The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-08-24
TOWN AND COUNTRY.
DR.. TALMAGE TALKS OF THE GOOD
DONE BY CITIES
They are the Birthplace of CfyiliZa-
ton and Are Not Necessarily EVIL.
h Farmer as Dishonest as n
EN-

N0RANO- LII "a
ed by the emperor and empress n
the empress dowager, Dr.
sends this discourse, in which ne shows
the mighty good that may be done by
the cities, and also the vast evil they
may do by their allurements to the un-
suspecting and the ungnarded. The
text is Zechariah I, II, My cities
through prosperity shall yet be spread
abroad"
The city is no worse than the coun-
try. The vices of the metropolis are
more evident than the vices Of the rural
districts because there are more 10 De
bad if they wish to be. The mer-
chant is as good as the farmer. There
Is no more cheating in town ina out
of oWn-n worse cheating; II IS only
on a larger scale. n countrSladn
Simetimes preYaricates about the age
of the horse hat he sells, about the
size of the bushel with when
he measures the grain, about the
peaches at the bottom of the basket as
being as large as those at the TOP,
about the quarter of beef as oelng
tender when it is tough, and to as bad
an extent as the citizen, the merchant,
prevaricates about calicoes or Silks
or
And as to villages, l think that in
some respects they are worse than the
cities because they copy the vices OF
the cities in the meanest shape, ana
as to gossip it's heave is a country VII
lage. Everybody know everybodys
business better han ne knows II him
self. The grocery store or the black
smith shop by day and night is the
grand depot for masculine title tattIe,
and there are always in the village a
--h Av-n CIIn
bonnetS hanging near, 50 that at the
first item of derogatOry news they can
fly out and cackle it all over n town.
C~Ountrymen must not be too hard IN
their criticism of the citizen, nor must
the pillow run too sharply against the
yardstick
Cain was the founder of the first
city, and 1 suppose il took after him
in morals. 1t takes a city a long while
to escape from the character of a foun-
der. Where the founders of a city are
criminal eXiles, the filth, the vice, the
prisons, are the shadow of those foun-
ders. II will take centuries for New
York to get over the good influence
of the pious founders of that cIty-the
founders whose went up in the
streets where now banks discount ano
brokers bargain and companies declare
dividends and smugglers swear custom
house lies, and above the roar OF the
WneclS ana Lne CEdCh VI ~ duSN4OLC1A
malIet ascends the Inscription. I'VE
worship thee, o thou almighty dollar!'
The old church that used to stand or
Wall street is to this day throwing its
blessings on the scene of traffic and or
all the ships folding their white wings
in the harbor. In other days people
gathered in cities for defense-non
but the poor, who had nothing to b.
stolen, lived in the country, but IL
these times, when through civilization
and Christianity it is safe to live n
where, people gather in the cities 70,
rpose of rapid gain.
HIGHWAY OF PROSPERITY.
Cities are not evil necessarily, a.
some have argued. They have bsel
the birthplace of civilization. In then
popular liberty has lifted its voice
Witness Genoa and Pisa and Venice
After the death of Alexander the Grea
among his papers were found eXten
sive plans of cities, some to be bull
in Europe, some to be built in Asia
The cities in Europe were to be occu
pied by ASiatics; the cities in ASH
were to be occupied according 10 hi
plans, by Europeans, and so ther'
should be a commingling and a frater
nifty and a kindness and a good VIII
between the continent and between IN
cities. So there always ought to be
The StrangeSt thing in my comprenen
sion is that there should be pickering:
and riValries among our American cit
les. New York must stop caricatur1ns
Philadelphia, and Philadelphia mus
stop picking at New York, and certain
" hi continent is large enough for st
Paul Of Minneapolis. What is good
for one city is good for all the cities
Here is the great highway of our ma
tional prosperity. On that highway
of national prosperit- walk the cities
A city win large forehead and great
brain-that is Boston; a city with de-
liberate step and calm manner-tha
IS Philadelphia; a city with Its poke
full of change-that Is New York; two
cities going with a rush that astounds
h continent-they are St. Louis anc
Chicago; a city hat takes its wife and
children along with it-that is Brook
Ign. Cincinnati, Louisville, Pittsburg
all the cities the north and all the cit
les OF the south, some distinguished fol
one thing, some for another, one fol
professional ability, another for aff1u-
nee, another for fashion, but not one
to be spared. What advantages one
advantages all. What damages Boston
Common damages Washington square
Laurel Hill, Mount Auburn, Green
wood, weep over the same grief. The
statue of Benjamin Franklin in New
York greeting the bronze statue OF
Edward Everett in Boston. All the
cities q confraternity. 1 cannot under
SlaQQ now InGTS S1Oulu So VII OAShCA
ings and rivalries- I plead for a high.
er style of brotherhood or sisterhooc
among b cities.
IMPORTANT LESSON.
But while there are great difference
in some respects ] have to tell you tina,
all cities impress upon me n ougn'
&c impress upon you three or four very
important lessons, all of them agree
Eng in the same thing. 1t does no
make any difference in what part o.
the country We walk he streets OF 9
great city there is one lesson / thinE
which ought 10 strike every intelligent
Christian man and hat is that the
world is a scene OF toll and struggle
Here and there o find a man in thu
street who has his arms folded and WHO
seems to have no particular errand
but If you will stand at the corner OF
fine street and watch the countenance:
of those who go by you will see in mos
Instances there is an intimation thai