Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1900-11-29

invite them They pronhesy that he will
give out They wonder If he is not getting
wings. As he passes. they grimace and
wink and chuckle and say, "There goes
OF character. You can afford in this mat
ter of religion to be laughed at What do
you care for the SCOTS of these men, WHO
are aftronted because You will n.t go to
ruin with them? When the grave cracks
open under the!r icet, and grim messen-
down har1 upon their spirit, and con.
science stings. and hopeless run lifts them
up to hurl them down, will they laugh
then?
/ learn also from rly subject that men
may take religion into their worldly busi.
ness. This is most appropriate thought
at this season of the year, when so many
men are starting out in new. enterprises.
Daniel had enough work to do to occupy
six men. All the affairs of state were in
his hands-questions of finance. questions
of war, of peace: all international cues
tions were for his settlement or adjust
ment. He must have had corresno"d-
ence vast beyond all computat tion. There
was not a man in all the earth who bad
more TO do than Daniel, the secretary of
state, and yet we find him three timeo
day bowling before God in prayer.
But to have religion go right along by
them all through life, to have religion
looking over their shoulder when they are
making & BARGAIN, to have religion take
up bag of dishonesa gold and shake it
and cav. ''Where did you get that:''-
they think thaa Is III impertinent re-
ligioI.
They would ike to have a religion 10
help them when thew are sick ard when
the shadow of death comes over them.
they would like to have religion as n sort
OF night key with whicn to open the
door of heaven. but religion under other
circumstances they take to be impsrti-
nence.
Now, nv srrends, reigion never robbed
man of dollar Othe' things beng
equal, mason will build better wall, ii
cabinet maker will make better chair. I
rlnmber will make better pipe. a lawver
will make c hetter plea. u merchant will
sell better bill of goods. | say. other
things being equal. OF course when re-
| hglon gives man new heart. 1t does
not propose to give MIN e new head or to
intellectualize him or to change a mans
condition when his ordinary state is an
overthrow OF the philosonhlcal theory that
a total vacuum Is impossible. but the nors
letters you have to write the more bur-
dens you have to carry, the more miles
YOU have to travel, the more burdens You
have to lift, the more engagements you
have to meet, the more disputes you have
to settle, the more opportunity you have
OF being a Christian. if you have a
thousand irons in the fire, you have a
thousand more opportunities or serving
God than if you only had one iron in the
fire. Who so busy as Christ? And yet
who a millionth part as holy? The bust
est men the best men. All the persons
converted in Scripture busy at tine time
of their being converted. Matthew at
tending. to his custom house duties, the
prodigal son feeding SWINE. Lydia sell
ing purple. Simon Peter hauling in the
net from the sea, Saul squirting his horse
| toward Damascus. going down on his law
business. Busy busy Daniel with all the
affairs OF state weighing down upon his
soul and yet three times day worship
ing the God or heaven.
Again, | learn from this subject that
man may take religion into his politics.
Daniel had all the affairs of state on
hand. yet a servant of Cod He could
not have kept his elevated position un-
less he had been n thorough politician,
and vet all the thrusts of officials and all
the danger of disgrace did not make him
yield one iota or his high toned religious
principle. He stood before that age. ne
stands before all ages. specimen OF y
godly politician. So there have been in
our day and in the days of cur fathers
men as eminent in the service of God as
they have been eminent in The service of
the state Such was Benjamin F. Butler,
attorney general OF New York in the
time of your rathers: such was John Nc
Lean, of the supreme court of the United
States. such was George Briggs. of Massa-
chusetts: such was Theodore Frelinghuy-
sen. of New Jersey-men faithful to the
| state, at the same time faithful to God.
1t is absurd to expect that men who have
| been immersed in political wickedness fo-
| thirty or forty years shall come to refor-
nation, and our hope Is in the young men
who are coming up. that they have patri-
otto principle and Christian principle side
/ Iy 10 ,.hn,. 4tA,- L. LII. -
box and cast their first vote and that they
swear allegiance to the government of
heaven as well as to the government of
| the United States. We would have Bun
ker Hill mean less to them than Calvary,
and Lexington mean less to them than
| bethlehem But because there are bad
men around The ballot box is no reason
why Christian men should retreat from
the arena. The last time you ought to
| give up your child or forsake your child
| is when 1t is surrounded by company
of Choctaws. and the last time to SUI
render the ballot box is when it is sur
rounded by impurity and dishonesty and
al sorts of wickedness.
Daniel stood on a most unpopular plat
! form. He stood firmly, though the dema-
gogues of the day Kissed at him and tried
to overthrow him. We must carry or
religion into our politics.
But there are a great many men who
|
| politics who do not see the importance
| OF taking it into city politics, as though
a man were intelligent about the welfare
of his neighborhood and had 10 ooncera
about his own home.
My subject also impresses me with the
| fact that lions cannot hurt a good man.
| 30 man ever got into worse company than
! Daniel got :uto when be was thrown into
! the den. What rare mursel that iair
/ young me- would have been for the SGn.
cry monsters! Ii they had plunged 1t
| him. he could not have climbed into a
niche beyond the reach OF their paw or
the snatch of their tooth. They cane
pleased all around about him, as hunterr'
hounds at the well known whistle come
bounding to his feet. You need not 20 to
! Numldia to get many lions You all have
had them after you-the hon OF financial
distress, the lion of sickness, the hon
OF persecution. You cav that hon of
financial panic putting his mouth down
to the earth, and he roared until all the
banks and all the insurance companies
| quaNed. With his nostril he scattered the
ashes on the domestic hearth. Nou have
had trial after trial, misfortune after