Morning journal and courier., 1882-07-03
Center Church.

Prof. Ladd, of Yale College.
 Prof. Ladd, of Yale College, preached at Center church yesterday forenoon a sermon of much interest and specially so in view of the near approach of the nations anniversa- ry. The sentiments embodied are important | and worthy of the thoughtful consideration | of all citizens. A large congregation was ! present. The speaker said: ''The near prox- l imity of this Sabbath to the Fourth of July forms an emphatic invitation to consider our national birthday from religious point of view. From this point of view and with the feelings of soberness, candor and piety there is surely far too great disinclination to con- sider any of our national concerns" This disinclination, the speaker went on to enforce, was an error, and took for the foundation of his discourse Psalms 144th, 18th "Happy is the people that is in such case Yea,
 happy is that people whose God is the Lord"
 We take from the concluding portion of the valuable discourse as follows:
 But we not see that there lies be- heath this popular impression view which is immoral and ruinous ? It is the view that
 God has nothing to do with the nation; that his law is not the law for the nation to re-
 
 making are divorced. Ruling and righteous ! ness are parted from each others embrace. ! In the view of true religion and of true 1 statesmanship well, the very one constant
 ly to be acknowledged as the source of all l law is the God of righteousness. The peo- ple can enact laws only as the people by use
 of reason and conscience interpret the will of
 the Infinite Reason and Conscience. Their l very sovereignty consists in this; that when | trying to learn and to do what is right, the ! multitude more apt to be right than the few. What many see and feel to be just and
 true is lkeliest to be really such, and it is the really just and true thing which we want.
 We send then every one of our legislators to
 the work of making the law, to act as the in
 terpreter of the sacred will of God, the
 great moral lay. And if their work is not
 in accord with our reasons and consciences,
 we under moral obligations to change our
 lawmakers Every man then who goes to
 the national or State capital, chosen by l the people for the sacred trust of legislation. 1 should go to make it his sole work to discov-
 CT and enact what is according to the law
 which is righteous And if he do not consid
 CT chiefly this quality of righteousness in ev.
 cry proposed law, or especially if he never
 takes it into consideration at all, so faY forth he is knave and no true legislator. He may ! be brilliant, he may serve the party we'll he , may csjole his constituencies into hurrahine
 and voting for him, but he is for all tha a knave. And more than that, th great lawmaker will not let go the gril of his moral law upon the man simply be
 cause he is elected to make so called laws fo
 his fellows. He regardeth not the counte nance of any man. And he will punish sucl 1 as pay no heed to him in the exercise of tn
 ! trusts which the nation has committed t. them He will sometimes punish them il = Ethis world. And if there are fires in tn
 hereafter, literal or fgurative, purgatorial o
 penal, temporary or everlasting, they vii
 feel them who make laws for the nation a 5 though there no God. Dante may hay Fl lit up with 1urid glare from that vindictive - ness which is opposed to true poetic instinc o the pages of his Inferno, when he consign " to the torments of the damned his politics :, I opponent. But we cannot deny him true ir sight and poetic justice, if he meant simpl to show how they would be treated who file
 places of authority without regard t e righteousness, and the sovereign people ar
 the ones with whom primarily the respons
 bility rests. What, then, is conceptio l. of the nation, it's ground, it's fundaments II law? What is our inquiry when those t tt whom we have delegated the power enat o public measures? Do we ask how that wi e affect my place, my party? or do we as 5, rather is the measure righteousness? FC
 my part am sick in soul when hear s y many whining, croaking over, timidly r, k treating from whatever they think will injul a the party, and never once asking after wh. 'a is true and upright according to the standar 's of righteousness.
 Id million voters, all agreed and banded t, a. gether in political party, can never acqui'
 any right to do wrong thing Their repr 7e sentatives in State or national Congress ca K never acquire right to pass any unrigh 70 eousness laws. The business of human lav y makers is to discover what is right ar righteous in the complicated circumstance H. of the civilization for which they enact tl lt laws.
 ts It follows from this view of the origin ar re law of the nation that there is 8 pecuIi
 heinousness and peculiarly destructive qua in ty in crimes of public and political sor 1 :. The prevalent opinion seems to be ju the reverse of this. If ms 1g steals an overcoat from private hall or Is hen from his neighbours barn he is by co ', fession of all wicked, dangerous man. B . the man who steals the public money is of oo thieves the wickedest and most dangerou
 There are no other monies which men shou m handle with such clean hands publ - monies. There other contests -e which men should be more scrupuIous ry truthful and fair than political contest sn There is scarcely any other business which an is given to men to transact which should s ! transacted with such an awful sense of stri op accountability to God, with such earnes at painstaking effort to find out and do u be right the business of legislation. Grim be- in those activities which belong to our liv fly as citizens are peculiarly heinous and d it's structive. They are peculiarly heinous b
 cause they gre committed in one
 the highest spheres of action in whi se man can act; because they are commit
 in relations of acknowledged and accept ay 1 trust; because they are known to be wider nd their corruptive effects upon others than le ', public crimes, and because they are comm |" ted by those to whom the people, especial at ] the young, are looking up for both prece ol and example. For these same reasons sut u- crimes are also moro destructive. It is qui T 1 time for to understand the truth and pr nounce judgment upon this sort of crim 's- This class of politicians, and the legislato tn whom they elect and who are like them, a, of all who engage with them in the work r stealing, lying and corrupting the publ morals, are to be cassed with the lowest so ge of thieves, gamblers and pickpockets The ds is to be no mincing of this matter. There ch to be no overlooking or forgiving of su. :. faults until they are confessed as crimes b o fore God and man and put away as such ] es speak of them as political mistakes is a sham ,s, full misuse of terms. They are sins m which their perpetrators guilty and d d. serve punishment, in the life which now ry and in that which is to come. We have not so ing else so much to fear in this nation to ds at az these criminals with their crimes. Tn de act to the very reversal and upturning of l. k. truths upon which depend the peace, hap, nd ness, yea the very life of the nation.
 e. There is another way of contravening t