The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1878-08-28

hoods honors and the respect of old age.
Battered for money or Office it becomes q
disgrace. Nothing can excuse him from
casting his ballot. The more exalted he
position Of Christian man in the nine
teenth century in the United States, the
more binding is the obligation. He dare
not shirk the duty. He must bear the bur
den OF the government equally with all
others, and his ballotiepresents him In legis-
lative halls And as the demand is imEera-
i've Tor voters to exercise their rights through
the ballot box, il is equally as commanding
when out of the ranks of private citizenship
men are hidden to become public officers.
The administration of the affairs of state
demands men of the highest type and of the
most unblemished character. 1t does not
satisfy either the letter or the spirit of the
law that these representatives, of the people
are citizens of the United States, either by
birth or choice; that they have arrived at
legal manhood and are guiltless of any crime
against the statutes of the land disinfran-
chising them. Such men as these are not
rare. but unless they possess other and
grander qualifications they can not meet the
requirements of their positions. and can
neither expect nor receive the unwayering
adherence of even the very party that elects
tnem. Statesmen must not only under
stand political economy, national jurispru-
dence, international laws, the needs and
necessities of the people they represent, but
they must be able to discern the right and
wrong OF the great questions of the day, of
the problems they are forced to solve.
They must in every act, in every law, in
every measure which they propose or indorse
seek the greatest good of the greatest num-
Der OF people, the undying principle of true
government. They must endeayor to ele-
vate and educate the teeming thousands for
whom they labor to the highest conception
nj m N 1l.nr~ "a - IL
the condition of the whole nation their ever
present purpose and interest. They must,
at home and abroad, maintain and support
the dignity OF the government they repre-
sent. They must seek to protect the weak,
to, restrain the law breakers, to so frame or
modify the laws that the innocent will be
preserved and the wicked punished. They
must give heed that from their official acts
comes no injury or offense. And no one
can more perfectly fill up the measure of
the requirements of Office In this republic
than Christian ministers. There is no obli-
cation of Office, no laying aside of abro-
| tions, no unbinding of the helmet, no rust
ing OF the sword. The voice of repreof is
not hushed up, the entreaties for reform and
repentance do not cease. The opportunities
multiply in such proportions that eternity
alone can give the results. The field of har-
vest is not abandoned; it Is indefinitely en-
larged, Its boundaries being those where
American people cease to dwell and there
are no citizens to claim protection and care.
The power for good that once was limited to
people or city now grasps all who abide the
laws and are controlled by the statutes. The
intellectual might, sanctifed by religious
zeal that labored for the few, may now claim
the whole nation, and so uplift the people
that sin and vice will flee abashed.
There is ample Christian work. The true
minister while in Office can find no time for
Incidence or leisure. As he is phIlanthro-
pist the sufferings and agony of the crushed
and poor call for his attention; as he is a re-
former, the degraded and vicious need his
care; as he values education, the young and
all about him and schools and colleges claim
his time and services; as he is worthy leg
islator, the criminal class demand the fine
discrimination that so frames the laws as to
save, while yet melting justice to, offenders.
As he is guardian of the interests of ali,
his eye must watch the public veal or woe
and allow no abuse to crop into any depart
ment. His mission is not only TO receive
honor from his position, but to honor the
Office; not alone to be elevated, but 10 ele-
waite. Men of men, with the same country,
people interests and purposes as the great
mass of mankind, ministers are not on pc
destals of popular illusion TO be worshiped
because of their calling, but rather TO go to
and fro on the earth treading the same paths
with all other human beings that they may
do them good Then when conscientiously
they step from the pulpit to the public Office
they do it not for profit or emo,uments, but
that they may clinch the wrong, correct the
abuses, undo the evil that has existed and
help to create a new order of things pure
and honorable.