Morning journal and courier., 1892-11-25


% Danish it is to provide more rational
way of executing godly judgment upon the
Uilful homicide. And in devising that
new way, one idea never to be lost sight
IF ia the lesson in righteousness which is
to be taught the world by that judgment.
Courts and sentences, pains and penal
lies are what We must rely upon largely
for concrete discrimination between
right and wrong before the eyes of those
who are in the elementary grades of NOR
ais. They are as much the agencies of the
of God for the worlds redemp-
ton as any institution on earth. They
need to be as carefully watched, as rapidly
improved, and as loyalty sustained as any, |
ponds largely the notions of Righteousness
which shall prevail in large part of So |
ciety.
By public sentiment also the judgments
of God are either declared in the world
in all the ways which the judgment of the
people finds for its expression, or they are
frustrated and concealed. The communi-
cations which people have with each other
In social Intercourse, in organized fellow
ship, in the schools and churches, in cur
rent literature and the periodical press are
all channels through which Judgment may
vigorously find it's way into the world for
the instruction of the people in righteous
ness, or they may be Indifferent to these
determinations, leaving the world unin
structed to deterioate, rather than to adj
vance toward the fulGllment of the divine
purpose.
When indifference toward moral wrong
is SO overcome that Judgment, sharp and
unambiguous, is rendered by courts of law
and by that more pervaeive court of pub
lie sentiment, upon all violations of right
and law then society approaches nearer to
| its ideals. 1t recedes from its ideals when
it ceases to express and execute righteous
judgment.
When those wko are acknowledged to
stand for righteousness allow secondary
considerations like business interests
politics relationships, natural or artif-
cial, to obstruct the way to righteous judg-
ment, the world is deprived of its great
lesson in righteousness and that is the
most grievous loss that it can ever suffer.
1t is the lesson which Jesus Christ came
to the world to teach. who, though he
came not to condemn the world, yet was
himself ''the light of the world" and "this
is the judgment that the light is come into
the world" 1t is lesson which We can
not afford to lose, and yet it is one which
we are losing to very large extent because
Of the half-hearted way in which the
| lniquity is dealt with. especially in the
supreme court of public opinion, and to
some extent also by the better organized
agencies of judgment.
sLst favor be showed to the wicked yet
will he not learn righteousness; in the
| land of uprightness will he deal wrongful
| ly, and will not behold the majesty of the
| Lord" The wicked desire no greater favor
that to he let alone. They dislike the
| judgments of God in whatever form or
by whatever agency administered. They
/ not he oh
| righteousness, and that the judgments of
| God should not be in the earth. And
when they are let alone they have their
way.
Vice is no educator; the drunken brawl
upon the street may arouse some virtuous
soul to bring to pass some judgment OF
God upon the earth, and that Judgment
will be an educator in morals; but the
brawl itself only disgusts few and de
lights the rest, while it degrades the mora
standard of all. The next time it occurs
the disgust will be little less acute; the
sensitive soul will be little less sensitive
the inhabitants of that part of the WORLD
are not learning righteousness, but quite
the reverse.
What kind of lesson in Righteousness
is it for this generation in New Haven t,
| know that there are scores of saloons tina
do business habitually Oh Sunday by bacl
, doors and other rooms, in violation of tn
law; or that houses Of vice abound within
, the city limits; or that the mere running
> | expenses of the gam bling houses of tn
i | town are more than the running expense
8 of the three churches on this green; o
+ | that prize drawings, which are specifcall
9 prohibited by statute, are constantly beiD
8 offered in connection with the fairs o
civic and military societies and even O
| churchess There few who have no
suffered embarrassment and disgust whic
/ they cannot describe on the streets an
Q public conveysnces from the drunkenness
r and lewdness of people whom the law
= intended to suppress, ands on whom right
eous judgment ought to execute instructiv
j lessons.
? What kind of a commentary on Toys
i citizenship is the fact that of the 81, 90
g voters in this town who are all, save a fe'
8 exemptions, liable either to poll tax or
q military communication tax, there are MOI
9 than $4,000 who never pay cent of ia,
d either on their heads or on the taxab
property which they possessa Citizens ca
D. hardly be expected to place much valu
d | upon the public order which they neve
= paid penny to maintain, or to have niue
It respect for the public service that does NJ
II dare to ask them for what is due accort
10 ing to law.
g. These references are not all that migl
n be made, but they are enough of their kir
n for the present purpose, which is ain p
II to point the way in which the inhabitan
ID of the earth may be farther instructed
q righteousness by seeing just judeme
meeted out for wrong doing. No effort
re- here made to locate responsibility for Il
!. evils that have been alluded to, except
at charge the public conscience with Il
O. much inertness in proclaiming judgme
III upon evils that are public menace. Pu
of lie servants need the support of publ
10 sentiment that is outspoken, and this it
re our business to furnish.
Enough was said at the outset in prai
in of the present to preclude the charge
in peevish pessimism; but enough also nee
nd to be said somewhere to preclude t
MT danger of showing EXCESSIVE favor to t
no wicked until the lesson of righteousne
no should no longer be taught.
Christian tenderness and love will nev
de abound too much in the world, but the
M may be as much love in just judgme
.es as in gracious charity. Christian effc
in Is in danger of being switched off its ma
el track by the cry that Christians neglt
W. the lower classes. They should not
int neglected, but they may have a bet1
service than fondling and caressing. VIII
ID the judgments of God are in the cal
er- they will be taught that they have
Og- business TO Do IN Inc lower Glasses,
nd should themselves be Christians. howe1
we humble. The reason for the wickedness
1ly the wicked does not rest with the righteo
M but with the wicked themselves. TIL
ng lack the backbone of moral rectitu,
nts It is no instruction to them to see pr
soul showing them favor; they are
bic structed only when they sse their sho
art comings weighed and found wanting q
,gs Judgment rendered accordingly. Flow
40 and favors are badly discounted when tn
On. are graciously handed through prison ba
oss There was time when they might hi
he passed at par, but that time passed WI
len wickedness came to it's maturity.
an The judgments that condemn evil a
.ge commend the good, and in SO doing
world finds equal instruction. 1t is
ian purpose of Christian enlightenment
ing show the difference, and whoever oblit
the ates those distinctions does 50 because
t a loves darkness rather than light, and vi
FAD ever loves the light rather than the da
me ness does so because the light reveals TIL
the distinctions while the darkness hides the
Inv Every disciple of Christ therefore ha
alb mission to fulfill of rejecting his maste
,ss. light, or in other words, of making ma
vet fest the difference between what is 6,
in | and what is evil that the world may be
ne- structed in righteousness. "The doing
Of right" says Froude, ''alone teaches
value or meaning of right; the doing O
the willingly if the will is happily constitut
A., 1 the doinp Of IL Dnwillinplv or nnder RI