The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1889-03-11

ny ull tne concentrated power oil eurtn ana
hell could not be bribed? They would no
more be bribed than you would think OF
tempting an angel OF light TO exchange
heaven for the pit. To offer a bribe is vii
lainy, out il is very poor compliment to
the man to whom il Is offered.
l have not much faith in those people
who 60 about Dragging how much they
could get II they would only sell out.
Those women who complain that they are
very often insulted need to understand
that there is something in their carriage TO
invite insult There are men at Albany
and at Harrisburg and at Washington who
would no more be approached by bribe
than pirate boat with'a a lew cutlasses
would dare TO attack a British man-ot-war
with two banks of guns on each side
loaded to the touch-hole. They ara in
corruptible men, and they are the few
men who are 10 save the city and to save
the land. Meanwhile, my advice is TO all
people to keep out OF politics unless you
are invulnerable TO this style OF tempta.
ton. Indeed, II you are naturally strong,
you need religious buttressing. Nothing
but the grace OF God can sustain our pub
lie men and make them what we wish.
wish that there might come an old FASH
ioned revival OF religion, that IL might
break out in Congress and in the legisla-
lures and bring many OF the leading Re-
publicans and Democrats down on the
anxious seat of repentance. That day
viii come, or something better, for the
Bible declares that kings and queens shall
become nursing fathers and mothers TO
the church, aud II the greater in authority,
then certainly the less
My charge also to parents is remember
that this evil OF bribery often begins in
the homo circle and in the nursery. DO
not brbe your children. Teach them to
do that which is right, and not because of
the 10 cents or the orange you will give
them. There is q great difference between
rewarding virtue and making the profits
thereof the impelling motive. That man
who is honest merely because "hOnesty is
the best policy" is already u moral bank.
rupt
My charge Is 10 you, In all departments
of life, steer clear Of bribery, all oi YOU.
Every man and woman at some time will
be tempted 10 do wrong for compensation.
The bribe may not be Offered in money.
II may bc offered in social position. Lot
us remember that there Is u day coming
when the most secret transactions OF pri-
vate life aud OF public life will come up
Tor public apprehension. We cannot bribe
death, we cannot bnbe sickness, we can.
not bribe the grave, we cannot bribe tho
judgments OF that God vino thundem
against this sin.
"Fiel" said Carlinal Beaufort, ''fel
Can't death be hired2 Is money nothing2
Must die, and 30 rch2 II the owning Of
the whole realm would save me, | could
get II by policy or by purchase by
money" No. death would not DO hired
then; he will not be hirod now. Men oi
the world often regret that they have TO
leave their money here when they 10
away from the world. You can toll lrOm
what they say In their last hours that one
of their chief sorrows Is that they have to
leave their money. ! break that dolnsiOn
! tell that bribc.iaker that he viii take his
money with him. God will wrap Il up in
your shroud, or put Il In the palm Of your
hand In resurrection, aud there II viii lie
not the cool, bright, hhinlna gold - j wn'
on the day when you sold your vote and
your moral principle but there IL will lie
n hot metal, burning and consuming your
maud forever. o. II there b. enough oi Il
lor q chain, then ID will fall from the Wris,
clnnking the ielicn Of an eternal cnpiiv-
it's. The bribo is an everlasting posses
sion. You take II for time, you take 1t ior
eternity. Some day IN the next world.
when YOU are longing Tor sympathy, YOU
will feel ON your check a kiss Looking
up you will find II to bc Judas, who took
thirty pieces OF silver ~ bribc and fin.
ished the bargain by putting an infamous
kiss ON the pure check Of his divine Mas.
ter.
Another wrong use Of money u seen ia
the abuse OF trust funds. Every man dur.
ing the course Of his lilr. on u larger or
smaller scale, has the property Of others
committed 10 his keeping. lie Is 20 iu a
safety deposit, lac is an administrator, aud
holds In his hand the interest Of family
OF a deceased friend. Or he IN m attorney,
and through his custody goes the payment
from debtor 10 creditor, or ho Is tho col.
lcctor for business house which compen.
satcs him Tor the responsibility, 9r ho IN "a
treasurer for charitable institution aud
holds aims contributed for the suffering;
or lac Is an official Of the city or State or
the nation, and taxes, and subsidies, and
salaries and supplies are la his keeping.
II Is ~ solemn trust as God can make IL.
II is concentrated and multiplied cont.
dcnce. On that man depends lho support
OF a bercft housohould. or the morals Of
dependents, or the right movement OF a
thousand wheels Of social mechanism. A
man may do what hc will with his own,
but be who abuses trust funds, In that one
act commits theft, lnlschoOd, perjury
aud becomes, In all the intensity
Of the word, miscUant. How many
widows and orphans there are with moth.
Ing between them and starvation but a
sewing machine, or held mp ont oi the yor.
tex Of destruction simply by the thread oi
q needle, rcd with their own hearts blood,
who a little while ago hal, by father aud
husband, left them competency. What
Is the mattor2 The administrators or the
executors have sacrificed it-unning risks
with II that thoy would not have dared 20
encounter la their own private affairs
How often Il is that man will earn live.
lihoOd by the sweat Of his brow, aud then
die, aud within few months all the estate
goes into the stock gambling rapids Oi
Wall street. How often Il is that you have
known the man 10 whom trust funds were
committed taking them out ol the savings
bank and from trust companies. aud ad.
minisiraion, turning old homostoads into
hard cash, and then putting the entire o..
tate into the vortex VI speculation. En-.
bczzlemont is an easy word 10 pronounce,
but Il has ten thousand ramillcatons Of
horror.
There IL not city that has 40, Suffered
from the abuse Of trust funds Where is
the courthouse. or the city hall, or the
Jail, or the postollice, or the hospital, that
In the building Of II has not bad a political
iob7
Long bsforo the now courthouse n New
Ynrk liIY Maa cninnlninh IA lnai nVnr sl1 /.