The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1880-04-17
FAST DAY.
It's Observance in Portland.

Fast Day was pleasant, and was fully enjoy
ed by the citizens in walking, riding and
| attending the various places of amusement.
The programme published in Thursdays
PRESS was fully carried out.
Only two sermons were preached; that of
| Dr. Hill at the First Parish and Mr.. Andrews
at Free street Baptist.
Prorerbs All. ~: Though hand join in hand the
wicked shall not be UNPUBLISHED.
| The careful reader would observe that
"though" and 'Jom" are supplied by the
translators; the original Hebrew reads "hand
to hand, the wicked shall not 60 unpublished :"
and from the parallel line and from Persian
usage. the best scholars consider that the
phrase "hand to hand" means generation after
| generation. Nevertheless, the English YER
sion may be right, and is at all events in per-
feet accordance with the tone of the Old and
| New Testaments and with the moral iudg-
ments of all good men. The moral judgments
| of mankind are as valid as their mathematical
instincts. Both kinds of instinct require train
training, and both acquire a certainty
and precision of judgment by train
ing. The moral instincts perceive the
conditions of true happiness spiritual success,
just the instincts for form, rhythm and
number perceive the conditions for physical
safety. The ruin of character is more sad
than the fall of a building; both calamties
come from the disregard of known, or at least
| attainable laws of the universe The Bible is
| full of spiritual truth, sound and immovable,
| and more valuable than the propositions of
| Euclid or Newton. Yet men have not obeyed
| spiritual and moral laws as implicitly as physi-
cal laws. Perhaps one of the prominent
causes is the encouragement which trans
| gressors give to one another; the wicked join
hand in hand and think to go unpunished
| Another cause is the division of the ques-
ton of expedency from that of duty and the
| great error of thinking that the two can be
considered and decided Independently of each
| other. No Judgment could be sound which
| had excluded the question Of justice, right,
duty, from the data 1t is simply impossible
in considering question of action, to judge
| correctly of what is eXpedient, until we have
| first decided what is right
The most discouraging feature in public
affairs is the disposition of SO many public
men to decide questions Of public policy with
| out reference to the rights of other men. Yet
| perhaps equally discouraging is the willingness
| OF so many men who are honorable in private
| life, to palliate and excuse conduct in public
| officers, and decisions in public bodies which
would be base and disgraceful in an indi-
viduaps management of his affairs. A crime
committed by the vote of corporate body is
as really a violation of the conditions of life
as that committed by an individual, and must
as infallibly bring its punishment Eternity
could not exhaust its cycles until the guilt
was brought home to the guilty. The guilty
| in such case are those who advocate and
| carry the iniquitous measure, and those who
| countenance and uphold; also, though in
less degree those who oppose it feebly and
| lukewarmly, saying 'no" as though they
| meant "yes.'
| The guilt is not divided by being shared.
| The United States courts would hang every
member of band of pirates the death
| penalty could not be divided and dealt in in
stalments. The guilt Of body polite rests
with undivided force upon each member there
of, who does not purge himself by decided
protest against the guilty act.
The thing to be aimed at is to have our
representatives and public officers righteous
men, men of unblemished honor, steadfast
integrity who would always set justice above
policy. The mode by which this is to be OBJ
tanned is by the independent voters men who
have clear convictions of policy and therefore
act strongly and consistently with the party
pledged to that policy, but who also set so
high value on justice and righteousness that
whenever candidate for election OF re- cleo
ton has shown himself deficient in moral
principle, they resolutely erase his name from
their ballots.
No talent no influence no amount of ex-
perience or knowledge Of affairs, can atone for
a lack of moml sense. The most inexpedent
of all things is to set expedience above Justice.
The worst policy possible is to pursue the
course deemed polite, when it is not also
clearly the course morally right.
THE RELATION OF A DEvoUr REGARD FOR
GOD TO MORALITY
Rev. 7. d. Anderson, Jr, of the First Bap-
fist church, preached sermon to the union of
orthodox and congregational churches, at Free
street Baptist church on Romans I, xviii
And even as they did not like to retain God
in their knowledge, God gave them over to a
reprobate mind, to do those things which are
not convenient"
Paul's thought indicates the relation of
devout regard for God to morality, and we
desire to see how the higher tone of morality
on which the community rests for its we'll
being, may be obtained. But though the
teaching of the text is principle of the
Christian religion, we ask, is it a principle
calling for consideration by the members of
political community? We believe it is, and for
the following reasons:
1. A regard for God is condition of gen.
eral morality, first because in Him is presented
the highest ideal of moral excellence. The
need of an ideal is admitted without question.
The need of high ideal is likewise unoues-
toned. A grand ideal is essential to a noble
execution. Lower the ideal and the execution
will be diminished. The artist to gain the
highest success must keep his ideal high. If
he lower it, and for the sake of money paint
only to please an uneducated taste, he sacri-
fees true art. Letthe public teacher make it
his aim simply to please ths ear, and he is
likely to sacrifice the truth to pleasing sensa-
ton. So is it with the greatest of all arts life
itself. There must be grand ideal if there is
to be noble attainment. How important
then to maintain the highest ideal How
prejudicial to morality not to retain that ideal
in the mind. Cease to think on God and you
at once lower your ideal of morality.
Ill. Another reason for believing that n
devout regard for God is permanent condi-
ton of general morality lies in the fact that in
His nature is the supreme ground of moral
obligation. AS in His ideal character we find
noble end toward which we are to labor SC
in devout regard of God we find most ad-
mirable regulative principle Here is the
influence which is ever drawing us toward the
right.
III. We have seen good reason for devout
regard for God by those who desire to see
morality established But we ask have we
considered all the influence which such a re-
gard exerts? No, we have not We have
1Ound In GOd an Ideal OF excellence, in which
we find noble end of endeavor. We have
found in Him a ground of obligation which
affords us a regplative influence Now we ask
where is the motive power? And in answer
we learn that this is involved in this devout
regard for God, because in Him are these
qualities which elicit our love, a motive power
which impels us along the same line in which
obligation pulls.
AS upholders of morality then we need to
insist on devout reverence for God. 1t is
this which has brought the social blessing we
now enjoy 1t is from this that we are to ex-
pect the blessing which we still desire. But in
our day as ever, we have to meet opposition to
this truth. Men of science would teach us to
worship matter and fact rather than moral
intelligence. There is tendency among all
classes 10 regard second causes and disregard
the great First Cause. We have reason to
complain as did the prophet against the Chal-
deans, "They sacrifice unto their net, and
burn incense unto their drag The manu-
facturer sacrifices to his mill. The merchant
sacrifices to his mercha ndise, and the politi-
clan burns incense to the party machine The
manufacturer and merchant are too earnest for
self, and are liable to defraud their employees
and overreach others. The politician is SO
anxious to secure votes, he is tempted to sacri-
flee the trueSt patriotism. We need to have a