Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1888-04-13

the bodies of those to whom We owe the
very bread we eat ard clothes we wear,
aud now we are cOndemning and kill
ing at our very gates the people whose
inarticulate cry is entering into the ears
of che Lord ofthe Sabbath, whose faith
ful servants we pretend to be.
My Fellow Citizens, know not how
it may be with you, for me this care
less, selfish life is ended. Little by lit
tie have awakened TO the fact that all
my days have entirely neglected my
real duty to my fellow men, and at
last 1 have come to know that my prop
er place is not there as the we'll paid
bishop of q church which. in its pres
ent condition. is utterly opposed to
every thing which Christ taught, but
among the poor to whom he declared
that the gospel should be preached;
among the laborers, whose hire we
have kept back by fraud.
Too long have neglected the mis-
cradle social fact Of our SO called
Christian civilization. Too long have
I spoken to you smooth things and
cried peace when there is no peace.
I have known by repute that there was
misery among our people, starvation
in our midst, and prostitution upon
our streets. But hitherto have taken
these as something for which you and I
were not responsible, but which were
really due to the inherent wickedue>s
of human nature.
But now 1 have learned that our
pleasures and our wantonness have
been built upon this hideous founda-
ton, aad having learned this-as you
may also learn if you will have re-
solved that from this Christmas day my
new life shall begin. To-day 1 lay
down my robes, I give up my bishopric,
my palace and my income; 1 give up
my seat in the House of Lords; I give
up my pleasures of society and of the
world, and at last take my place as a
man among them.
1t is, I know, a bold step that I have
taken, but have fully counted the
cost. Resolved no longer to live on the
labor of others, I shall probably have
to join the great army of the unemplov,
ed. Tomorrow I shall attempt to
preach my first sermon to them in Ira
falgar square, from the same text that
have used here to-day, and it is
likely that I shall pass tomorrow night
in a police cell. But there I shall be
no worse off than Jesus Christ
would be if he attempted to enter this
abbey (Westminister) now, for ne
would be arrested and locked up as a
Vagabond without any visible means of
subsistence. To you and to your class
ne would simply be a laborer whose
subsistence you haYe kept back by
fraud. To the abolition of the fraud,
and the misery and degradation which
result from it. I shall henceforth de-
vote my life. It will be no easy task,
not near so cay as being Bishop OF
London, but the reward of a good con-
bClo4JC csL1N4 Va L4ODAC WOLh w Gil t4CllCs -
better far than a palace and S48,0 200
year.
In this place I shall probably never
speak again. But when Freedom shall
have opened out her arms and gather
ed all men into her wide embrace, when
Justice and Truth shall have taken the
place of oppression and fraud, some
man of the people shall stand in this
temple Of the dead, and, inspired By the
best traditions Of the past, the noble as
pirations of the present and the ideal
hopes of the future, shall send ringing
through these lofty aisles that living
Christmas message which, till then can
never have its full significance.
''Peace on Earth, and Good will to
men,