The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1903-02-14
A LAFAYETTE COUNTY BOY.
What the Cleveland Press Says Of Rev.
c. h. ~PIattenburg.

Rev. Charles Plattenburg and tn,
following quotation from a recen
sermon:
Among they unger clergymen of tb,
city who are doing G, I'd practica
work is Rev. G. II. Plattenburg, who
came 10 lbe Franklin Circle Church OF
~brist only a few months ago and hat
already won the hearts Of its SOC
members. Rev. Plattenburg is 81
years Of age and has started with the
idea that a l-rge portion of his success
rests upon the god he can do week
days, And q hard worker he IS.
Some idea OF bis preaching can be got
from the following condensation of his
sermon Of Sunday evening:
"Why hast thou then broken down
her hedges. so that all they which
pass by the way do puck herP The
boar u Of the woods doth waste it
and the wild beast of the field doth
nevour n."-PS Xxx; II, 10.
By this homely expression, the in.
spired writer sets forth the bad in
huences which IN olden time broke in
upon Gods heritage-represented as
swine tramplIng upon and uprooting
the vineyards of prosperity. The
world would long since have been
paradise regained had the boar not
wasted 1t and the wild beasts deyoured
il. Not time but man is the great
destroyer. History Is full of the ruins
Of cities and empires, all the result of
mans greed. Ruskin says, time IS
scytheless and toothless; it is we
who gnaw like the worm; ne who
smite like the scythe. Fancy what
treasures would be ours today if the
delicate statues and temples of the
Greeks; if the broad roads and massive
walls of the Romans; II the noble
architecture, ca5tles and towns of the
middle ages had not been ground to
dust by bind rage of man. 1t is
man that is me consumer; he is moth
and mildew and flame.
"As in the material world. so in the
spiritual, man is the great destroyer.
l propose to point out to you some
men who are more dangerous TO society
than the anarchist and the leper.
"First--The man who ~specuIates in
necessities. The modern Jacob,
shrewd, polite, conscienceless. who
takes advantage Of his brother 8 hun
ger and nakedness 10 fleece him and
buys his birthright for a mess of
pottsge, a loaf of bread or a bucket of
coal, and then laughs at his discom.
future. Then, be had a corner on
pottage, and Esau was hungry. The
price goes up; the hungry man must
eat. Now, he sits upon the board Of
trade, and bulls the market because
corn IS scarce; or runs a factory, and
hides behind a tariff with his infant
Industries, and bulges prices and
squeezes labor until he becomes a
multl-milllonaire. He puts his iron
hand upon every pound of meat, every
bushel of coal, and every man, N
and child in America must pay him
tribute, Such a man is a greater
enemy to his country than an anarchist
or a bomb thrower.
"Secondly-The man who fattens
on the vices OF the people. The saloon
keeper, who sells beer and wine and
absinthe and whisky and punch and a
thou and vile decoctions, brewed, dis.
titled, mixed, doctored, diluted, cheap
ened and poisoned. Messes that burn
the stomach, and stagger the brain,
and fire the nerves, and bloat the body,
and pollute the morals, and beastlly
the face, aud shorten the life, and
damn the soul. The man who comes
to the poor girl, oveIworked and un-
derpaid, and, by offers of money, ease
and luxury, robs her Of her woman
hood and virtue.
"Tbirdly-The inGdel, who robs
man of bis hope aud gives in return a
beautiful eulogy on whisky, and at last
writes advising suicide. A woman
that lost her faith after hearing Colonel
Ingersoll, wrote to the great pagan at
the time Of the death Of her husband
tor a word Of comfort. In reply he
wrole. i wish | could say something
10 put a star in the night Of your grief
"a little flower in your path This
sounds very pretty, but to the grief
STRICKEN woman whose soul, baptized