PRECEDENTS Jefferson Davis insisted on being recognized by his official title as commander or President in the regular negotiation with the U. S. Government. This Mr. Lincoln would not consent to. Mr. Hunte thereupon referred…
Sermon Illustrations
PRESIDENTIAL PERKS One morning Thomas Jefferson woke up in a modest Washington rooming house, dressed, and then left the house in order to attend his inauguration as the third president. When he got back, duly…
ADAMS/JEFFERSON Although he was failing fast, John Adams was determined to survive until the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence -- July 4, 1826. At dawn on that day he was…
CAN WE WAVE THE FLAG TOO MUCH? Is it possible to wave the flag too much? Provided, of course, that you wave it with integrity? Is it possible to study Lincoln or Shakespeare too much?…
ONE HOUSE VERSUS TWO HOUSES Laboulaye said, in one of his lectures, that Jefferson, who had become so completely imbued with French ideas as even to admire the unicameral system of legislation, one day visited…
ARMY HYMN O Lord of Hosts! Almighty King!/Behold the sacrifice we bring! To every arm thy strength impart, Thy spirit shed through every heart. Wake in our breasts the living fires, The holy faith that…
THE SPIRIT OF LIBERTY What is the spirit of liberty? I cannot define it; I can only tell you my own faith. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that…
PEACE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC O Lord, our God, Thy mighty hand Hath made our country free; From all her broad and happy land May praise arise to Thee. Fulfill the promise of her youth,…
DEDICATION TO AMERICA I was born an American; I live an American; I shall die and American; and I intend to perform the duties incumbent upon me in that character to the end of my…
A FINAL THOUGHT ON THE LIMITS OF PATRIOTISM Edith Cavell, a British nurse in World War I, was about to be shot by a firing squad in 1915. Just before they placed a blindfold over…
OUR HERITAGE AS AMERICANS Let us not forget the religious character of our origin. Our fathers were brought here by their high veneration for the Christian religion. They journeyed by its light, and labored in…
CHECK OUR STITCHES On the front page of a Chicago newspaper some time ago there appeared a picture of Betsy Ross sewing the first American flag. Over the picture was the caption, 'Time to check…
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS In 1846 John Quincy Adams suffered a stroke and, although he returned to Congress the following year, his health was clearly failing. Daniel Webster described his last meeting with Adams: "Someone, a…
SIBLING RIVALRY My friend Ronnie Patton took his family to a local restaurant for Sunday Brunch. After taking the parents' order, the waitress came to the older boy, Robbie, and she asked what he would…
OH FOR A WIFE LIKE THAT! In a recent issue of Partnership, William Petersen writes about the strong marriage of Sarah and Jonathan Edwards of 18th century New England. Though very different in personality they…
EITHER ONE Brian Sternberg could have been an Olympic hero. He set a new world record for the pole vault, but, within a month after that success, he had an accident and was paralyzed from…
CARING COUNTS AND COSTS I visited the Hillhaven Hospice. When I interviewed the Chaplain on a Tuesday morning, he told me that 8 of their 30 patients had died over the last weekend. Knowing how…
ONE OF THE LEAST OF THESE Much about the life of Charles de Gaulle is well known. What is not so widely known is that Charles and Evonne de Gaulle were the parents of a…
BONHOEFFER The following quotation was typed on a sheet of paper inserted in Bonhoeffer's copy of the book by Robert Moton, What The Negro Thinks: How do you laugh, when the flesh of your people…
YES, YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE In a gun factory in the United States, an unusual experiment was conducted. A bottle cork, weighing less than four grams, was suspended by an almost invisible silk thread…
