Evening journal., 1901-05-02

been pope if ne had fallen in with the
venal spirit Of his times; but there
would have been no reformation. John
WESLEY might have been archbishop %
Canterbury il he had bowed TO pre-
liudice. and preached to please; but
There would have been no Methodlsm
las 1t was these men took into their
lpulpits the whole life of the people.
l'rhey opened up every subject Of i'm
lportance which came before the public
They never dropped an issue because
lit had to do with politics. In our own
history we have had repeated instances
of the power Of a faithful pulpit.
John Adams wrote from Philadel-
phia, The clergy here of all denomi-
nations thunder and tighten every
Sunday; and he declared that May
lhew's sermon on the stamp act was
''the morning gun of the revolution.
Headley says, "The teachings of the pull
pit of Lexington caused the first blow TO
be struck for American Independence.
Washington requested the ministers to
preach in a manner appropriate to the
tines
III Christian ministers had not
preached and prayed there might have
been no revolution as yet" said
Charles Francis Adams. They met
with violent opposition from distracted
parishes, and preached under menaces
of martyrdom; but they seemed like
the old prophets, master spirits raised
up to mould the destines OF mankind"
Forty years ago the pulpit Of this land
did similar good work. President Lin
coin said that 1.-The sheet anchor OF the
cause of the Union in the darkest days
of the war clung to the pulpits Of the
Northern and Western States"
But it may be objected. your
Master never meddled with politics. "
He did. Like the prophets before him
he condemned the rulers and parties
of his day with scathing severity. With
singing brevity he characterized
Herod, the great political boss" of his
time, as that fox" At the popular
but corrupt party OF the Pharisees he
hurled the sevenfold lightning of his
seven times uttered. Woe unto you. -
He took up the great moral issue of
divorce. repealed the law of Moses, and
gave a new law that allowed divorce
for one cause only, saying. "WhOsOever
shall put away his wife, except it be
for fornication and shall marry
another. committeth adultery"
you will create prejudice" says
another objector. Very likely But
Jesus said, Il came not to send peace
but a sword, and hesaid. What l tell
you in darkness, that speak ye in light;
and what ye hear in the ear that preach
ye upon the housetops.' What shall a
minister do with his convictions? Shall
he air them guardedly in private and
social circles. but keep them carefully
under cover when he speaks officially,
or in a public way, lest he should tread
on somebody's toes? 1t was not for
this. that God ordained him, but that
he might stand out boldly for truth and
honor. for the ten commandments, for
the sermon on the mount, for the
Lords prayer. for the Golden Rule, for
lChrist, and the kingdom Of heaven.
II may be easy TO mistake the FOOLS
cap for the martyrs crown. yet thar
liability ought not to make him q
craven and q coward. He who follows
Christ cannot go about whispering e
men, and patting them, while they
practice their iniquities. He must say
what he believes he ought to say. Con-
victlon is Gods whispered command tc
speak the truth. That truth needs to
be spoken with discretion, and under
the guidance OF common sense, but ii
never needs a blanket.
But the minister who is thus out.
spoken, who calls sin sin even when Il
wears a cloak OF politics, will be abused
and vilifed, and prehaps prosecuted.
| Verify. IF they have called the Mas
ter of the house Beelzebub, how muci
more shall they call them of his house
hold?' The man who strives agains
the works of unrighteousness canno
expect to be at peace with the friends
Of unrighteousness. The preacher VIII
speaks the whole truth must expec
his modest share of calumniation.
will at least be said Of him that he il
a fool and a meddler: that he 4
Jealous but unbalanced; we'll meaning
but not practical. He may be right il
all he says and does, but angry criti
cism will be poured upon him. f.
this he need not care, and he will no
care. Better obloquy than obliquity
No preacher who has not lost his man
hood. and who is not an unutterabl
DOltrOon, will be moved from III
course a hairs breadth by any storr
Of wrath and criticism. If he can Onl
be brave and good tempered. and sur
p Of his facts. honest minded. stead
going people will be with him. H
will have the best reward that an
man can have. the chiefest always of
p minister's rewards, the satisfaction {
having done some good. Let us be sur
= that we are not meddling with wins
does not concern us when we insil
D upon political righteousness. We hay
1 right to meddle with the moral n
] lations of every course and calling
D which men engage. The moral we
|, fare Of the whole community is OF
d concern. When hand joins hand
y wrong doing then it is our bushes
S Why? Because we are ministers; b.
e cause we are citizens; because we al
d men; because it is our business
e judge things by the law of eternal re
, titude by the law of conscience, by d
IS law of God. We may not know nun
e about politics as a trade, we might n
d make very successful politicians, b
d we know right and wrong. We are n
ID blind TO the slow tracings of the Etc
" nal Mind" and we can weight, not on