The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-12-23
AZ RIGHTEOUS CITY
DR. ANDERsoN,s SUBJECT FOR LAST
 ADDRESs.
Delivered Last of . Series of Many
 Addresses te Yeung Men 7 At Nontgomery Y. M.

Before an aditorium crowded with the young men of the city. pr. Neal |. Anderson yesterday afternoon delivered his last address at the Montgomery Young Mems Christian Association bee fore he leaves thsscity for Winston. N. C., where he goes to accept the call to the First Presbyterian Church of that place.
 During the sixteen years of his pas torate at the Central Presbyterian Church of this city. pr. Anderson has been actively connected with the up- building of the plant of the local as- sociation, and has kept in active touch with the young men of the city. And 1t was with the keenest regret that the young men assembled yesterday after noon to hear probably the last of pr. Anderson's talks.
 pr. Anderson took his text from Isaiah t:26, and continued to show the connection of religion and civic rights. He showed the fallacy of ''the opinion held by many that religion was not concerned with civic interests. and told of the attempt in Isaiah's time to divorce religion from the daily inter- ests of the people, of the civic crimes bribery, corruption of justice. and the indifference to. the rights of the poor being apologized for by the multitude of sacrifices and temple treading.' the Hebrew for church going.
 He then told of the modern attempt to widen the gulf they have fixed be- tween religion and civic life. shutting the former up for six days in the week behind the doors of the church in order please In the streets of the city.
 The speaker then showed the con fusion existing between Ecclesiasticisnl and religion and civic life. Tt Is ec- clesiasticism in politics, not patriotism that should be divorced. While free. dom from the dominion of priest craft and eccleciasticism Is one essential element of civic and religious liberty. a discontinuance of the application of civil as well as individual. must re- suit in the breaking down of Demo- cracy itself"
 The speaker then discussed the City of Righteousness. the city where there are wise and just laws. The relation of environment and law was touched upon with the observation that one cannot make Q people good by legis- iation. and quoted Gladstone's saying that the perfect city was where Tt was made as easy as possible for man to do right. and as difficult as possible for him to do evil"
 Legislation cannot bring in the mill lenium or save men. but can safe- guard life from many perils that threaten its destruction. One cannot prevent whiskey drinking, but it can prevent it's sale. Legislation cannot prevent men from falling into sins. but the endorsements of laws against gambling would cut the tap root of an evil that is blighting home and de- stroying characters. it cannot prevent impurity, but it can shut the doors of her, whose house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death, and whose guests are in the depths of hell.
 A city where the law was enforced was then presented to the audience.
 Tn conclusion. pr. Anderson said that Those interested in the main tainance of the present order of things say such city of righteousness Is an Utopian dream. It is so only when men fail to realize the relative value of things. When they come to realize that moral sanitation. a clean city. that Is free from contamination of moral plague spots is of more importance than immunity from yellow fever oi small pox, then, the sources of con. tagion which have long been con- demned by all good men, will have reached their day. of doom.
 "The spirit of righteousness is in the heart of the individual and>is the true