The Penn's Grove record., 1893-11-10

the foundation OF this Government, and
though the perpetrators and their victims
may have gone into the dust, in the last day
judgment will be awarded.
The falsehoods that Aaron Burr breathci
into the ear of Ble~nnerhassett, the ISLANDERS
that Lieutenant General Gage proclaimed
about George Washington, the misrepresen-
tations in regard to James Monroe, are as
fresh in Gods boob to-day as the lies that
were printed last week about our local can
didates. ".And all liars shall have their part
In the lake which purneth with fire and brim'
stone, which is the second death"
/ nm. / counsel you as Christian men to
| set yourselves against the misuse of money
in political campaigns. or the thousands OF
dollars already spent this autumn, how much
Of the amount do you suppose has been prop
erly used? You have q right to spend money
for the publishing Of political tracts, Tor the
establishment of organizations for the carry
Ing out of what you consider to be the best
you have a right to appeal to the reason OF
| men by argument AMI statistics andby facts.
Printing and renting OF public halls and po-
litical meetings cost money, but he who puts
q bride into the hand of a voter or plies weak
mon with mercenary and corrupt motives
commits q sin against God and the Nation.
Bribery is one of the most appalling sins
of this country. God says, Fire shall con-
sumo the t~abernacles of bribery" Have
nothing to do with such a sin, o Christian
man! Fling it from the ballot box. HAND
over to the police the man Who attempts 10
tamper with your vote, and remember that
elections that cannot be carried without
brides ought never to be carried at all.
Again l ask you as Christirn men to set yonr-
selves against the designations that hovaro'1;
the ballot box. Let me say that no I'.D rA2
afford to go into political lie wdo is not a
teetotaler. Hot political discussion somehow
creates an unnatural thirst, and hundreds OF
thousands of men have gone down into
drunkenness through political life.
Alter an exciting canvass through the
evening you must ''take something" and
rising in the morning with less animation
than usual you must 'take something" and
going of among your comrades through the
forenoon you meet political friends, and you
must "take something" and in the afternoon
you meet other political friends, AMI you
must take something" and being night has
come something has taken you. There are
but few cases where men have been able to
stand up against the designations OF political
life.
Joseph was a politician, but he maintained
his integrity. Daniel was q politician. but
he was a teetotaler to the last. Abraham
was a politician, but he was always charac-
terized as the father of the faithful. Moses
was a politician, the grandest OF them. but
he honored God more than he did the Phar-
uOlS, UllI tlGIG are uullAtEtIS Oh tlElStlhl
men now in the political parties maintaining
their integrity, even when they are obliged
to stand amid the blasted, lecherous an
loathsome crew that sometimes surround the
ballot box-these Christian men doing their
political duty and then coming back to the
prayer meetings and Christian circles as pure
as when they went out. But that is not the
ordinary circumstance-that is the eXcep-
ton.
How often you see men coming back from
the political conflict, and their eyeis glazed,
and their cheek has an unnatural flush, and
they talk louder than they usually do, and at
the least provocation they will bet, and you
say they are eonviyial, or they are exceed
ingly vivacious, or you apply some other
sweet name to Their 1t Godknows they are
drunk Some Of ou, a month or six weeks
ego, had no more religion than you ought to
have, Inc after the elections are over to cal
culate how much religion you have left will
be a sun in vulgar fractions. Oh, the pres
sure is tremendous!
How many mighty intellects nave gone
down under the dissipation of politics! 1
think of one who came from the west He
was able to stand out against the whole
American Senate God had given him fac
ulties enough to govern a Kingdom, or to
frame q constitution. His voice was terri
BILE to his country's enemies and a mighty IN
spiration in the day of National peril. But
twenty glasses of strong drink q day were
his usual allowance, and he vent down into
the habits of a confirmed inebriate.
Alas for himl Though a costly monument
has been reared over his resting place, the
young men of this country shall not be de-
MED the awful lesson that the agency by
which the world was robbed of one OF its
mightiest intellects. and our country of one
of its ablest constitutional defenders. was the
dissipation of political life. You want to
know who l mean2 Young man, ask your
father when you get home. The adverse tide
S fearful, and l warn you against it.
You need not go far off to find the worm
out politician. Here he is, stumbling along
the highway, his limbs hardly able to hold
him up. Bent over and pale with exhaust
ing sickness. Surly to anybody who accosts
him. His last decent article of apparel
pawned for strong drink. Glad II, when GO
ing by a grocery, some low acquaintance in
vites him In to take a sip of ale and then
wiping his lip with his greasy sleeve.
Kicked of the steps by men who once were
proud to be his constituents. Manhood OBJ
liberated. Lip blistered with a curse. Scars
of brutal assault on cheek and brow. Foul
mouthed. A crouching,~ staggering, wheez-
ing wretch. No friends. No God. Nc hope.
No heaven.
That is your wornout politician. That is
what some of you will become unless by this
mornings warning and the mercy of God
your steps are arrested. Oh, there are no
words enough potent, enough portentious,
enough consuming, enough damning, to de-
scribe the horrible drunkenness that has
rolled over this land, and that has bent down
the necks of some of the mightiest intelleets,
until they have been compelled to drink out
of the trough Of bestiality and abomination
l warn young men against political life, I'M
less they are teetotalers and consecrated
Christian men.
Again, I counsel you that when you 20 t.
the ballot box at the city, or the State, or the
National elections, you recognize God and
appeal to Him for His blessing. There is a
power higher than the ballot box, than the
gubernatorial chair, than the presidential
White House. 1t Is high time that we put
less confidence In political platforms and
more confidence in God. See what a weak
thing is human foresight! How little our
wise men seem to knowi See how, every
autumn, thousands of men who are Chamber
ing up for higher positions are turnedunderl
Co unsets them. Every man, every party.
every Nation, has a missiont to perform. Fail
ing TO perform it, Town he goes.
God said to the house of Bourbon, Gre
model France and establish equity" House
OF Bourbon would not do it. DOWN it went.
God said to the house OF Stuart, "Make the
English people free, God fearing and happy"
House Of Stuart would not do it. Down it
went. God says to the political parties in
this day, "by tho principles OF Christianity,
remodel, govern; educate, save the people"
Failing to do that, down they go, buryins in
their ruins their disciples and advocates.
God can spare all the political intriguers of
this day, and can raise up another genera
ton who shall do justice and love mercy,
II God could spare Luther before the re-
formation was done, and If He could spare
Washington before free government had been
fully tested, and II He could spare Howard
before more than one out of a thousand
dungeons had been alleviated, and II He
could spare Robert McCheyne lust as Scot
land was gathering to his burning utterances,
and If He could spare Thomas Clarkson
while yet millions OF his fellow men had
chains rusting to tho bone--then He can
spare any man, and He can spare any party.
That man who through cawardice or blind
idolatry OF party forsakes the cause OF righte-
business goes down, and the armed battalions
Of God march over him.
o Christian men, take out your Bible this
afternoon, and in the light of that word
make up your mind as TO what is your
duty as c~itizensl Remember that the high
est kind of a patriot is a Christian patriot.