The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-11-30

to admit as spectators boys anu young uleh WI"
are only schOoled TO the ways and made tamil
lar with the morals of crime Aud what or po
lygaml2 Is il not ii positive disgrace TO our age
and to our land and 70 our statesnansnlp, that
such a mass of corruption should be allowed TO
eXisa Mormouism is not only organized urea
son and rebellion, but 1t IS organized immoral,
ity. Why do we permit lt2 DO we think twill die!
DO we think railroads VIII kill III Or telegraphs!
Or printing presses? Or commercial interests!
1t will not thus die We are daily SHINING as a
nation i'll allowing such poison TO exist ana
spread
There was that parent of so mauy evils greed
of gold Wealth, tlSn now, begat the greed
of wealth. Those &hO had 1t not must have 1t
at all sacrifice. ThUse that had 1t must have
more. Israel was in arace for riches All'other
things are cheapened when gold becomes the
standard of social value. What was honort
What TRUTH what manhoodl What justice2
What life2 What intelllgencef So we ma warn.
forms OF violence and crime. Inc timer
came in, and the "troO2 OF robbers" spoiled
from without. They stored IN violence and
robbery in their palaces" On every hand,
wherever The prophet looked, were "swearing
and lying, and killing and stealing, committing
adultery" One stream of wickedness meeting
and swelling another; "blOOd" touching ''blOod,"
until there was one broad current of abomina-
ton. The prophet gives us fearful details OF tne
greed for gold. Righteous persons, who could
not pay what they owed, were sold as slaves TOT
''silver," and, for the price OF pair OF shoes,
the poor were treated as ehattles; the very dust
the poor man threw his head i'll his GRIEF was
grudged and painted for by the mobiles. The
large square blankets used as garments by day
and covering by night, and which, when pawned,
were always to be returned at night, were re-
tanned by the calous creditors, and nsed ny
thems<SSEs as couohes by every altar. Even
pilgrims, coming to the sacred places at Mizpah,
or to Tabor, or Shecham, were attacked by bands
of robbers. that not unfrequently were led on by
the priests themselves. Justice and Judgment
were perverted. This accursed greed or goid IN
fected the courts. The just were afflicted, the
poO- were turned aside "in the gates from their
right" the needy were oppressed, trodden upon
an d crushed. The weak, who would not clamor
for their rights, had their cause set aside
There was bribery, and fraud, ana VIC
lence, and injustice in the very trl
bunals of law. The rich were laden with
burdens of wheat" eXtorted unjustly from
the poor. Shall we not tremble for our own
country when we remember that God is JUST
Do we not see that this same accurSed greed OF
gain corrupts our whole political machinery
Do we not see that party power means office,
and that office means sp0ils2 Is not almost
every political office in the land really boughtf
And are not vast sums srent by nominees to
office IN hopes of greater sums to be reaped by
and hy9 And is not Justice trampled ON for
gOld2 What means this pushing from our shores
heather people whom GOD would place under
our civil and religious tra1nlnc2 What means
this tendency towards injustice to weaker racesY
What means our hanging mobs2 We need fewer
elections. We need less politics in Hfice-hOld-
ing. Weneed restraints aud limitations TO the
franchise. We need more Legislation that has
to do with the real daily comfort and welfare OF
the people. We need less of the moldfng in
fiuence of foreigners We need, while we may,
to avert war OF races this territory. We
need somehow to scatter the elements which IN
a 'solid South" and solid North" are surely, if
they continue, to bring down storm once
again upon our children's children, at the fur
thest. We need more industrial training of our
children at home, and more teaching at school,
that shall fit them for the duties of intelligent
citizenship. We need compulsory education
of expanding vast sums to educate
the people, then permit the children of vice to
run the streets in ignorance, and finally to fill
our jails and prisons. We need fewer pianos
and more libraries. We need postal savings
banks, by which the poor laborer shall be slim
ulated to industry and tempted to save rather
n 81 a
earnings on drink. What can 81 poor aborer do
with his last fifty centsl How can he save i'll
He can't step over marble floors TO deposit IL in
palaUial bank But he could drop it into the
hands of the pOstOffice clerk, and in due time
he and thousands like him would become bank
depositOrs, owners of homes, stimulated TO in
dustry instead of stimulated TO encouragement
aud drunkenness We must Danish the shotgun
from the politics OF the South and the whisky
bottle ana beer-mug from the politics of the
North. and we must Danish the revolver from
the land altogether as an instrument eneenGer-
ing accident and crime.
The history, the decline and fall nf every ma
tion and EN- pire is but the illustration of the
principles brought out in the book OF Amos and
in the history of the kingdom of Israel. In the
vice, luxury and sin of temporal prosperity
were smothered Babylon and Assyria, Israel
and Judah, Greece and Rome And so sunk
Spain from the zenith of her glory
under Philip I. And so is fulfilled
what Isaiah wrote: 1.-THE nation and king
dom that will not serve Thee shall perish;
yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted" AS
citizens and patriots, as Christians, the ques-
Pacn-0O%
nation escape moral CORRUPTION, and how
avoid tho ruin? In the picture held before
may have seen not a few of our own features
as a nation. Is there pride of heartf Is there
arrogance of spritl Is there intemperance2 Is
there oppression of the pOOrf Is there violence
and sssassinatiOu9 Is there DEGRADATION of
law, ana snbversien of justice? Is there
Journalism for faithq Is there neglect of God?
Is there the greed of gold? Is the land groan-
ing under extravaganza and luxury? Have for
eign civilizations poured themselves upon lis
and deluged us with their customs and habitsg
Do they threaten our Sabbath orr Bible and
our lib artiPsl Then let as beware lest God shall
say, "For three tFanegressiens OF America, and
for four, will not turn away the punishment
been before us: "Seek the Lord, and We shall
live, lest he break out like fire in the house of
Joseph and devOur it and there be none to
quench it in Bethel" He says to US: 'Hate the
evil and love the good and establish Judgment
in the gate. 1t may he that the Lord God of
Hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of
Joseph ,. That That love ,nG Of country tn is
tical love of God. He serves country
best who serves God best. The only course
for the nation is like that of an individual to
break sins by righteousness and unquities ny
showing mercy. Religion is the only baan eng
force in civilization. God is ruler of the nation,
not the nation of God. The life of the nation is
conditioned upon its obedience to God. We can
not do without Him, but He can we'll spare us.
1t behoores every citizen TO uphold in its
greatest purity, and maintain in Its broadcast
freedom the true worship OF God; and 1t be-
hooves every patriot to stand by the words be-
queathed 30 us by our GOd-fearlng ancestry.
AT the conclusion of the sermon the entire
audience united IN singing "Amerea." The
alter was beautifully decorated with flowers and
fruits and sheaves of wheat. The audience was
the largest that had assembled for years at
such services.
THE EPISCoPALIANS.