The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-01-30
DR.. Locke Discou1ses on Salable and
Unstable Men.

DR.. Charles Edward Locke's subject at
the Central Methodist Episcopal Church
last evening was Wanted, Meni Has
Every Man His Price?" DR.. Locke said
in part:
1.-THE pessimistic Elijah, the lachrymose
jeremiah and the doughty Diogenes have
started a cry which needs to be taken up
by this fin de steele period, Run We to and
fro and see if we can find a man
civilization in any age is but the in
crease of manhood. Nations have grown
when they could produce men, but have
declined as manliness has disappeared.
Woe be to that nation whose mothers do
not bear meni National history is but
the achievements of men. Grecian his
tory is the story of Pericles and Socrates;
Roman history tells of Cicero and Julius
Caesar, and SO in modern history the
biographies of Gladstone and Lincoln will
include the great achievements of Eng
land and America.
The first and final purpose of Chris
tianity is the incubation of manliness.
Jesus of Nazareth was the manifest of
men Growth in good is but a growth in
manliness. True religion is known by the
strong characters which 1t builds. Many
good men vindicate the claims of the COS
pei of Jesus in their honorable and blame
less lives. Such are the men which are
w
HAS every man his price? let me ask.
I believe Horace Walpole'S libelous wall,
which was the affirmative answer to this
question: has many notable exceptions.
George Jones, as editor of the New York
Times, was offered IS 900 900 by the Tweed
ring if he would suppress and simply de-
cline to publish certain damaging in
formation, but he spurned the gift; Abra-
ham Lincoln could not be bought, and by
his rigid adherence to principles of in
tegrty gained for himself the homeiy but
| inn, fol cO1N, e
Honest Old Abe" Knox and Savonarola
and Patrick Henry could not be bought,
and with a host of others are described in
the lines of our own Lowell:
1 honor the man who is willing to sink
Half his. present repute for the freedom to
think,
And when he has thought, be his cause strong
Will sink the other half for the freedom to
speak.
But alas! how humiIiating the con-
fession that must be made. Some men
do indeed, have their price. And some
of these who can be bought are residents
of our own State, and have been chosen
to places of trust. Can anything be a
sadder comment upon the base corruption
of modern political methods than the re-
cent revelations which have shriveled the
Speaker of the Assembly into a moral
Liliputian? And while he is receiving his
deserved punishment for his reprehensibIe
and utterly sinful actions, let it not be
| forgotten that he is in sense, the scape-
goat for q multitude OF VIGOROUSLY cor
rupt men. He is the logical sequence of a
false and baSely wicked system which
should be fiercely denounced and re-
pudiated by all good citizens, namely the
use of large sums of money to secure
election to places of honor. No man
ought to be elected to the United, States
Senate from California who has pur-
chased his seat by a lavish expenditure
of money.
"Our citizenship should arise en- masse
and denounce these dabolical methods of
bribery The result is, of course. that the
most honorable men will not become can
didates. Many of the noblest citizens are
men without means, and an honest man