Connecticut western news., 1882-11-01
THE CURSE OF BRIBERY.
A Widespread Menace To Our Insti- tutions-Sermon by Rev. Robert Collyer.

COllyer.
 Rev. Robert Collyer preached Sunday |
 on s'Bribe Takers. "..His text was I.Sam-
 uel, viii, 3-stAnd his sons walked. not
 in his ways, but turned aside after lucre
 and took bribes and perverted judg-
 ment." Samuel, said the preacher, had
 one weak spot in his nature, through
 which more damage came to the Com
 monweaIth, of which he was the ruler,
 than could have come, so far as we can
 see now, in any other way. There is
 no moral taint about him after all these
 ages, and so presume there was none
 in him. But he selected men to help
 him in the government of the country
 on the ground of his personal prefer ences rather than because of their fit-
 ness. They were bad men, and he must
 have known it. They began to steal right
 and left. We find that the knaves when
 they are found out do not offer to re-
 sign their places, nor does the old man
 turn them out. He believes in standing
 by that machine" which he has tound-
 ed. Finally, through the disgust of the
 people, there is 8 revolution backward
 and kingdom is founded. They were
 sick of their system as man is sick of
 8 watch that he has bought down in an
 auction room and into which he blows
 to clean it. People of the present day
 talk as if they also were falling into de-
 spair about the grandest and most hope
 full federation of States the world ever
 saw. They say "this cannot last. !"
 They think the fabric of 8 hundred
 years is becoming inirm. Almighty
 God, to their mind, seems to be totter- ing in His throne. They chuckle over
 an opinion expressed by MT. Freeman after he had eaten our salt-that it
 might be as well, perhaps, and aid us greatly in our government if every
 Irishman would kill negro and then
 get hanged for it.
 There certainly is one great menace to our institutions. The widespread curse of bribery infests our life and eats the honest hearts out of thousands. l confess the evil, or I would not take your time to speak about it, and claim, also, that it is greater and more sub- tie than we are willing to admit; that it is by no means confined to the politi. cal parties which divide the nation, but l shoots it's roots and flores through oul whole common life. Very much of oul modern religious teaching is only an. other name for bribery. notice in the gospels that Jesus has no word to say about what may be waiting for us wher we have done with this life, except as springs directly from our living ant from Gods love. We are not content tt 6 follow the master in that. We promis,
 to those we want to get into our churches harps and crowns, and dignities ant glories, if they will only be good unti they die. That is bribery. It is no Q religion, but utter worldiiness. ReIig U ion lies in noble life lived for it's owl s sake and for Gods sake.
 Il The bribe takers infest our govern Il ment, local and general, from this i'm '' perial city to the smallest hamlet in tn, IS Union. Some want money; some wan ,' place that pays more than the man i II worth in open market. A woman ol Third avenue the other day told tn '' whole story. I overheard her say to '' friend: :-"My husband is going over t. y the other side. They gave him plac s worth only 8 day, and he won't stan, u it." The evil root runs undergroun clear to the White House. The peri 10 exists throughout our institutions an 'o in our social fabric.
 May state the reasons that make m
 hope for far better conclusion tha le ready to despair of the Republic, ( It the nation and of the Church? First re because believe in Gods providenc 10 teaching this nation, and in His purpos 5. to establish on this continent tn n noblest form of human government ths II has ever been seen on earth. This ev Il is but the shadow which waits on tn Ill divine light. The splendor of God is i rs this land, and God Is determined or have grand nation. I believe also at blood and race. We are of the sol Ill that does not break down. We wi ae stay wherever we plant our foot an 1e say "hands off" to the whole worlI y- The men of our breed never went bac ne on 1t, and they never will, so long { ad the Saxon grit holds out. The demar
 for civil service reform is an honest on d: This buzzing in the hive because fe Il. bees are getting hold of pretty much 6 ds the honey that the rest have had to gath Lm will be the problem of the centur he We are very far from the solution t as day, but tomorrow we shall be lit he nearer. I believe in the new gener an tion, in the new life they are creatlr as and the new faith they are trying
 purify, even at the expense of the ol ifs Young men are showing us what tn ts, can do. Over there in Brooklyn tn He have mere boy as Mayor, but he is t i'd: best Mayor the city ever had. The ra ny of light that strike from Brooklyn sho Re- clear to California. Young men a 'ur taking heart. We oldish men have h Te, our day. Their day is dawning. Tn Tor are of the grand old stock from whi 'ar the Luthers, the Cromwells and t me Miltons were born. They will establi 1et fresh, free government and make 10, the noblest on earth; they will give 1e. grander manhood, the Saxon grit tt ty. under Gods providence, slow and su Use as oaks are grown from acorns, in ci lty ond town will orow tO A nObler statu]