The Princeton union., 1897-04-22

state or United States government.
Those governments are the promptest
in their payments, paying just as well |
In hard times as in good times, and
during summer vacation as during win
ter work. Beside that, many OF us
have been paying taxes to city, and
state, and nation, for years, and while
we are indebted for the protection Of
government, the government is indebt-
ed to us for the honest support we
have rendered it. So I wish success
to all earnest and competent men who
appeal tos 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
hundred! Perplexities arise from the
fact that citizens sign petitions with
out reference to the qualifications of
the applicant for the places applied
for You sign the application because
the applicant is your friend. People
sometimes want that for which they
have no qualification, as we hear peo-
pie sing Il want to be an angel when
they offer the poorest material possi-
bic for angelhood. Doors waiting to
be sent to foreign palaces as ambassa-
dors, and men without any business
qualification wanting to be consuls to
foreign ports, and illiterates, capable
in one letter Of wrecking all the laws
OF orthography and syntax, desiring
to be put into positions where most of
the work is done by correspondence.
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, could, out of the crowd
ed pigeon-holes of public men, devel-
op symmetrical results. For this rea-
son pray Almighty God for all those
in authority.
Then there are the vaster perplexi-
ties of our relations with foreign gov
ernments. For directions in such af-
fairs the God of Nations should be
implored. The demand of the people
is sometimes so heated, so unwise,
that it must not be needed. 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,
i 1861. Two distinguished southerners,
with their secretaries and families, are
on the way to England and France to
officially enlist them for the southern
confederacy. After much protest the
commissioners, who had embarked for
England and France, surrendered, and
were taken to Fort Warren, near Bos-
ton. The capture was plain invasion
of the laws of nations, and antagonistic
to principle for the establishment ot
which the United States government
had fought in other days. However
so great was the excitement that the
secretary of the United States navy
wrote an applauditory letter to Captain
} Wilkes, commander of the San Jacintc
: for his prompt and decisive action,
| and the House of Representatives
, passed resolution Of thanks fol
"brave, adroit and patriotic conduct,
and the millions of the north Wen
, papers and churches joined in the huz
t "a. England and France protested, th
: former demanding that unless th
4 distinguished prisoners should be sur
Q rendered and apology made for insul
r to the British flag within ten days
It Lord Lyons must return to Londor
: taking all the archives of the BIRTHS
n legation. War with England an
e France seemed inevitable, and wa
r. with England and France at that tim
e would have made a restored America
/ nation impossible for long while, =
II not forever. Then God came to th
: rescue and helped the president an
II his secretary of state. Against the a
$ most unanimous sentiment of the pee
b pie of the north the distinguished COZ
IL federates were surrendered, the law {
is nations was kept inviolate, the Lion
N paw was not lifted to strike the E:
E. gles beak, and perhaps the worst di
n aster of centuries was avoided
j.
Of You see there are always in plac,
al of authority unbalanced men who wal
h, war, because they do not realize VIII
h, war is, or they are designing men, wi
h, want war for the same reason th
in wreckers like hurricanes, and founde
IN ing ships, because of what may flo
he ashore from the ruins. You see th
re men who start wars never themselv
he get hurt They make the speeches al
ou others make the self-sacrifces. N
xt, tice that all those who instigated o
i'll civil war never as a consequence g
ir- so much as a splinter under t
he thumb-nail, and they all died peac
nt. fully in their beds I had two frien
ii las thorough friends as old men c.
l III.