The Monitor-register., 1897-04-16

HuDllC SerVlce-SOuS Duludnce Nteut
Amid Many PerpIexities of Moment.
WASHINGTON. April 11.-This dis
course of DR.. Talmage, delivered befor'
a mighty throng, goes forth from thu
capital, calling the nation to its knees
Before beginning his sermon DR.. Tai
mage made an eloquent appeal fo1
American aid for the suffering millions
of India. Eighty millions are affected
by the famine, and unless America gen
erously comes to the rescue millions O
lives will be sacrificed. His text was,
Timothy ii, /, II exhort, therefore, that
first of all, supplications, prayers, inter
cessions and giving of thanks be made
for all men, for kings and for all tina
are in authority"
That which London is to England
Paris tt France, Berlin to Germany
Rome to Italy, Vienna to Austria, st
Petersburg to Russia, Washington is tt
the United States republic. The people
who live here see more of the chief mel
Of the nation than any who live any
where else between Atlantic and Pacific
oceans. If a senator or member of the
house of representatives or supreme
court Justice or secretary of the cabinet
or representative of foreign nation en-
tiers a public assembly i'll any ether city,
his coming and going are remarked upon,
and unusual Difference is paid to him.
In this capital there are SO many politi-
cal chieftains i'll our churches, our
streets, our halls, that their coming and
going make no excitement.
The Swiss seldom look up to the Mat
terhorn or Jungfrau or Mont Blanc,
because those people are used to the
Alps. So we at this capital are so ac-
customed to walk among mountains of
official and political eminence that they
are not to us a great novelty. Morn
ing, noon and night we meet the giants.
But there is no place IN earth where
the Importance of the Pauline injunc-
ton to prayer for those in eminent
place ought to be better appreciated.
At this time, when our public men
have before them the rescue of our Il a
tional treasury from appalling deficits.
and the Cuban question, and the arbi-
tration question, and in many depart.
ments men are taking important po-
sitions which are to them new and un-
tried, | would like to quote my text
with a whole tonnage of emphasis
words written by the SCARED mission
airy to the young theologian Timothy,
81. exhort, therefore, that, first of all,
applications, prayers, intercessions and
giving of thanks be made for all men,
for kings and for all that are in author
ity."
Prayer For the Eminent.
If 1 have the time and do not forget
some of them before 1 get through, ]
will give you four Or five reasons why
the people of the United States ought
to make earnest and continuous prayer
for those in eminent place.
First, because that will put US in
proper attitude toward the successful
men of the nation. After you have
prayed for a man you will do him jus
tice. There is a bad streak in human
nature that demands us to assail those
that are more successful than ourselves.
1t shows itself in boyhood, when the
lads, all running to get their ride Oh the
back Of a carriage, and II gets on,
those failing to get on shout on the driv-
er, "Cut behind!" Unsuccessful men
seldom like those who in any depart
ment are successful. The cry is, He is
a political accident" or, "He bought
--4--D 50 ~ EsTt I1ct laoDo,nl Ger, -
and there is an impatient waiting for
him to come down more rapidly than
he went up.
The best cure for such cynicism is
prayer. After we have risen from our
knees we will be wishing the official
good instead of evil. We will be hoping
for him benediction rather than male
diction. If he makes a mistake, we will
call it a mistake instead of nialfea-
sance in office. And, oh, how much hap
pier we will be, for wishing one evil is
diabolic, but wishing one good is saint
ly, is angelic, is godlike! When the
Lord drops q man into depths beyond
which there is nc lower depth, be al
ows him to be put on an investigating
committee with the one hope of finding
something wrong. In general assemblies
of the Presbyterian church, in confer
ences of the Methodist church, in con-
ventions of the Episcopal church, III
house of representatives and in senate
of the United States there are men al
ways glad to be appointed on the com
mittee of malodors, while there are
those who are glad to be put on tn;
committee of eulogiums. After you
have prayed, in the words of my text,
for all that are in authority you will
say, Brethren, gentlemen, Mr.. Chair
man, excuse me from serving on the
committee of malodors, for last night,
just before I prayed for those in eminent
position, 1 read that chapter in Corin-
thians about charity which 'hopeth all
things and 'thinketh no evil. The
committee Of malodors is an important
committee, but | here now declare that
those are incompetent for its work who
have, not in spirit CT conventionality,
but in spirit of earnest importantly,
prayed for those in high position. ]
cannot help it, but I do like a st. Ber-
nard better han a bloodhound, and ]
would rather be a humming bird among
h~oneysuckles than a crow swooping up
on field ~carcasses.
The Public Service.
Another reason why we should pray
for those in eminent place is because
they have such multiplied perplexities.
This city at this time holds hundreds of
men who are expectant of p~referment,
and United States mail bags as never
before are full of applications. Let me
say I have no sympathy with either the
uttered or printed sheer at what are
called ''office seekers - If l had not al
ready received appointment as minister
plenipotentiary from the high court of
heaven-as every minister of the Cos
pei has-and I had at my back a family
for whom l wished to achieve a liyeli-
hood, there is no employer whose serv-
ice l would sooner seek than city, state
Or United St&tcs government. Those
governments are the promptest in their
payments, paying just as we'll in hard
times as in good times and during
summer vacation as during winter
"oAh' oenlues tHat, many VI US nave
been paying taxes to city and state and
nation for years, and while we are in
debted for the protection of government
the government is indebted to us for
the honest support we have rendered it.
so L wish success to all earnest and
competent men who appeal to city or
state or nation for a place to work.
But how many men in high place in
city and state and nation are at their
wits end to know what to do, when for
some places there are ten applicants
and for others a hundred. Perplexities