Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1872-11-08
Praying for Things.

Sermon by o. b. Frothinghaml
No prayers can be expected to extrac
another wish or thought or expression o
feeling from Being who is beyond al
these lines, and who has put these thrill
ing worlds between Himself and Hi
creatures, piled these Ossas on thes'
Pelions Of intention, and fairly ex
hausted the possibilities of care in wha
is already provided. He who begins tC
see how much he has cannot in con
science ask for more. To have the
smallest appreciation Of the wealth o
the supply is to see reason sufficient fel
being dumb. And so we find what We
should expect to find, decline of prayer
with an increase Of knowledge. As peo
pie understand meteorology and china
tology they perceive the uselessness oi
prayer for rain. As they understand the
strict connection between the harvest
and the seasons, they cease to pray for
good crops. As they understand the in
innate dependence Of human health on
sanitary precautions, they abate the fer.
vency of their petitions for long and
wholesome life. As they understand the
necessary aifiliation of the physiological
and psychological laws. their PRAYERS
for an amiable temper and a kind heart
become weak and infrequent A visit
to the Office in Washington, where the
clerk of the weather sits with his subor-
dinates about him, catching the whispers
Of the wind from the four quarters OF
heaven, counting the rain drops that fall
on continent, weighing the atmosphere
from seaao sea and from lakes TO gulf
and making those fying. illusiye wit
nesses tell whether it will bewise for the
people of New York or San Francisco
to take umbrellas down town with them
the next day. will satisfy the most deyout
mind that supplication for a sudden sun
Div of cessation of showers will be inef.
fectual. A visit to the bureau of Vital
Statistics. where the currents of disease
are traced in their fiow over large reaches
Of territory, and the private correspond.
ence between sanity and sewerage. death
ar dirt fever and fetor. cholera and mn.
is established with the nicety
of natl ematics. will convince the saint
that the death. rate is not likely 10 he
modified considerably DV the most fer
vent desire God-ward. The urayer for
fresh accessions of temperanee honesty
ueacefulness. sinks into silence he,
fore the fact that vices and crimes
too obey their laws; that outbreaks OF
distomper accompany changes
In the money market; that social NOR,
ality follows the line of national nros-
nerity which rises and falls with the finc.
tuations of the seasons; that social dis.
orders have their method. that sins can
be reduced to An average; that skilIful
actuary will. from given data. commute
with much accuracy the nrobable mum.
ber of murders and suicides for the next
twelyemonth. vice and yirtue mot being
pifts dependent on the favor of a bene,
factor hut Qualities wrought into the
te x,nre of the world. In he had nv fnlfIl.
inc the conditions. not otherwise The
Bible encourages prayer for faith Rnt
we all know that infidelity, like vice has
its causes which must be removed he
fore il will disanpear. The HAge of
Reason in Franco with its anneIl;ng
,xcesses was no insniration Of tbe devil
1nt an inevitable result of the abomina,
ions of the Church. which were again
|, n inevitable result of nm ancient bnt
,utward theory of the rights of kings