Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1904-10-21

low. but mighty nice" IL is on account
of this tendency of the human race TO
judge mans sins differently from wom-
ans sins that we often find men in
public places Boosting of their evil
deeds as though they were the signs
of true manhood and nobility. A few
weeks ago l was riding I'm n California
railroad train opposite two men. One
was famous eastern contractor.
What was my amaZement to find that
his conversation was divided into al
most equal parts. The one was to tell
his companion the hard work he was
doing 10y the day. and the other was to
tell how many times he got drunk by
night and how he could outdrink every
one OF his business associates with
whom he was accustomed to deal Had
any woman dared in public car to
acknowledge such debaucheries every
man, woman and child sitting within
sound of her voice would have looked
upon her as a moral leper, to be shun-
ned as much as the eastern lepers.
who with sticks and stones are driven
forth from the babitations of man and
quarantined by themselves as meuaces
to the public safety.
Deal Justly with the Errinx.
The highest compliment which in
chivalric times could be given about a
father was, Ills daughters were all
virtuous and his sons were all brave"
But why should not the sons be yirtu-
GUS as we'll as the daughtersl And
yet. man-O bitter man, o censorious
and guilty man-thOu art ready to con-
denim thy sister when thou art not
ready to condemn myself. Joseph Par
ker in one of his great addresses de-
scribes n brother minister who had
driven an erring and yet repentant
daughter away from his home Joseph
Parker pleaded and prayed with the
angry father to take her back. but
she has disgraced my home" said he
u cannot, l will not take her back"
But, man." said Joseph Parker, lin
your younger days have not you your
self also been guilty Of sinf' yes"
said the father. but 1 am a man and
she is Il woman. The world judges
mans sins differently from n woman's
Sins" THAT is So" said Parker. Man
mans sins, but Christ judges both the
sins the same. He that is without sin
among you, let him first cast n stone
at her."
Another characteristic of the divine
law is that ii recognizes no distinction
Of rank or station. AS the divine law
makes no distinction between sexes,
it also makes no distinction between
the sins OF the upper and the lower
social classes. 1t does not have one
criminal code for the palace and
another for the hut. 1t does not have
one for the wealthy Wall street finan-
cier who manipulates the railroad
stock and waters" it and cheats thou
sands OF small investors out of their
all, and another for the groceryman
who has false weights and never sends
full pound of coffee or tea or sugar
TO his customers when they pay for n
full pound. 1t does not have one set
Of rules for the wife OF the millionaire
who hides her diamonds and watches
and Jewelry in her dress to escape the
scrutiny OF the New York custom
house officials, which jewelry she is
bringing TO her American friends after
n European trip, and another set OF
rules Cor the newsboy who steals n
loaf OF bread out OF the bakery wagon
when the driver is away selling his
goods at a kitchen door. In other
words, what the divine law condemns
in Eomespun IL condemns In broad.
cloth. When il says Thou shalt not
TO the plebeian, 1t also says Thou
shalt not'' to the aristocrat. What il
denounces I'm the heart OF the serf
IL also denOunces in the heart OF the
ruler sitting upon the kings throne,
or OF the judge sitting upon the chief
Justices bench OF the supreme court.
or OF the premier governing in state
craft as Joseph did i'm Egypt, or as
Bismarck did in Germany. or as Glad
stone did in the British parliament
No Distinction Between Classes.
Do you believe God discriminates be-
tween the sins OF the social classes?
II you do, let me by the scene OF my
text disabuse your mind OF that sur
mise. Come, let us push our way
through the multitudes crowding in
the temple and find out who compose
that group. Who are those strong, fine
looking men standing in front of
Christ? They are not insignificant
clerks. They are not laborers or farm
ers who have come into town with
dust begrimed clothes. They are not
hirelings or beggars or men and wom-
en- who from perpetual movings have
become tramps and vagabonds. Most
or that group just in front OF Christ
have keen intellectual faces. They
have In their physical movements the
actions OF successful men. They have
In the glance OF their eyes the search
Ing power which bespeaks command.
Those men," wrote Dr. Strong, were
the scribes. They were the doctors of
the law and the interpreters Of the
Scripture" These other men are the
Pharisees. They were so particular TO
keep themselves outwardly unspotted
from heather customs that they car
ried extracts from the Hebrew law
about with them in little boxes or
phylacteries. They had these boxes
strapped to their foreheads that all
men might see them. But when these
men, these leaders of Jerusalem, were
standing there condemning poor out
cast woman for her sins Christ In ST.
lence was making figures upon the
ground with his fingers In which they
might read their own condemnation.
What Jesus Christ was writing upon
the ground is not recorded; but, though
We may never know on earth those ex-
act words I have a good deal nf Gym,
pathy with that evangelist who said
that Christ was writing the evil his
tory of each scribe and Pharisee while
they were speaking against the sobbing
culprit. No sooner did the first scribe
begin TO talk than Christ began to
write, as though he had set down these
words: Lawyer, you are not living
with your wife. She has left you on
account of your dissOluteness. She Is
now gone back to her fathers home.
For what are you condemning this wo-
man? For your own sin?" No sooner