The Osceola times., 1875-08-14
The Revival We Need.

ii on. CharIcS francs "A dams that
we need II great revival of religion
IN tins country, was not one we
should have expected to have come
from Il reasoner so cool, an adviser
so cautious. It's expression, and
the manner Of 1t, both did honor
to Mr.. Adams He struck at a
vital need of the country the ne
ccsslty for higher elevation of re-
| Iigious and moral character, great
Ell enthusiasm for the true and good,
and relief from the chiIls Of point
ical, moral, and religious skepu-
clsm.
1t ia not revival Of the Moody
and Sankey sort Of which we stand
IN need, but one deeper and more
securely planted in the rule OF life.
1t is ono that shall brush away as
chat the gush OF talking religion
! lists; blow away with tho breath OF
IA tempest the fraudulent preteuces
behind which respectable evll-do-
ing intrenchos itself; open wide the
/ church doors, not to those who can
buy ten-thoussnJ-iollar pews, but
to the wayfarer who hungers for
the word of comfort; implant in
our people Love for the true and
the honest, and disgust tor the
fraudulent and vaporIng. 1t must
carry with it into the family and
business the health of integrity of
lite and sincerity of purpose, truth
telling, square dealing, thrift, and
the homely virtues.
Such revival would be q happy
outcome Of the depression which
for two years has settled over bust
ness. In that time spectators like
Jay Gould have piled up millions
bnt the men who trusted for their
profit to willing hands ard labo-
rious minds have not shared in the
prosperity of those who reaped
where they did not SOW, and found
opportunity for private money
making in the general loss. The
great capitalists who toss about
stocks and run tall towers, rail
ways, steamships, and telegraphs,
not in the interests Of stockholders
or people, but in that of the stock
market, with reference to longs and
shorts rather than the aecommoda
ton Of the public and the profits
Of Legitimate investors, are men to
whom, along with their piIcd.up
dollars, popular respect, or social
consideration and importance
should not go. They are not the
mel ptul citizens OF - free country.
They teach bad lessons to youth,
stimulate base ambitions, and make
turbid the clear running stream OF
/ honest bIsiness. The men we must
raiser hold IN esteem and emulate
in lives are those TO whom their
honor is dcarer than gold, and their
aims incorruptibIe 10y the bats of
stock gamblers.
In politics, as in business, litera-
ture, IN law, in religion, this reviv-
al must work out Its benIfcent
changes and publication. The
frauds who vend puerihty for wis
dom need to be exposed and re
/ placed in the affections and inter
ests OF the people by sounder men.
a feeble, emasculated literature,
empty of Wig thought and
courageous opinion, is a positive
moral i'll. 1t is not so palpable as
one Of Arsenc Houssaye,s nasty
French novels, but it is just as
real.
The prayer meeting, though
founded in righteousness and ex.
pressiye OF genuine human need,
has been banctul influence in
some of its manifestations in these
United states. 1t is responsible
for vast amount Of cant. Men
talk in the language above the true
tone of their feelings. Unknow-
Ingly, frequently, they put them
selves before God in different
shape from that in which they real
~ llNe-as II he could net penetrate
the veil behind which they hide.
This is bad. 1t is dangerous for
men to get into the habit Of mis-,
representing and overstating their
feelings. Hypocrisy and cant inc
vitality result. The revival, there
fore should teach discrimination
between the talking of pious words
and the doing of pious acts; make
business rottenness impossible TO
be guided by prayer meeting tears
and eXhortations; and emphasize
the demand for religious zeal that
shall destroy the chances Of mems
beng Christians statesmen and po-
litcal thieves at ono and the same
time.
i What we need is higher and
more exactlng public morality, Sc
verer judgements upon lapses in
honorable conduct, sharper self.