The Penn's Grove record., 1897-07-09

from pOItlcal power, uuS uoVS - s-,ar iIs
addition TO all tho evils we must necessary
contend agains At we shall not have to nghi
also municipal negligence. Oh, that u "n
our cities Christian people would rise ~
and that thew would put their hand on tue
helm before piratlcal ~demagognes nav
swamped the slilpi instead of giving 80
much time to national politics give sun. "
YOUR attention to municipal government;
I demand that the Christian people WI
have been standing aloof from pubic III
fairs come back, and In the might OF uuu
try to save our cities. II things are or haNe
been bad, 1t is because good people have iet
them be bad. That Christian man VIZ
merely goes to the polls and casts ms ET Ini
does not do HIS duty. 1t is not the pa.os
box that decides the election; 1t Is the
political caucus, and II at the primary
meetings OF the two political parties uhI'
and bad men are nominated then tne pa
lot box has nothing to do save to take II.
choice between two thieves. IN our
churches. by r~eformatory orSanlzatioh, lI
every why let us try to tone up the mora
sentiment in these cities. The rulers hrs
those whom the people choose, ana depehu
upon 1t that In all the cities, aslong aspu,re
hearted men stand aloof from politics pc
cause they despise hot partisanship, Iustso
long In many of our cities Will rum mus
the nominations, and rum control the pal'
lot box, and rum inaugurate the officials.
I take a step further in this subject, and
ask all those who believe in tho omnipo'
tence OF prayer, day by day, aud every gay,
present YOUR city officials before Goa ior "
blessing. Ifyou live in a city presided over
by a mayor, pray for him. The chief ma.
gistrate OF n city is In q position oil srea5
responsibility. Many OF the kings anu
queens and emperors Of other days had no
such dominion. With the scratch OF o pen
he NAV advance a benefieent institution OF
! bnlk o railway contiscation. By appoint
ments he may bless or curse every hearth,
stone In the city. II in the Episcopal
churches, by the authority OF the litany,
and in our nonepiscopate churches: Ne
every Sabbath pray for the President oil the
| United States, why not, then, be Just as
hearty In our supplications for the CHIEF
magistrates OF cities, for their guidance,
for their health, for their present ana thelr
everlasting morality
But go further and pray for your COM
mon council IL your city has common
power splendid for good or terrible for
evil. They have many temptations. IN
many OF the cities whole boards OF coIl-
mon counctlmen have gone down In tue
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 recklessly 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
loft to make q decent funeral. They
went into office with the huzza OF the
multitude. They came out with the ana
thema of all decent people. There is not
one mas out of q hundred that can endure
the temptations Of the common council.
men in our great cities. II q man In that
position have the courage OF q Cromwell,
and tho independence OF au Andrew Jack
son, and the public splrltedness of d john
Frederick 0berlin, and the piety OF an Ed
ward Payson, he will have no surplus to
throw away. Pray for these men. Every
nan likes to be prayed for. Do you know
how DIR. Norman Mcleod became the
queens chaplain? 1t was by O warm
hearted prayer In the Scotch kirk In behalf
Of the Royal family one Sabbath when the
queen and her son were present incognito.
Yes, go further, my friends, and pray for
your police-their perils and temptations,
best known to themselves. They hold the
order and peace of your cities In their
grasp. But for their Intervention you
Won not be safe for al 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 corner the murderer.
They must refuse largo rewards for with
drawing complaints. They must unravel
intricate plots and trace dark labyrinths
of crime and develop suspicious into cer-
families. They must be cool while others
are frantic. They must be vigilant while
others are ~somnolent, i~mpersonating tho
very villainy 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 ask
ing for help ten years after he was dead
letters addressed to Jacob Hayes, High
Constable of New York" Your police need
your appreciation, your sympathy, your
gratitude, and, above all, your prayers.
every day for prison inspectors and jail
keepers-work awful and benefeept~
Rough men, cruel men, impatient men,
ore not fit for those places. They have
under their care men who were once az
good as you, but they got tripped up.
Bad company, or strong drink, OF
strange conjunction of circumstance
flung them headlong. Godown thai prison
corridor and ask them how they got In, and
about their families and what their early
prospects in lifo were, and you will find
that they are very much like yourself, e&.
cept In this, that God kept you, while He
did not restrain them. Just one false step
made the difference between 9 and you.
They want more than prison bars, more than
jail fare, more han handouts and hopples,
more h a vermin covered couch, to re-
form them. Pray God day by day that the
men who have Observation-Disclosures In charge
nay be merciful, Christianly strategic, and
h means of reformation and rescue.
My word now is to all who may come to
hold any public position Of trust In any
city. o are Gods representatives. God,
the King and Ruler and Judge, sets you In
His place. oh, be faithful in the discharge
OF all your duties, so that when all our
cities are in ashes n the world itself Is a
red scroll OF lame you may be In the mercy
and grace Of Christ rewarded for your
faithfulness. 1t was that feeling which
gave such eminent qualifications for office
to Neal Dow, Mayor OF Portland, and to
Judge Mclean, OF Ohio, and to Benia-
min +. Butler, Attorney-Genera OF New
York, and to George Briggs, Governor
of Massachusetts,, and to Theodore Free
linghuysen, Senator of the United
States, and to William Wilberiorce,
member Of the British Parliament. You may
make the rewards of eternity the emolu-
ments Of your office. What care you for
adverse political criticism IL you have God
on you slider The one or the two or the
three years OF your public trust will pass
away, and nl the years OF your earthly SER
vice, and then the tribunal will be lifted,
before which you and I must appear. May
God make you so faithful now that 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 or the
governed, to make one grand effort for the
salvation, the publication, the redemption
OF our American cities. Do you not know
that there are multitudes going down to
ruin, temporal and eternal, dropping
quicker than words drop from my
lips? Grogshops swallow them up.
Gambling bells devour them. Houses
OF shame are damning them. oh, let us
toll and pray and preach and vote Until all
these wrong are rlghtedi What we do we
must do quickly. With our rulers, and on
the same platforms. we must at first come
before the throne Of God to answer for what
we have done for the lettering Of our great
towns. Alas, IL on that day 1t be found that
your hand has been idle and my pulpit has
been SILENT Oh, ye who are pure and
honest and Christian, go to work and help
to make the cities pure and honest and
Christian!
Lest 1t may have been thought that I am
addressing only what are called the better
classes my final word Is to some dissolute
| soul to whom these words may come.
Though you may be covered with all crimes,
though you may be smitten with all lepro.
sizes, though you may have gone through
the whole catalogue Of iniquity, and may
not lave been in church for twenty yearS