The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1909-03-09
A TIMELY WARNG.
Rev. Mr.. Macon Refers to the Re-
firing President.


firing President.
Preaching on Sunday, Feb. 18th, in
the South Street Presbyterian church
on The Message of Amos to Modern
Life" Rev. Alexander MacColl said in
the course of his sermon
You must have noticed, I am sure,
how singular the resemblance between
the conditions which stirred the soul
of Amos centuries before Christ, and
many Of the conditions of our over.ripe
civilization to day. Again we are liv-
ing in an age when wealth revels in
vulgar display, when multitudes of
men think in terms of cash and under
stand no other values, when multi
tudeS recognize no responsibility to
God or man, and when corruption,
graft and sensuality are staining and
starving the souls Of men and lifting
the fist of persistent insolence to
heaven. All thought of life as a
thing of divine meaning, all thought
of responsibility to God and man, is
simply outside the horizon of vast
numbers of our people. To them life
is gambia mere throw of the dice,
bargain to be won, game to be en-
joyed. True, the voice of Amos has
been heard in our land in recent times
from many lips in many spheres of
services; not always a pleasant voice,
at times an exceedingly tiresome voice,
but nevertheless voice resonant with
righteousness and courage and respon-
sibility.
The president of the United States,
who retires this week from Office, goes
out unmourned by multitudes of
strong and earnest men who are weary
of his loquacity, his autocracy and his
incessant pickering, and are eager for
rest. But twenty-five years from
now it will be realized that this man
has uttered anew to this generation
with tremendous force large part Of
the message of the prophet Amos.
This was not an age for the silent
man, or the pacific man. We may
smile to-day at the strenuous life, the
square deal, and the a nanias roll, but
these things, all of them, stand for
| tremendous realities in our national
life, and while they have been en-
phasized unpleasantly, and at times
unwisely, they have been emphasized
with telling and enduring effect.
Never again will it be quite so easy
for corruption and graft to permeate
our commercial and political life ;
never again quite so easy for men to
| live lives rotten with corruption or
weak with Incidence and self-indul-
gence and conceive themselves desira-
ble citizens. For the incesSant preach
ing from the White House of the eter-
nal platitudes of decency, and brother
hood, and responsibility has struck
home as the preaching of thousands OF
thousands of pulpits has rarely done,
/ Ne &c not like it. or love, many Of us,
the man who has uttered it, but when
his tireless and often tiresome tongue
and his prolific pen have had rest in
the wildS of Africa, history will ac-
cord to Theodore Roosevelt substan-
tial niche In the nations temple of
honor as fearless and forceful prophet
of righteousness.
And yet, after all, how little has been
done, The social standing Of the pen
itentiary has been elevated somewhat,
honesty as commercial asset has
risen few points in the market, some
effective obstacles have been placed iii
the way Of commercial and political
rottenness and selfishness. But have
the minds of men been chastened and
humbled and their lives purified and
renewed by the vision of God and the
sense of the sublime meaning and great
responsibility of life which Amos
brought to his generation? Look in
the faces of men and women wearied
with the tedium Of their own selfish
lives; read the newspapers with their
ceaseless record of the shameless So
cial stencil; recall that more than one
half of the people of the United States
never enter place of worship and
that the religion Of multitudes more
is a dead form, and do you not realise
the tremendous need in our time of
men in every relation of life who in
the spirit of the prophets of old, will
stand forth brave.y for God and truth
and righteousness.
In closing Mr.. MacColl recalled the
fact that Amos was a layman, man
of humble origin, and a man whose
whole life when given to the highest
ends became preparation for his
work, and made an appeal for an every
day loyalty and courage, which re-
veal God and dignity human life.