"AMERICA FOR AMERICANS!"

THE TYPICAL AMERICAN. 

_Thanksgiving Sermon_

OF

Rev. John P. Newman, D. D. , LL. D. , AT

METROPOLITAN M. E. CHURCH, WASHINGTON, D. C. , THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 25TH, 1886. 

Subject: "OUR PLACE AMONG THE NATIONS. "

PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE CONGREGATION. 

WASHINGTON:RUFUS H. DARBY, PRINTER. 1886. 

FOR SALE BY C. C. PURSELL. 

Ten Cents per Copy. Fifteen Copies for One Dollar. 

 * * * * *

 WASHINGTON, D. C. , _Nov. 26th, 1886_. 

REV. J. P. NEWMAN, D. D. :

DEAR SIR: The universal approval by every loyal, liberty-lovingAmerican citizen who listened to your Thanksgiving sermon yesterday, together with the philosophic and fearless manner with which the greatthemes therein discussed were treated, prompts a desire to extend itsinfluence by a wider circulation than even that large congregation cangive. We would, therefore, to meet the wishes of the congregation asexpressed by their unanimous vote at the close of the discourse, request that you furnish us with a copy for publication. 

 Very respectfully, J. C. TASKER, J. D. CROISSANT, A. P. LACEY, GEO. H. LA FETRA, B. CHARLETON. 

 * * * * *

WASHINGTON, D. C. , _Nov. 30th, 1886_. 

DEAR FRIENDS: The sermon has excited a public interest beyond anythought of mine. I herewith send you the stenographic report of thediscourse, made by Messrs. Dawson and Tasker. The wisdom of yourrequest is confirmed by many letters from eminent citizens here andabroad, commending the sentiment and demanding the publication. Iwould like to print some of these letters, indicative of the deepfeeling on this great subject. As stated in the sermon, intelligentforeigners approve my course. The Germans of Wisconsin have sent me acopy of their memorial to Congress, asking for such a modification ofour naturalization laws as will protect our free institutions fromselfish and ignorant immigrants. The intelligent foreigners have takenthe initiative. Your Pastor, JOHN P. NEWMAN. 

AMERICA FOR AMERICANS. 

 "I have set thee on high above all the nations of the earth. "--Deut. Xxviii. , 1. 

By the voice of magisterial authority this secular day has been hushedinto the sacred quiet of a national Sabbath. From savannahs andprairies, from valleys and mountains, from the Atlantic to thePacific, more than fifty millions of freemen have been invited togather around the altars of the God of our fathers, and pour forth thelibation of their gratitude to Him who is the giver of every good andperfect gift. If in all the past, nations have made public recognitionof the divinities which have presided over their destiny, according totheir faith and practice, it is but reasonable and highly appropriatethat we, as a Christian people, enlightened as no other people, favored as no other nation, should once in the twelve monthsconsecrate a day to the recognition of Him whose throne is on thecircle of the heavens, who is the benefactor of the husbandman, thegenius of the artisan, the inspiration of the merchant, and from whomcomes all those personal, domestic, social, and national benedictionswhich render us a happy people and this day memorable in the annals oftime. 

If the year that ends to-day has been marked with severity it has alsobeen distinguished by goodness. If chastisements have come to us asindividuals, families, communities, and as a nation; if theearthquake, and the tornado, and the conflagration, have combined toteach us our dependence on the Supreme Being--all these should beesteemed as ministers of the Highest to teach us that we arepensioners upon the infinite bounty of the Almighty; that in ourprosperity we should remember His mercies; in our adversity we shoulddeplore our transgressions. 

It is evident to the most casual observer that the past year has beensignificant in the manifestations of divine guidance and goodness. To-day peace reigns throughout our vast domain. No foreign foe invadesour shores. How superior our condition by way of contrast with ourneighbors on this side of the globe. In contrast with Central andSouth America, the home of turbulence and misrule, where ignorance, combined with a perverted Christianity, has darkened and enslaved;where the wheels of industry have been impeded and the march to ahigher civilization obstructed--how bold the contrast between thesetwo sections of our continent--a contrast that must be suggestive toevery thoughtful mind and awaken the question whether this is due towhat some call the fortuities of national life or whether it is theresult of a genius of government that is sublime and a religion thatis divine. And if we turn our eyes over the great deep to the mostfavored nations beyond the Atlantic, the contrast inspires gratefulemotions, and we are equally led to contemplate the causes which havebrought about a condition so favorable to us. The most venerablenations in Europe, countries that have lived through more than amillennium, are to-day shaken by internal disturbance. Thoseinstitutions which have come down from the hoary past, which have beenconsidered pre-eminent in the affections and faith of mankind, nowtopple to their fall. "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown, "whether man or woman; and no government in Europe is in a state ofpeaceful security. Alarm dwells in the palace. Fear, like a bloodyphantom, haunts the throne, and the vast nations of Europe, with alltheir agriculture and commerce and manufacture, and all their majestyof law and ordinances of religion, are maintained in a questionablepeace by not less than three millions of men armed to the teeth; whilein this country, so vast in its domain, so complicated in itspopulation, from North to South, from East to West, preserved inpeace, not by standing armies or floating navies, but by a moralsense, a quickened conscience, the guardian of our homes, our altars, and our nation. 

Certainly the farmer stands nearest to God. Agriculture underlies allnational wealth. The farmer ministers to the wants of king andprince, of president and senator; the farmer must be esteemed as thedirect medium of blessing through whom God manifests his goodness tothe nation. We have been accustomed to such phenomenal crops that italmost goes without saying that the past year has been phenomenal inits agricultural productions. Indeed there has been a wealth in thesoil, a wealth in the mines, a wealth in the seas, which awakensastonishment and admiration in the minds of those beyond the deep--forit is a statistical fact that our agricultural products for the yearjust closing is not less than three and a half thousand millions ofdollars in valuation. How difficult to appreciate the fact! Onethousand seven hundred million bushels of corn, valued at five hundredand eighty millions of dollars; four hundred and fifty million bushelsof wheat, valued at three hundred and fifty-five millions of dollars;six and a half million bales of cotton, estimated in valuation at twohundred and fifty millions of dollars. And including all the otheragricultural products, the statistician of the Government estimatesthe value at three and a half thousand millions of dollars. And thisis but a repetition of other years. No! It exceeds other years! It isa great fact that one and a half millions of square miles ofcultivated land in this country now subject to the plow could feed athousand millions of persons, and then we could have five thousandmillions of bushels of grain for exportation. 

In ten years, from 1870 to 1880, we produced over seven hundredmillions of dollars of precious metals, and the last year thevaluation is estimated at seventy-five millions in gold and silver;and rising above these colossal and phenomenal figures, our greatmanufacturing people during the past year have produced not less thanfive thousand millions of dollars in valuation. The mind staggers inthe presence of these tremendous facts. 

Then our national wealth is as phenomenal as are the annual productsof soil, and mine, and skill, and commerce. In 1880 our nationalwealth was estimated at forty-four thousand millions of dollars, which would buy all Russia, Turkey, Italy, South Africa, and SouthAmerica--possessions inhabited by not less than one hundred andseventy-seven millions of people. This enormous national wealthexceeds the wealth of Great Britain by two hundred and seventy-sixmillions of dollars. England's wealth is the growth of centuries, while our wealth, at the most, can be said to be the growth of onecentury. Nay, the fact is that most of ours has been created in thelast twenty years. In 1860 our national wealth was estimated atsixteen thousand millions of dollars. But from 1860 to 1880 our wealthincreased twenty-eight thousand millions of dollars--ten thousandmillions more than the entire wealth of the Empire of Russia. From1870 to 1880, ten years, the increase was twenty thousand millions. This is without a parallel. Surely these great facts call upon thePresident of the United States to convoke the freemen of this countryaround their religious altars to offer their gratitude and praise toHim from whom cometh all these blessings; for in His hand are theresources of national wealth. With him are the ministers of good andthe ministers of evil. He can marshal the insect. He can excite themalaria. He can call forth the tornado. He can put down his foot andwreck the earth with earthquake throes. The ministers of evil are withHim, and stand with closed eyes and folded wings around His throne, but not with deaf ears, waiting to hear His summons, "Go forth. " Soalso around His throne stand the angels of plenty, in whose footfallsrise the golden harvest; who quicken human genius on the land, on theocean, the artificer, the artisan, the scholar, the philanthropist, and the patriot. It is by these resources of good and evil, foreverthe ministers of the great God, we learn our dependence on Him; it iswith the utmost propriety that this Christian nation recognize Him asGod over all and blessed forevermore. 

It is eminently proper on a national day like this, standing in thepresence of these phenomenal mercies, these crowning plenties, thatwe differentiate ourselves from the nations of our own continent andfrom the most favored nations beyond the sea. 

It is proper for us to inquire the divine purpose in placing us amongthe nations of the earth, and what is our great mission. There arecertain facts which prophesy--for facts are as eloquent in propheticannouncement as are the lips of prophet or seer. We should rememberthat our location is everything to us as a national power, ofintelligence and wealth, and that this location is in the wake ofnational prosperity and greatness. It may have escaped your noticethat around this globe is a narrow zone, between the thirtieth andsixtieth parallels of north latitude, and within that narrow zone isour home. Within that belt of power have existed all the great nationsof the past, and in it exist all the great nations of the present. What is there in this charmed circle, in this favored zone, thatbrings national power? We may contract this zone by ten degrees andthe same thing is true. It is true that north of this zone there havebeen nations of wealth, of luxury, and of influence. South of thiszone are Egypt and Arabia and India, and other nations that have livedin splendor. But the peoples that have given direction to the thoughtof mankind, that have created the philosophy for the race, that havegiven jurisprudence and history and oratory, and poetry and art andscience, and government, to mankind, have been crowded, as it were, within this zone of supremacy, within this magical belt of nationalprosperity. Examine your globe, and there is Greece, that gave lettersto the world; Rome, that gave jurisprudence to mankind; Palestine, that gave religion to our race. And to-day there is Germany, that gavea Luther to the church and a Gutenberg to science, and there isEngland swaying her mighty sceptre over land and sea. Our location isin this wake of power--within this magical zone. Surely there must bea destiny foretold by this great fact, and it is but wise for us asintelligent freemen on this national day to consider the significanceof the prophecy. Our national home is not amid the polar snows ofNorthern Russia nor the burning sands of Central Africa, but sweepingover the lovely regions of the temperate zone, it lies too far southto be bound in perpetual chains of frost, and too far north to sinkunder the enervating influences of a tropical sun. Although on theside of the equator destined to be the great receptacle of human life, yet it is too far from the belligerent powers of the old world to falla victim to their corruption or to the weight of their combinedforces. With a shore line equalling the circuit of the globe, and witha river navigation duplicating that vast measurement, ournational domain is only one-sixth less than that of the sixtystates--republics, kingdoms, and empires--of Europe. Indeed, it isequal to old Rome's vast domain, which extended from the riverEuphrates to the Western ocean and from the walls of Antoninus to theMountains of the Moon. 

Our location is for a purpose. For if you and I believe in the missionof individuals who accomplish the purposes of Providence, we mustbelieve in the mission of nations for the elevation of mankind to abetter future. 

And, my countrymen, it is equally significant that we stand above allnations in our origin. We started where other nations left off. Unrivalled for luxury and oriental splendor, the Assyrians sprung froma band of hunters. Grand in her pyramids, and obelisks, and sphinxes, Egypt rose from that race despised by mankind. Great in herjurisprudence, giving law to the world, the Romans came from a band offreebooters on the seven hills that have been made immortal by martialgenius; and that very nation, whose poets we copy, whose orators weseek to imitate, whose artistic genius is the pride of the race, camefrom barbarians, cannibals; and that proud nation beyond the sea, thatsways her sceptre over land and ocean, sprang from paintedbarbarians--for such were the aborigines of proud Albion's Isle whenCæsar invaded those shores. 

Our forefathers stood upon the very summit of humanity. Recall ourconstitutional convention. Perhaps no such convention had everassembled in the halls of a nation. That convention, composed offifty-five men, and such men! They were giants in intellect, in moralcharacter; all occupying a high social position; twenty-nine wereuniversity men, and those that were not collegiates were men ofimperial intellects and of commanding common sense. In such agathering were Franklin, the venerable philosopher; Washington, who isever to be revered as patriot and philanthropist; and Madison, andHamilton, two of the most profound thinkers of that or of any otherage. It is one of those marvels that we should recall of which we havea right to be proud; but in our pride we should not fail to ascertainwhy the Almighty should start us as a nation at the very acme ofhumanity--redeemed, educated, and made grand by the influences of adivine Christianity. Those men were not mere colonists, nor were theylimited in their patriotism. "No pent-up Utica" could confine theirpatriotism, for those men grasped the fundamental principle of humanrights. Nay, they declared the ultimate truth of humanity, leavingnothing to added since, though a century has passed. Greatmodifications have come to the governments of Europe. Some changeshave taken place in our national life. Yet I appeal to yourintelligent memory, to your calm judgments, if anything has been addedto our declaration of rights, those declarations founded upon theconstitution of nature. These men voiced the brotherhood of the race. All other declarations prior to this were but for dynasties, or wereethnic at most. But those men swept the horizon of humanity. These mencalled forth, as it were, the oncoming centuries of time, and in theirpresence declared that all men are created free and equal. 

They not only declared the ultimate truth of human rights, but theyexhausted the right of revolution. They created a constitution foundedupon the will of the people, based upon our great declaration ofrights, embracing man's inalienable right to life, liberty, andhappiness. The instrument which their genius created was leftamendable by the oncoming wants of time, modified in subordinaterelations which might be suggested by emergencies and the unfolding ofour race. Here then are the great fingers of prophecy pointing to ourfuture. 

And we have been equally favored in our population, whether we takethe Puritans who landed in New England, the Dutch who landed in NewYork, or the English who crowded Maryland and Virginia. They werefirst-class families. Especially do we trace back with pride thatglorious genius for liberty, for intelligence, for devotion manifestedby those heroic men and women who, amid the desolations of a terrificwinter landed on a barren rock to transform a vast wilderness, throughwhich the wild man roamed, into a garden wherein should grow theflowers and the fruits of freedom. 

We sometimes deprecate the cosmopolitan character of our population. It is a fact, however, that the best blood of the old world came to usuntil within ten years--not the decrepit, not the maimed, not theaged; for over fifty per cent. Of those who came were between fifteenand thirty, and have grown up to be honorable citizens in thecomposition of our constitutional society. They came not as paupers. Many of them came, each bringing seventy dollars, some $180 dollars, and in the aggregate they brought millions of dollars. 

There has been, however, a change, a manifest change, in the characterof those from foreign shores within the last decade. The time was whenwe welcomed everybody that might immigrate to this country; when wethrew our gates wide open; when in our Fourth of July orations, weproclaimed this to be the asylum of the oppressed, the home of thedown-trodden. But in the process of time this great opportunityafforded the nations of the old world came to be abused, and to-day isthe largest source of our national danger. We are now bound to call ahalt all along the line of immigration; to say to those peoples of theold world that this is not a new Africa, nor a new Ireland, nor a newGermany, nor a new Italy, nor a new England, nor a new Russia; thatthis is not a brothel for the Mormon, a fetich for the negro, acountry for the ticket-of-leave-men; not a place for the criminals andpaupers of Europe; but this country is for man--man in hisintelligence, man in his morality, man in his love of liberty, man, whosoever he is, whencesoever he cometh. [Cries of amen, followed byapplause. ]

The time has come for us to call a halt all along the line, and if wedo not close the gates we should place them ajar. We should do twothings: First, declare that this country is for Americans. [Applause. ]It is not for Germans, nor for Irishmen, nor for Englishmen, nor forSpaniards, nor for the Chinese, nor for the Japanese, but it is forAmericans. [Cries of amen and applause. ] I am not to-day reviving theKnow-Nothing cry, for I am glad to say that I am not a know-nothing inany sense. [Laughter. ] Nor am I reviving what may be called the oldNative American cry, for we have outlived that. But I am simplydeclaring that America is for Typical Americans. In other words, thatwe are determined by all that is honorable in law, by all that isenergetic in religion, by all that is dear to our altars and ourfiresides, that this country shall not become un-American. 

Let us to-day proclaim to the world that he is an American, whethernative-born or foreign-born, who accepts seven great ideas which shalldifferentiate him from all other peoples on the face of the globe. Iam bound to say, and you will agree with me, that in proportion thereare as many intelligent foreigners (that is, foreign-born) in thiscongregation, in our city and in our country, who are in full accordwith this utterance as there are of those to the manor born. In otherwords could I call the roll, I would find as many intelligentforeigners who came here, not for selfishness, but for liberty and forAmerica's sake, who would be in accord with me in declaring thatAmerica is for the Typical American. [Applause. ]

I speak without prejudice; I know that there are those here of foreignbirth who are ornaments in every department of society. They ministerto the sick as learned physicians. They plead in all our courts ofjustice. They are the eloquent exponents of divine truth. They are inour halls of legislation. They beautify private life in all theimmunities and refinements thereof. They have added to the wealth ofthe nation. But while I make this concession, and I do it cheerfullyand proudly, yet I must affirm that there are three classes ofAmericans: the native-born, the foreign-born and the typical American. The native American has the advantage of birth, out of which flows onesupreme advantage--he may be the President of the United States. Thisis a wise provision, as nativity is a primary source of patriotism, and time is necessary to appreciation. But the native may be aworthless citizen. He should be the typical American, but he has toooften failed to be. The Tweeds, the Wards, their like, are no honorwhatever to the native stock. Some of the worst scoundrels who havescandalized our nation have been born to the soil. 

Then there is the foreign-born American, who is such bynaturalization. He may be worthy of our free institutions, as manyare; he may be unworthy, as many have proved themselves to be. But, rising above these, is the typical American, without regard to placeof birth. He is the possessor of the seven great attributes, which, inmy humble judgment, constitute the true American:

I. That our civil and political rights are not grants from superiorsto inferiors, but flow out of the order and constitution of nature. 

II. That the force to maintain these rights is not physical, butmoral. 

III. That the safeguard of such rights is individual culture andresponsibility. 

IV. That secular education is provided by the State, and is foreverfree from sectarian control. 

V. That there is no alliance of State and Church; the Governmentnon-religious, but not irreligious. 

VI. That the Sabbath is a day of rest from ordinary care and toil. 

VII. That Christianity, in its ethics and charities, is the religionof this land. 

It was a bold venture for the fathers of this Republic to declarepersonal liberty foremost, without regard to birth or education orcivilization. This has elevated our nation above all nations. It wassublime courage for those grand men to declare that our civil andpolitical rights are not grants from superiors to inferiors, but thatthey flow out of the order and the constitution of nature. It is this, my countrymen, that differentiates us, that distinguishes us fromEnglishmen, and Frenchmen, and Russians. What are the two greatdeclarations of which England is proud? Take the _Magna ChartaLibertatum_. The historians say that this is the bulwark of Englishfreedom. Yes, Englishmen, you do right to so esteem it. But then youshould remember that the _Magna Charta Libertatum_ was a concessionfrom King John--a concession from a superior to inferiors, and the menwho wrung that concession from that English king did not esteemthemselves his equals, but permitted themselves to be treated asinferiors. Then take what is known in English parliamentary history asA Petition of Rights. It secured a concession from King Charles I--asuperior to inferiors. But our fathers said we are the superiors. [Applause. ] We recognize no superior but God; we declare a governmentof the people, by the people, and for the people. [Applause. ] We asknot for a _Magna Charta Libertatum_. We offer no petition of rights. Jefferson made our declaration of rights and the fathers signed it, saying, We are born free and equal, created in the image of God; ourpolitical rights are inalienable, inseparable from our birth. [Applause. ] That declaration turned the corner of political history. It astounded all Europe. It sent a chill through royal blood. Itcaused a paleness to come over kings and queens; yet it was adeclaration which oncoming generations approved, and oncomingcenturies will applaud, because born of truth, justice and liberty. 

The naturalized American must renounce all allegiance to foreignprince or potentate or government; in so doing he must reject theassumed superiority of any human grantor and assert the superiority ofthe individual citizen in whom inhere these rights. [Applause. ]

The fathers ventured the assertion that a government of the people andby the people and for the people should be supported, not by physicalforce, but by a moral power, an astounding fact in the nationalhistory. The power that conquered in the war for independence was amoral force. It was the _spirit_ of '76. It was the spirit of '76 thatinspired Warren to say: "Put me where the battle is hottest. " It wasthe spirit of '76 that moved Putnam to shout out on the eve of battle:"Powder! powder! Ye gods, give us powder!" It was the spirit of '76that caused the New Jersey dominie, when the army was destitute ofwadding, to rush to the church and, getting a copy of Watts's psalms, shout out: "There, boys, put Watts into them. " It was the spirit of'76 that led Washington to consecrate himself, his time, his wealth, and the grandest men in the country to consecrate themselves for theaccomplishment of the grandest of facts. The Continental Army was anarmy of plowmen and artisans, poorly armed and poorly clothed. BaronSteuben, when he came to this country with Lafayette to organize ourarmy, declared that the only regularity that he saw was, that theshort men were put in front and the tall men put behind, and oldPutnam gave him this explanation, that Americans didn't care abouttheir heads; they only cared about their legs; shelter their legs andthey would fight forever. Baron Steuben attempted to organize thosetroops, but lost his temper and swore at them in three languages atthe same time. [Laughter. ] But the spirit of '76 led to history. 

We maintain our free institutions by moral force. Our twenty thousandsoldiers scattered here and there wherever they can find an Indian toshoot is hardly a respectable police force. [Laughter. ] The foundersof this Republic knew that freemen are soldiers in the disguise ofcitizens. Let the tocsin of war be founded; let a foreign foe invadeour shores; let an insurrectionary body arise in our midst, and amillion of freemen, armed to the teeth, will "Rally round the flag, boys, rally once again. " [Vociferous applause. ] It is difficult forimmigrants coming to this country to appreciate this fact. They passthrough the land and see no gens d'armes, no standing armies, andrarely a policeman. [Laughter. ]

The true American stands forever on duty, a soldier of the Republic inthe disguise of a citizen, the custodian of the Republic's life. Outof such a citizenship comes the moral sentiment which in itsaggregation is public opinion, which is mightier than standing armiesor floating navies. [Applause. ]

A third attribute is the individuality of the citizen, out of whichcomes the collective man, our national life. We have exalted theindividual; the American citizen is a republic of one. Whether we havefifty millions, or ten millions, or a million, whatever may be theratio of our population, the Government recognizes the individualityof the citizen as paramount. As God is the center of the universe, andChrist the center of the church, so the citizen is the center of thisGovernment. All its laws, all its administrations, all its soldiers inthe army, all its guns in the navy, are for the protection of theAmerican citizen. Wherever he wanders, whether in Africa, or Europe, or Asia, or Germany, or Ireland, or Cuba, or Mexico, the Americancitizen must and shall be protected. [Applause. ] It is difficult formen coming from Europe, where men are contemplated in masses, torealize the potency of individuality; but it underlies our freeinstitutions. 

Fourthly, he is an American, whether native-born or foreign-born, whoaccepts the bold venture of the fathers to segregate public educationfrom the teachings of the church. It was a bold move in politicalscience. There is no authority under the Constitution of the UnitedStates, there should be no authority in the constitution of anyState, there should be no authority in the municipality of any part ofthe country, to impose religious instruction upon the childhood ofAmerica. You and I may tremble in the presence of this tremendousfact, this daring project in the science of statecraft, but then youmust remember that, according to the organic law of our country, weknow no class but citizens, we know no obligation but protection, noduty but the welfare of the people. In all the nations abroad there isthe combination of secular and religious instruction. Arithmetic, geometry, geography, physiology, must be taught under the sanctions ofreligion. But in this country public education is separated fromsectarian religious teaching. We may pause in the presence of such afact. We know that intelligence is almost a boundless power. Intelligence has produced as much evil as it has good; the greatestmonsters who have damned humanity have been men of the highestpossible culture, and the men who are sowing the seed in this countryof discord are men of sublime intellects and polished education. Andtherefore the founders of the Republic recognized the duty of theindividual citizen to add home instruction, instruction in the church, instruction in the Sunday-school, to sanctify this intelligence. Whenever they expounded constitutional law, or spoke in behalf of theperpetuity of our institutions, they never failed to give pre-eminenceto private virtue and public morality; nor did they hesitate to saythat this virtue in private life and this morality in the publicsociety must flow out of that religion which we esteem divine. 

Those great men ventured on another and a desperate mission, thesegregation of State from Church. In the nations of the old worldthese are allied. The Czar is the head of the church. Victoria is thehead of the church. The King of Germany is the head of the church. TheHapsburg, of Austria, is the head of the church. The Sultan is thehead of the church. But here we have no earthly head of the church. Tothe individual Christian Christ is the head of the church. This isfundamental in our Government. Here we have "a free church in a freecountry. " Christianity had been supported by thrones in the oldworld. Religion had been enforced by armies and navies. The greatcathedrals, and what are called the church livings, had beenmaintained by a tax imposed upon people who did not believe the creedtaught, and did not observe the forms of worship practiced. In ourorganic law it is stated that Congress shall not legislate on thesubject of religion. Religion shall be free. Here the Mohammedan mayrear his mosque and read his Koran. Here the Brahmin may rear hispagoda and read his Shasta. All religionists may come and worshiphere, but their worship shall not infringe upon the worship of othersnor work injury to the body-politic. The Typical American should sethis face against all seeming alliance of Church and State. We say tothe Holy Father, live in peace. Stay in Rome. Live on the banks of theTiber. If you come here, you must be an American citizen, rejectingyour doctrine of temporal power. You may come and be naturalized andbe a voter, but we can have no temporal _popes_ here. [Applause andlaughter. ] So we say to our countrymen that come from dear oldIreland, the best country in the world to emigrate from, [laughter], to the Italian, to the Spaniard, to the German, you may belong to thechurch of the spiritual pontiff but you must renounce all allegianceto temporal pontiffs. I hold that under our laws of naturalization, that it is the duty of every cardinal, every archbishop, every bishop, and every priest, every monk, Franciscan or Jesuit, to solemnlyrenounce before God and the holy angels, all political allegiance tothe Pope as a temporal prince, who to-day is seeking to re-establishdiplomatic relations with England and other European nations inrecognition of his temporal sovereignty. 

And he is a true American citizen, whether foreign-born ornative-born, who maintains, as an American institution, the HolySabbath-day. He can call it Sunday, after the old pagan god, but hemust rest on the seventh day, rest from toil, rest in the interest ofthe dignity of labor, rest as discount upon capital, rest forintelligence, rest for compensation, rest for domestic happiness, restfor pious culture. The seventh day of every week should be consecratedto cessation from labor and devoted to physical and mental repose. Itshould not be a day of recreation to be spent in riotous living and inbrawls, but a day peaceful, in harmony with the institutions ofreligion and the dominant sentiment of the country. Our fathersconsecrated the Sabbath, and had you the patience to hear and I, thetime to read from Franklin, from Jefferson, from Washington, touchingthe Sabbath, in recognition of it as indispensable to the welfare ofour body politic, you would be confirmed in this great truth. Thedanger to-day is that we are becoming un-American in cutting loosefrom the Sabbath-day as a day of rest and of worship. I cannot invokethe civil law to do more than to say that it shall be a day of rest. Icannot invoke the civil law to say that that man shall worship here orworship there, or worship at all, but I can invoke the civil law tosay that it shall be a non-secular day; not a day for the transactionof business, but a day on which the laboring man shall walk out underGod's free skies and say: This is my day, the day of a freeman. [Applause. ] The tendency is to transplant a European Sabbath here; theGerman with his lager, and the Frenchman with his wine, and theIrishman with his shillalah. [Laughter. ] No, no, gentlemen, stay onthe other side of the great deep. We don't want these things or thisday on this side of the broad Atlantic. 

There is another attribute that belongs to the true Americancitizen--the recognition of Christianity as the religion of ourcountry. Webster, our greatest expounder of constitutional law, didnot hesitate to declare that Christianity--not Methodist Christianity, not Roman Catholic Christianity, not Presbyterian Christianity--butChristianity as taught by the four Evangelists, is the recognizedreligion of this land. Recognized how far? So far that its ethicsshall be embodied in our constitutional and statutory law; so far thatits teachings of the brotherhood of mankind shall be accepted; so farthat its lessons of fraternity, equality, justice; and mercy shall beincorporated in the law of society. Those beautiful moralities thatfell from the lips of the divine Son of God have been incorporated inthe laws of the land, and that with few exceptions. Our chaplains forthe army and navy and for Congress are in recognition of this. On thatsacred book the oath of Presidential responsibility is taken. And thisThanksgiving Day, appointed by the President, is a monument of proof. These point to Christianity as the dominant religion of the land, notto the exclusion of the Jew, not to the exclusion of the Greek, not tothe exclusion of the Mohammedan, not to the exclusion of the Brahmin, but permeating society with its principles. 

Then, citizens, the danger which comes from this foreign population isto be met in this way, first, to hold that this country is forAmericans who are clothed with these seven attributes. 

I do not exaggerate the danger when I remind you that there are greatmovements among the peoples of the earth, as never before. Rememberthat the population of Europe has increased twenty-seven millions from1870 to 1880, and at this rate of increase Europe can send to us twomillions of immigrants a year for the next hundred years. Ourforeign-born population is said to be seven millions, and theirchildren of the first generation would make fifteen millions. In 1882immigration reached the enormous figure of eight hundred thousand, andat the present rate of immigration it is said there will be in theyear 1900, fourteen years from now, nineteen millions of persons offoreign birth, and with their children of the first generation therewill be forty-three millions in this land of foreign born. Now thequestion, and a serious one, is, Who are those that come? I have saidsome are noble, some are true, some are easily transformed into theTypical American. But then we are to remember that most of theforeigners who come here are twelve times as much disposed to crime asare the native stock. 

Our population of foreign extraction is sadly conspicuous in ourcriminal records. This element constituted, in 1870, 20 per cent. Ofthe population of New England, and furnished 75 per cent. Of thecrime. The Howard Society of London reports that 74 per cent. Of theIrish discharged convicts have come to the United States. I hold inmy hand the annual rum bill of this country for the last year. It isnine hundred millions of dollars! I ask myself, Who drinks this rum?Native Americans? Some! [Laughter. ] Some drink a good deal. [Renewedlaughter. ] But let us see the danger that comes to us from inebrietyamong our foreign population. 

The wholesale dealers in liquor are estimated at sixty-five per cent. Foreign born, and the brewers seventy-five per cent. Let us takePhiladelphia, that old Quaker city, the City of Brotherly Love, thatcity that seems to be par excellence the city of the world, and hereare the figures: There were 8, 034 persons in the rum traffic, and whowere they? Chinamen, 2; Jews, 2; Italians, 18; Spaniards, 140; Welsh, 160; French, 285; Scotch, 497; English, 568; Germans, 2, 179; Irish, 3, 041; Africans, 265; American, 205. I suppose we will have to mix theAfricans with the Americans, and the total would be 470 Americans, andthen there were persons of unknown nationality in the rum traffic, 672; the sum total being 8, 034. Of this number 3, 696 were females, butout of the 3, 696 all were foreigners but one. There was one Americanwoman in the rum business, and I blush for my country. Yet there were1, 104 German women, and 2, 548 Irish, and of the whole number of the8, 034 engaged in the liquor traffic of that city, 6, 418 had beenarrested for some crime. [Applause. ] We are bound to look at thesefacts. Are we a nation of foreign drunkards?

Then there is another danger--the tendency of emigrant colonization. Isuppose it is known to you that New Mexico is in the hands offoreigners--in the hands of the Catholic Church. It is also a fact ofCongressional report that 20, 557, 000 acres of land are in thepossession of twenty-nine alien corporations and individuals, an areagreater than the whole of Ireland. I would have no part of thiscountry subject to any church. I would have no foreign language taughtin the public schools to the exclusion of or in preference to theEnglish language. I would have no laws published in a foreignlanguage, whether for the French of Louisiana or the Germans ofCincinnati. [Loud applause. ] I would utter my solemn protest, and thatin the hearing of all politicians, especially those men who want to bePresidents and can not be Presidents, and those who hope to be erelong--I would utter my solemn protest to-day against what is known asthe "Irish vote" and the "German vote. " [Applause. ] We do not want any"foreign vote. " Down with the politician that would seek an "Irishvote" or "German vote. " [Great applause. ] All we want here is anAmerican vote. I would not vote for any man for President who wouldstoop so low as to bid for the German vote or the Irish vote. [Continued applause. ] The other safeguard is an extension of the termof residence required for naturalization. Some say make the termtwenty-one years. What is the term now? Five years. I read from"Revised Statutes, " section 2165 and 2174, that a person applying forcitizenship must be a resident of the United States at least fiveyears, and one year within the State or Territory wherein theapplication is made, and that during that term (I wish I had all thejudges here to-day) and that during that term he is to givesatisfactory assurance to the court that he has behaved as a man ofgood moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitutionof the United States, and well disposed to the good order andhappiness of the same. "A man of good moral character!" what a sublimeutterance, and how infinite. I would be glad to know what judge takesthe pains, when a hundred of these foreigners apply just on the eve ofthe election, that they may qualify themselves to vote, what judgeinquires whether they are men of good moral character? Yet such is theprovision of the law of the land. We have assumed the authority tolimit suffrage. We say that women shall not vote, which is a greatmistake. [Sensation. ] You are not up to that. [Laughter. ] My wife isas competent to vote as I. On all moral questions, especially thetemperance question, I would trust the women ten times before I wouldthe men. It is an abuse of the very genius of our Government toproscribe the Chinese. We say the negro may vote because his skin isblack. We say the Dutchman, the Irishman, the Italian may vote, because his skin ought to be white, but the Chinese can not votebecause his skin is yellow. The word "white" is used in the statute oflimitation. We say to the young American who graduates with thehighest honors at eighteen, you must wait three years longer beforeyou can stand with the Irishman with his brogans and the Teuton withhis lager and vote for the rulers of your native land. I would havethe term of naturalization extended, some say till the foreigner hasbeen here twenty-one years. Extend the term to ten years, fifteenyears. Say to all persons who come to this country from foreign lands, that after 1890 they shall remain here fifteen years to becomeindoctrinated in our free institutions, learn the seven attributes ofthe American citizen, and then be prepared to love America forAmerica's sake. [Applause. ]

Thus protected we can look forward to a glorious future, and the eyeof prophecy can sweep the horizon of a deathless hope. Look forward tothe time when our place among the nations shall be the umpire of theworld. When England and Germany and France shall refer theirinternational questions to us for adjudication which otherwise wouldbe adjusted on the field of carnage; when we shall dictate to theworld by moral suasion, what shall be the rights of citizens and whatshall be the duty of the Government over them. 

The proud position of my country looms up before me. England may plantcommercial colonies around the globe, and so may Germany and so mayFrance, but let it be the mission of this country to plant colonies ofmoral ideas wherever the sun shines, and transform the politicalsentiments of the world until all men shall be recognized as createdfree and equal by the Father Almighty. Let this be our proud position. Then it shall never be said that the ocean was dug for America'sgrave, that the winds were woven for her winding sheet, that themountains were reared for her tombstone. But rather we shall live on, and gifted with immortal youth, America shall ascend the mountain topsof the oncoming centuries with the old flag in her hand, symbol ofuniversal liberty, the light of whose stars shall blend their radiancewith the dawn of the millennium. 

EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS. 

"Your sermon yesterday upon the essential features of Americanismdeserves the applause of the nation. God speed you in your noblemission. "

 WASHINGTON, D. C. 

"Your sermon to-day was a masterpiece. God bless you. "

 WASHINGTON, D. C. 

"I thank you from the bottom of my American heart for your sermon on'America for Americans. '"

 WASHINGTON, D. C. 

"Your sermon exactly describes my sentiments, which you have put in acleaner and plainer light than I can. "

 MARYLAND. 

"Let me congratulate you with all my heart on your immigration sermonyesterday. "

 WISCONSIN. 

"I have read the report of your sermon, and had I been present wouldhave risen to my feet in an 'Amen' applause. "

 OHIO. 

"I have read your sermon, and thank God that one man has the manhoodto speak his mind on a subject which must soon come to the forefrontfor investigation. "

 ST. LOUIS. 

"You struck the people's heart on Thanksgiving Day, and put a neededtruth just right. "

 NEW YORK.