Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1892-05-05

JOII I1ILD, Ne Ss, -iI.1Ale
- 7------77z7F
do not speer at !.foaters,' ,sbut
cajole them, fatter them, bfibss
them. Under the Jesuitical ple6
that "the end justifes the meansg
often rich men are put forward
who can Use their barrel upoH
the weakened and unprinciplsd
elements of the body polite. IS
There ought not to be any forny
al organization of such mens
Their duty is to leaven and purify
present organizations. They are
to inculcate by their example the
all-important lesson of individual
sovereignty. The politicians,
ought not to object to this. Are
they not perpetually prociaiming:
"The people are sovereign" The,
people are sovereign. If you are.
their Sovereign in your personal
and individual membership of the.
commonwealth, then in the names
of all that is true, all that is in-s
dependent, all that is noble, stand,
forth crowned with the crown of.
righteousness and sceptered With;
the sceptre of authority for the.
vindication of your sovereignty.
Be not a willing and conscious
party to placing corrupt men in,
office. Do not put candidate.
under microscopic examination,
for only God is capable of dis.
eliminating in SO close an exam.
ina, ION. But look at the we'll
known and broad general outlines
of his character. Listen not to.
every accusation brought by the,
opposite side. Assure yourself
without the shadow of a doubt as
to all imputations that may be
cast by an opposing party.
There is no office in the gift of
the people that could not be better.
filled by q Christian than q cor
rupt man. Do not understand me.
as suggesting even the church
putting forward a candidate. Let.
church and State stand forever.
separate. God forbid that any of.
US should ever see the day when a
candidate should be put forward
by the Methodist church or the,
Baptist church or the Episcopal
church or. any of the Vafiehs,
branches Of Gods Universal
Church. What I want to say is
this: Christian men as a class are
better fitted for office than wicked
men. There is an equal probabil-
ity of their capacity and a far
greater probability for their integ-
rity. I am not unfamiliar with
the news current in some quarters
about "Christian Statesmen" Sad,
sad, oh, how sad it is that some
men shave stolen the livery of
heaven to serve the devil inl" But
wise men and sincere men will
not charge Christianity with re-
sponsibility for this. There would
be no counterfeits if there were no
true gold. Why not look at Mr..
Gladstone, the foremost statesman
of the age, as humble as child,
as devout as Simeon, as consistent
as Daniel. 1t is stated that he,
is personally and intimately ac-
quainted with more than sixty
distinguished statesmen who are
devoted followers of Christ.
Oftentimes your Christian citi-
zen fails in duty by refusing to
become a candidate. He shrinks
with horror and disgust from the
arena of scramble and mud-sling-
ing. He should go in, neverthe-
less, carrying a full stock of grace
with him, and if his character is
like the snow-plant, no dust of
faith will adhere to him. We
condemn town or city Tor bad
men in office. Sometimes the
loudest .denunciations come from
those who have been solicited to
become candidate and refused.
If you are a candidate you will
notlie on your opponent. You
will not indulge in inuendoes,
slander, vituperation, calumny.
You will refrain from anything of
this kind, not because it would be
impolitic, but because it would be
wrong. If YOU have ANYTHING to