The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-09-01


They prophecy that he will give out They
wonder If he is not getting wings. As be
passes, they grimace, and wink, and chuckle
and say, "There goes a saint
o, young man have decision OF character
You can afford in this matter OF religion 70
be laughed at. What do you care LOT the
SCOTS of these men, who are anronted De-
cause you viii not go to ruin with themf
When the grave cracks open under their
feet aud grim messengers push them into
it, and eternity comes down hard upon their
spirit, and conscience stings, and hopeless
ruin lifts them up to hurl them down, viii
they laugh then.
L learn also from my subject that men
may take religion into their worldly bust
ness Daniel had enough work to do to
occupy six men. All the affairs OF state
were in his hands-ouestions OF finance
questions of war. of peace-an lnterna-
tional questions were for his settlement or
adjustment. He must have had a corre-
suondence vast beyond all computation
There was not a man in all the earth VINO
had more to do than Daniel, the secretary
ef state, and vet we find him three times
day bowling before God in prayer ihere
are men in our day who have not a hun
dredth part of Daniels engagements, VINO
say they are too busy 70 be religious lney
have an idea somehow that religion VIII
spoil their worldly occupation, that IL VIII
trip the accountants pen. OF dull the car
penter's saw, or confuse the lawyers orleI'
or disarrange the merchants store snen;
They think religion is impairment iney
would like TO have it very well seated %,
side them in church on the Sabbath, 70 ma
the place in the psalm book, or TO nudge
them awake when they get sleepy under
the didactic discourse; or they would IKE
TO leave it in the pew on Sabbath evening,
as they 90 out closing the door, saying:
aGood-night. religion. III 70 back next
Sundayr' But 10 have religion go right
along by them all through life, to have re-
Iigion looking over their shoulder when
they are making a bargain, to have
religion take up bag OF dishonest
gold and shake it, and say: he ma
where did you get thati Iney
think that is al impertinent religion. Ihey
would like to have a religion to help them
when they are sick, and when the snaoo"
Of death comes over them they would IKE
to have religion as a sort OF night key WIN
which to open the door OF heaven; put TO-
ligion under other circumstances they Jake
to be an impertinence. Now, my friends,
religion never robbed a man OF a doiiar
Other things being equal a mason VIII
build a better wall, cabinet-maker Will
make a better chair, plumber VIII MAKE
better pipe. lawyer will make Deuter
plea, a merchant will sell a better bill OF
goods.
say other things being equal. OF course
when religion gives a man new heart, IL
does not propose to give him new head, or
to intellectualize him, or to change 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; the more miles you have
to travel the more burdens you have TO Iltt;
the more engagements you have to meet,
the more disputes you have to settle. the
more opportunity you have or being
christian.
II you have a thousand irons IN the ire
you have a thousand more opportunities or
serving God than if you bad only one iron
in the fire. Who so busy as Christi And
yet who a millionth part as holys The
busiest men the best men. All the persons
converted i'll scripture busy at the tame OF
their being converted Matthew attending
to his custom house duties; the Prodigal Son
feeding 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. Busy busy J
Daniel with all the affairs of state weighing
down upon his soul, and yet three times
dav worshiping the God Of heaven.
Again: l learn from this subject that a
man NAV take religion into his politics.
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 yet all the
thrusts of officials and all the danger OF dis
grace did not make him yield one lota Of his
high-toned religious principle. He stood
before that age, he stands before all ages,
specimen of christian politician.
So there have been in our day and in the
DAYS of our fathers men as eminent 10 the
servics of God as they have been eminent In
the service of the state. Such was Benjamin
F. Butler, attorney general OF New York In
the time of your fathers. Such was John
Mclean of Ohio Such was George Briggs
of Massachusetts,. Such was Theodore
Frelis uysen of New Jersey. Men faith
full to The state, at the same time faithful to
God.
1t is absurd to expect that men who have
been immersed in political 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 allie
glance 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 I'll en- 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 forsake your child is when it is sur
rounded by company of Choctaws; and
the last time to surrender the ballot box is
when it is surrounded by impurity and dis
honesty and all sorts Of wickeduess.
Daniel stood on most unpopular plat
form. He stood firmly, though the dema-
gogues of the day Kissed at him aud tried
to overthrow him. We must 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 Importance of taking it into city
politics; as though a man were intelligent
about the welfare of his neighborhood, and
had no concern 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
badgered, and most abused, and most spit
upon, and most howled at. You have a
right to contest mans political sentiments
you have no right for base political pur-
poses to assail his private moral character
Ny subject also impresses me with the
fact that lions cannot hurt a good man
No man ever got into worse company than
Daniel got into when he was thrown into
What a T1nreol fol