The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1890-12-05
TIE TREE R.4pItt4L.


Rut, saws the radical. | am not
uoing to uproot good things, but
only what Is evil. / want TO get
the poison oaks and buckeyes out
Of the woods and give the live oaks
and walnSts a better chance.
want to uproot the tares that they
may not choke the wheat. Your
object is good ane and your plans
are praiseworthy II you know just
how to do it. But sometimes it is
i hazardous operation. You have
read, of course, the parable Of the
tares and the wheat. The servants
of the householder were radicals.
When they saw the tarss they
wanted to pluck them up by the
roots, but the wiser householder,
who was the Lord himself, would
not suffer this. Nothing requires
more wisdom and grace than mp
roofing the evil that is in the world.
The man who starts out Don Quix-
ote like, saying, Il am a horn rad-
ical, whenever | see poison oak
or a tare | must 60 for it, will
probably run about as brilliant a
career in reforming the world as
did Peter the Hermit when he or
aani1ed the erusades. The farmer
does a great deal of uprooting. To
cnt off the tops of weeds don't do
much good. You must, if possible,
get the last fibre out of the soil.
Then there are weeds that will
grow again il the finest tilament is
left in the soil. But the Bible tells
AIS of two kinds of radicalism-
about roofing as we'll as uprootine.
The true radical must first Of all
see that he himself is rooted. lie
As to build as we'll as destroy. He
is is to dig up in order that he may
plant. Paul, writing To the Fphe-
SLAMS, describes the gospel reformer
an three words, rooted in love.
No man can begin the work of rad
icalism or uprooting until he FIRST
begins with himself He must see
80 ii that his zeal is according &c
love. He must fight the devil
rs Michael the arehangel did
saving, sThe Lord rebuke thee.
Paul was the prince of radicals
yet he tells us tlat he besaughi
men with tears t. be reeonciled e
Cod. He did not hurl anathemas
a1 the idolaters in Athens and Cor.
NTH. He did not denounce and
defy the Emperor Nero at Rome
NV objection to a great deal Of tbs
radiealism of the day is that it il
moi rooted and grounded in love
mt knows but little of the patience
and charity of Christ. It proposes
60 fight the devil with the Same
kind Of weapons that he uses. The
result is that there is immense ex
citement and little progress. 4
sf1an started a saloon in village
an northern Ohio. There had never
been one there before. All tn,
good people were grieved and many
4f them were indignant. One wht
called himself a cold-water man
but really was het-water man
always boiling over and trying Is
scald somebody, went and stood il
the door of the saloon, and having
gathered crowd, he denounced
the saloon keeper as a thief and
murderer. The saloon keeper swor,
that he would run that saloon al
long as he pleased and it was no
body's business After awhile +,
patron of the saloon. who had pre-
viously been a good and prosperoui
citizen, died of delirium tremens
On the day Of the funeral good olo
deacon Smith, after spending al
hour in his closet in prayer, wen
to the saloon and finding the pro
prietor alone, he laid his han,
kindly upon his head and said
sJohn, don't you begin to thinl
now that this is bad business?
And John replied, "Yes, Mr.. Smith
l think it is. and I'm going to quit
And he did. That was gospel rad
J ieaiisln and the kind of radiealisr
that / eGaol SC.