Birmingham state herald., 1895-10-13
RELIGIOUS THOUGHT ANp PROGRESS.
An EptOne of the Sermons of the week-Edi-
 ted by Will N, Clemons.
Municipal Reform.

Mass.
 Sunday Observance. ,i..55
 The liquor trade and the foreign pop ulation are the foes of our, Sabbath, and against, them the American must be on his guard. If a political party cannot a desecration. of the Sabbath. then let it meet defeat.-Rev- A. w. Holder, Bap- tist,e New York City ..--,ss .s.9v-.a.. sn
 ,4 4 Patriots. s.4saH et B iThe true .pafnio, Is one who honors the highest type of virtue.t. The ryirtuous manhood and svirtuous womanhood de- eide the character of the. government. The true, patriot will honor his coun- try's institutions The true patriot will honor the Sabbath as day of rest and worship.-David H. Skilling, Presbyte- rian, Allegheny, Pa.
 Things Eternal
 Only the good is lasting. God is ever lasting, because he Is exalted goodness, justice, love and mercy, almighty and all wlse and these qualities, of course, In much smaller degree in man are alone eternal. Evil is not eternal. and therefore man disposed to do evil will see his de- struction.-Rabbi M. Rosenstein. Hous- ton, Tex.
 Sin has five points-the love of sin, the practice of sin, the guilt of sin, the state of sin and the dominion of sin. Faith de- stroys the love of son, repentance the practice of sin, remission the guilt of sin, baptism the state of sin and the indwell- ing of the holy spirit the dominion of sin. Rev. ". T. Black, Chicago, Ill.
 Mission Work.
 Missions are worth to America all they have cost, leaving out every estimate of their value to foreign lands They have proved their value. To depreciate them is to condemn the life and work of Jesus Christ to dishonor the heroes who Tn all the Christian ages have followed in His footsteps and to lower humanity.-Rev. William T. Beale, Congregatonalist, Brockton, Mass.
 Personality.
 Men rally not around some funda- mental truth, but around some strong personality. It was not the abstract doctrine of state rights that fired the south, but the strong personality of John C. Calhoun and John Randolph. In the same way men array themselves under their chosen leaders, who represent their ideas in living and powerful person. ality.-Rev. w. G. Partridge, Baptist, Scranton Pa.
 Riches and Poverty.
 Some people think it is sin to be rich. There will be many rich men in heaven as well as many in he'll. The question is, how did you get your riches and how did you get your poverty and what are you doing with it?-Rev. pr. Stuart, evangelist Winston. N. c.
 Heroism
 The true hero may be brave; not afraid of anything that stands between him and duty. Not given to counting the cost, but prompt in doing right. He must speak out on occasion against wrong, re- gardless of risk or result, even when the wrong doers are people in authority and the wronged one is despised outcast of hn- T. Lloyd. Baptist. Philadelphia, Pa.
 = Superstition.
 Madame Chance is an old hen who hatches out every year an awful lot of eggs--poverty, bankruptcy unha ppiness. gambling, divCrces and suicides are some of the chicks answering her chuck. We practice hundreds of SuperstitionS and crankisms too silly to mention. Nonsense leads on to nordsepse, and imhecility breeds imbecility, and no matter what our failures or shortcomings. we are in the hands of fate.-Rev. T. D. Talmage. Presbyterian, Pittsburg, Pa.
 Suicide.
 The crime of suicide is nothing more nor less than the outgrowth of that in famous doctrine which teaches that mans life like that of the beast, ends in the grave. One who is familiar with the Bible knows that God has declared against self-destruction, and that the
 
 of Judas are sufficient to prove that it is contrary to divine law.-Rev. Dr. Brown Congregationalist. San Francisco. Cal,
 Cuba.
 It will be better for all, for Spain for Cuba, for the South American republics, better for the world that these long continued, cruel and oppressive wars should be brought to an end and that Cuba become republic. And by all the sacred memories and associations of this land; by our love of liberty and justice, fhe voice ofthe people should so declare. Rev. Dr. Thomas, independent, Chica- go, III.
 Citizenship.
 Every patriotic force should be utilized to guarantee an equitable distribution of municipal duty and privilege. Too many of the good things are dropping into the wrong scoop of the scales. While some are thrashing the tree others are gather ing the chestnuts. The pay rolls of the city employees should be an interesting study to the taxpayers. Our advice is to organize, energize and revolutioniZe. Claim your right. Stand on your man hood. Demand a hearing.-Rev. l.. A. Thirlkeld, Methodist. Baltimore, Md.
 Church Aristocracy.
 The gulf between the masses and the church is growing wider every hour. There is a steady decrease of communi- cantS to be round in our pews. A very small percentage of the people, and espe- cially workingmen, are regular church attendants. The church is greatly re- sponsible for this state of affairs. The exclusiveness which has characterized the church has been a drawback to it. Workingmen and women are actually driven from her door.-Rev. w. F. Dick erman, New Haven, Conn.
 Catholicism.
 I was once in terror of Rome, but by study I am convinced that the danger is slight and rapidly diminishing. Prot estantism in the world Is increasing in membership twice as fast as Romanism will never utter word, however, that will kindle hostility. Recognize all that is Christian in the Roman church, cul- tivating the most cordial relations, CO., operating in every possible way with Romanists I will strive to advance, not hinder Gods evident design.-Rev. E. T Root, Congregationalst, Baltimore. Md. Social Equality. Men never were and never will be on universal footing of equality in the social scale. The reason is obvious Men are not born with the same intellectual or physical qualities as all other men. Some come into the world DosSasSad af