News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-07-17
TALMAGE ON POLITICS.
THE CHRISTIAN CAMPAIGN OPENED
BY THE BROOKLYN DIVINE.
The Preacher's Ideal President Must be n
man who Believes in God and the Di-
vinity of the Bible.

'hhAtS VI the BIDie.
DR.. Talmage's text Sunday morning
was from the Acts of the Apostles, xxi.
27-2o. The slavery of American poll
tics and how it is to be broken, was the
subject announced. There were infu-
ences abroad, the preacher said, that
proposed to manacle the people.
I'VE are midway between two great
national conventions, he said. "The
hotels OF Chicago are not yet properly
ventilated since the last was held, and
some time will be necessary for fumiga~
ton after the next disperses. We are
being gradually whipped into line.
Soon we must look only through one OF
two, three or four pairs of spectacles.
The political machines are having their
screws frightened and the cranks prop
erly oiled. The rope of instruction is
beng put round the necks Of delegates,
and notice served that unless they obey
orders the rope will be frightened and
respiration interfered with. Each vii
lage, town, city and State has its boss,
and all these bosses will come together
and elect grand national boss.
against this slavery I protest +
shouted the Doctor, raising his voice,
"and I demand that in every caucus and
at every polling place a man shall be al
lowed to vote as he himself thinks best,
with God his only judge. If our ma
tional affairs are in danger every four
years OF smash-up, as the political ora
tors regularly tell us, the quicker we
go to pieces the better. [ remember
eleven Presidential elections, in every
one of which the nation has been de-
clared in peril. II l remember Alright,
we have each time been just q quarter
of an inch from the brink of the eternal
precipice. Political orators are at this
moment getting out the speeches de-
livered in the Fremont, Lincoln and
other campaigns. They are just as good
now as then, for we are always on the
edge of ruin and always going to
pieces
II remember that when I was years
old l stood in the blistering sun until a
Western orator persuaded me that if
William Henry Harrison was elected
President, instead of Martin Van Buren,,
there was no use of my growing up, be-
cause there would be no country for me
to grow up in. Not long since I was in
Boston, and hearing that a Western
orator was rocking the cradle of liberty
in Faneuil Hall, L went there after my
lecture. 1t was the same orator and the
same speech I had heard forty years
ago, only that the name of Benjamin F.
Butler was substituted for that of Will
liam Henry Harrison. It's high time
that we stopped this crisis business and
came to understand that the Lord God
can keep this country on its march of
prosperity without the help of Conven-
tons.
tThe next President of the United
States ought to have established moral
character. We have had as candidates
for Governor and President libertines,
gamblers and drunkards. Genius is
worse than stupidity when it moves in
a wrong direction. A man who cannot
govern himself cannot govern 80, 900, 600
people. In a nation of so many homes
we ought to have man at our head who
honors home. In q nation of so many
young men we should have a man whom
they can look to for example. You can't
get true idea of what public man is
from what the newspapers say Of him.
The best men God ever made must
wade through obloquy chin deep. The
first target was set up at Chicago two
weeks ago; the second will be put up in
two weeks from now. And the target
showing the most holes in November
next will be elected. Defamation elected
James A. Garfield and Lincoln. Take the
scales and put the scurrility discharged
Of candidate CiIn 0n1 tho
scurrility leveled at the other on the
other side. Weigh scurrility against
scurrility, and the man who is most
abused will be President. There is a
in this. One good thing
about human nature is that it SYM
pathizes with those who are traduced.
of his fellows. Remember when you
come to Judge between the two men that
you are Christian patriots, and not scav-
aneers. / abhor this defamation of
public character. just as soon as a
man accomplishes anything by bril-
fancy, eloquence or craftsmanship, all
the hounds of earth and hell are after
him.
''Then IN order to be qualified for the
chief Office man must be n respector
If the Christian religion. [ apply TO
test. But this country, dis
covered and settled by Christians, must
nave over it respector of Christianity.
Never vote for man who does not be-
ieve in God and the divinity of the BIZ
Die. [ would not trust such man with
| ten-cent piece, let alone the Presi-
lency. I have heard men say that the
Constitution is the foundation OF our in
'titutions. They are wrong; the Bible
S the foundation.
The Doctors ideal President must
nave heart enough to take i'll all the
States and Territories. The time for
contention is gone by. The eagle has
got to go off our coin and the dove take
It's place. Christianity is the remedy
for all our evils. Let it take possession
Of our primaries and there will be no il
legal voting, and good men will be
elected to Office.
"What does the heat of this morning
mean ?" asked the Doctor, as the thou
sand fans in front were agitated with
desperate energy. 'It means the grand
est harvest we have had in years. We
can afford to sit here with the thermom-
eter in the nineties, since every minute
of heat adds millions to the national
riches"
Why are There not More Declarations