Suppose you are a father, and you have five children. One is
named Philip, and Philip says to his brothers and sisters: “Now,
John, you go and live in the small room at the end of the hall.
George, you go and stay up in the garret. Mary, you go and live
in the cellar, and, Fannie, you go and live in the kitchen, and
don’t any of you come out. I am Philip, and will occupy the
parlor; I like it; I like the lambrequins at the window, and I
like the pictures on the wall. I am Philip, and, being Philip,
the parlor shall only be for the Philipians.” You, the father,
come home, and say: “Fannie, what are you doing in the kitchen?
Come out of there.” And you say to Mary, “Mary, come out of that
cellar.” And you say to John, “John, don’t stay shut up in that
small room. Come out of there.” And you say to George, “George,
come down out of that garret.” And you say to the children,
“This is my house. You can go anywhere in it that you want to.”
And you go and haul Philip out of the parlor, and you tell him
that his brothers and sisters have just as much right in there
as he has, and that they are all to enjoy it. Now, God is our
Father, and this world is a house of several rooms, and God
has at least five children--the North American continent, the
South American continent, the Asiatic continent, the European
continent, and the African continent. The North American
continent sneaks away, and says: “I prefer the parlor. You South
Americans, Asiatics, Europeans, and Africans, you stay in your
own rooms; this is the place for me; I prefer it, and I am going
to stay in the parlor; I like the front windows facing on the
Atlantic, and the side windows facing on the Pacific, and the
nice piazza on the south where the sun shines, and the glorious
view from the piazza to the north.” And God, the Father, comes
in and sends thunder and lightning through the house, and says
to his son, the American continent: “You are no more my child
than are all these others, and they have just as much right
to enjoy this part of my house as you have.”--T. DEWITT
TALMAGE.
(85)
=Americans as Spenders=--See MISSIONS, INDIFFERENCE TO.