Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1890-09-06

you nave thousand moro opportunities Of
serving God than if you had only one iron
in the fire. Who so busy as Christi And
yet who millionth part as holy? The
busiest men the best men. All the persons
converted in Scripture busy at the time Of
their being converted. Matthew attending
TO his custom house duties; the Prodigal Son
feeling swine; Lydia selling purple; Simon
Peter hauling in the net from the sea: Saul
squirting his horse toward Damascus, going
down on his law business Busyi busy!
Daniel with all the affairs of state weighing
worshiping the God of Heaven.
Again, learn from this subject that man
may take religion into his politics Daniel
had all the affairs of stats on hand, vet
Christian. He could not have kept his ele-
waited position unless he had been thorough
politician; and yet all the thrusts of officials
and al the danger Of disgrace dill not make
him yield one iota of his high toned religious
principle. He stool before that age he
stands before all ages specimen of Chris
tan 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 the State Such was Benja-
min F. Butler, Attorney-G eneral of New
York, in the time of your fathers Such
was John Mclean, of Ohio. Such was Geo.
Briggs, of Massachusetts. Such was Theo-
dore Freling huysen, of New Jersey. Men
faithful to the State, at the same time faith
full to Col.
1t is absurd to expect that men who have
been immersed in po itical wickedness for
thirty or forty years shall come to reforma-
ton: and our hope is in the young men who
are coming Up, 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 ailegi-
anee 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 Christian men
should retreat from the arena The last
time you ought to give up your child or for
sake your child is when it is surrounded by
company of Choctlws; and the last time to
surrender the ballot box is when it is sur
rounde by irnpurity aud dishonesty and all
sorts OF wic&e,lness.
Daniel stood on a most unpopular plat
form. He stool firmly, though the dema-
gogues of the day hissel at him and tried to
overthrow him. emust carry our religion
into our politics But there are a great
many men who are in favor Of taking religion
into national politics who do not see the i'm
portance of taking it into city politics; as
though man were intelligent about the
welfare of his neighborhood and had no con-
Germ about his own home.
Religion would drive out all base person.
alities from politics. You have a right to
discuss mems politics and denounce their
political sentiments, or receive them as you
will: but you have no right to assail their
private character as is done every autumn.
That is not carrying religion into politics
Now you can always tell without asking, in
any contest, what candidate | will vote for.
1t is always for the man who is most bad
gere1, and most abused, and most - t upon,
and most howled at. You have a right to
contest a mans political sentiments, you
have right, for base political purposes, to
assail his private moral character.
My subject also impreSses me with the
fact that lions cannot hurt good man. No
man ever got into worse company than
Daniel got into when he was thrown into
the den. What rare morsel that fair
young man would have been for the hungry
monsters! If they had plunged at him he
could not have climbed into niche beyond
the reach of their paw or the snatch of their
tooth They came pleased all around about
him as a hunters hounds at the well known
whistle come bounding to his feet.
You nee not go to Nunidia to get among
the lions. You all have had them after you
tho lion of financial distress, the lion of
sickness, the lion of persecution. You saw
that lion OF financial panic putting his mouth
down to the EARTH and he roare1 until all
the banks AMI all the insurance companies
quakcd With his nostrI he scattered the
ashes on the domestic hearth. You have
had trial after trial, misfortune after mis-
fortune, lion after lion and yet they have
never hurt you if you put your trust in God,
and they never will hurt you. They did
not hurt Daniel, and they cannot hurt you.
: The PersianS used 20 think that spring rain
falling into sea shells would turn into pearls;