Deut. xxviii., 1.\n\nBy the voice of magisterial authority this secular day has been hushed\ninto the sacred quiet of a national Sabbath. From savannahs and\nprairies, from valleys and mountains, from the Atlantic to the\nPacific, more than fifty millions of freemen have been invited to\ngather around the altars of the God of our fathers, and pour forth the\nlibation of their gratitude to Him who is the giver of every good and\nperfect gift. If in all the past, nations have made public recognition\nof the divinities which have presided over their destiny, according to\ntheir faith and practice, it is but reasonable and highly appropriate\nthat we, as a Christian people, enlightened as no other people,\nfavored as no other nation, should once in the twelve months\nconsecrate a day to the recognition of Him whose throne is on the\ncircle of the heavens, who is the benefactor of the husbandman, the\ngenius of the artisan, the inspiration of the merchant, and from whom\ncomes all those personal, domestic, social, and national benedictions\nwhich render us a happy people and this day memorable in the annals of\ntime.\n\nIf the year that ends to-day has been marked with severity it has also\nbeen distinguished by goodness. If chastisements have come to us as\nindividuals, families, communities, and as a nation; if the\nearthquake, and the tornado, and the conflagration, have combined to\nteach us our dependence on the Supreme Being--all these should be\nesteemed as ministers of the Highest to teach us that we are\npensioners upon the infinite bounty of the Almighty; that in our\nprosperity we should remember His mercies; in our adversity we should\ndeplore our transgressions.\n\nIt is evident to the most casual observer that the past year has been\nsignificant in the manifestations of divine guidance and goodness.\nTo-day peace reigns throughout our vast domain. No foreign foe invades\nour shores. How superior our condition by way of contrast with our\nneighbors on this side of the globe. In contrast with Central and\nSouth America, the home of turbulence and misrule, where ignorance,\ncombined with a perverted Christianity, has darkened and enslaved;\nwhere the wheels of industry have been impeded and the march to a\nhigher civilization obstructed--how bold the contrast between these\ntwo sections of our continent--a contrast that must be suggestive to\nevery thoughtful mind and awaken the question whether this is due to\nwhat some call the fortuities of national life or whether it is the\nresult of a genius of government that is sublime and a religion that\nis divine. And if we turn our eyes over the great deep to the most\nfavored nations beyond the Atlantic, the contrast inspires grateful\nemotions, and we are equally led to contemplate the causes which have\nbrought about a condition so favorable to us. The most venerable\nnations in Europe, countries that have lived through more than a\nmillennium, are to-day shaken by internal disturbance. Those\ninstitutions which have come down from the hoary past, which have been\nconsidered pre-eminent in the affections and faith of mankind, now\ntopple to their fall. \"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown,\"\nwhether man or woman; and no government in Europe is in a state of\npeaceful security. Alarm dwells in the palace. Fear, like a bloody\nphantom, haunts the throne, and the vast nations of Europe, with all\ntheir agriculture and commerce and manufacture, and all their majesty\nof law and ordinances of religion, are maintained in a questionable\npeace by not less than three millions of men armed to the teeth; while\nin this country, so vast in its domain, so complicated in its\npopulation, from North to South, from East to West, preserved in\npeace, not by standing armies or floating navies, but by a moral\nsense, a quickened conscience, the guardian of our homes, our altars,\nand our nation.\n\nCertainly the farmer stands nearest to God. Agriculture underlies all\nnational wealth. The farmer ministers to the wants of king and\nprince, of president and senator; the farmer must be esteemed as the\ndirect medium of blessing through whom God manifests his goodness to\nthe nation. We have been accustomed to such phenomenal crops that it\nalmost goes without saying that the past year has been phenomenal in\nits agricultural productions. Indeed there has been a wealth in the\nsoil, a wealth in the mines, a wealth in the seas, which awakens\nastonishment and admiration in the minds of those beyond the deep--for\nit is a statistical fact that our agricultural products for the year\njust closing is not less than three and a half thousand millions of\ndollars in valuation. How difficult to appreciate the fact! One\nthousand seven hundred million bushels of corn, valued at five hundred\nand eighty millions of dollars; four hundred and fifty million bushels\nof wheat, valued at three hundred and fifty-five millions of dollars;\nsix and a half million bales of cotton, estimated in valuation at two\nhundred and fifty millions of dollars. And including all the other\nagricultural products, the statistician of the Government estimates\nthe value at three and a half thousand millions of dollars. And this\nis but a repetition of other years. No! It exceeds other years! It is\na great fact that one and a half millions of square miles of\ncultivated land in this country now subject to the plow could feed a\nthousand millions of persons, and then we could have five thousand\nmillions of bushels of grain for exportation.\n\nIn ten years, from 1870 to 1880, we produced over seven hundred\nmillions of dollars of precious metals, and the last year the\nvaluation is estimated at seventy-five millions in gold and silver;\nand rising above these colossal and phenomenal figures, our great\nmanufacturing people during the past year have produced not less than\nfive thousand millions of dollars in valuation. The mind staggers in\nthe presence of these tremendous facts.\n\nThen our national wealth is as phenomenal as are the annual products\nof soil, and mine, and skill, and commerce. In 1880 our national\nwealth was estimated at forty-four thousand millions of dollars,\nwhich would buy all Russia, Turkey, Italy, South Africa, and South\nAmerica--possessions inhabited by not less than one hundred and\nseventy-seven millions of people. This enormous national wealth\nexceeds the wealth of Great Britain by two hundred and seventy-six\nmillions of dollars. England's wealth is the growth of centuries,\nwhile our wealth, at the most, can be said to be the growth of one\ncentury. Nay, the fact is that most of ours has been created in the\nlast twenty years. In 1860 our national wealth was estimated at\nsixteen thousand millions of dollars. But from 1860 to 1880 our wealth\nincreased twenty-eight thousand millions of dollars--ten thousand\nmillions more than the entire wealth of the Empire of Russia. From\n1870 to 1880, ten years, the increase was twenty thousand millions.\nThis is without a parallel. Surely these great facts call upon the\nPresident of the United States to convoke the freemen of this country\naround their religious altars to offer their gratitude and praise to\nHim from whom cometh all these blessings; for in His hand are the\nresources of national wealth. With him are the ministers of good and\nthe ministers of evil. He can marshal the insect. He can excite the\nmalaria. He can call forth the tornado. He can put down his foot and\nwreck the earth with earthquake throes. The ministers of evil are with\nHim, and stand with closed eyes and folded wings around His throne,\nbut not with deaf ears, waiting to hear His summons, \"Go forth.\" So\nalso around His throne stand the angels of plenty, in whose footfalls\nrise the golden harvest; who quicken human genius on the land, on the\nocean, the artificer, the artisan, the scholar, the philanthropist,\nand the patriot. It is by these resources of good and evil, forever\nthe ministers of the great God, we learn our dependence on Him; it is\nwith the utmost propriety that this Christian nation recognize Him as\nGod over all and blessed forevermore.\n\nIt is eminently proper on a national day like this, standing in the\npresence of these phenomenal mercies, these crowning plenties, that\nwe differentiate ourselves from the nations of our own continent and\nfrom the most favored nations beyond the sea.\n\nIt is proper for us to inquire the divine purpose in placing us among\nthe nations of the earth, and what is our great mission. There are\ncertain facts which prophesy--for facts are as eloquent in prophetic\nannouncement as are the lips of prophet or seer. We should remember\nthat our location is everything to us as a national power, of\nintelligence and wealth, and that this location is in the wake of\nnational prosperity and greatness. It may have escaped your notice\nthat around this globe is a narrow zone, between the thirtieth and\nsixtieth parallels of north latitude, and within that narrow zone is\nour home. Within that belt of power have existed all the great nations\nof the past, and in it exist all the great nations of the present.\nWhat is there in this charmed circle, in this favored zone, that\nbrings national power? We may contract this zone by ten degrees and\nthe same thing is true. It is true that north of this zone there have\nbeen nations of wealth, of luxury, and of influence. South of this\nzone are Egypt and Arabia and India, and other nations that have lived\nin splendor. But the peoples that have given direction to the thought\nof mankind, that have created the philosophy for the race, that have\ngiven jurisprudence and history and oratory, and poetry and art and\nscience, and government, to mankind, have been crowded, as it were,\nwithin this zone of supremacy, within this magical belt of national\nprosperity. Examine your globe, and there is Greece, that gave letters\nto the world; Rome, that gave jurisprudence to mankind; Palestine,\nthat gave religion to our race. And to-day there is Germany, that gave\na Luther to the church and a Gutenberg to science, and there is\nEngland swaying her mighty sceptre over land and sea. Our location is\nin this wake of power--within this magical zone. Surely there must be\na destiny foretold by this great fact, and it is but wise for us as\nintelligent freemen on this national day to consider the significance\nof the prophecy. Our national home is not amid the polar snows of\nNorthern Russia nor the burning sands of Central Africa, but sweeping\nover the lovely regions of the temperate zone, it lies too far south\nto be bound in perpetual chains of frost, and too far north to sink\nunder the enervating influences of a tropical sun. Although on the\nside of the equator destined to be the great receptacle of human life,\nyet it is too far from the belligerent powers of the old world to fall\na victim to their corruption or to the weight of their combined\nforces. With a shore line equalling the circuit of the globe, and with\na river navigation duplicating that vast measurement, our\nnational domain is only one-sixth less than that of the sixty\nstates--republics, kingdoms, and empires--of Europe. Indeed, it is\nequal to old Rome's vast domain, which extended from the river\nEuphrates to the Western ocean and from the walls of Antoninus to the\nMountains of the Moon.\n\nOur location is for a purpose. For if you and I believe in the mission\nof individuals who accomplish the purposes of Providence, we must\nbelieve in the mission of nations for the elevation of mankind to a\nbetter future.\n\nAnd, my countrymen, it is equally significant that we stand above all\nnations in our origin. We started where other nations left off.\nUnrivalled for luxury and oriental splendor, the Assyrians sprung from\na band of hunters. Grand in her pyramids, and obelisks, and sphinxes,\nEgypt rose from that race despised by mankind. Great in her\njurisprudence, giving law to the world, the Romans came from a band of\nfreebooters on the seven hills that have been made immortal by martial\ngenius; and that very nation, whose poets we copy, whose orators we\nseek to imitate, whose artistic genius is the pride of the race, came\nfrom barbarians, cannibals; and that proud nation beyond the sea, that\nsways her sceptre over land and ocean, sprang from painted\nbarbarians--for such were the aborigines of proud Albion's Isle when\nCaesar invaded those shores.\n\nOur forefathers stood upon the very summit of humanity. Recall our\nconstitutional convention. Perhaps no such convention had ever\nassembled in the halls of a nation. That convention, composed of\nfifty-five men, and such men! They were giants in intellect, in moral\ncharacter; all occupying a high social position; twenty-nine were\nuniversity men, and those that were not collegiates were men of\nimperial intellects and of commanding common sense. In such a\ngathering were Franklin, the venerable philosopher; Washington, who is\never to be revered as patriot and philanthropist; and Madison, and\nHamilton, two of the most profound thinkers of that or of any other\nage. It is one of those marvels that we should recall of which we have\na right to be proud; but in our pride we should not fail to ascertain\nwhy the Almighty should start us as a nation at the very acme of\nhumanity--redeemed, educated, and made grand by the influences of a\ndivine Christianity. Those men were not mere colonists, nor were they\nlimited in their patriotism. \"No pent-up Utica\" could confine their\npatriotism, for those men grasped the fundamental principle of human\nrights. Nay, they declared the ultimate truth of humanity, leaving\nnothing to added since, though a century has passed. Great\nmodifications have come to the governments of Europe. Some changes\nhave taken place in our national life. Yet I appeal to your\nintelligent memory, to your calm judgments, if anything has been added\nto our declaration of rights, those declarations founded upon the\nconstitution of nature. These men voiced the brotherhood of the race.\nAll other declarations prior to this were but for dynasties, or were\nethnic at most. But those men swept the horizon of humanity. These men\ncalled forth, as it were, the oncoming centuries of time, and in their\npresence declared that all men are created free and equal.\n\nThey not only declared the ultimate truth of human rights, but they\nexhausted the right of revolution. They created a constitution founded\nupon the will of the people, based upon our great declaration of\nrights, embracing man's inalienable right to life, liberty, and\nhappiness. The instrument which their genius created was left\namendable by the oncoming wants of time, modified in subordinate\nrelations which might be suggested by emergencies and the unfolding of\nour race. Here then are the great fingers of prophecy pointing to our\nfuture.\n\nAnd we have been equally favored in our population, whether we take\nthe Puritans who landed in New England, the Dutch who landed in New\nYork, or the English who crowded Maryland and Virginia. They were\nfirst-class families. Especially do we trace back with pride that\nglorious genius for liberty, for intelligence, for devotion manifested\nby those heroic men and women who, amid the desolations of a terrific\nwinter landed on a barren rock to transform a vast wilderness, through\nwhich the wild man roamed, into a garden wherein should grow the\nflowers and the fruits of freedom.\n\nWe sometimes deprecate the cosmopolitan character of our population.\nIt is a fact, however, that the best blood of the old world came to us\nuntil within ten years--not the decrepit, not the maimed, not the\naged; for over fifty per cent. of those who came were between fifteen\nand thirty, and have grown up to be honorable citizens in the\ncomposition of our constitutional society. They came not as paupers.\nMany of them came, each bringing seventy dollars, some $180 dollars,\nand in the aggregate they brought millions of dollars.\n\nThere has been, however, a change, a manifest change, in the character\nof those from foreign shores within the last decade. The time was when\nwe welcomed everybody that might immigrate to this country; when we\nthrew our gates wide open; when in our Fourth of July orations, we\nproclaimed this to be the asylum of the oppressed, the home of the\ndown-trodden. But in the process of time this great opportunity\nafforded the nations of the old world came to be abused, and to-day is\nthe largest source of our national danger. We are now bound to call a\nhalt all along the line of immigration; to say to those peoples of the\nold world that this is not a new Africa, nor a new Ireland, nor a new\nGermany, nor a new Italy, nor a new England, nor a new Russia; that\nthis is not a brothel for the Mormon, a fetich for the negro, a\ncountry for the ticket-of-leave-men; not a place for the criminals and\npaupers of Europe; but this country is for man--man in his\nintelligence, man in his morality, man in his love of liberty, man,\nwhosoever he is, whencesoever he cometh. [Cries of amen, followed by\napplause.]\n\nThe time has come for us to call a halt all along the line, and if we\ndo not close the gates we should place them ajar. We should do two\nthings: First, declare that this country is for Americans. [Applause.]\nIt is not for Germans, nor for Irishmen, nor for Englishmen, nor for\nSpaniards, nor for the Chinese, nor for the Japanese, but it is for\nAmericans. [Cries of amen and applause.] I am not to-day reviving the\nKnow-Nothing cry, for I am glad to say that I am not a know-nothing in\nany sense. [Laughter.] Nor am I reviving what may be called the old\nNative American cry, for we have outlived that. But I am simply\ndeclaring that America is for Typical Americans. In other words, that\nwe are determined by all that is honorable in law, by all that is\nenergetic in religion, by all that is dear to our altars and our\nfiresides, that this country shall not become un-American.\n\nLet us to-day proclaim to the world that he is an American, whether\nnative-born or foreign-born, who accepts seven great ideas which shall\ndifferentiate him from all other peoples on the face of the globe. I\nam bound to say, and you will agree with me, that in proportion there\nare as many intelligent foreigners (that is, foreign-born) in this\ncongregation, in our city and in our country, who are in full accord\nwith this utterance as there are of those to the manor born. In other\nwords could I call the roll, I would find as many intelligent\nforeigners who came here, not for selfishness, but for liberty and for\nAmerica's sake, who would be in accord with me in declaring that\nAmerica is for the Typical American. [Applause.]\n\nI speak without prejudice; I know that there are those here of foreign\nbirth who are ornaments in every department of society. They minister\nto the sick as learned physicians. They plead in all our courts of\njustice. They are the eloquent exponents of divine truth. They are in\nour halls of legislation. They beautify private life in all the\nimmunities and refinements thereof. They have added to the wealth of\nthe nation. But while I make this concession, and I do it cheerfully\nand proudly, yet I must affirm that there are three classes of\nAmericans: the native-born, the foreign-born and the typical American.\nThe native American has the advantage of birth, out of which flows one\nsupreme advantage--he may be the President of the United States. This\nis a wise provision, as nativity is a primary source of patriotism,\nand time is necessary to appreciation. But the native may be a\nworthless citizen. He should be the typical American, but he has too\noften failed to be. The Tweeds, the Wards, their like, are no honor\nwhatever to the native stock. Some of the worst scoundrels who have\nscandalized our nation have been born to the soil.\n\nThen there is the foreign-born American, who is such by\nnaturalization. He may be worthy of our free institutions, as many\nare; he may be unworthy, as many have proved themselves to be. But,\nrising above these, is the typical American, without regard to place\nof birth. He is the possessor of the seven great attributes, which, in\nmy humble judgment, constitute the true American:\n\nI. That our civil and political rights are not grants from superiors\nto inferiors, but flow out of the order and constitution of nature.\n\nII. That the force to maintain these rights is not physical, but\nmoral.\n\nIII. That the safeguard of such rights is individual culture and\nresponsibility.\n\nIV. That secular education is provided by the State, and is forever\nfree from sectarian control.\n\nV. That there is no alliance of State and Church; the Government\nnon-religious, but not irreligious.\n\nVI. That the Sabbath is a day of rest from ordinary care and toil.\n\nVII. That Christianity, in its ethics and charities, is the religion\nof this land.\n\nIt was a bold venture for the fathers of this Republic to declare\npersonal liberty foremost, without regard to birth or education or\ncivilization. This has elevated our nation above all nations. It was\nsublime courage for those grand men to declare that our civil and\npolitical rights are not grants from superiors to inferiors, but that\nthey flow out of the order and the constitution of nature. It is this,\nmy countrymen, that differentiates us, that distinguishes us from\nEnglishmen, and Frenchmen, and Russians. What are the two great\ndeclarations of which England is proud? Take the _Magna Charta\nLibertatum_. The historians say that this is the bulwark of English\nfreedom. Yes, Englishmen, you do right to so esteem it. But then you\nshould remember that the _Magna Charta Libertatum_ was a concession\nfrom King John--a concession from a superior to inferiors, and the men\nwho wrung that concession from that English king did not esteem\nthemselves his equals, but permitted themselves to be treated as\ninferiors. Then take what is known in English parliamentary history as\nA Petition of Rights. It secured a concession from King Charles I--a\nsuperior to inferiors. But our fathers said we are the superiors.\n[Applause.] We recognize no superior but God; we declare a government\nof the people, by the people, and for the people. [Applause.] We ask\nnot for a _Magna Charta Libertatum_. We offer no petition of rights.\nJefferson made our declaration of rights and the fathers signed it,\nsaying, We are born free and equal, created in the image of God; our\npolitical rights are inalienable, inseparable from our birth.\n[Applause.] That declaration turned the corner of political history.\nIt astounded all Europe. It sent a chill through royal blood. It\ncaused a paleness to come over kings and queens; yet it was a\ndeclaration which oncoming generations approved, and oncoming\ncenturies will applaud, because born of truth, justice and liberty.\n\nThe naturalized American must renounce all allegiance to foreign\nprince or potentate or government; in so doing he must reject the\nassumed superiority of any human grantor and assert the superiority of\nthe individual citizen in whom inhere these rights. [Applause.]\n\nThe fathers ventured the assertion that a government of the people and\nby the people and for the people should be supported, not by physical\nforce, but by a moral power, an astounding fact in the national\nhistory. The power that conquered in the war for independence was a\nmoral force. It was the _spirit_ of '76. It was the spirit of '76 that\ninspired Warren to say: \"Put me where the battle is hottest.\" It was\nthe spirit of '76 that moved Putnam to shout out on the eve of battle:\n\"Powder! powder! Ye gods, give us powder!\" It was the spirit of '76\nthat caused the New Jersey dominie, when the army was destitute of\nwadding, to rush to the church and, getting a copy of Watts's psalms,\nshout out: \"There, boys, put Watts into them.\" It was the spirit of\n'76 that led Washington to consecrate himself, his time, his wealth,\nand the grandest men in the country to consecrate themselves for the\naccomplishment of the grandest of facts. The Continental Army was an\narmy of plowmen and artisans, poorly armed and poorly clothed. Baron\nSteuben, when he came to this country with Lafayette to organize our\narmy, declared that the only regularity that he saw was, that the\nshort men were put in front and the tall men put behind, and old\nPutnam gave him this explanation, that Americans didn't care about\ntheir heads; they only cared about their legs; shelter their legs and\nthey would fight forever. Baron Steuben attempted to organize those\ntroops, but lost his temper and swore at them in three languages at\nthe same time. [Laughter.] But the spirit of '76 led to history.\n\nWe maintain our free institutions by moral force. Our twenty thousand\nsoldiers scattered here and there wherever they can find an Indian to\nshoot is hardly a respectable police force. [Laughter.] The founders\nof this Republic knew that freemen are soldiers in the disguise of\ncitizens. Let the tocsin of war be founded; let a foreign foe invade\nour shores; let an insurrectionary body arise in our midst, and a\nmillion of freemen, armed to the teeth, will \"Rally round the flag,\nboys, rally once again.\" [Vociferous applause.] It is difficult for\nimmigrants coming to this country to appreciate this fact. They pass\nthrough the land and see no gens d'armes, no standing armies, and\nrarely a policeman. [Laughter.]\n\nThe true American stands forever on duty, a soldier of the Republic in\nthe disguise of a citizen, the custodian of the Republic's life. Out\nof such a citizenship comes the moral sentiment which in its\naggregation is public opinion, which is mightier than standing armies\nor floating navies. [Applause.]\n\nA third attribute is the individuality of the citizen, out of which\ncomes the collective man, our national life. We have exalted the\nindividual; the American citizen is a republic of one. Whether we have\nfifty millions, or ten millions, or a million, whatever may be the\nratio of our population, the Government recognizes the individuality\nof the citizen as paramount. As God is the center of the universe, and\nChrist the center of the church, so the citizen is the center of this\nGovernment. All its laws, all its administrations, all its soldiers in\nthe army, all its guns in the navy, are for the protection of the\nAmerican citizen. Wherever he wanders, whether in Africa, or Europe,\nor Asia, or Germany, or Ireland, or Cuba, or Mexico, the American\ncitizen must and shall be protected. [Applause.] It is difficult for\nmen coming from Europe, where men are contemplated in masses, to\nrealize the potency of individuality; but it underlies our free\ninstitutions.\n\nFourthly, he is an American, whether native-born or foreign-born, who\naccepts the bold venture of the fathers to segregate public education\nfrom the teachings of the church. It was a bold move in political\nscience. There is no authority under the Constitution of the United\nStates, there should be no authority in the constitution of any\nState, there should be no authority in the municipality of any part of\nthe country, to impose religious instruction upon the childhood of\nAmerica. You and I may tremble in the presence of this tremendous\nfact, this daring project in the science of statecraft, but then you\nmust remember that, according to the organic law of our country, we\nknow no class but citizens, we know no obligation but protection, no\nduty but the welfare of the people. In all the nations abroad there is\nthe combination of secular and religious instruction. Arithmetic,\ngeometry, geography, physiology, must be taught under the sanctions of\nreligion. But in this country public education is separated from\nsectarian religious teaching. We may pause in the presence of such a\nfact. We know that intelligence is almost a boundless power.\nIntelligence has produced as much evil as it has good; the greatest\nmonsters who have damned humanity have been men of the highest\npossible culture, and the men who are sowing the seed in this country\nof discord are men of sublime intellects and polished education. And\ntherefore the founders of the Republic recognized the duty of the\nindividual citizen to add home instruction, instruction in the church,\ninstruction in the Sunday-school, to sanctify this intelligence.\nWhenever they expounded constitutional law, or spoke in behalf of the\nperpetuity of our institutions, they never failed to give pre-eminence\nto private virtue and public morality; nor did they hesitate to say\nthat this virtue in private life and this morality in the public\nsociety must flow out of that religion which we esteem divine.\n\nThose great men ventured on another and a desperate mission, the\nsegregation of State from Church. In the nations of the old world\nthese are allied. The Czar is the head of the church. Victoria is the\nhead of the church. The King of Germany is the head of the church. The\nHapsburg, of Austria, is the head of the church. The Sultan is the\nhead of the church. But here we have no earthly head of the church. To\nthe individual Christian Christ is the head of the church. This is\nfundamental in our Government. Here we have \"a free church in a free\ncountry.\" Christianity had been supported by thrones in the old\nworld. Religion had been enforced by armies and navies. The great\ncathedrals, and what are called the church livings, had been\nmaintained by a tax imposed upon people who did not believe the creed\ntaught, and did not observe the forms of worship practiced. In our\norganic law it is stated that Congress shall not legislate on the\nsubject of religion. Religion shall be free. Here the Mohammedan may\nrear his mosque and read his Koran. Here the Brahmin may rear his\npagoda and read his Shasta. All religionists may come and worship\nhere, but their worship shall not infringe upon the worship of others\nnor work injury to the body-politic. The Typical American should set\nhis face against all seeming alliance of Church and State. We say to\nthe Holy Father, live in peace. Stay in Rome. Live on the banks of the\nTiber. If you come here, you must be an American citizen, rejecting\nyour doctrine of temporal power. You may come and be naturalized and\nbe a voter, but we can have no temporal _popes_ here. [Applause and\nlaughter.] So we say to our countrymen that come from dear old\nIreland, the best country in the world to emigrate from, [laughter],\nto the Italian, to the Spaniard, to the German, you may belong to the\nchurch of the spiritual pontiff but you must renounce all allegiance\nto temporal pontiffs. I hold that under our laws of naturalization,\nthat it is the duty of every cardinal, every archbishop, every bishop,\nand every priest, every monk, Franciscan or Jesuit, to solemnly\nrenounce before God and the holy angels, all political allegiance to\nthe Pope as a temporal prince, who to-day is seeking to re-establish\ndiplomatic relations with England and other European nations in\nrecognition of his temporal sovereignty.\n\nAnd he is a true American citizen, whether foreign-born or\nnative-born, who maintains, as an American institution, the Holy\nSabbath-day. He can call it Sunday, after the old pagan god, but he\nmust rest on the seventh day, rest from toil, rest in the interest of\nthe dignity of labor, rest as discount upon capital, rest for\nintelligence, rest for compensation, rest for domestic happiness, rest\nfor pious culture. The seventh day of every week should be consecrated\nto cessation from labor and devoted to physical and mental repose. It\nshould not be a day of recreation to be spent in riotous living and in\nbrawls, but a day peaceful, in harmony with the institutions of\nreligion and the dominant sentiment of the country. Our fathers\nconsecrated the Sabbath, and had you the patience to hear and I, the\ntime to read from Franklin, from Jefferson, from Washington, touching\nthe Sabbath, in recognition of it as indispensable to the welfare of\nour body politic, you would be confirmed in this great truth. The\ndanger to-day is that we are becoming un-American in cutting loose\nfrom the Sabbath-day as a day of rest and of worship. I cannot invoke\nthe civil law to do more than to say that it shall be a day of rest. I\ncannot invoke the civil law to say that that man shall worship here or\nworship there, or worship at all, but I can invoke the civil law to\nsay that it shall be a non-secular day; not a day for the transaction\nof business, but a day on which the laboring man shall walk out under\nGod's free skies and say: This is my day, the day of a freeman.\n[Applause.] The tendency is to transplant a European Sabbath here; the\nGerman with his lager, and the Frenchman with his wine, and the\nIrishman with his shillalah. [Laughter.] No, no, gentlemen, stay on\nthe other side of the great deep. We don't want these things or this\nday on this side of the broad Atlantic.\n\nThere is another attribute that belongs to the true American\ncitizen--the recognition of Christianity as the religion of our\ncountry. Webster, our greatest expounder of constitutional law, did\nnot hesitate to declare that Christianity--not Methodist Christianity,\nnot Roman Catholic Christianity, not Presbyterian Christianity--but\nChristianity as taught by the four Evangelists, is the recognized\nreligion of this land. Recognized how far? So far that its ethics\nshall be embodied in our constitutional and statutory law; so far that\nits teachings of the brotherhood of mankind shall be accepted; so far\nthat its lessons of fraternity, equality, justice; and mercy shall be\nincorporated in the law of society. Those beautiful moralities that\nfell from the lips of the divine Son of God have been incorporated in\nthe laws of the land, and that with few exceptions. Our chaplains for\nthe army and navy and for Congress are in recognition of this. On that\nsacred book the oath of Presidential responsibility is taken. And this\nThanksgiving Day, appointed by the President, is a monument of proof.\nThese point to Christianity as the dominant religion of the land, not\nto the exclusion of the Jew, not to the exclusion of the Greek, not to\nthe exclusion of the Mohammedan, not to the exclusion of the Brahmin,\nbut permeating society with its principles.\n\nThen, citizens, the danger which comes from this foreign population is\nto be met in this way, first, to hold that this country is for\nAmericans who are clothed with these seven attributes.\n\nI do not exaggerate the danger when I remind you that there are great\nmovements among the peoples of the earth, as never before. Remember\nthat the population of Europe has increased twenty-seven millions from\n1870 to 1880, and at this rate of increase Europe can send to us two\nmillions of immigrants a year for the next hundred years. Our\nforeign-born population is said to be seven millions, and their\nchildren of the first generation would make fifteen millions. In 1882\nimmigration reached the enormous figure of eight hundred thousand, and\nat the present rate of immigration it is said there will be in the\nyear 1900, fourteen years from now, nineteen millions of persons of\nforeign birth, and with their children of the first generation there\nwill be forty-three millions in this land of foreign born. Now the\nquestion, and a serious one, is, Who are those that come? I have said\nsome are noble, some are true, some are easily transformed into the\nTypical American. But then we are to remember that most of the\nforeigners who come here are twelve times as much disposed to crime as\nare the native stock.\n\nOur population of foreign extraction is sadly conspicuous in our\ncriminal records. This element constituted, in 1870, 20 per cent. of\nthe population of New England, and furnished 75 per cent. of the\ncrime. The Howard Society of London reports that 74 per cent. of the\nIrish discharged convicts have come to the United States. I hold in\nmy hand the annual rum bill of this country for the last year. It is\nnine hundred millions of dollars! I ask myself, Who drinks this rum?\nNative Americans? Some! [Laughter.] Some drink a good deal. [Renewed\nlaughter.] But let us see the danger that comes to us from inebriety\namong our foreign population.\n\nThe wholesale dealers in liquor are estimated at sixty-five per cent.\nforeign born, and the brewers seventy-five per cent. Let us take\nPhiladelphia, that old Quaker city, the City of Brotherly Love, that\ncity that seems to be par excellence the city of the world, and here\nare the figures: There were 8,034 persons in the rum traffic, and who\nwere they? Chinamen, 2; Jews, 2; Italians, 18; Spaniards, 140; Welsh,\n160; French, 285; Scotch, 497; English, 568; Germans, 2,179; Irish,\n3,041; Africans, 265; American, 205. I suppose we will have to mix the\nAfricans with the Americans, and the total would be 470 Americans, and\nthen there were persons of unknown nationality in the rum traffic,\n672; the sum total being 8,034. Of this number 3,696 were females, but\nout of the 3,696 all were foreigners but one. There was one American\nwoman in the rum business, and I blush for my country. Yet there were\n1,104 German women, and 2,548 Irish, and of the whole number of the\n8,034 engaged in the liquor traffic of that city, 6,418 had been\narrested for some crime. [Applause.] We are bound to look at these\nfacts. Are we a nation of foreign drunkards?\n\nThen there is another danger--the tendency of emigrant colonization. I\nsuppose it is known to you that New Mexico is in the hands of\nforeigners--in the hands of the Catholic Church. It is also a fact of\nCongressional report that 20,557,000 acres of land are in the\npossession of twenty-nine alien corporations and individuals, an area\ngreater than the whole of Ireland. I would have no part of this\ncountry subject to any church. I would have no foreign language taught\nin the public schools to the exclusion of or in preference to the\nEnglish language. I would have no laws published in a foreign\nlanguage, whether for the French of Louisiana or the Germans of\nCincinnati. [Loud applause.] I would utter my solemn protest, and that\nin the hearing of all politicians, especially those men who want to be\nPresidents and can not be Presidents, and those who hope to be ere\nlong--I would utter my solemn protest to-day against what is known as\nthe \"Irish vote\" and the \"German vote.\" [Applause.] We do not want any\n\"foreign vote.\" Down with the politician that would seek an \"Irish\nvote\" or \"German vote.\" [Great applause.] All we want here is an\nAmerican vote. I would not vote for any man for President who would\nstoop so low as to bid for the German vote or the Irish vote.\n[Continued applause.] The other safeguard is an extension of the term\nof residence required for naturalization. Some say make the term\ntwenty-one years. What is the term now? Five years. I read from\n\"Revised Statutes,\" section 2165 and 2174, that a person applying for\ncitizenship must be a resident of the United States at least five\nyears, and one year within the State or Territory wherein the\napplication is made, and that during that term (I wish I had all the\njudges here to-day) and that during that term he is to give\nsatisfactory assurance to the court that he has behaved as a man of\ngood moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution\nof the United States, and well disposed to the good order and\nhappiness of the same. \"A man of good moral character!\" what a sublime\nutterance, and how infinite. I would be glad to know what judge takes\nthe pains, when a hundred of these foreigners apply just on the eve of\nthe election, that they may qualify themselves to vote, what judge\ninquires whether they are men of good moral character? Yet such is the\nprovision of the law of the land. We have assumed the authority to\nlimit suffrage. We say that women shall not vote, which is a great\nmistake. [Sensation.] You are not up to that. [Laughter.] My wife is\nas competent to vote as I. On all moral questions, especially the\ntemperance question, I would trust the women ten times before I would\nthe men. It is an abuse of the very genius of our Government to\nproscribe the Chinese. We say the negro may vote because his skin is\nblack. We say the Dutchman, the Irishman, the Italian may vote,\nbecause his skin ought to be white, but the Chinese can not vote\nbecause his skin is yellow. The word \"white\" is used in the statute of\nlimitation. We say to the young American who graduates with the\nhighest honors at eighteen, you must wait three years longer before\nyou can stand with the Irishman with his brogans and the Teuton with\nhis lager and vote for the rulers of your native land. I would have\nthe term of naturalization extended, some say till the foreigner has\nbeen here twenty-one years. Extend the term to ten years, fifteen\nyears. Say to all persons who come to this country from foreign lands,\nthat after 1890 they shall remain here fifteen years to become\nindoctrinated in our free institutions, learn the seven attributes of\nthe American citizen, and then be prepared to love America for\nAmerica's sake. [Applause.]\n\nThus protected we can look forward to a glorious future, and the eye\nof prophecy can sweep the horizon of a deathless hope. Look forward to\nthe time when our place among the nations shall be the umpire of the\nworld. When England and Germany and France shall refer their\ninternational questions to us for adjudication which otherwise would\nbe adjusted on the field of carnage; when we shall dictate to the\nworld by moral suasion, what shall be the rights of citizens and what\nshall be the duty of the Government over them.\n\nThe proud position of my country looms up before me. England may plant\ncommercial colonies around the globe, and so may Germany and so may\nFrance, but let it be the mission of this country to plant colonies of\nmoral ideas wherever the sun shines, and transform the political\nsentiments of the world until all men shall be recognized as created\nfree and equal by the Father Almighty. Let this be our proud position.\nThen it shall never be said that the ocean was dug for America's\ngrave, that the winds were woven for her winding sheet, that the\nmountains were reared for her tombstone. But rather we shall live on,\nand gifted with immortal youth, America shall ascend the mountain tops\nof the oncoming centuries with the old flag in her hand, symbol of\nuniversal liberty, the light of whose stars shall blend their radiance\nwith the dawn of the millennium.\n\n\n\n\nEXTRACTS FROM LETTERS.\n\n\n\"Your sermon yesterday upon the essential features of Americanism\ndeserves the applause of the nation. God speed you in your noble\nmission.\"\n\n                                             WASHINGTON, D. C.\n\n\"Your sermon to-day was a masterpiece. God bless you.\"\n\n                                             WASHINGTON, D. C.\n\n\"I thank you from the bottom of my American heart for your sermon on\n'America for Americans.'\"\n\n                                             WASHINGTON, D. C.\n\n\"Your sermon exactly describes my sentiments, which you have put in a\ncleaner and plainer light than I can.\"\n\n                                             MARYLAND.\n\n\"Let me congratulate you with all my heart on your immigration sermon\nyesterday.\"\n\n                                             WISCONSIN.\n\n\"I have read the report of your sermon, and had I been present would\nhave risen to my feet in an 'Amen' applause.\"\n\n                                             OHIO.\n\n\"I have read your sermon, and thank God that one man has the manhood\nto speak his mind on a subject which must soon come to the forefront\nfor investigation.\"\n\n                                             ST. LOUIS.\n\n\"You struck the people's heart on Thanksgiving Day, and put a needed\ntruth just right.\"\n\n                                             NEW YORK.","title":"\"America for Americans!\": The Typical American, Thanksgiving Sermon","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":7821}