The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1900-12-13
THE VOICE OF THE CLERGY.
Unitarian Church and Methodist Church
Sunday, Dec. 8th.

A"s'A scIs VI oorAnOns NJ tne North Church,
Unitarian Church and Methodist Church
Sunday, Dec. sth.
Rev. Geo. S. Mills took for his subject at
the North church last Sunday forenoon ''The
Problem of Indifference" and for his text
Rev. 3:15 ~ would thou vert cold or hot. -
He claimed that an Indifferent friend
does more harm than an open enemy,
and he considered the question ssHow to
make the Indifferent different" Many peo-
pie are Indifferent from selfshness Others
from ignorance. The first knows his duty,
but for reasons of self interest does not do
that duty. The case of the priest, Levite
and the good Samaritan illustrates the diff
ferent positions taken One goes by without
seeing, one sees but passes on, and one does
his whole duty. Many people will attend a
mass meeting in the interest of reform and
applaud the speaker, but when it comes to
organizing to enforce the law they fail to
appear Private interests overshadow the
public good. A silver dollar if held near
enough to the eye obscures the whole land
scape. The charge is made that reformers
are impractical, but as a rule they are most
practical. They do not ask or expect the
impossible. Opponents claim that enforce
ment of law is an interference with personal
liberty, and the Indifferent agree with
them. What is the personal liberty they
desire? 1t is that some men may have the
liberty to make money at the expense of
the best interests of the community. The
of
letter attacking those who are engaged in
the present reform crusade. The writer
accuses the clergy of being hypocrites, which
they would be indeed if they tried to keep
on the.pleasant side of everybody, and spoke
not the truth as they saw it. Bishop Potter
recently said that reform work in New
York was not hindered so much by open op-
position as by the Indifference of those who
should be friends to reform. 1t is claimed
that the present movement is but furry,
and will soon pass over. Be that as it may,
every move for the right has its effect and
the evil comes out from every contest weak
ened. If the saloon comes again to the
front it will come back weaker than before,
and this will continue until it comes for the
last time. We should believe in God, in the
law and in the authority of law. Shame on
half-hearted. indolent men. Lukewarmness
is fit only for the fate accorded to it by the
Apostle in the Scripture: $50 then because
thou art luke-warm, and neither cold nor
hot, | will spew thee out of my mouth"
Rev. G. E. Edgett spoke at the Methodist
church last Sunday forenoon on "Christ
weeping over the city, He drew vivid
word picture of the Saviour standing on the
Mount of Olives and weeping over the sins
OF jerusalem The heart of Jesus was
moved at the sight of the city given over to
intexible obstinaey, inveterate hostility and
every symptom of degeneracy. The city
was then tiourishing and opulent, and Jesus
was making his last visit there He saw
the curtains of the future part, and reveal
the hosts of the Romans encompassing the
city. He saw brothers battling with broth
erS in the streets. He saw the final fall of
Jerusalem. The city had it's day of grace,
but that day had passed and this was the
day of blindness. 1t may be asked whether
the unobtrusive character of his visit was
any excuse for Jerusalem. There is the
ignorance which we cannot help and for
which God does not hold us responsible.
There is also the ignorance, and a great
deal of it, for which we ourselves are alone
responsible. This was the case with the
men at Jerusalem. Had they listened to
the Prophets they would have seen in Jesus
the Divine visitor they had been expecting
Jerusalem owed her destruction to the
fanaticism and obstinate blindness of her
citizens. This most solemn section of full
filled prophecy has lessons for u.s. What
was true of Jerusalem is true of the cities
of our day. There are three times in the
history of a city: time of visitation,
time of blindness and time of judgment
L believe this is a time of blindness for
many cities of America. The sad and
mournful scenes of Jerusalem are being
enacted in many an American city to-day
We are accustomed to think of the cities of
the olden time as more corrupt than those
of to-day, but our larger cities give evil
dence OF as great corruption and moral
degeneracy as did any cities of the past.
In our little city of Relfast we see the in
flexible obstinacy, the inveterate hostility
and the objectionable Indifference to law,
order and decency, which characterized
Jerusalem. Is it our day of visitation OF of
blindness? Mr.. Edgett here referred to the
scornful Indifference of the people in re-
gard to the enforcement of the laws against
gambling and the sale of liquor, cigarettes,
etc. Jesus weepS over our little city. Let
us weep with him. There are those among
us from whose eyes the colored glasses of
prejudice have fallen and we see things as
they are. Has the sight left us insensible
or unmoved? With Christ, the weeping
was the forerunner of working. Men say,
eve cannot cleanse the city, so do not try
/ brand all such talk as treason to God and
a SANDER on humanity. We may not save
the benighted reprobate in his rush to per-
ditiOn, but we may prevent him from taking
others with him. Let US hope that this is
our day of visitation and not of blindness
We see the dawn of better day. Let us
our city aldermen and council
men for their action OH the question of order
and law enforcement, and do all in our DOW
er to encourage our officers in the perform
ance of their duty The new county at
torney, our city marshal, the sheriff and