Morning journal and courier., 1893-03-20

this man is going into business somewhere any way: 1t ia better and safer that he should be here than in the residence por- d tion; we simply say let him pat it he-e; we don't want 1t any where near our homes"
 Now, brethren, that ia not very strong c but these men make 1t ] seem plausible to. themselves. Can you believe that there are at this minute in the of New: Haven more Christian men at worship than voted against the rum traffic last December2 Do you know that , we are clear down at the end of the pro ] eession of New England cities on this ques- tions The city of Cambridge, city much , like ours, with about the same population, with a great university, older and larger and not lees conservative than Yale, banished the whole business years agoa Massachusetts is all stirred up on this question; and so Is Rhode Island. Connecticut is asleep. Let us rejoice that there is sign of life in Bridgeport. Last Sunday morning the mayor of that city in person headed detachment of police and at o'clock in the morning raided gans bling house, capturing something like forty men, some of them prominent citizens.
 movement was get on foot against u c mayor of Bridgeport, which is believed to have meant his assassination had he fallen into trap which was laid for him. The
 question is coming to be even in New Eng land cities: Who governsa A drunken i man driving like mad around one of our l street corners the other. day nearly ran ! down lady and child who were quietly |! crossing the street and cursed them for ! getting in his way. Perhaps it Is coming ! to this that we must all stand one side and 1 let the government of our cities and our
 states be run by the liquor seller, the gambler and the ruffian. Did you hear Dr. Patton the other even ! inga that grand old man with hair and beard as white as the driven snow, who had given his whole magnificent life to the elevation of the cannibals of the South Seaea The life of white man was hardly worth the snap of your finger when he went there. Again and again had he seen his closest companion shot down or struck down at his side. Again and again had the weapon of bloodthirsty savage been lifted over his head to strike the life out of him. But he staid on, just because he believed the old gospel
 was strong enough to lift that
 race out of it's degradation, and because he
 loved the Lord Jesus Christ Now there l were only cannibals. And now Dr. Patton, | seventy years of age, comes to this country what fort Partly to get more mission | aries for that far away field, and partly for | this: To persuade the enlightened govern | ment of this proud Christian nation to prohibit it's traders from selling rum (which makes all men demons) to those poor say ages in the South Seas. Think of it, a | godly Scotehmsn who had given his whole ! life and had almost died score of deaths | for the sake of saving those cannibals, com | ing across all the seas in order that, hum ply, as suppliant, he might beg the august government of the United States not to | drive them back to barbarian, diabolism ! and helll
 But the case Is worse than that. Weare
 the only great power to-day which refuses
 this requesti Great Britain long since is-
 sued the prohibition. France and Ger
 many-Roman Catholic France, wine pro-
 ducing France. and Germany, a1oat in in such prohibition. If America will act,
 we will" And America won't actl Bac-
 chus and Gambrinus put us to shame. | They are better temperance reformers than
 we. Christian America will not pass the Iprohibition. The old missionary said he
 had seen our late president and his eecre-
 tary of state and some members of con-
 gress, and they had Expressed sympathy"
 "but what we want" added the missionary | Oh, we are tremendous people for express
 ing sympathy. The politicians are the most
 sympathetic men in the world. They have ! learned that the quickest way of disposing
 of great moral issues, which may lead to
 awkward situations and may result in DO
 litical revolutions, is to wheedle the re
 formers with expressions of sympathy. "Why, gentlemen, we eympathize with all
 wise and we'll directed efforts toward tenn
 perance reform" But that will not work
 always. The rising tide of right public
 sentiment will soon overwhelm the man
 who can find no higher ground than that. In the hope of hastening the glad time, which think is surely toming, I am pleading to-day that Christian men shall realize their responsibility and their power. We do not count for what we are worth. In the city and in the state and in
 the nation, our voics must somehow be . ! stand as the nation of gamblers or the home of the liquor saloon. We are to have, this year, magnificent opportunity z l of showing to the world at Chicago what , ! q Christian nation may be. But, unless
 the Christian people begin to do some- :, l thing, the exhibit in morals will bs poor | l one. The base element has been getting D ready for some time. For example, there is in Chicago to day regular school fol instruction in professional gambling, and though the fee for instruction is large, multitudes of applicants have been turned
 away for lack of room. It is now author , itatively announced that the number of ! places for the sale of liquor within the 3 fair grounds Is eighty-seven. It is by nc , | Lords day. Thsre ie 8 desperate move 5 ment still on foot to abolish the sacred 5 day, and the only sincere motive behind it U all is money making
 Well, we have wandered far from New $ Haven, but these narrower questions ! which most concern us to day are but parts ! of the broader problems which are sgitat- E ing the whole American people. And ' l what we do here shall be felt far away. ] . think 1t is safe to say that no American city, whatever It's size, can extend its in- T fuenoe 80 widely and so powerfully az 5 New Haven. And this because of the pres.
 ence among us of Yale university, the most cosmopolitan institution of learning
 ! in America. Here are young men by the | thousand, going to all parts of the world. 1 They will be the men of influence wherever ] | they go. They are here in the formative ' period of life. The influences which are abroad in this city cannot but affect and l mould the character of these young men. 7 What they become here today they will t be elsewhere tomorrow. Do you see what ? this means to us9 What measureless op- 7 portunityl Whst-solenn responsibility t 1 So plead for more asstrtiveness on the , ! pAI6 oI the CnrlSt1an Sle"SnG III tnl5 com
 munity. plead for it in behalf of the , youth who to-day are burning with the } fires of life's bewilderipg second decade. I ] plead for 1t in behalf of the republic of l the twentieth century, the rumble of l l whose chariot wheels we can already sl- l ] most hear.
 , In hundred ways you can make your 1 inhueHce felt. There is no force SO strong
 as the force of righteousness. But this word of warning must be spoken once , more: If righteousness simply folds it's arms and falls asleep, it may by and by } awake to find itself overcome. If the strong man armed keepeth his palace his |. goods are in peace. But failure to be on our guard and failure to use our arms may
 mean assault and defeat, and the loss of
 arms and of treasure and of the palace itselfl From our fathers we have received ' 8 noble heritage; shall we transmit as
 noble heritage to our childreni A duty which we owe to the past and duty
 which we owe to the future presses upon
 us in this narrow minute of time.
 II ''Rise flor the day is passing
 And you lie dreaming on;
 The others have buckled their armor
 And forth to the fight are gone.
 A place in the ranks awaits you,
 l Each man has some part to play
 The Past and the Future are looking
 In the face of the stern To day"