Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1897-07-05

n0dTllSGOn0 III Tie CITY IL III the Ii 1S-
copal churches, By the authority of
the litany, and in our nonepiscopate
churches, we every Sabbath pray for the
president Of the United States, why not,
| then, be just as hearty in our supplica.
tons for the chief magistrates of cities,
for their guidance, for their health, for
their present and their everlasting NOR
| atty?
But 60 further and pray for your com
mon council if your city has common
council They hold in their hands a
power splendid for good or terrible for
evil They have many temptations. In
many Of the cities whole boards of COM
mon councilmen have gone down in the
maelstrom of political corruption. They
could not stand the power OF the bride.
Corruption came in and sat beside them
and sat behind them and sat before
them. They recklessIy voted away the
hard earned moneys of the people. They
were bought out, body, mind and soul,
SO that at the end Of their term of office
| they had not enough of moral remains
| left to make a decent funeral They
went into office with the huzza of the
! multitude. They came out with the
anathema of all decent people. There is
| not one man out of a hundred that can
| endure the temptations Of the common
| councilmen in our great cities. Ii a man
| in that position have the courage of
| Cromwell, and the independence of an
Andrew Jackson, and the public spirit
| edness Of John Frederick Oberlin, and
the piety Of an Edward Payson, he will
have no surplus to throw away. Pray
tboc0 Euorxy 10 no
prayed for. Do you know how Dr. Nor
man Mcleod became the queens chap
lain? 1t was by a warm hearted PRAYER
in the Scotch kirk in behalf of the roy
al family one Sabbath when the queen
and her son were present incognito.
Pray For the Police.
Yes, go further, my friends, and pray
for your police-their perils and temp
tations, best known to themselves. They
hold the order and peace of your cities
in their grasp. But for their interven-
ton you would not be safe for an hour.
They must face the storm. They must
rush in where it seems to them almost
instant death. They must put the hand
of arrest on the armed maniac and cor
ner the murderer. They must refuse
large rewards for withdrawing COM
plants They must unravel intricate
plots and trace dark labyrinths of crime
and develop suspicious into certainties.
They must be cool while others are
frantic. They must be vigilant while
others are somnolent, impersonating the
very viilainy they want to seize. In the
police forces Of our great cities are to-
day men of as thorough character as
that of the old detective of New York
addressed to whom there came letters
from London asking for help ten years
after he was dead-letters addressed to
"Jacob Hayes, High Constable of New
York. Your police need your appre-
citation, your sympathy, your gratitude.
and, above all, your prayers. Yea,
want you to go further and pray every
day for prison inspectors ana jailkeep-
ers-work awful and benefcent. Rough
men, cruel men, impatient men, are
not fit for those places. They have un
der their care men who were once as
good as you, but they got tripped up.
Bad company, or strong drink, or
strange conjunction of circumstances
flung them headlong. Go down that
prison corridor and ask them how they
got in, and about their families and
what their early prospects in life were,
and you will find that they are very
much like yourself, except in this, that |
God kept you, while he did not restrain
them. Just enc false step made the diff
ference between them and you. They |
want more than prison bars, more than
Jail fare, more than handouts and hop |
Piles, more than vermin covered couch, |
to reform them. Pray God day by day |
that the men who have these unfortu- |
mates in charge may be merciful, Chris
tianly strategic, and the means of ref
ormation and rescue.
Some years ago q city pastor in New
York was called to the city prison to
attend funeral. A young woman had
committed a crime and was incarcerat-
ed, and her mother came to visit her,
and died on the visit The mother, hav-
ing no home, was buried from her
daughters prison cell. After the service
was over the imprisoned daughter came
up to the minister of Christ and said,
"Wouldn't you like to see my poor
mother" And while they stood at the
coffin the minister of Christ said to that
imprisoned soul, Don't you feel today,
in the presence of your mothers dead
body, as if you ought to make a vow
before God that you will do differently
and live better life?" She stood for
few moments, and then the tears rolled
down her cheeks, and she pulled from
her right hand the worn out glove that
she had put on in honor of the obsequies,
and, having barred her right hand, she
put it upon the chill brow of her dead
mother, and said: By the help of God
swear will do differently! God help
mel" And she kept her VOW. And years
after, when she was told of the incident,