Litchfield enquirer., 1873-10-30
Practical Religion.

On Sunday evening last, Mir. Edward Jenkins, the English radical and author of stGinx's Baby,' made an address be- fore the New York Young Mems Christian Association, from the Tribune report of which we extract the following;
 You have missions and schools and wis., iting societies. It is good thing to read the Bible to poor people in Wretched neighborhoods. with typhoid fever and small-pox racking them. There is hero- Ism in ti1at. But is it not better, invoIv- ing almostl equal sacrifice, to agitate with the people, to work with legislatures and to employ your time and talents in correcting the evils which produce disease and poverty and crime, which you are now content to alleviate. It is easier to pray than to agitate, easier to sit in tbe church than to sit in the ward neetino easier to hope for the best than to aid in sending 3 Christian to Congress or to fariiament. There are too many Chris nans here and in England who are shirk- ing the.duties of citizenship.
 We have not seen or heard anything so timely as the foregoing in many day. There is tendency among religious peo- pie to overlook the fact that beneyolence, grand virtue as it is, can only be ranked as palliative moral medicine. It re- heves the individual hardship. but does not touch the fundamental evil that oc- casions that hardship. So.too liberality IS special characteristic of modern pie ty. The amount spent on charity, on church building, on missions, during the past ten years is double that of the pre- ceding decade, we believe. The chris tians who will give money freely for 'all good objects" are more numerous than ever before; but are the christians who are ready to lavish thought and labor and incur unpopularity in behalf of political reforms any more numerous than of oldP How much more of justice and fairness and honesty do we find in the conduct of business and especially in the conduct of politics? at
 The obtuseness of the public conscience regarding politics is perfectly awful. For years gevery New....Yo Democrat knew that the enormous maiorities they count ed in New York city were fraudulent. What Christian Democrat was troubled about it? But when the same Ring were found to be stealingimoney from his pock- cts too recklessly he found time to advo- cate reform. So, to- day, what Republi- can believes in the fairness of the enor- nous majorities counted for Republican ism in Philadelphia. YetIhow much is the christians conscience of the Penns yl- vania Republican troubled about it? Nobody knows to-day how Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, or Florida went at last falls election. How much has the public conscience seemed agitated by such abomniable frauds? Here this pres- ent month fraudulent ballots, thousands in number, were evidently cast, or at least counted, against the capital amendment in New Haven. There were some news paper sarcasms and some unfaYorable comments in other localities, but is New Haven christianity troubled by it? Sever- al doctors of divinity made haste to pro- test against the choice of singularly honest man to the United States Senate, Not one has made any stir towards cast. ing this enormous beam out of the eye of New Haven! . -a...... .1 .s
 The gentlemen who have met several timesto contrive measures for the reform of our state constitution always take it for granted that there is no spirit of fair ness in our country towns regarding the present abominable inequalities of repre- sentation. No doubt they are right, too, for conscience and jrntiee ~-~ .-~t efte-- thought of as having any connection with politics.
 Most of this indifference to justice and fairness in political matters springs from the fact that we have left that business to professional politicians. Christians pray for purity when they ought to work for purity-to vote for it. They pray for heaven to interfere and reform the state when that is their own business. It is practical christianity, fair dealing, love of justice and reform that we need more than benevolence, good thing as that is, in these latter days. Christians in other places than New York will do we'll to heed the words of this English reformer.