The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-07-23
RlCHMOND'S TRUE FRIENDS.
Rev. Dr.. Young Draws a Distinction
Between Them and Her Foes.
HARD BLOW TO THE CIIY'S ENEMIES.
.,aud In Ilcctions-Sunday ieIuor Sell
INK, Gambling and other Vices cited
- Illustrations of Eichmond's
Bad Morals.


..-uon bearing upon the relation between
Che civic life and The Gospel. lie used as
Off. text. Cen. xviii. 81. "pcradvcnturc ten
shall De found there. And he said'
VIII not destroy 10 for tens sake The
subject chosen was. "Who are the True
Friends. and Who. tho Real Foes OF hich-
monde" Tho following are the cssentA
points OF the sermon.
IL is evident. from the text, that Goa
finds The hope of the city in those VINO
uphold SIS moral and religious wehaie'
ana not in those who add io IT'S We"i'n
al the expense Of or even 10 'he io's'V
fulness OF It's higher interests
Gods word divides men into the right
cons and the wicked. sad to say, ms
division does not agree with mat olneF
division into church members ana nom
church members Many or the unilsnr
cons are within the Visinie cnuIcn. W
ind professors of the name OF 'iii9'
leading in political coiIul no" OF u''''.'
ing il rafroui1.ue the sunday saloon ana
,ho ranhllnr house. or opposing those
,,ho inv ia close them. Where there Is
,o 1ir.ct There may Doe indirect partici-
,etfon In these vices. the gaining Of ones
livelihood in part 40 least, from a share
in the profits ol sue
VIII ASp WITHOUT BACKBONE.
.re. c,o5 raleht be classified as yerte-
hrates and Invertebrates win backbone
and without There are those who nave
49,. courage 90 stand for the right at
ne risk OF loss or Of ostracism. Iheie
.r. those who GEAR the outcome OF any
struggle that involves their comfort OF
fheir material interests. A righteousness
that is couarlly that does not have
confidence in the faithlulness of "a right
,.,s God. that remains behind the high
walls OF us fortress and IS never as-
......ire counts for little In the fight for
rrht AND AGAINST wrong.
yor remember that the text Of two
weeks ago taught us that Righteousness
eNalts % nation. YOU viii notice no" WHAT
kind 90 righteousness is demahoto' eha'
il ls ID righteousness that Gets into hesh
and blood. chat takes possession OF men,
dominating them in every relationship OF
uf.. NOT an abstract something that re-
mains locked up Boz books or careiuHy
fn1ucht-0ut sermons. And 10 needs 10
rDt into strong men. men Who count TOT
something ln The world, TO be effective.
remember TO have seen toy engine
one that really moved by steam. with
The letters OH 10. Il. r.. r.. r. lt could not
draw "a train. and was useless for pfac-
I.al PURPOSES though 10 did bear the
legend that intimated a connection with
"a great railway system. There is more
than enough of this playing at religion,
that uours out ITS energy 900 SONG, formal
prayer. and set never toHrnr7 the great
needs of the world, although claiming
fellowship with the Lord OF glory.
rHf onrArfar ERROR.
The greatest error of our civic life is
the eNaltatiou of our material above our
moral interests. We preach ana slh5 one
thing n church. We preach another thing
iu our character as citizens. can II pe
that the man ir the pow. and the man IN
the city. at the polls. in the editof
chair. on the hastings, are two different
meuf
The material progress Of the city Is
not Co Doe lightly thought or IL IS
Christian duty t0 develop the resources
of the great world We live in Matter
is divine. the laws that govern IL are
divine. The same may Doe said Of laws
of trade and laws of political life. Dr'
Strong has we'll said that IL is too late 10
tolerate. for one moment. that enos,it
dualism that SO much annoyed the early
church.
rush FOR lHr DOLLAR.
But. while admitting all this, We must
not forget that we have elevated the
dollar above righteousness. that we are
guilty of a practical materialism mat is
doing more harm than philosophical ma
varied WAYS OF thinking as Stead and
Rrr.c. and Matthew Arnold an Joseph
l'hamharIain have. after "a careful STUDY
Of our American city life. borne witness
t0 the same fact. that our people, as
whole. think too much of money ana
Too little of culture and oi righteousness
AIMS rIehf here i'm Richmond. IL leads
mon who claim in some sense TO DE
good. Co plead for the gambler. ana Tor
Sabbath Dissertation. and for fraudulent
H.Is Us 10 not the first cuty 10 re-
move. as far as We can. those things inal
interfere with the making of true men
What sort of men shall the future give
rs. after the saloon and the gambler ana
those namclees diseases that curse haI
our Young men get through with them
And AN this we lead the rising genera
ton 90 think not so bad after ALL os-
cause We tolerate the vice and worship
the golden calf.
INA MORAL AND TIfr MATgWAL.
IL is a familiar truth 90 as an that 20
the individual wealth does not OF neces-
sltv bring happiness. that often oeninu
the marble f.olt Of some palace. motA-
e. woops because the father in his haste
Go get ricn. has forgotten the higher de-
manls OF the children. and they nave
turned ont to Doe curse TO The nome
10 is equally true of city ana nation
that the railroads huillti ana factories
started by DO means indicate the pro-
efsss of the people. If the mass renlin
roor. the ,ity corrupt. the youth degf1d-
"a. Besides an this. as ! have remind
cd YOU so often during this series or
seriu. rs. the moral and the material wei
fare % Tho city are bound together. IL
never PAYS I'm the long run 10 DO wrong.
THOSE fLrcsIoN FnAuDs.
In the course Of his discourse Or.
Young said that many leaders In the
church had been guilty of having hand
mi the election frauds and Wrone-dolng'
and only a few days ago man prom
inent in church work. had been caught IN
Che act of patronizing the side doors o.
a saloon.
The religion of the church member was
coz pared 10 q bicycle in that IL must
Doe kept in notion or pat IN rack
for support Some people reminded nm,
said pr Young. of an incident he redu
Boo the bicycle column OF Ricnmohu
paper. a young lady owning wheei
spent "a great deal OF time I'm pohsh-
ing zap the enamel and nickel on her pi-
ryele. hut never "a drop of OF ala she
Iut ON ODE machine.
1a illustrating the peculariues OF some
peoples religion. pr. Young mentioned
minister whom Doe had known in another
city. who Boo pastors conference re-
lated that in family prayers pcutoh
petition was made for a diseased cat
lu fhe Same meeting the question was
raised as to- what action the pastors
...UfI fn..4 |in f4If.t.l fDl Gambling