The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-12-25
French Earl Oliver Talks to Hun
dredss
GIVES STIRRING SERMON
SCORES M,KINLEY FOB HIS
WEAKNESS.
Says the President Has No Back
bone-Local Authorities Come In
For Rigorous Denunciation-May-
or's "Death-bed Repentance" On
Temperance Question.

--&
French Earl divers sermon at Tiff
NJ e church last evening was the
most stirring that he has yet delivered
here, and was listened TO by the largest
audience that has greeted the Chicago
evangelist since he came 10 Salt Lake
The church was filed TO its capacity
and the earnest words of the speaker
were eagerly listened TO. All the forms
of iniquity and vice were laid bare.
President Mckinley came in for his
share of the scathing arraignment. and
local political conditions did not escape.
A solo. "A Vision of Bethlehem" by
Mrs Kate BrlGewen Anderson, was
beautifully given, and then Mr.. Oliver
announced that if anybody had brought
his feelings with them to the meeting,
the best thing to do would be to get
down TO business tonight" said the
evangelist
He chose as his text, Judges 6:12.
1.-THE Lord is with Thee, Thou Mighty
Man of ValOr."
Came From An Angel.
These words were given to Gideon
by an angel" said Mr.. oliver, in be-
ginning. In other words, the angel
said, Gideon. the Lord is on your side,
for you've got great Backbone, you've
got lime in your hands and your spine
is not built of rubber We ought to
all live so that the Lord could say the
same to all of US. If we did, we would
have better towns, better state govern
ments, and a better country.
There is a mighty sad condition
existing among people, and it is all
caused by lack of backbone. 1t may
seem a sweeping statement to make,
but 1 tell you, my friends, that IS per
cent of all men are towards from a
moral standpoint. And / want each
one of you people here tonight to look
down in your little gizzard and see just
how little moral courage you really
have inside of you.
Let the whole town shake its fist in
you face and see if you have grit.
There is no man in Salt Lake whom l
so admire as a man with sand and
backbone. Such a man can do more
to elevate this whiskey soaked, harlot
infested town than any other man that
ever put his foot to the sod and his
shoulder to the wheel. That is the
kind of a man who can stand before
the little puppies. of the devil and tell
them what Infamous creations they are.
I despise coward or a mugwump.
Gideon found $4,000 of his men
worthy to wear the white feather. And
1 want you church people to look over
the church records and see if there are
not whole lot of just such soldiers
enrolled. Suppose your preacher
should say, L have an undertaking for
the Qualification of God but it will cost
meney- How many are going TO assist?'
And suppose-it is a far-fetched sup
position-that the whole body of the
church should step forward with it's
cash. the preacher would think that
the millennium had come.
Napoleon's Drink Test.
Napoleon had a way of testing his
men by the manner in which they
drank. I wish that Mckinley had done
that and there would have been large
proportion of his army that would
have stayed at home to linger around
the gin shops. But instead of indors-
ing the canteen bill, instead of driving
out the rum-nosed ole reprobates. in
stead of trying TO make his army some
thing better than a gang of drunkards
this Weakened president of ours
fzzled all out, and like the coward
that he is. backed down.
Pm not talking politics tonight, I'm
merely telling you what kind of a
president we have from a standpoint
of manhood. Any man, be he Populist,
Democrat, Republican or anything else
must admit that l speak the truth. If
Gideon were alive now, he would get
my vote for president. We need just
such a man. He had backbone.
Did you ever see d yellow dog? He
runs snarling at the heels of d man,
but as soon as that man picks up a
rock. that dog goes up the street so
fast that you can see a streak of yell
low dogs for two blocks. / tell you
that we have a whole legion of yellow
dogs in this city, and they wear
breaches When you begin TO throw
rocks Of truth. you can pick out the
yellow dogs by their scattering. After
had been in town three days the yell
low dogs began TO bark. But l don't
mind it-anything for lively time.
Too Much Balm.
"Salt Lake has been soft-soaped, fiat
tered. oiled with the balm of Gilead and
palavered until it is stuck on itself. The
people really think that they are living
in a moral community. But if one-half
that l hear of it is true, this old town
is as rotten as hell itself. l am giving
facts. my friends. / am not talking
through my hat. If anything makes
me feel like a woman who has swal-
lowed a fly it is to see a big rooster
with breeches on signing for peace.
He'll get the peace. all right-hell
be shot TO pieces before 1 get through
with him. There are folks right here
in this church tonight who are Won
dering if they are going TO take hold
of-the work. They ought to have a
piece of Irvine tied up their backs-it
would be a vast Improvement on hat
they call their backbones.
There ought to be more brave
preachers in this city who will shell the
woods, who will keep the people in a
continual turmoil and at a revival pitch
the whole year around. 1t is a hard
proposition to say whether God can
get more good out of man who has
lots of backbone and no principle. or a
man who has lots of principle and no
backbone. No preacher has the chance
to be SO brave as Methodist preacher,
because the church people have got
TO keep him whether they like him or
not.
Sam Jones once made a remark in
Boston that is wonderfully true. He
said that there are not enough preach
ers in jail, and il applies right here in |
Salt Lake No town in the United
States needs a securing as badly. What !
is needed is man who will combat this !
low ebb of spiritual degeneration and
municipal rottenness.
When we get through securing this |
town we will have the greatest revival !
that was ever known in the west 1t !
viii extend TO Butte, to Portland and |
to every city on the western slope. Salt
Lake City is the key TO all this noun |
tain country, and when we get ii clean
ed up we will have the whole western
country, at work for God.
Wants Brave Mayor.
q like to see a brave mayor in
toWn-one who does not come from the |