Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1901-07-26

upon society I know not, nor whether
He will do it by fire or hurricane or
earthquake; but a holy God do not
think will stand it much longer. I be-
lieve the thunderbolts are kissing hot.
and that when God comes to chastise
the community for these sins, against
which He has uttered Himself more
bitterly than against any other, the
fate of Sodom and Gomorrah will be
tolerable as compared with the fate
of our modern society, which knew
better. but did worse.
We want about 10000 pulpits in
America to thunder: "All adulterers
| and whoremongers shall have their
place in the hell that burneth with fire
and birthstone, which is the second
death" 1t is hell on earth and hell
forever. We have got to understand
that iniquity on Columbia heights or
Fifth avenue or Beacon hill is as
damnabl in the sight of God as it is
in the slums. Whether it has canopied
couch of eiderdown or dwells amid
| the putridity of low tenement house,
God is after it in His vengeance. Yet
| the pulpit of the Christian church has
been SO cowed down on this subject
that it hardly dares speak. and men
are almost apologize when they read
| the Ten Commandments.
| Then look at the destinations
around assassination. There are in
all communities men who have taken
the lives of others unlawfully, not as
executioners of the law, and they
go scot free. You say they had their
provocations. God gave life, and He
also has a right to take it, and He
may take it by visitation of Providence
| or by an executioner of the law, who
| is His messenger. But when man
assumes that Divine prerogative he
touches the lowest depth of crime.
Society is alert for certain kinds of
murder. If citizen going along the
road at night is waylaid and slain by
a robber, we all want the villain ar
rested and executed. For all CARROT
ing. for all beating out of life by a
club or an ak Or a slungshot, the law
has quick spring and heavy stroke; I
but you know that when men get af-
fluent and high position and they
avenge their wrongs by taking the
lives of others, great sympathy is ex-
cited, lawyers plead, ladies weep,
judge halts, jury is bribed and the man
goes free. If the verdict happen to be
against him, a new trial is called on
| adjourn for witnesses that never come,
and adjourn and adjourn until the
community has forgotten all about it,
and then the prison door opens and
the murderer goes free.
Now, if capital punishment be right,
I say let the life of the polished MUIR
derer go with the life of the vulgar
assassin. Let us have no partially of
ga1loTvs, aristocracy of electrocu-
ton chair. Do not let US float back
to barbarism, when every man was his
own judge, jury and executioner, and
that man had the supremacy who had
| the sharpest knife and the strongest
arm and the quickest step and the
| stealthiest revenge. He who willfully
and in hatred takes the life of another
is murderer, 1 care not what the
provocation or the circumstances. He
may be cleared by an enthusiastic
courtroom, he may be sent by the gov
eminent of the United States as min
lister to some foreign court, or mod
ern literature may polish the crime I'M
til it looks like heroism; but in the
sight of God murder is murder, and the
judgment day will so reveal it.
There are hundreds of young men
who have good blood. Shall ask three
|
habits as good as when you left your
fathers house? Have you pool ticket
in your pocket? Have you fraudu-
lent document? Have you been exper-
imenting to see how accurate an imi
tation you could make of your en-
ployer's signature? Oh, you have good
blood. Remember your fathers
prayers. Remember your mothers
example. Turn not in an evil way.
Have you been going astray? Come
back. Have you ventured out too far?
At Brighton Beach or Long Branch
you have seen men go down into the
surf to battle, and they waded out
farther and farther, and you got anx-
ious about them. You said: II won
der if they can swim?'' And you then
stood and shouted: "Come back! Come
back! You will be drowned!" They
waved their hand back, saying: mo
danger They kept on wading deeper
down and farther out from shore, I'M
til after awhile great wave with
strong undertow took them out, their
corpses the next day washed on the
beach. So see men wading down into
sin farther and farther, and I call to
them: "Come back! Come back! You
will be lost! You will be LOST" They
wave their hand back, saying: mo
danger; no danger" Deeper down
and deeper down, until after awhile
wave sweeps them off forever. Oh.
come back! The one farthest away
may come.
| "Oh,'' you say, "you don't know
where I came from; you don't know
what my history has been; you don't
. know what iniquity I have plotted. 1