The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-07-09
SAVE ALL THE CITIES.
HOW THE MORALS OF OUR BIG
TOWNS MAY BE MENDED.
DR. Talmage Points Out the Way to NUM-
cipal~ Puriiy-Good Men Must he Named
At the Party Caucus-Other Ways to I'm
prove City Life.

| cusses from a moral and religious
standpoint the welfare Of all the towns
and cities Of our country. His cext is
Ezekiel xvii. 3, % thou that art situ-
ate at the entry of the seal,"
This is a part Of an impassioned apos-
trophe to the city of Tyre. 1t was a
beautiful city-a majestic city. At the
with one hand reckoning the inland
trade and with the other the commerce
Of foreign nations. 1t swung a mon
strous boom across its harbor to shut
out foreign enemies, and then swung
back that boom TO let in its friends.
The air Of the desert was fragrant with
the spices brought by to her
fairs, and all seas We're cleft into foam
by the keels of her laden merchantmen.
Her markets were rich with horses and
mules and camels from TOgarmah. with
upholstery and ebony and ivory from
Dedan. with emeralds and agate and
coral from Syria. with wine from Hell
bon, with finest needleWOrk from Ashur
and Chilmad. Talk about the splendid
staterOoms of your Cunard and Inman
and White Star lines of international
Steamers-Why the benches of the state
rooms in those Tyrian ships were all
ivory, and instead of our coarse canves
on the masts Of the shipping they had
the finest linen, quilted together and
inWrOught with embrOideries almost
miraculous for beauty. It's columns
O~vershadowed all nations. Distant en-
pires felt its heartbeat. Majestic city,
situate at the entry OF the sea"
But where now is the CLEAN of her
towers, the roar Of her chariots, the
masts Of her shipping? Let the isher-
men who dry their nets on the place
where she once stood; let the sea that
rushes upon the b~arrenness where she
once challenged the admiration of all
nations; let the barbarians who build
their huts on the place where her pal
aces glittered, answer the question.
BlOtted out forever. She forgot God.
and God forgot her. And while our
modern cities admire her glory. let
them take warning at her awful doom.
Cain was the founder of the first city,
and / suppose it took after him in NOR
ais. 1t is a long while before a city can
get over the character Of those who
founded it. Where they criminal exiles,
the filth, and the prisons, and the de-
b~auchery are the shadows of such
founders. New York will not for 200 or
800 years eScap from the good inffuen-
ceS Of its founders, the piOus settlers
whose prayers went up from the very
streets where now banks discount and
brokers shave, and companies declare
dividends, and smuggIers swear Gus
tom house lies, and above the roar of
the drays and the crack of the auC-
tiOneerS' mallets is heard the ascrip-
ton. W. worship thee, O thou al
mighty dollar" The church that once
stood on Wall street still throws its
blessing over all the scene of traffic
and upon the ships that fold their
white wings in the harbOr. Originally
men gathered in cities from necessity.
1t was to escape the incendiary's torch
or the assassin's dagger. Only the very
poor lived in the cOuntry those who had
nothing that could be stolen or vaga-
bonds who wanted to be near their
place of business, but since civilization
and religion have made it safe for men
to live almost anyhere men cOngregate
in cities because of the opportunity for
rapid gain. Cities are not necessarily
evils, as has sometimes been argued.
They have been the birthplace of ciyili-
zatiOn. In them popular liberty has
lifted up its voice. Witness Genoa and
Pisa and Venice. The entrance of the
representatives of the cities in the leg
lSlatureS of Europe was the ~eathblO
to feudal kingdoms. Cities are the
~patronizers of art and literature-archi-
lecture pointing to its British museum
in London, its Royal library in Paris.
its Vatican in Rome. Cities hold the
worlds scepter. Africa vas Carthage
Greece was Athens, El..lard is Lon
don, France is Paris, Italy is Rome,
and the cities in which God has cast
our lot will yet decide the destiny of the
American people.
OFFICE BEARERS IN BIG CITIES.
At this season of the year I have
thought it might be useful to talk a lit
tie while about the moral responsibility
resting upon the office bearers in all
our cities, a theme as appropriate to
those who are governed as to the gov
errors. The moral character Of those
who rule a city has much to do with
the character of the city itself. Men,
women and children are all interested
in national politics. When the great
presidential election comes, every pa
triOt wants to be found at the ballot
box. We are all interested in the dis
cussiOn of national finance, national
debt, n we read the laws of congress,
and We are wondering who Will sit next
in the presidential chair. Now, that
may be all very WELLS very we'll, but
it is high time that we took some of the
attention which we AVE been devoting
to national affairs and brought it to the
StoVy VI iiiulilNipol 81 SI Ills,
it seems to me now, is the chief point
to be taken. Make the cities right, and
the nation will be right. / have noticed
that according to their opportunities
there has really been more corruption in
municipal governments in this country
than in the state and national 1egisla-
lures. Now, is there no hope? With the
mightiest agent in our hand. the glOri-
Gus gospel of Jesus Christ, shall not all
our cities be reformed and purified and
redeemed? / believe the day will come.
[ am in full sympathy with those who
are opposed to carrying politics into re-
ligiOn, but our cities Will never be re-
formed and purified until We carry re-
ligiOn into politics. I look over our
cities and l see that all great interests
are to be affected in the future, as they
have been affected in the past, by he
character of those who in the different
departments rule over us, and I propose
to classify some of these interests.
In the first place, l remark CONNER
cial ethics are always affected by the