The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-07-09

for your police-sheir perils and temp
tations. best known to themselves. They
hold the order and peace of your c3ties
In their grasp. But for their intervcn-
ton you would not be safe for an hour.
They must face the storm. They must
rush in where 1t 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
iarg. rewards for withdrawing COM
plants. They must unravel intricate
plots and trace dark laoyrinths Of crime
and develop suspicious into certaintics.
They must he cool while Others are
frantic. They must be vigilant while
others are Somnolent. in1~personating
the very vniainy they want TO seize. In
the police forces az our rea cities are
today met OF as thorough character As
that Of the old detective of New York
addressed to whom there am letters
from London asking for help ten years
after he was dead-lecters addressed n
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 and jailkeep-
ers-work awful and beneficent. Rough
men. cruel men. impatient man. 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 We're.
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 one false step made the diff
ference between them ard YOU. Try
want more than prison bars. more than
Jail fare, more than handouts and hop
piles. more than a vermin covered couch
to reform them. Pray God day 10y day
that rhe men who have these unfortu-
mates in charge may be merciful. Chris
tianly stragetic, and the means of ref
ormation and rescue.
Some years ago a city pastor in New
York was called to the city prison to
attend a funeral. A young woman had
committed a crime and was incercera-
ted, 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 daughtercame
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 u
that imprisoned soul. Don't You feel
today in the presence Of your moth
er's dead body. as if o ought to make
a VOW before God that YOU Will do diff
ferently and live a better life" She
stood for a 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. h put it upon the hill
brow of her dead mother, and said:
BY the help Of God | swear | VIII d
differently, God help me-" And she
kept her vow. And years after. when
she was told Of the incident, she said:
''When that minister Of the gospel said,
God bless You and help YOU - keep the
VOW that you have made I cried out,
and | said: You bless me- Do YOU bless
me? Why. that's the first kind word
I've heard in ten years n il thrill
ed through my soul. and it was the
means of my reformation. and ever
since. by the grace of God. I've tried
to live a Christian life" Oh, yes. there
are many amid the criminal classes
hat may be reformed. Pray for the
men who have these unfOrtunateS in
charge, and who knows but that when
you are leaving this world you may
hear the voice of Christ dropping II
your dying pillow. saying. Il was sick
and in prison, and you visited me-
Yea. | take the suggestion Of the
Apostle Paul n ask you to pray for
all who are in authority. that we may
lead quiet and peaceful lives in godli-
ness and honesty.
GODS REPRESENTATIVES,.
My word now is to all who may
come to hold any public position Of
trust in any city. You are Gods repre-
sentatives. God. the King and Ruler
and Judge, sets You in his place. oh, be
faithful in the discharge of all your du-
ties. 50 that when all our cities are in
ashes and the world itself is a red scroll
of flame you may be in the mercy and
grace of Christ rewarded for your faith
fulness. 1t was that feeling which gave
such eminent qualifications for office t.
Neal Dow, mayor Of Portland. and Il
Judge Mclean, Of Ohio, n to Benja-
min f. Butler, attorney general of New
Cork, and to George Briggs, governor
of Massachusetts, and to Theodore Ere
l~inghuysen, senator of the United
States, and to William Wilberforce
member of the British parliament. You
may make the rewards of eternity the
emOluments Of your office. What care
you for adverse political criticism ifyou
hav God on yOur side? The one or the
two or the three years Of your public
trust will pass away, and all the years
of your earthly service, and then the
tribunal Will be lifted, before which
you and I must appear. May God make
you 50 faithful now hat the last scene
shall be to you exhilaration and rap
ture. l wish now to exhOrt all good peo-
pie, whether they are the governors OF
the governed, to make one grand effort
for the salvation, the publication, the
redemption Of u American cities. Dc
you not know that there are multitudes
going down to ruin. temporal and eter-
nal, dropping quicker han words dror
from my lips? Grogshops swallow then
UP. Gambling hells devour them.
Houses of shame are damning them.