, 1888-11-08

ness, considering thyself lest thou also be
tempted"
The states' prisons were never so full as
they are now the hangmen were never SO
industrious; the grand juries have never
found 40 many true bills of criminal in
dictment. There ia practical fulfllment
of the scripture:. THE way Of the trans
gressor is hard
This is due to the fact, not that men In
general are becoming more inclined "a
crime, nor wholly because our criminal
population is on the increase, although
this fact has its influence in tightening up
the screws, but the chief cause of this ju.
dicial fever is q prevailing impression that
too many people have been running at
large who ought, in view of their record,
to he In jail, and too many people are
ought to be dead. and this sentiment has
been at work among the juries; it has in
fuenced the rulings Of the judges, and has
given convicted criminals less confidence
In the supreme courts as last resort.
This Is an age of organized charaties
and reforms. The true purpose of civil
punishment is one of the questions in phi.
lanthropic circles.
Shall we make the prison reform atory
or purely penal institution, in which the
government will retaliate against its indi-
vidual vioaltorsp Shall we lock men up
merely as q punishment for theft, or as o
method of teaching them to steal no more
A commission was appointed in New
York to devise more sure and humane
method of killing criminals than at the
end of rope. These facts indicate that u
revival in two important directions is go
ing on, justice is asserting her authority.
and mercy Is clothing her stern sister in
garments of kindly charity.
The o.d and new testaments of judicial
government are complete in the sentiments
of the present day. Sinia thunders in all
our courts and Calvary weeps in all our
churches.
We have the criminal classes before us,
and the tendency Is to deiuge them in
wholesale condemnation. Whoever
started out to pass judgment upon the
failures of fallen brother, ought to
gather his measurements and standard
from his own conscious character and rec.
ord. Consider thyself," is an injunc-
tion which il observed, would modify our
view OF sinful men. We are living two
lives; an outer manifest life, and an inner
thought life, and there is often, If not
generally, u radical difference between the
two. At least, it is safe to say 1t you
m easure a mans moral character by what
you see him do and hear him say, you
nave uaue WTohR measurenonoS nino
times Out of ten. How wonderful this
double life by which man can keep all
the commandments in the life
that is manifest and yet violate them all
in the hidden realm of his nature, and by
which he may wear the garb of an angel
to hide the vilanies Of hell. Policy, fear.
more often than we think. sets up mask
that hides from view the hidden man,
which is the true man.
NJ en- are not equal in their moral make
up. for diversity is the law of God in all
realms, but If the facts and figures of all
individual lives were fully and truly re-
vealed and compared, there might not be
so great diversity as we suppose--a bal
ance sheet that would take in all facts and
figures of the moral qualities Of men
would be a tremendous surprise to this
world. We would find that in the limited
data we had at command our estimates OF
moral character were wide of the truth.
judge no man. only assert that the
average man or woman, in or out OF the
church, would not care to have the judR-
ment come just now, or to have every NOR
al feature Of their life thoroughly laid
bare, and also state that il human socie-
ty were compelled to wear their moral gar
ments wrong side out, and the under
stream become the upper. we would not
have as respectable society as we have.
We would not be able to recognize all our
friends, and we might be puzzle to them
Families would be broken up, and there
would be social and ecclesiastical revolu'
ton. .,..
Therefore, because men are not willing
TO have their inner thought life absolutely
revealed, have charity for a brother over
taken in fault and restore him in the
spirit of meekness.
You are good people here ON the aver
age. ! would risk you in moral compare
son with people anywhere. But there ar,
hundreds of people in states prisons wht
would have excelled you and me in mora
virtue If their opportunities for right hat
been as favorable as ours have been and /
their temptations had been no greater.
There is a great deal of natural virtu'
in this world. Many Judge has sternl,
and rightfully sentenced thief to state
prison for stealing horse, who ii he hn'
been similarly surrounded, would no
have left ANYTHING In the barn.
| Charity! charity! thou art priceless
jewel and most rare" | would break OF
NO thorn of justice, but with every thorn
would have u flower of Christian charity
The Trades Unions and the Knights o
Labor of Spokane Falls met last evening
at the American Resort, corner of Mai
and Bernard streets. in open convention
for the purpose Of taking into considera
ton the recommendation OF tn
master workman of the Knight
of Labor to form a trades council, whic
would attend to all matters of importanc
to the laboring men without regard to an
special trade.
GREAT GATHERING.
The hall was brilliantly lighted, an
when the hour arrived to open the cor
vention it was packed to overhowing wit
au eager audience of intelligent laborer'
and many of the leading citizens Of SpC
kane. Upon the platform were seate