Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1896-04-20
SERMONS On POLITICS
Delivered Yesterday by Rev. c. ].
Trippett and DR.. A. B. Riker.
Mr.. Trippett Preached a Sermon on
Temperance to the w. @. T. u,
and Incidentally Discussed Poll
tics and Other Evils-Dr. Riker
Talked of Beer in Politics.

A. the Zane Street NJ. E. Church
yesterday morning, the pastor, the Rev.
c. J. Trippett, preached special tenn
perance sermon 10 the members of the
Woman's Christian Temperance Union.
incidentally, he discussed various po-
lihcal evils. and outlined the platform
upon which he stands He took his
text from Dan. V. 81: Thou art
weighed in the balance and found
wanting" In his Introductory re-
marks he related the Biblical story OF
the fall of Babylon. in which the words
| of the text occur Continuing he said:
But what is that on the plastering
! Of the wall? Is it a spirit, phantom,
! or is it God? \ mysterious, bOdiless
| hand slowly writes strange and mys-
tsrious characters. All eyes are turn
ed upon it, while a dea,h-like horror
seizes all present. Immediately the
music stops. goblets fall from the
| nerveless hands, faces blanched with
! horror look into each other What Is
II. they ask, those strange inscriptions
and that strange bodiless hand? What
! do they mean? The sCo,hsayers, the
mag.oians and the interpreters OF
dreams are brought in 10 interpret 1T,
but they are all dumb with silence.
Some one mentions Daniel, and he is
| Immediately brought
He read the writing, and interpre-
/ God hath nnv, borod ~ l;ipo-
! dom and finished il. Thou are weigh
ed AID found wanting. THY kingdom
| is divided and given to the Modes and
| Persians. JUS then the army of Cy-
rus rush in at the door. They had
| taken advantage of the drunken ca
rousal. and while the city was not
/ guarded, had entered it. They rushed
| ip,o the palace with shouts and
sword in hand and the drunken de-
bauch closed in butchery and dea1h,
and the great BabalOnish Empire came
to an end in everlasting disgrace.
Il shall here leave this very inter
esting historical subject. and turn your
attention to the lessons We may learn
/ from Il. AS individuals and as ma
| ton. we learn from the experience of
| C1hers. Great nations have lived and
iourished. and have at las. gone down
| undsr the weight Of their sins. GeOl-
ogists tell us that our stratified rocks
such as our sand rocks. lime and shale
were all made under The sea. They
tell Us that this American continent
wish very little exception, was once
nothing but an inland sea. But there
came a time CT grea, uplsaval and
COMMISSIONS time When the Lord
put forces to work which literally lift
ed this continent, dripping with wa
yer and mud, cuc Of the great watery
deep. Then came the great Coal Age
when immense and strange looking an
finals rOamed through our luXuriant
forest and when our coal beds were
formed. But az las, it sank again UNI
der the water, followed by the grea.
Ice Age
Then there came another uplifting
process when the Allegheny and the
Rocky nouns aims were heaved up. and
everything made ready for the intro
duction Of man. Na,ionalities and gov
eTnments present the same order of
rising and falling. History is a record
of upheavals and commissions in which
human civilizations and institutions
have gone down under the inrushing
sea Of corruption and crime.
The first great practical lesson we
learn from the history CT the past is,
The danger Of becoming a Goddess ma
ticn and piunging downward to ruin
There are currents Of evil drifting us
in that direction at this time. Of
! course, there are cOunter-curren. but
! which is the stronger remains to be
seen. Our national sins are of enor-
! nous magnitude. | am no alarmist,
neither am | a pessimist, but we are in
the midst &C awful activities which Will
| either If. us into a high civilization
or plunge us downward in,o a darkness
in which the star of our glory will new
er shine.
I'VE are becoming a nation Of gam
blers. Almost everything you eat, or
! buy or sell. has been gambled off by
! he moneyed men Of The nation. and
is value depends on the game previ-
OCsly played. From the milliOnaires
of Wall Street. who corner the grain
marker and other commodities, through
trusts and syndicates and green goods
and gold brick men, and country fairs
and ihe gambling dives Of our cities,
thiS sin is carried on. Ii we hear OF a
neighbor boy playing cards for q few
dollars a game. we lift up our hands in
holy horror; bu. sitting by your side in
the same pew is a man who has gam
bled on stocks and exchange. and won
his thousands. and we call him a hero.
Besides 5his, there are social dan
gers. DR.. Riker knew just what he
was doing when he denounced certain
society gatherings and Goings in this
city. Men who have been behind the
curtain. who have seen with their own
eyes ard heard with their own ears,
tell us il a shame and blct on the
name Of society. One young man said:
1 have done going to balls. have
sis .ars at home, and for their sake |
quit
There are political dangers also
that confron. us. The conflict between
cspital and labor is no insignificant
danger. Beth may be wrong in many
instances. Blu, when | see ,ho desper-
ate effor. % cencralize wealth at The
expense CT the llbOring classes, right
or wrong. l am with the lab0ring man
every time. If Jay Gould and other
milEoraires can amass such vast for
tunes in so short a time. off Of the
labOring man, something is wrong.
I'VE are nation of Sabbath break
ers. The national government is guilty
OF this sin. Our Congress sometimes
holds its sessions on the Sabbath day.
The government naval school at An
napolis pays no regard to the Sabbath.