The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-09-17
Mr.. Chambers Endorses my
Policy"
How the Newspapers Make Bad
Men of Good Boys.
The Ledger" Complimented.
Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc, ETC., Etc.


The subject which l propose to discuss this
afternoon ''Blasphemy and ribaldry are
being populated in this country"
The first clause of the ninth verse of the four
teenth chapter Of Proverbs declares that "FOois
make mock OF sin." Let the student of history
sit down with his maps before him, ana with
the ancient records that he can select from the
most distinguished and well-furnished libraries
OF the world, and ask himself where is Thebes,
Babylon, and Athens? where are those magnih-
cent cities of antiquity? He looks upon his map
in vain. He comes on down In the history of
life; he prides to see the lengths and the
breadths and the heights and the depths of the
mighty Roman Empire. The utmost that he
can do in regard to any and all OF these is, the
discovery ot a broken shaft or the remnants of
magnificent temple.
The cities of Thebes, and OF Athens, and of
Babylon, and of NneVah seem. to have been
Dlotted out OF existence; and the men OF those
days, and the vast nations that struggled and
contended the one with the other, have perished.
And il this curiosity should lead him to investi-
gate little more closely, and he should GPsre
to 90 back TO Jerusalem and take look at her.
and to watch the progress of the Pilgrim from
Heaven as he made his way from town to town
and from village TO village; as he met the blind
man. or the leprous man. or the dumb man: and
now he stops TO ask where are those traces,
Man answereth, that magnificent home of God,
with ITS Shekinah and its Holy of Holes, and all
that belonged to it, have passed away. He be-
holds the man who went about preaching and
warning the people.
There he is in every home, in every birthplace
of the Chrlstian there he is within the geographic
cal boundaries OF the birthplace of the Son Of
the eternal God; he has gone to the remnants OF
the place of his birth. There he is with the
Apostles, and what does he see? What meets
his eye ?-just one sweeping waste Of desolaton.
They have followed in the wake of those great
empires-they have gone down, and not trace
can scarcely be found. Why, my brethren?
u Vhq all this desolation? Why these ruins? Why
scarcely q footprint to be seen upon Gods foot
stool? There is but one single answer to it all
The people have become in the generations gone
by basphemo1s and ribald, and sin has brought
calamity and ruin upon them. No other answer
can be given.
There is no reason why the materials that
built Babylon should not remain. There is no
reason why the materials put into Thebes should
not be there. There is no reason why those
magnificent structures should not be there.
Why is all this and why are those nations blot
TED out; that you can scarcely find remnant OF
\ were intelligent as we are but they are gone.
They have passed away, and everything that be-
longed to them is gone. Tney are buried be-
meath the rubbish of the earth, and there is not
tear drop that falls upon the grave Of one OF
! them. And now why all this? The people be-
came fools, they Knocked at sin. The people
became blasphemous and ribald in their charac-
! ter, and ruin came upon them.
The history OF one nation is the history pretty
4 much of all nations:, other than this, That to
some there must have been a deeper condemna-
Il
enioved was greater than the others. Around
the vast globe upon which God has placed the
human race, the American people are known
| Springing into being as by magic, and making
snch wonderful progress, we are the admiration
M of the world What is sin? / can answer in
i the words of Paul, ''Sin Is the transgression o
q the law" Where there is no law there can bC
- no transgreSelon.
There is Divine law and there is hnman law
Sin is the violation of the Divine law, as tits the
4 violation of human law. Blasphemy and ribald
+ ry rise up and the very first indication W.
i meet with alarming in its character, is the dis
nosition of many TO make light of sin. Yol
cannot at any moment take knife out OF you
pocket and make a slight incision into you
tnger without pain. You violate law in dolnS
that 1t is against the law of mature; for nature
Il has her laws. which must not be violated. IL L
~ therefore a violation of the law, and you ar
suffering the penalty OF that VIOLATION. go wnel I
YOU come into social organization. In the mrs
place, there is the family. There are iaml
laws, the violation OF which bring upon u
trouble, ,Yexatlons, and distress, and nothing Du
= trouble and distress.
Then YOU go into the community, there or
laws to govern it. We have laws-muntcipa
laws-whether good or bad, they are the laws; an
AZ men make laws they are bound to obey thos
n laws as they made them. They must do $
: until they repeal them and put better ones i
X their place. We have general laWs-natlona
81 laws 1t is the national laws which are bindin
npon every human being, from the Chief Magls
trate of the nation to the most subordinate cit
81 zen-they are obligatory on them. And so W
have moral laws that God has given u.s..
sW hen, therefore, law in any OF IT'S FORMS l
any of its com Dinatons, is mocked at treate
M lightly. scoffed at laughed at, that every tim
such things are introduced unless Is quenche
at once, It will ruin the people, aud there is =
escape. Reverence for plvlne authorlty, y y
Divine law; reverence TOR human authority, fc
| human law, is binding upon every human bein'
apd,wherever Iand wheresoeVer, and under VIVA
ever circumstances, you can imagine taat No4e me
become reckless of law disregardlng 1t, treatn
ii with Indifference, and looking upon sin as
very small matter then you may look tor tr
most disastrous consequences. E.
Now, what are we to understand ny IVo y
+ rity, which have in the Goth verse OF the 81
chapter OF Isaiah? "Wo unto them that ca
evil good, and good evil" etc. Why say goo
unto them that call evil good and good eyily
W 1t good to run the cars on the Lords dayI Is
good to drink is 1t good TO drive OUT is u go'
70 do thousand other things which are doue
these degenerate days on the Sabbath? Why