Middletown transcript., 1896-05-23
e the "bossa impossible.

-. eoi' uf'ioniSts VI iueir oWH party, SO tOI
rm will the corruption continue The vultu
AN will not be dissuaded from the lamb by or
on tory. The Koran says: "A ruler who a
oy points any man to an Office, when there
tes another man better qualified for it, sir
ca against God and against the State" It
at pity that in practice in christian country
rs. we do not have as high standard as th
in Mohammedan has in theory. Over til
i'll ballot boxes of Israel, it was written, .sTho
We shalt provide out of all the people abb
ar men, such as fear God. men of truth, hat
IN ing coyetousness, aud place such over 70,
n as rulers" We will be wise if we follow
ne the same rule. Mental weaklings, ungodly
to schemers, false witnesses, greedy, selfsl
70 millionaires, are not scripturaliyieligible tt
office. To vote for such is to shamefullJ
% abuse the high and sacred prerogative o
! suffrage.
! Again, it is due to our God that as christ.
! ian men We search out the sins of our parties
: and testify against them. Said James Rus
sell Lowell: IF parties will not look after
!. their own drainage and ventilation there
q must be somebody who will do it for them;
q who will cry out without ceasing till their
a fellow citizens are reused to the danger of
, Infection" Who should do this if christ
ian men should not. Let q man be loyal
to his party as long as his en-
lightened conscience approves of its
policy, but beyond that he should let no
personal interest. no blackmail, no i'm
plication of traitor or turncoat, no epithets
of crank, or fanatic. or fool, prevent him
from uttering his manly protest, or keep
him in ignoble bondage.
81 And so might continue. But all this,
my brethern, is just to say that we owe it
to our God to take Him with us into our
politics, and to be true to Him there. God
is our judge in politics as we'll as in reli-
gion.
i True religion will never consent to be
banished from the ballot box You cannot
be one man religiously and another man
politically
The old story of the Bishop and the
| Colonel illustrates that fact An English
Bishop off red his services for the fed ard
was put at the head of a regiment during
the war with France. In the heat of battle
he So far forgot himself that he swore like |
a trooper A brother officer called him to |
account for conduct unbecoming Bishop
His plea was:
Il was not Bishop then, out q Colo |
| nell"
"But," his friend rejoined, when the
devil takes the Colonel what will become
of the Bishop2'
Oh! ye American citizens who in the |
church are professed christians, when God
deals with you in judgment for negli-
gent or corrupting citizenship, what will
become of you as christians?
Let us put conscience into our citizenship
as we ought to do. The man who plays the
coward in this department will not make
good soldier elsewhere. Whatsoever ye
do, do all to the glory of God" jeremiah
denouncing national sin, Daniel refusing to
defle himself with meat offered to idols,
the three Hebrew children defying the
mandate of Northumberland as
these would play hob with present parties.
But right for them is right for US. What
they gave to God. e., conscience loyalty
under all circumstances and in the face of
every dif1cIlty-we must give. Give such
allegiance. and Gods blessing will follow
the gift. When christian men wake up to
the danger and to their duty. demagogues
will learn to keep hands off, party leaders
will attempt only what is just and true.
We must address ourselves to waiting tasks
The signs forbode evil. The shadow off
doom dips down upon US. But the situation
is not hopeless. The campaign of thugism
and bribery will ceass when good citizens
begin to make a business of good citizen
ship. The sadness and the peril of the
situation is that SO many do not seem to
feel the treachery, the villainy. the utter
oaseness of the man who gives or takes a
,ribe. Th at strabismus must be cured. A
campaign of education for our entire popu-
alton, in favor of higher and nobler poll
ical life, ought to begin at once. The
times are propitious for such agitation.
The convention of last Tuesday has turned
ne stomach of the State We must lose no
opportunity to change that tone and quail
ty of public sentiment regarding bribery.
We must not spare the lightning of our
Indignation whenever politics for cash, or
'arter, are in evidence. Let it no longer be
ssumed that bribery is political necess-
ty. 1t is bad politics, to say the least of it.
let us never treat it as trifing matter.
We must begin at home and make our cur
ent speech tell for decency and morality
n political affairs. We must stir and edu-
qfo pnhlin nrin tIn
9 made 10 see that their abiding interests
re bound up with the cause of clean poll
cs; they must, if possible, be made to real
'e that the eemagogic plutocrat who is
altering some of them. but solely for him.
slf; they must be led to feel the shame of
resent conditions, and be led to labor in
heir own interest for honor and integrity
J public life. Nothing more religious can :.
9 done for this State than to raise the tone
nd standard of citizenship. We can ask
man to do nothing greater than to be .
ue American citizen. To the making of
le liberty we can enjoy have gone the
eties Of Judea, the arts of Greece, the
experience of Rome, the blood
our Saxon ancestors, the prayers. the
Ills. and the lives of puritan and colonial
refathers. The good of distant nations
spends upon the success of American de.
ocracy. Here is our glory. our response
lity. our inspiration. Because American
tizenship in its best estate is SO prophetic,
us give to it our supreme devotion.
'Oh, make thou us through centuries long, =
IA peace secure, in justice strong,
An cast In some diviner, -
let the new cycle shame the DID,. E
Pray that. Then go and do as you sh ould Gu Gu
hot just asperhaps, you would. sss sa
- ------=..s :ss..ssss;s :s..ss;s Vi
TOWNSEND TOPICS. r.
Mr. John Maloney, of near New Castle,
8 been visiting relatives here during the
ek. L(
Mrs. WIN. Waits and Mrs Geo. D. Hart
visiting friends in Maryland. to
The good government Club was addressed ~
Mrs naves,Yort ono Of Aha v,.t;,,,.fe