The times., 1897-04-12
DR.. Talmage Exhorts Upon the
Efficacy Of Prayer.
IMPLORE THE GOD OF NATIONS
All Officials Need Prayer to Aid
Them in Their Perpiexities- -AE-
peaIing for Rulers Rebounds
Benedictions for Ourselves
Nation Should Be on It's Knees.

morning was "a Nation at Prayer" He
chose for his text Timothy, i'll: 81 ex-
hort therefore, that, first of all, supplica-
tions, prayers, intercessions, and giving OF
thanks be made for all men; for kings and
all that are in authority"
That which London is to England, Paris
to France, Berlin to Germany, Rome to
Italy, Vienna to Austria ST. Petersbur g
to Russia, Washington is to the United
States Republic, he said. The people VINO
live here see more, OF the Chief men of the
nation than any who live anywhere else
between Atlantic and Pacific oceans. In
this Capital there are so many political
chieftans in our churches, our streets, our
halls, that their coming and going make
no excitement The Swiss seldom look
Gp to the Matterhorn, or JungfrIu, or
Mont Blanc, because those people are used
to tie Alps. So we at this Capital are so
accustomed to walk among mount aims Of
officials and political eninence that they
are not to us a great novelty. Morning,
noon, and light we meet the giants But
there is no place on earth where the i'm
pray for those in eminent place ought to
be better appreciated.
There are several reasons why the
people OF the United States ought TO
pray for those i'll eminent places
First; Because that will put us in
proper attitude toward the successful
;nen OF the nation. After you have prayed
for a man you will do him justice There
is q bad streak in human nature that
diSposes us to assail those who are more
successful than ourselves. 1t shows itself
in boyhood, when the lads, all running to
get their ride on the back OF a carriage
and one gets on, those failing TO get on
shout to the driver, "Cut behindl'' Tn
successful men seldom like those who in
any department are successful. The cry lis
HE is political accident" or He
bought his way up or ut just hap
pened So and there is an impatient wait
ing for him to-. cone down more rapidly
than he went up. The best cure for such
cynicism is prayer After we have risen
from our knees we viii he wishing the
Official good instead OF evil. We will be
hoping for him benediction rather than
maledCtion. IL he makes n mistake we
Will call ita mistake instead or n,alfeasa nee
in office. And oh, how much happier we
will be: for wishing one evil is diabolic,
but wishing one good is sanity, is angelic,
is God-like ~
Another reason why we should pray for
those in eminent place is because they
have such multiplied perpIe kites. This
city at this time holds hundreds Of men
who are expectant OF preferment. and
United States rlail-Bags, as never before,
are full of applications. Let me say L
have no sympathy with either the uttered
or printed sneer at what are called office
seekers" If / had not already received
appointment minister plenipotentiary
from the high court Of heayen-as every
minister Of the Gospel has and / had at
my back family for whom l wished TO
achieve livelihood, there is no employer
whose service I would sooner seek than
city, State or United States Government.
perpleXities arise from the fact that
citizens sign petitions without reference TO
the qualifications of the applicant for the
places applied for. You sign the appliaa-
tion because the applicant is your friend.
II divine help is needed III any place
in the world it is in those places where
patronage is distributed. In years gone
by awful mistakes have been made. Only
God, WHO made the world out of chaos, can
out OF the crowded pigeon holes of public
men, develop symmetrical results. For
this reason pray Almighty God for all
those in authority.
Then there are the vaster perpleXities
OF our relations with foreign governments.
For direction in such affairs the God Of
sha ha inn q
of the peopleis sometimes SO heated so un
wise, that IL must not he regarded. Hark
to the boom of that gun which sends from
the American steamer San Jacinto a shot
across the bow of the British merchant
steamer Trent, November 8, 1861. Two
distinguished Southerners, with their sec
retaries and their families, are on the way
to England and France TO officially en-
list them for the Southern Confederlcy.
AftermuCh protest the commissioners, who
had embarked for England and France,
and Were taken to Fort
Warren, near Boston. The capture was a
plain invasion of the laws of nations.
War with England and France seemed
inevitable, and war with England and
France at that time would have made a
restored American nation impossible for
a long while if not forever. Then God
came to the rescue and helped the Presi-
dent and his Secretary Of State. Against
the almost unanimous sentiment or 'he
people of the North the distinguished
federates were surrendered, the law Of
nations was kept fnvioiate. the Lions paw
was not lifted to strike the Eagles beak,
and perhaps the worst disaster of centuries
was avoided.
There came another crisis within the |
last two years, when millions of people |
demanded that at,Anerican war vessels sail |
into Turkish waters and stop the atroci- |
ties against the Armenians. The people |
at large have no idea of the pressure |
brought upon our Government to do this |
rash thing. Had our ships gone into |
those waters the gyms of foreign nations, |
sverlastingly jealous of us, would have |
been turned against our shipping, and our |
Navy, within a fe W years become powerful, |
would have era wled backW ard in disgrace. |
The proposition tondo what could not be
done was mercifully withdrawn.
There will not BET year Sae1Eeen now
and the next twenty years when those
who are in authority will not heed the
guidance Of the God Of Nations. God |
'nly can tell the right time for nations to |
10 the right thing. To do the right thing
1T the wrong time is as bad as to do the
vroug thing at any time Cuba Will one
lay be free, but it will be after, she has
shown herself capable of free govern
nent, To acknowledge Cuban independ-
nee now would be to acknowledge what
ioes not exist. The time may come when
he Hawaiian Islands may be part OF
,ur Government. but it will be when they
AVE decidedly expressed the desire for !
nneXation In all national affairs there