The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1890-09-10


not getting wings. As he passes. they
erimacc, and wink, ana cllucklc, and say.
There goes i saint"
O vour@ man have decision OF char
actcr. You can afford in this matter Of
religion to be laughed at. What do You
care for the scolls OF these men. whoarc
atlroEtcd because you viii not 90 to ruin
with them: When the crave cracks
open under their feet. and grim messcn-
GERS push them into it, and eternity
comes down hard upon their spirit. and
conscience stmgs. and hopeless ruin lifts
them up to hurl them down, will they
laugh then:
learn also from my subject thatmen
may take religion into Their worldly
business. Daniel had enough work to
10 to occupy six men. All the affairs OF
state were in his hands-Questlons of
finance. questions OF war. OF peace, all
international questions were for his set
tlement or adjustment. lie must have
had correspondence vast beyond all
computation. There is not man IN all
the earth who had more to dothan Dan
icl. the secretary Of state, ard yet we
find him three times day bowling be-
fore God in PRAYER. There are men in
our dav who have not a hundredtn part
of Daniels engagements. who say that
they are too busy to be religious. They
have an idea somehow that religion will
spoil their worldly occupation: that 1t
vii! trip the accountants pen. or dull the
carpeuter's saw. or confuse the lawyers
brief, or disarrangc the merchants store
Shelf.
They think religion is impertincnt.
They would like to have 1t very well
seated beside them in church on the Sab
bath. to find the place in the psalm book.
or to nudge them awake when they get
sleepy under the didactic discourse; or
they would like to leavcQ in the pew on
Sabbath evening, as they co out closing
the door, saying: Good night. religion;
I'll be back next Sundayn But to havs
religion 90 right along by them all
through life. to have religion looking
over their shoulder when they are max
inc q bargain. to have religion take up a
bag of dishonest gold and shake it and
say: s-Ha ha! where did you get that"
They think that is on impertinent re-
lrion. They would like to have a re-
ligion to help them when they are sick,
and when the shadow OF death comes
over them they would like to have re-
liCion as sort OF night-key with which
to open the door of heaven; but religion
under other circumstances they take to
be an impcrtinence. Now, my friends,
religion never robbed a man Of a dollar:
Other things being equal, a mason will
build a better wall, q cabinet-makcr will
make better chair, plumber will make
better pipe, q lawyer will make bet
ter plea, merchant Will sell better
bill OF goods. =,
| say other things being equal. Of
course when religion gives a man new
heart. it does uot propose to give him 4
new head. or to intellectualiZe HIM. or
to change a mans condition when his
ordinary state is an overthrow OF the
philosophical theory that a total vacuum
is impossible: but the more letters you
have to write. the more burdens YOU
have to carry, he more miles You have
to travel. the more burdens you have to
lift. the more engagements You haYe TO
meet, the more disputes YOU have to set
tie. the more opportunity you have OF
being a Chsistiau.
If YOU have a thousand irons in the
fire, YOU have thousand more oppor-
tun!ties Of serving God than II You had
only one iron in the fire. Who so busy
as Christ? And yet who a millionth
part as holy: The busiest men the best
men. Ali the persons converted in
Scripture busy at the time Of their being
converted. Matthew attending to his
custom house duties; the Prod:Gal Son
feeding SWINE; Lydia selling purple;
Simon Peter hauling in the net from the
sea; Saul spurring his horse toward Da-
mascns. going down on his law business.
Busy! busy! Daniel with all the affairs
of state weighing down upon his soul.
and vet three times a dav worshlplng
the God Of heaven.
Again: I learn from this subject that
man may take religion into hispolltlcs.
Daniel had all the affairs Of state on
hand. vet a Christian. He could not
have kept his elevated position unless
he had been thorough politician; and
vet all the thrusts of officials and all the
danger Of disgrace did not make him
Weld one toto Of his high-toned religious
principle. He stood before that age, he
stands before all ages, a specimen OF a
Christian politician.
So there have been IN our day and in
the days Of our fathers men as eminent
in the service OF God as they have been
eminent in the service Of state. Such
was Benjamin F. Butler, attorney-gen-
eral Of New York in the time of your
fathers. Such was John Mclean Of
! Ohio. Such was George Briggs of Mas
sachusetts. Such was Theodore Frel-
inghuysen OF New jersey. Men faithful
to the state, at the same time faithful to
God.
1t is absurd to expect that men who
have been immersed i'll political wicked
ness for thirty or forty years shall come
to reformation; and our hope is IN the
Young men who are comiugnp, that they
have patriotic principle and Christian
principle side by side when they come to
the ballot-box and cast their first vote,
and that they swear allegiance to the
government of heaven as well as to the
government of the United States. We
would have Bunker Hill mean less to
them than Calvary. and Lexington. mean
less to them than Bethlehem.
But because there are bad men around
the ballot box is no reason why Chris
tian men should retreat from the arena.
The last time you ought to give up your
child or torSake your child is when it Is
surrounded by company Of Choctaws;
and the last time to surrender the bal
lot-boX is when it is surrounded by I'M
purity and dishonesty and all sorts OF
wickedncss.
Daniel stood on the most unpopular
platform. He stood firmly. though the