The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-02-12

the surveyor to remove his compass
and take other bearings. The sup
posed cause of such decentralization,
or unsteadiness, of the needle. is the
presence of a liquid or metal that at
tracts Cor as 1t were adde's it,. SO
that for the time. it ceases to be re-
liable.
1t is q curious fact. yet. neverthe-
less a fact, that some men who, Al
home. are very moral, and stand pat
on the right side of all moral ques-
tons, get demoralized when sent TO
the Legislature, and, instead of being
true to principle and steady in pur-
pose, they begin to waver
When / vote for man who says
he Is a Christian and believes in the
Bible, who acknowledges that the
good of mankind depends upon the
purity of home life, the sacredness OF
the marriage relation, the removal OF
temptations and the promotion of edu'
cation, / have a right to expect that
he will. under all circumstances. ad-
here to those PRINCIPLES, and do all
he can, in debate. as well as by vote.
to enact such laws as will make his
home. his neighborhood. as well as all
other homes and neighborhoods, bet
ter and happier. l have right to ex-
pect that he will speak and act In
the Legislature just as he would
speak and act in church conference
or in his family circle.
do not know what the Legislature
will do in reference to divorces. nor
can / forecast its actions upon the
other moral questions that are. and
may come, before it; but / Will say
this much, and / think it will be the
truth, that if the members vote here
as they talked at home and as they
were understood to be at home. they
IL IL 1..r 4
be in line with the express teaching
of Christ: and they will not take any
backward step with regard to any
moral question, which has for it's OBJ
ject the protection of home. society
and the purity of the church. They
will not allow themselves to be drawn
aside by any considerations; but. true
to themselves. their families. their
communities, their Sunday schools.
and their churches. they will SO legis-
late as that Gods approval may rest
upon them.
Some people are SO imprudent as TO
try to prejudice questions. sometimes.
by sneeringly alluding to the women
and the preachers as fanatics There
are some men claiming TO be very
valorous. who can be scared out OF
their boots by an insinuation that they
are being Influenced by women and
preachers. They imagine that they
are "broad-minded.' very liberal in
their views, patriotic and all that, and
evidently regard it as mark of states
manship to be neutrals on all moral
Questions-that is, to give upright
eousness and equal showing with
an equality with Christ. 1t makes me
think mighty little of man when L
see him, for the sake of popularity. or
in consideration of a fee. pleading the
cause of immortality, thereby strength
ening the kingdom of Satan and
weakening the kingdom of Christ.
There are too many of that sort.
which accounts for the growth of i'm
morality and infidelity in the land,
and the consequent increase of crime
of all kinds. IT the so-called--the
professed Christian-would always
keep In mind the thought. that, in
every place and under all circum-
stances, he is a representative.
steward of Christ, and that Christ's
stronger by his life, he could not. if
honest, be coaxed or hired to waver az
to his duty and his glorious privilege.
I never saw but one man who had
the boldneSS, or rather the foOl-hardi-
ness, to speak out on this line. He
was member of church and really
the moneyed man of that congrega-
he pleased. / went to the little town
in which he lived (hes dead now.
and called on him first of all. as / was
TO make a temperance speech in his
church. He SHE'D off, as l tried TO get
close to him--he seemed to be very
busy; and would reply to my remarks
in monosyllables, when he replied at
all. which was very seldom. A.
length I cornered him and called him
thrn n ors hr,t he a.
brother me; on the contrary he en-
phasized the MISTER" giving me 70
understand that ! was no kin TO him.
in the Lord, or otherwise. Not to be
outdone, l said: Brother Jinks. as
members of the church of Christ we
have a great work to do, and l ain
glad 1 have the opportunity to visit
your town and assist you In the good
work OF temperance"
1--WE got nothing to do with it." he
said by way of chopping me off.
Eyes. but" said 1, "as the disciples
of Jesus, We cannot afford to do less
than try to advance His kingdom"
~ amt got nothing TO do but look
after number one-every tub must
ztand on its bottoms"
But" / replied. eve ought to try
to save the rising generation from the
awful effects of the grog shops"
Let the. rising generation. as you
call It," said he. "look out for them
selves as I had to do
"At any rate said I. 1--WE ought to
try to break up the grog shops
mo we ought'n." he answered rath-
er crustily. Its right for them to
be here. or they wouldn't be here"
"I have an idea, Brother links"
said I, "that the devil set UP the
and that he is running the
liquor business to ruin souls
LET him run it," he said. III
tend to my business and he can tend |
to his'n. I never like to interfere with |
m other mans business. If we break |
up the bar-rooms we'll injure the de-
Wis business. If he'll let me alone In |
let him alone"
"You may let him alone. but" said |
[. she will not let you alone" Ana |
with that left him, and don't think |
we ever conversed with each other |
any more. He died a few years ago. |!
; drunkard. having been turned out |
Of the church and having lost much |
IF his property. His sons followed |
him and, they, too. lie in drunkard's |
graves.
Let us be what we pretend to be. |
1t home, on the street. in business. in
he Legislature and everywhere.
u