Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-10-12
PREACHERS IN POLITICS.

eli against the Methodist bishops VINO
have taken an active part in the cam
paign for the defeat OF Speaker Can
non The Northwestern Christian Nd
vocate pointedly remarks that the cri-
tics would have had hard time deal
ing With Moses, Elijah. Isaiah and 9TH
or Old Testament prophets, If they had
tried to silence them, ard then goes on
to show that from the earliest settle
1nent OF America, ministers of the gos-
pei have taken a leading part in mold
Ing the political opinion of the people.
It quotes authority for this statement:
1.-The Puritan preachers, says Loss
ing, promulgated the doctrine OF CIVIL
liberty. that the sovereign was amen
able to the tribunal of public opinion,
and ought to conform In practice TO
the expressed will of the people. BY
degrees their pulpits became the tr-
Dunes of the common people, and on
nll occasions the Puritan ministers
were the bold asserters OF that freedom
which the American Revolution estab-
lshed. SO influential and authoritative
were their teachers that 1t IS said of
i one of them, John Cotton, that what
he preached on the Lords day was fol-
lowed by the Synod, and that what he
preached in the Thursday lecture was
followed by the General Court,
During revolutionary days the minis
tiers contributed more than any other
class toward the achievement of indie
pendence.
Ito the clergy says Charles Fran
els Adams, as the foundation of knowl-
edge and possessing the gifts most
4 priced in the communicate other ranks
Z in society most Cheerfully gave place. II
a political question was In agitation,
the minister was among the first whose
opinion was to be consulted
Their (the clergy patriotism was
thing of general admiration. They rea-
i soned themselves and the country out
Of all hesitancy and scruples, as they
& knew how to reason; and the depth and
T sway of their influence in achieving the
Independence of the colonies cannot be
too highly extolled
The Advocate gives several istances
Of effective sermons. Says our contem-
porary:
Among the most distinguished Of the
e political preachers Of that time was
Rev. DIR. Jonathan Mayhem, whom
Robert Treat Paine called tho father OF
civil and religious liberty in Massa-l
chusetts and America. On August -,
1865, he preached sermon in MS
church. in Boston, against the Stamp
sentiments, and Expressed the most
thorough views of the nature of CIVIL
II government, John Adams called it
the morning gun Of the Revolutions In
a letter written on Sunday morning
infJune, 1856, to Otis, Mayhem wrote
You have heard of the communion Of
the Churches; while l was thinking of
this in my bed, the great use and im-
pOrtanccs of the communion OF the colo
MES appeared to me in a striking light.
n Would 1t not be decorous in our AS
scnbly to send circulars to all the rest,
expressing a desire to cement Il union
among ourselves. 1t may be the only
means of perpetuating our liberties.
This suggestion of more perfect
union for the common defense says
Bancroft, originating with Mayhew.
was the first public expression OF that
future union which has been the glory
4 of the American republic; and 1t came.
from a clergyman on a Sabbath morn
ing, under the inspira ton of heaven
In 1864 Mayhem wrote: 1t is my fixed
resolution ITO do all can for the ser
vice of my country; that neither lne
republic nor the churches of New Eng
land may sustain injury. Having been
initiated in youth in tho doctrines of.
civil liberty, as they We're taught by
such men as Plato, Demosthenes, CT,
cero, and other renowned persons
among. the ancients, and such as sid
anson. Tho ,noderns / liked them. they
saay,sd ra+inna1 And having Learned,
+ TronS he IJniv' Scriptures that wise.
1,,,.e and ,,i,,tuoI,s men we're ALWAYS
f,iende RI liberfv. that Cod gave tie
1araaIite. a ,sine in His anpe,. hecause
1be,y b.,d Nj sensa and virtue enough
~ fIi,sn : froa y ,.onrur,nw ealth. that
S,,bare tbe sni,.i+s az thr ord Is there IL
,ita1ty.i tt,ie mada mo conclude Itha,
sra.aon, l,ae !, pre., + btess,np, and he
e. ,,r,ci.i nod q fro,n, his Mint - n
W.rbay, s.,vare llyinr in This, nee. and
assailinr the saloon as no certainly
,.sn,,l5 an he wo,Sid la told nv saloon.
Lee,s,s and even hv some others that Il
,,,as 'his rl,,tv r., nra,,,i, the trosnel and
4. ,,rf "a S,nedaIe IN no1itirs
The Advocate. further, mentions sew
eral instances of ministers elected to
ote.as W. ,ota e,;,.
49,
Not only have American ministers in
former days preached politics. but some
of them have been candidates, for office
and have been elected Rev Jacob
Green, DID, a Presbyterian clergyman
of New Jersey was elected member
of the Provincial Congress, which set
aside the royal government of that
province. and was chairman of the
eointn.ttee "iscn arataea tne ofig i,h,i
~, $3.50 W 49, Z, !, -.