Democratic standard. [volume] (Georgetown, Brown County, Ohio) 1837-1850, 1841-05-18
r rom the New York Sunday Mercury.

From the New York Sunday Mercury.
SHORT PATENT SERMONS.
have selected the following, by J. E
Dow, namesake of mine, as a text fol
this occasion.
oldTims old Time YOU'VE passed away,
And men have sadly altered;
The robber walks amid the day,
Unchided and unhaltered.
The Statesman talks away his time,
And leaves the People Starving,
The scales of Justice lean to crime,
And doctors cure by carving.
My Observation-Disclosures and corrup-
ton are always found to be welded to-
gethsr. They are so closely allied that it
is difficult to distinguish which from which
Or 'tOther from bother. In fact, re-
fnement, such as we boast Of at the pres
ent day, is nothing but mass of corrup-
ton, coated with beautiful exterior of
hypocritical pretension. Old time has
not wholly passed away, as my text might
seem to imply; for he is destined to drive
his chariot (the wheels TO which are roll
ing yebrs) into the edge of eternity. before
he can be reckOned among the has becnS;
but old times have passed away, and pres.
ent times have fallen into such state of
degensracy, that doubt much whether
we shall have any times at all by and by.
We talk of improvement! What kind of
improvement do we makel Man after
having scared upon the wings of science
10 the celestial cities of the stars, and ex'
plOred the erial desert of spsce--having
gone up in balloons among the dark bill
lowy clouds, and ascertained, by analyza-
tion, the component parts of thunder and
lighining-is, after all, farther off from
heaven now, than no was five hundred or
a thousand years ago By the aid Of tel
sscopes and kind of delusive fancy, he
brings objects from above, apparently
near, and then fool'shly imagines that he
At last has arrived at the very doorsteps
Of heaven! What folly! What vain
ness
Why. my friends--tO tell you the plain
truth, as we advance scientifically, intel
lectually, and socially, we digresS moral
IL. There is no more mistake about il
than there is in :wce two. Good morals
can't exist where fashion and refinement
are associated with vice. You might as
soon think of catching trout from putrid
pool, or Of breeding misquitOes from a
living sp,ing. The morals of this and ev-
cry community have for long time, been
growing downward, like cows iail,whtle
vice keeps turning up and curling under
like the posterior establishment of cur.
As the accomplished arts flourish, moral,
" 10 left in the sh ade and it cannot grow
while such weeds are sappIng it of its vi
taliy. While this state Of things re-
mains, man may grow wiser and wiser
with each returning day; but, depend up,
on it, he can become no better. We
have among US aswarm of tiDkers of pnb-
lie morals; but while they endeavOr to stop
one hOle--they are sure to make 10 more
--ifthey don't even expose their own rot
tennesS. In fact, my friends, morals are
like an old shirt: they may look cleaner
for washing, but. at The same time, they
are worse than ever, and more liable TO
rip in the back. The only way 10 forward |
the growth of morality is to cut away and |
make bonfire Of all such nOxiouS
brushwood as avarice, cupidiiy, venality.
fashion, and seIfshness, and then it will
flourish spontaneously upon the nncult.
vated soil Of the heart, and maks man ap' |
pear as he once was pure, sootless and
undefilsd.
nv dear iriends-it is a melancholy |
truth that man has sadly altered. | dom
believe that he looks any more like the
model which the creator made as pattern
for Us all, than ribbed -nOse6 baboOn
looks like. Prince Albert or the king OF
the CannihaI Islands. II moral atIr'
buies are not the same, and his exterioI
has lost all its original marks. Oh! how
d generate is man! and Oh! how corrnp'
ton owes from the sores Of society
Not only the professional rOhber walks
unchded and unhslttred in the broad ligb
Of day, but you also--yes, you, We uncer
emoninns rnbbers--all Of you, are per
mitted 10 rob one another by way oi
trade. as The saying is, or in other words
Just for 3 lark, with perfect impunity =
Yes. you lie, cheat, and sfeal all tile week
for the sake Of mammon, then 90 TO
church and pile up your sins at the feet Of