The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1878-10-03
Our Young People
BY REV. R. H. RIVERS. d. D.
DANIEL, A MODEL STATESMAN.
A Sketch for Young Politicians.
LESSON 30.

/
have felt often, as | have been
talking TO the boys and young men
or this land of ours, that l had be
fore me those who might some dav
occupy high positions in society.
Some will have to make the laws
They will be members of the jegis-
lature or of congress. Others will
be judges of our courts, and others
still may be in the mansion of the
governor as the rulers of the State.
l have, therefore, been studying the
character of Daniel, which l wish TO
present to you as a model for
statesman.
Politics are not favorable to pietv.
They beget Iivalries and animosi-
ties which are very unfavorable TO
the development OF an exalted
Christian character. Still we must
have government, as without it civ
ilization could not exist. Anarchy
is ruinous to all progress, and de
structive of all virtue. We must
have statesmen and jurists to enact,
adjudicate and execute the laws.
Without such officers government
could not exist, and there would be
no security to either life or prop
erty. So, then, it may become the
duty of Christian man to occupy
high public positions. 1t may be
required OF him to be judge or a
legislator, president or king.
Such a man wants a model, and /
propose in this talk to present the
character of Daniel as a model
statesman.
Daniel was of noble parentage.
He had regal blood flowing in his
veins. At about the age of twenty
he was carried away captive TO
Babylon. The remainder of his life
was spent in captivity. His high
birth and splendid attachments
caused him to be placed in the court
of ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
The court was exceedingly cor
rupt; RIGHTEOUSNESS prevailed; in
temperance and lust degraded the
monarch and enslaved the members
Of his court; gluttony and drunk
enness disqualified men in high
places for the performance of their
duties. In the midst of this uni
versal corruption Daniel remained
pure. He did not surrender HIM
self as the slave of appetite; he was
neither a drunkard no. a glutton;
he turned away from the richest
luxuries and costlest viands, and
partook Of the simplest food. No
member of a total abstinence soci-
ETY., no devoted Son of Temperance
ever surpassed him in abstemious
ness. He ignored fashions, he rose
superior to his surroundings, he re-
sisted temptation, he practiced self
denial, and closed his ears to the
seductive songs OF the siren, and
listened not to the voice of the
charmer, "charm he never so sweet
ly." With what ineffable beauty
does this trait in the character of
Daniel present itself for the admira-
ton of the modern statesman! He
rises and stands firm in the strength
of noble manhood where thou
sands fall down, down to the level
of the brute. Amid loud and re-
peated calls of passion and appetite
he asserts the dignity and suprem
acy of his moral nature. As the
mariner shows the coolest courage,
the highest resolve and the sublim
est devotion to duty only when the
storm sweeps the ocean with the
greatest violence, so did Daniel eX
hibit the highest attributes of man
hood when the storm of passion
was sweeping to ruin the entire so
ciety of which he was a member.
There is a period in the life of
every man which may become sub
lime. That period is when virtue
is maintained without stain or blot
in the midst of temptation. AS the
fortress never shows its full strength
until the assault is made. so virtue
never exhibits its sublime nature
except when resisting attack and
marching sublimely forward with
robes unstained in the midst of al
most universal corruption. Daniel
was tempted; the viands smoking
from the kings table were offered
him. Luxuries of every variety and
degree of richness were sternly re-
fused by him from a most religious
sense of Guty. Have we such states
men now? How many bright intel
lects have been stuitifed by intern
perancei 1t is the crime of the !
great. The English Premier and !
the American Senator worship at |
the same shrine and fall into the |
same pit. The flag of the country |
is disgraced by drunken generals, |
luted by drunken Congressman. 1t
palsies the tongue of the orator, or
makes it utter the incoherent words /
of driveliDg idiocy. 1t makes its
victim unwise in counsel and i'm
prudent in action, 1t units him
for ife's duties and disqualities him
for its fearful responsibilities. 1t
bushes the voice of conscience
amid the storm OF passion which it
arouses. 1t destroys every noble
purpose and represses every lofty
aspiration. Our country has given
to the world some noble specimens
of men, who we're great In states
man shin and free from the faint of
intemperance. Such a man was
Lewis Cass and such was John G.
Calhoun, such was Gov. Collier of
Alabama and Gov. Campbell of
Tennessee, and we might mention
others, for we do not pretend to say
that oil our etatacman ara erivaD 70 !
As man of rigid tenn
persnce Daniel never had a supe-
rior, seldom an equal.
Daniel, in far-reaching sagacity,
was also a model statesman. So
wise in counsel that he was the
rrima rninisfnr IN thee ancceasiun