Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-05-15
MEN FOR THE TIMES.
Sermon by Rev. DIR. Easton on Some
Prevailing Evils.

TT is a great thing TO have a pull. ="
said d.. Thomas c. Easton. pastor OF the
Eastern Presbyterian Church, while de-
livering a powerful discourse Sunday even
ing. setting forth the need OF Men for the
Times to qlell the demoralizing and de-
teriorating agencies at work swaysng the
tide OF public opinion, and controlling the
measures of public men. Law must be re-
spected and reverenced by the people and
by those who enact and administer Il. or
we car not secure the beneficent ends OF
true government Law and order are
associated, the great pillars which uphold
the state. To weaken or tampe- with the
authority of law or cause IL to subserve
ether than impartial justice is TO imperil
all that is dear 10 our national existence
Much Of the legislation Of the time has
served 10 bring law into discredit. Even the
courts are not above the reach OF party
intrigue. 1t is easy 20 send the son OF q
la boring man TO jail for stealing an old
overcoat, while a defaulter OF $4,000 is ap-
plauded as an able fnancier.
The power of wealth and station. cor
porate influence and initiated pubic senti
ment, has grown TO be an evil of such mag
nitude that law seems unable 20 cope with
J it. A few railroad monopolists can pad
Z lock the lips Of legislature. IL is a great
thing 10 have pull The natural results
Of this are seen today. socialism. anarch-
ism. radicalism. have all taken license from
this irreverent spirit for law, and have
ideas. rife with danger and ruin. II these
men had their way. industry and honest
labor would be un-ewarded. and trade
would be paralyzed. Yet there are in Chi
cago today over six hundred children in
Sunday schools svho are taught anarchism.
Let anarchism reign and IL means the de-
struction of one of the highest qualities OF
human nature-submission TO law.
Result Of Demaaopism.
The rampant spirit of demagogism said the
speaker. is a conspicuous evil of our times.
During the first half century of our federal
existence no country could show more wise
and great public men than ours. How is IL
today? There never was before so much
Intelligence and thrift among our mechan-
les. laborers and farmers. Yes. everywhere
save in the legislation and government OF
the republic. Brass and g-eenbacks sway
a tremendous influence at the ballot box.
We have become a nation OF Office seekers.
every open place. from a crossroads post
office to collectorship. is thronged by
hungry applicants for spoil. How comes II
that after all our recent troubles between
! labor and capital there cannot be found
man TO rise in Congress TO uphold the
, rights OF American mechanics? The an
The attention of the audience was called
TO the necessity for compulsory education
as matter of national self-preservation.
Crime lessons as education increases. The
street arab must be compelled 10 attend the
common school. The offscourings of the
old world daily emptied by ship loads
upon our shores. the majority unable TO .e-
peat the first three letters OF the alphabet.
What shall such be when clothed with the
rights of citizenship Educate II You
would advance national prosperity, secure
personal freedom and hasten the dawn OF
the millennium. The spread of hcentious-
ness and false theories of the family in
stitution tend to our national disintegra-
lion. Its fruits are seen in the p-ecocious
] ha
more iniquity at the age OF thirteen thar
their fathers knew at twenty. The custom
OF newly-married couples to board rather
than establish a home Of their own brings
the well-known fact-'no family" no chill
dren. for they want TO enjoy life" Tx
fashionable bride of today says. contrary
10 the ancient woman, Write me childless
or let me die" Thousands in the circles OF
fashion plunge their offspring into a deeper
Gauges than that which flows in Hindo-
stan. Let the pale and dying victims OF
poison-vending quacks answer II these
things are not so.
Power OF the Press.
There must be repentance and sincers
reformation. said the preacher. to remove
these cancers at the heart OF the republic.
an un-eserved conservation Of the wealth
OF church and nation to God. a sanctified
press. For three cents a man can have a
newspaper containing the contemporaneous
history of the globe. The eyeless press r.
giving sight TO the ignorant IL is the most
potent power to build or tear down our
civilization. but IL has pandered TO much
that is degrading. One Of the hopeful signa
OF the times is that there is a demand for q
press rinsed Of its loathsome tales and por-
| trayals Of crime. God and the republic call
| for men of principle OF sober sense and
modest pretensions. to rebuke the extrava-
gance of cur times; men who will stand
for the right. Men who can tell the truth
and look the world and the devil in the
eye. Men who know their own place and
fill IL. Men who are willing 10 eat what
they have earned. and wea- what they
have paid for. Men who are not for sale.
The speaker closed with a call to young
men to decide to be Christians IL they
would conquer a grand success in their
chosen sphere. be men among men and for