St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-07-27
NEHEMIAH WANTED.
The Time for a RefOrmer has
Come in st. Paul.


Rev. G. G. Reynolds, VINO occupied
the pulpit at the Goodrich Avenue
Presbyterian church yesterday, devoted
his sermon to a discussion of SUNDAY
Lawlessness," The reverend gentleman
in the course of his sermon said:
Jerusalem was very like our st. Paul,
and the Nehemiah who is determined to
bring about the reform of this munic-
ipalIty will discover that human nature
is the same now as in i. c. AS. We
find this true particularly in the effort
to have our Sabbath laws enforced. The
foes of our Sabbath are supposed to be
hydra-headed, legion. and the father of
them all is the same old ser
pent who wriggled into the gate
of ,]erusamem in the days
of Nehemiah, and who is day making
his Shiny way everywhere along our
streets, across our counters, over our
thresholds, and who even dares seek
the altar fires of the sanctuary.
HE who at all studies the situation
knows that right in our midst the foes
of Sabbath order have mighty power,
and that they cannot be paralyzed
by being ignored. A host has
advanced against the welfare of
our city, and it behoOves US to
single out our enemies at the very out
set of the contest. We read that the
sale of intOXicantS was carried on in
Jerusalem with more vigor on the Sab
bath day than on any other day. To-
day in our midst we see all the wine of
Jerusalem and the worse liquor of mod
ern days sold openly on the Sabbath in
defiance of the law of God and man.
And our municipal authorities, like the
Y,OINlac Of lunatr hl npTSiEfnnttV
cOntended with before they Will enforce
the Ia wS even against such iniquity?
Il do moi suppose that the violation of
Sabbath law was as open and shameless
in old time as now. 1t could not have
been worse. We might as well face the
fact that in this city the statutes against
Sabbath dissertation are almost wholly
set at defiance, and not altogether, or
even in large part, by the 'hOodlum' ele-
ment either. More than one alleged
noble is silent, neither by voice nor by
pen expressing dissatisfaction with the
present state of affairs. We know too
well what kind of men have the official
management Of the city.
1--WE are not proud of our 'paralyzed
press Neither are we proud when we
realize that to large and v1ried extent
fairly respectable men have up to date
been ready TO justify the present cOndi-
ton of affairs. If Nehimiah were in
this city to-day he would soon discover
Our Daily Papers
are the most earnest opponents and the
saddeSt examples of the great bane of
the times AN adjustable conscience on
the Sabbath question and all other
moral questions. TO read the editorials
would lead the unWary to think that the
| papers are all conscience. To put it
plainly. we can expect nothing from
the St. Paul dalieS. The hope for st.
Paul is in people of the Nehemiah va
riety. the time for the refOrmer has
come. He must sound the tOcsin against
| lawleSsnesS of every kind, especially
Sunday lawlessness.
The Nehemiah of intelligent con-
! science realizes that when the Sabbath
goes the republic goes. Nehemiah
didn't try to crowd religion down the
Threats of the mobiles of Judah, but for
fear of interfering with their irreligion,
he did not refrain from barring the
! presence. If the mayor of this
city should be impeached, and
God grant that he may be, he
would have no right to think that an at
! tempt was being made to force him to
become a Christian. though of course
we would all be glad to see him a Chris
tan. He would simply be receiving
well merited punishment for neglecting
to vindicate the majesty of the law. OF
course we know that piety is not
brought about by legislation. 1t is no
part of this Sabbath movement to make
people good by law. However, the
spiritual part of the work must not be
| neglected. While the modern Nehemiah
| only feels that he has the right to ask
the municipality to be moral, still he
makes the most of his privilege of en-
phaSizing religious truth in all his con-
tact with the individual life of his city.
He wifi make it very plain that grow
ing respect for the law of God is the
best basis for the proper observance of
the Sabbath