Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1896-05-22
SERMON
INTERESTING THEME ~ THE
NA>HiNGToN PREACHER.
Subject: Before They Adjourn"

government. aud among other great things
which he did. according to my text. was "a
teach his senators wisdom. And n any men
on earth ought to be endowed with wisdom
IL i senators, whether they stand In con-
crosses, par.iaments or reichstags or assem-
hlies or legislatures BY their decisions
nations go up or down. Lawmakers are
sometimes so TEMPTED by preiudices, by Sec
ti0nal preference, hyopportunitv OF personal
Advancement. and sometimes what is best 70
do Is 50 douhtfulthat they ought 10 be prayed
for and encouraged in every possible wav
instead 81 severely criticised and blamed and
eycoriatei. as Is much Of the time the case.
Our public men are so often the target 10 be
shot at. merely because they obtain eminence
which other men wanted hut could not reach,
that more iniustices are hurled AZ our ma
tional egislatU than the people OF the Uni
ted States can -sibly imagine. The whole
sale helying Of our public men simply dam
nable
By residence in Washington have come
10 find ont that many Of Our public men are
perSistently misrepresented. and some OF the
hest Of them. the purest in their lives and
most faithful in the discharge Of their duties.
are the worst DETAINED. Some day l want to
preach a sermon from the text IN ii Peter:
"They are not afraid to speak evil OF digni-
tics. Whereas angels, which are greater in
power and might. bring not railing accusa-
ton against them before the Lord. But
these. as natural brute beasts. made 10 be
taken and destroyed. speak evil OF the things
that they understand not" SO constant and
malignant is this work Of depreciation and
standardization in regard to our public men
that all over the land there are those who
suppose that the city OF Washington Is the
center Of all corruption, while what with its
parks, and its equestrian statuary, aud its
wide streets. and its architectural symme-
tries, and its lovely homes, it Is not only the
most beautiful city under the sun, but has
the highest style of citizenship. have seen
but one intoxicated man in the more than
six months Of my residence, and | do not
think any man can give similar testimony OF
any other city on the American continent.
The gavels of our two houses of national
/ legislature will soon fall, and adjournment
of two bodies Of men rs talented. as upright
/ and as patriotic as ever graced the capital
/ will take place. The two or three unf0r-
/ tunate outbreaks which You have noticed
/ only make more conspicuous the dignity,
/ the fraternity. the eloquence, tho fidelity
/ which have characterized those two bodies
during all the long months Of important and
anxious delberation. We put n halo around
great men Of the past because they We're so
rare in their time. Oursenate aud house Of
representatives have five such men whore
! once they had one. But il will not be until
hltI lutN arr 'lttt4 Nlldl lllNN Will ENN dlbl'-
/ ciated. The world finds it safer to praise
the dead than the living, because the de-
| parted, having a heavy pile OF marble above
| them. may not rise to become rivals.
But, before the gaves of adjournment
drop and the doors of Capitol Hill shut,
there are one or two things that ought to be
done, and let us pray God that they may be
accomplished. More forcibly than ever be-
fore, congress has been implorei to acknowl-
a1pn (ipA n constitution Tho MRthn-
dist Church. church that is always doing
glorioIs things, has In its recent Whining
ion conference requested our congress to
amend the immortal document which has
been tho foundation and wall and dome OF
our United States government by inserting
the words Cruising in Almighty God" II
that amendment Is made. it will not only
please all the good people OF the country,
but will please the heavens. 1t was only au
oversight or a mental accident that tho tath-
ers who made the constitution did not insert
a divinely worshpiul sentence They all. 50
far as they amounted to anything, believed
in Good the Father Almighty, the Maker Of
heaven and earth. and in Jesus Christ. His
only begotten Son" The constitution would
have been failure had It not been for the
divine interference. The members OF the
ua..ii4l.A sas...Il ~-r9c notiltn tIIrttf, In
response to Benjamin Franklin's request that
the meetings be opened by prayer, the Lord
= ! bOU was cRlleu on 10 interfere anu neip, ana
then the way was cleared, and all the states
signed the document, historical fact that
all the rat terriers of modern inf1deity can
not bark ont of existence. | know that there
was an exception to the fact that the promi-
nent men in those times wero good men.
> Tom Paine, a libertine and a sot, did not
believe in anything good until he was dying,
and then he shrieked out for Gods mercy.
, And Ethan Allen, from one of whose
descendants 1 have received within few
days a confirmation of the incident men,
toned in recent sermon, as saying TO his
dying daughter that she had better take her
mothers Christian religion than his own In
fidelity. The article sent me says: "The
story has been denied by some of the Allen
family, but the Bronson family, some OF
whom were with the dying girl, affirm that
I, | ii is substantially true. In such a matter
one confirmation is worth more than many
denas." SO says the article sent me.
There is no doubt that Ethan Allen was the
! vulgarest sort Of an infdel, for sitting in q
Presbyterian Church, his admirers say he
struck the pew in front of him and sWore out
, loud so as to disturb the meeting, and nc
gentleman would do that. do not wonder
t that some of his descendants are ashamed oil
him, but of course they could not help it and
are not to blame. But all the decent men OF
the Revolution believed in God, and oul
American congress. now assembled, will only
echo the sentiments OF the fathers when they
enthrone the name OF God in the consti-
tuition We have now more reason fol-
inserting that Acknowledgement of divinity
than our fathers had. Since then the con.
tinent has been peoped and great cities from
the Atlantic to the Pacific built, and all in
peace. showing that there must have been
' supernal superyisa Since then the war OF
1872 and ours the victory Since then great
financial prostrations. out Of which we came
to greater prosperity than anything that pre-.
| ceded. Since then sanguinary 1862, 1863
1864 and 1866, and Notwithstanding the fact
that all the foreign despotisms were plan
ming for our demolition, we are united PEG.
pie, and tomorrow you will find in both
houses OF congress the men who fought for
the north and south. now sitting side by
side, armed with no weapon except the pen
with which they write home to their con
stituents who want to be appointed post.
masters. The man who cannot see GOD in
our American history is as blind of soul as
he would be blind of body If he could not at
IL o'clock of an unclouded noon see the
sun in the heavens.
As a matter of gratitude to Almighty God
gentlemen of the American congress, bt
pleased to insert the four words suggested
by the Methodist conference. Not only be-
cause of the kindness of God to this nation
in the past should such reverential insertion
be made. but because Of the fact that we arr
going to want divine interposition still
further in our national history. This golC
and silver question will never be settled IN
til God settles it. This question of tariff an(
free trade will never be settled until Got
settles it, This question between the cas-
and the west, which is getting hotter ant
hotter and looks toward a republic of thu
Pacific, will not be settled until God settle
it. We needed God in the 100 years of on
past national life, and we will need Hin
still more in the next 100 years. Lift VI
your heads. ye everlasting gates of GU
glorious constitution, and let the Kin
OF Glory come in! Make one line G
that immortal document radiant wit
| omnipOtence! Spell ut least one wor
] with thrnnesl At the heninning q