The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-10-30
BEFORE ELECTION SERMON.
The Moral Character Of Candidates
First In Importance.

Been Hung Before Being Elected
The Same Standard Should Be APP
piled to Men in Public Positions as
to Those in Private Life.
Brooklyn. Oct. 29.-Rev. DIR. Talmage' S
subject for today is of universal applica-
ton. and at time when north, south
east and west the right Of suffrage is
about 10 be exercised. The theme is pa
triotic and national and from Christian
standpoint. The text is, Exodus 2O.lS:
And all the people saw the thunderings
and the lightnings and the noise of the
trumpet and the mountains smoking"
On the eve of elections in the sixty
counties of this state, and in all the
counties of most of the United States,
while there are many hundreds of nOmi-
nees to Office it is appropriate and i'm
portant that preach this Before Elec-
ton Sermon"
NY text informs you that the lightnnCs
and earthquakes united their forces to
wreck a mountain of Arabia Petrea in
olden time. and travellers to-day find
heaps of pophyry and greensboro rocks,
boulder against boulder, the remains OF
the first law library written, not on parch-
meHt or papyrus, but on shattered slabs
of granite. The cornerstone of all moral
ity, of all wise law, of all righteous juris
prudence, of all good government, are the
two tablets of stone on which were written
the Ten Commandments. All Roman law,
all French law, all English law, all Amer
lean law that is worth anything, all com
mon law, civil law, criminal law, martial
law, law of nations were rocked in
the cradle Of the twentieth chapter
of Exodus. And it would be well
in these times of great political agitation
if the newspapers would print the deca-
logue some day in place of the able edito-
rial. The fact is that some people sup
pose that the law has passed out of exist
ence, and some are not aware of some of
the passages of that law, and others say
this or that is of the more Importance,
when no one has anyright to make such an
assertion. These laws are the pillars of So
ciety, and if you remove one pillar you
damage the whole structure. | have no
ticed that men are particularly vehement
against sins to which they are not partic-
ularly tempted, and find no especial
wrath against sins in which they them
selves indulge. They take out one gun
from this battery of ten guns,
and load that, and unlimber that,
and fire that They say This IS an
Armstrong gun, and this is a Krupp gun,
and this is a Nordenfeldt five-barrelled
gun, and this is a Calling -barrelled
gun, and this is a Martigny thirty-sev ven
barrelled gun" But | have to tell them
that they are ali of the same Calibre, and
that they shoot from eternity to eternity.
Many questions are before the people. in
the coming elections all over this land, but
] shall try to show you that the most i'm
pOrtant thing TO be settled about all these
candidates is their personal, moral char
acter. The decalOgue fOrbids idOatry,
image-making, profanity, maltreatment
of parents, Sabbath Dissertation. murder,
theft, incontinence, lying and covetous-
ness. That is the decalogue by which you
and will have to be tried, and by the
same decalOgue You and l must try candi-
dates for Office.
OF course we shall not find anything
like perfection. If we do not vote until
we find an immaculate nominee, we will
never vote at all. We have so many faults
of our own we ought not to be censori-
Gus or maledictOry or hYpercritical in re-
gard to the faults of others. The Christly
rule is as appropriate for November as
any other month in the year. Judge
not that We be not judged, Ton with what
measure We mete it shall be measured to
you again"
Most certainly are we not to take the
statement of red-hOt partisanship as the
real character of any man. From nearly
all the great cities of this land ! receive
the daily or weekly newspapers. sent to
me regularly and in compliment 50 | see
entertaining, and my regular amuse-
ment, to read the opposite statements
The one statement says the man is an
angel and the other says he is a devil
and | split the difference and | find him
halfway between. There never has been
an honest or respectable man running for
the United States Presidency, or for a
judgeship, or for the mayoralty. or for the
shrievalty, since the foundation of the
American Government, if we NAV be-
lieve the old files of newspapers in the
museums. What a mercy it is that they
were not all hung before they were in
augurated! If a man believe one-half of
what he sees in the newspapers in these
times. his career will be very short out.
side of Bloomingdale Insane Asylum. [
was absent two or three years ago during
one week of political canvass and was
dependent entirely upon what | read in
regard to what had occurred in these
cities, and | read there was a
procession in New York of five thousand
patriots, and a minute after | read
IN another sheet that there were
seventeen thousand; and then | read in
regard TO another procession that there
were ten thousand, and then | read in an
other paper that there were sixty thou
sand A campaign orator in the
rink or the Academy of Music
received very cold reception
d very chilling receptiOn-said one state
ment. The other statement said the
audience rose at him; so great was the
enthusiasm that for "a long while the ora
tor could not be heard, and it was only
after lifting his hand that the vocifera-
ton began 10 subside! One statement
will twist an interview one way. and an
other statement will twist an interview
another way. You must admit it is
very difficult thing in times like these to
get very accurate estimate of a man S
character, and l charge you. as Your
religious teacher, l charge YOU to caution
and to mercifulness and to prayer.
warn YOU also against the mistake
which many are making. and always do
make, Of applying different standard
of character for those in prominent posi-
ton from the standard they apply for or
binary persons. However much a man
may have, OF however high the position
he gets, he has no especial liberty given
him in the Interpretation of the Ten Com
mandments. great sinner is no more
to be excused than small sinner. Do
not charge illustrious detection to eccen-
tricity, or chop OF the Ten Command
ments TO suit especial cases The right
Is everlastingly right and the wrong is
everlastngly wrong. If any man nomi-
mated Tor any once IN this city or ate
differs from the DecalOgue, do not fix up
the DecalogUc. bat fix him up. The law
must stand Whatever else may fall