Owingsville outlook. [volume] (Owingsville, Ky.) 1879-192?, 1897-07-08

They must be yigilant while others are
somnolent, impcrsonating the very viii
laiuy they want to seize. In the POI
lice forces of our great cities are to-day
men of as thorough character as that
of the old detective of New York, adj
dressed to whom there came letters
from London asking for help ten years
after he was dcad-letters addressed to
Jacob Hayes, High Constable of New
York" Your police need your APP
probation, your sympathy, your graft
tude, and, above all, your prayers. Yea,
| want YOU to go further and pray every
day for prison inspectors and Jail keep
crs. work awful aud Dcneiicent. Rough
men, cruel men. impatient men, are not
tit for these places. They have under
their care men who were once as good as
yGu, but they got tripped up. lad
company or strong drink or strange
conjunction of circumstances Hung
them hcadIong. 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 one false step made the difference
between them and YOU. They want
more than prison bars, more than Jail
fare, more than handouts aud hop
piers, more than IL verInIu-coveredc couch
To reform them. Pray tod day by day
that the men who have these uniortu-
mates in charge may he mcrclful, chris
tianIy strategic and the means OF reior-
nation and rescue.
Some years ago a city pastor in New
York was called tn the city prison tu
attend funeral. \ young woman had
committed a crime and was incarccr-
atrd, 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 serv-
ice 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 to-day. in the presence of your
mothers dead body. as il you ought to
make VOW before God that you will
do differently and live Il better life"
She stood for few moments, and then
the tears rolled down her cheeks. and
she pulled from, her right hand the
wornout glove that she had put on in
honor of the obsequies, and, having
barred her right hand, she put il 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 incl
dent, She said: when that minister of
the Gospel said: God bless you and
help YOU to keep the vow that you have
made | cried out. and | said: You
bless me! Do you bless me? Why.
that's the first kind word I've heard
in ten years And it thrilled through
nv soul. and il was the means of my
refoI NATION, and ever since, by the
grace of God. I've tried to live n Chris
tian life" Oh, yes, there are many
amid the criminal classes that may he
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 to your dying pillow,
saving: Il was sick and in prison
and YOU visited me-" Yea, | take the
suggestion of the Apostle Paul and ask
you to pray for all who are in authori-
! ty, that we may lead quiet and peaceful
| lives in godlincss and honesty.
! Nv word now is to all who may come
to hold any public position of trust in
any city: You are Gods representa-
tives. God, the King and Ruler and
Judge, sets you in Ills place. oh, be
faithful in the discharge of all your du-
| ties, so 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 faithfulness Ii was that feel
/ ing which gave such eminent
qualifications for Office to Neal Dow,
mayor of Portland. and to Judge
Mclean, of Ohio. and to Benjamin f..
Butler, encouragement of New York,
and to George Briggs, governor of Mas
sachusetts. and to Theodore Freling-
huysen, senator of the United States,
and to William Wherefore, member of
the British parliament. You may make
the rewards of eternity the emoluments
| of your Office. What care you for adj
verse political criticism il you have God
on your side? The one, or the two, or
the three years of your public trust will
/ al 81 Of
earthly service, and then the tribunal
will be lifted before which you and |
must appear. May God make you so
| faithful now tina; the last scene shall be
to your eXhilaration and rapture!
wish to exhort all good people, whether
they are the governors or the governed,
to make one grand effort for the saliva
ton, 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
wrongs are rightedl What we do we
must do quickly. With our rulers, and
on the same platform, we must at last
come before the throne of God to an
swer for what we have done for the
bettering of our great towns. Alas, il
on that day it be found that your hand
has been idle and my pulpit has been
silent! o, ye who are pure and honest
and Christian, go to work and help to
make the cities pure and honest and
Christian!
Lest it may have been thought that
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 COW