Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1883-05-19
kfNs URINHyE.

The men VI Shcchcm made Abmclcch Kin,
under the shadow of the historic tefelinth tree
IN the valley. hut, while they were still Assem-.
bled there. they were startled by the sound Of
human voice, calling loudly to them from
above and, looking up, they saw upon one of
Inc ou,jutting rocks of Gcfi,im the young
I johann, who thus addressed them "lIcarken
unto me, yc men oi Shcchcm, that God may
hchfkcn unto YOU The trees went forth ON a
time TO anoint king over themi and they said
unto the olive tree Reign thou over Us. Bu,
INC owe tfcc said unto them Shall leave
my fatncss whcfewth by me they honor God
and 30 to he promoted over the trcesp And the
trees SAID to the hg tree Come thou and reign
over U.S. but the hg tree said unto them /:
should ioNakc my sweetness and my good
lIuit and go To I've promoted over the tfecsp
ihch said the trees unto the vine Come thou
and reign over us and the vino said unto
them Should leave my wine, which chccrcih
God and man, aud 80 to he promoted over the
,ieesf Then said all the trees unto the BRAN.
Die; Come thou and reign over us. And the
bmmblc said unto the trees II in truth We
anoint me King over you, then come and put
your trus, in my shadow and. II not, lie, hire
come gu, of the biamble and devour the cedars
OF Lebanon"
In lis primary appli ton, this old fable has
IN II lesson for those who are called to choose
leaders, whether in church OF state, and IL
urges them to select the very hes, men tina, can
be obtained, on the ground that nothing bu,
disaster will result from the appointment of
the worst. But II has another side, looking to
those.who have been called 10 importnn, duty
and It says TO them that, il they decline to ac.
cept the responsibility that is laid upon them,
| whether from love of ease, OF of business or
whatever else, then the duty will be under.
taken by those who are less worthy OF cont.
dcncc and evil Will inevitably cnsuc. The olive,
the hg tree, and the vine are almost always
| preferred to the hramblc; but, il they will not
accept the trust to which they are called, the
bramblc will have no such modesty, and fire
may come out Of il that shall dcvour them all
in one common conilagra,on.
The best men should be chosen for public
ofic. II they decline to accept the call which
is addressed to thcm evil men will come into
prominence; and the supremacy of incompe.
tent and INSCRIPTIONS men is detrimental to
the interests of the entire community. These
are the lesson for to-day which this fable |
teaches, and 1t would be well il our citizens |
generally were to act them out. We all atlt.it |
their truth; we all acknowledge their impor. |
lance; but it is in the practical application of |
them that we fail. We may not, indeed our.
| selves have been chosen to office, and we may |
never, therefore, have declined the call to any
such position. But we too largely neglect to
do our duty in the matter of designating those
from whom ihe rulers are to be selected We
agree that the best men should be chosen for
the most responsible positions in the public
service. But what have we done to bring that
aboutf We have let the brambles in the com.
munity do the nominating, and we have been
content Tor the most part to choose between
the persons thus put before us; with what re.
suit needs not here to be particuhrizcd.
Now here comes in the moral Of Jothams
fable for to-day, and it is addressed to all the
respectable Christian citizens of the common.
wealth. Let them all accept the full respon.
sibility Of citizenship and take the management
oil political associations-from the primary
meetings upward-out of the hands Of "the
vain and light persons" of the neighborhood,
ande let them thereby secure that properly
qualified men shall be nominated for those
Offices, the right discharge of whose duties lies
so near the prosperity Of the nation, 1t will
be vain for them to seek reform in any one de.
partment in the state unless they begin here
with themselves. Ifpublic affairs are left to
be managed by those who have ability without
character, they will assuredly be managed in
the interests Of individuals rather than of the
people.
But it will be said that politics are ensnar.
ing, so ensnaring that it is dangerous for a
Christian man to have anything to do with
them. The answer to that is that duty must
be performed at every hazard, and to him who
enters upon politics as part Of the service
which he is seeking to render to his Lord there {
is no danger, for, while he is doing his Masters
work, he may look for his Masters protection
1t all depends on the position he takes up. Let
him assume the aggressive, and he will receive
no hurt; but, if he is content only to follow :
blindly in the wake Of others, then he will be.
come demoralized. II he is to do any good
therefore, and to receive no harm, he must
take his Christianity with him into politics. This
is OF pre-eminent importance, for only those c
who have neglected this precaution have been {
injured by politics. Everything" they have a
said, lis fair in love and war and politics" and
when they have been taken to task for doing c
themselves or winking at some others for doing (
what they knew to be wrong, they have re- {
Piled: sour opponents were acting in the
same way, and We had to fight them with their /
own weapons Now, in regard to all such
allegations, it is enough to say that it is not
necessary for the Christian to be always on the
winning side; but it is essential for him to be 4,
always thoroughly upright. Even when he is ,
in the thick Of potical. strife. he ought to feel
that he is serving Christ as really as he is when
he IS sitting at the communion table, and his i,
service ought to be worthy Of such Master. !.
What has he to do with bribery or fraude Why
should he lend himself to any iniquity; and
are there not Christians enough in the commu.
nifty to make it impossible for such things to
be done, If only they were faithful to their
deepest convictionsi
The SOLVE" the ~fg tree" and the swine"
are always more influential than the "bram 5
be," Il only they will take their proper places.
There is enough Of natural conscience in the
community to sustain the men who stand up for
the right; and, even il they should be met '
with the taunt that they are only counting de.
feat, let them declare that success purchased c
by dishonest means is always infinitely worse, c
even to the successful party, than q failure
which has been caused by adherence to integ- Z
rity. Here Is a mission field open to all
Christian men among US. Alas that II should
be so largely yet a foreign field to many, I
though it be at the door. But il must be cult. |
waited and conquered for Christ, else, in the ,
long rdn. the "bramble" will rule US all. and .
out Of il will come fire that shall devour even
the cedars Of Lebanon; for, Il Tompkins I
Square is in blaze, It will be hard to save
Fifth Avenue.
But others will object eve have no time.
We must look after business and we must at. ,
tend to the comfort Of our families. Therefore, ,
VIC must be excused" And what is that but
repetition Of the words Of the Olive Tree
"Should leave my fatness and 90 to be pro.
NOTED over the trcesf" What will the fatnes.l
be good for in the day when the brambles
shall set the fores, on hrei Alas then il will
serve only TO make the blaze the bigger I'm.
less those who have character and ability take
their places in the work Of government, the !
matter will get into the hands Of the incompe.
tent and dishonest, and then there will soon
cease to be any government, worthy Of the
name. and il will become impossible to carry
on amy business with either comfort os success
Nothing, therefore. could be more suicidal
than this policy of selhshness and sloth which
would let all public Affairs alone on the plea Of