The Penn's Grove record., 1897-07-09
DIR. TALMAGES SERMON.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
DIVINE.

.H
ne Discusses From n Moral and Religion,
Standpoint the Welfare of All this
Towns and Cities or Our Country
Points tho Way to Municipal Purity
TEXT: 90, thou that art situate at the
entry Of the sea."-Ezekiel xvii, 8.
This is a part of an impassloned apos,
trophe to the city Of Tyre. It was q beau.
tiful city@a majestic city. At the east END
OF the Mediterranean 1t sat, with n hand
reckoning the inland trade and with the
other the OF foreign nations. II
swung q monstrous boom across its harbol
to shut out foreign enemies, and thor
swung back that boom to let In Its friends
The air Of the desert was fragrant with the
spices brought by caravans to her fairs,
and all seas were cleft into foam by the
keels of her laden merchantmen. Hei
markets were rich with horses and mules
and camels from Togarmah, with uphol-
stery and ebony and ivory from Dedan,
with emeralds and agate and coral from
Syria, with wine from Helbon, with finest
needlework from Ashur and ChIlmad. Tall
about the splendid staterooms OF your
Cunard and Inman and White star lines oil
International steamers-why, the benches
OF the staterooms in those Tyrian ships
were all Ivory, n instead of our coarse
canvas on the masts of the shipping they
AsAa Nh0 hhcS AthOhr duliICu tOAptuCA uhb
inwrought with embroideries almost mlrac.
for beauty. Its columns o~vershadowed
all nations. Distant empires felt its heart
beat. 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 fishermen who
dry their nets on the place where she once
stood; let the sea that PUSHES upon the bar
renness where she onc challenged the ad-
miration of all nations; let the barbarians
who build their huts on the place where
her palaces giittered, answer the question.
Blotted out ~foreverl She forgot God, and
God forgot her. And while our modern
cities admire her glory, let them take warn
ing at her awful doom.
Cain was the founder. OF the first city,
and l suppose 1t o after him in morals.
1t is q long while before q city can get over
the character of those who founded II.
Where they are criminal exiles, tho filth,
and the prisons, and the debauchery are the
shadows OF such founders. New York will
not for 200 or 800 years escape from the
good Influences of It's founders, the pious
settlers whose prayers went up from the
very streets where now banks discount and
brokers shave, and companies declare divi-
dends, n smugglers swear custom house
lies, and abovethe roar OF the drays and the
crack of the ~auctioneers' mallets Is heard
tne hscrlptton, we WORSHIP tuee, " tnou
almighty dollar The church that once
stood on Wall street still throws its bless
ing 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 vas to escape the In
cendiary's torch or the assassin's dagger.
Only the very poor lived In the country,
those whQ had nothing that could be
stolen. or v~agabonds who wanted to be
neartheir place of business, but since CIV
ilization and religion havc made It safe for
men to live almost anywhere mon congre-
gate 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 civilization. In
them popular liberty has lifted up Its voice.
Witness Genoa and Pisa n Venice. The
entrance OF the representatives of the cities
in the legislatures Of Europe was the death
blow to feudal kingdoms. Cities are the
p~atronizers of art and Observation-Disclosures
ture pointing to its. British Museum in
London, Its Royal Library in Paris, its
Vatican in Rome. Cities hold the worlds
Athens, England is London, Francei Is Paris,
Italy is Rome, and the cities in which God
has east our lot will yet decide tho destiny
ofthe American people.
At this season Of the year I have thought
II might be useful to talk a little 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 governors. 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 cleo
ton comes, every patriot wants to be found
at the ballot box We are all interested In
the discussion of national finance. national
debt, and 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 well, but II is high
time that we ooh some OF the attention
which we have been devo11g to national
affairs and brought II to the study OF mu-
nicipal government. This, 1t seems to me
now, is the chief point to be taken. Make
the cities right and the nation will be right.
I have noticed that according to their op-
portunities there has already been more cor
ruption in municipal governments in this
country than In the State and national
legislatures. Now, is there nc hope? With
the mightest agent In our land, b glori-
GUS gospel of Jesus Christ, shall not all our
cities be reformed and purified and re-
deemed? l believe the day will come. I
am in full sympathy with those who are
opposed to carrying politics into religion,
but our cities will mover be reformed and
purified until we carry religion into poll
tics. l look over our cities and l see that
all great interests are to be affected In the
future, as they have been affected in tho
past, by the character OF those who in the
different departments rule over us. and l
propose to classify some OF these interests.
In the first place, I remark commercial
ethics are always affected by the moral or
immoral character Of those who have NUM-
cipal supremacy. Oficials that wink at
fraud, and that nave neither censure nor
arraignment for giittering dishonestfes,
always weaken the pulse OF commercial
honor. Every shop, every store, every
bazaar. every factory in the cities feels the
moral character of the city hall. II in any
city there be a dishonest mayoralty or an
unprincipled common council or u court
susceptible to brides, In that city there will
be unlimited license for all kinds Of trlckery
and sin, while, on the other hand, IL OIL
cials are faithful to their oath Of office, II
vigilance in regard to the ~outbranchings Of
crime, there is tho highest protection for
all bargain making.
A merchant may stand In his store and
say: "Now, III ave nothing to do with
city politics. i will not soil my hands with
the slush." Nevertheless the most insig-
nificant trial in the police court will affect
that merchant directly or Indirectly. What
style OF clerk issues the writ; what style of
constable makes tho arrest; what style Of
attorney issues the plea; what style Of
judge charges the jury; what style Of
sheriff executes the sen~tence-these are
questions that strike your counting rooms
10 tho center. You may not throw 1t
of. In the city of New York Christian
merchants for a great while said, "We1i
have nothing to do with the management
of public affairs" and they allowed every
thing to &c a. loose ends until there rolled
up In that city a debt OF nearly Si20, 000,
900. TIL municipal government became n
kissing and a by-word in the whole earth,
and then the Christian merchants saw
their folly, and they won't and took pos
session Of the ballot boxes. wish all com-
mercial men to understand that they are
not Independent of the moral character OF
the men who rule over them, but must be
thoroughly, nightly affected by them.
So also OF tho educational interests OF n
city. Do you know that there are in this
country about 5000 common schools, and
that there are over ,000, 900 pupils, aud that
the majority Of those schools and the ma
tority of those pupils are IN our cities2
Now, this great multitude Of children will
be affected by the intelligence OF ignorance,
tho virtue or the vice, OF boards OF eduea-
ton and boards of control. There are
cities where educational affairs are settled
in the low caucus In the abandoned parts
OF the cities by men full Of ignorance and
rum. 1t ought not to be so, but in many
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