The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-08-05


The International Sunday School Les
son for August is Jeremiah
Tried and Acquitted" Jer. 2S.
(BY WILLIAM T. EJLIS.)
Tin Old Testament muck
Ma raker''-so his enemies
might have termed Jere-
rniah, the weeping Prophet
with whom the Sunday
schools of the world are TO
spend the present month. 1t is sor-
roW-seamed face that we behold Wnen
we look upon jeremiah; his tears were
not for himself, but for MS nauoh.
A weak man weeps for hlmselI; put
even the strongest man IS nonoreu ny
the tears he sheds for his native land
Let nobody look with contempt upon
this sorrowing prophet. for he was not
one of those ineffective persons VINO
in the presence OF Calamity mercy
weep and wiring their hands.
The red blood of the brave coursed
through Jeremiahs veins. He dared
all dangers for his country's sake
Personal suffering, the public whip
ping post, the stocks, imprisonment
the enmity of the rich and powerful
the ridicule of the populace--Jere-
miah endured all this. and more, with
the heroism of g patriot. He counted
not his life a prize to be retained II
he might by any means serve MS peo-
ple. All the obloQuy and ignominy
his lot; but, like many another OF his
calling since, he has been vind1cated
by history. One has need Of long
patience who would be real re-
former.
All of the scorn that has been heap
ed upon the head of the modern
"muck-raker." as some have chosen
to call the men and women who tell
the hard and unloVely truth aDont
their own times. was first endured by
~ a
merit classification with him, he had
a passion for telling the truth-and
the truth for the present hour at
that. No vague and stupid generali-
cations for his. His message had a
mark; that it found lodgment was
proved by the number of vigorous
enemies he made. There is no clearer
testimony TO the searching truthful
ness Of the Indian writings of Rudyard
Kipling than the fact that he is hear
tily hated by large proportion OF
the British society in India. who can
not find adjectives sufficiently severe
with which to characterize him. The
way to win a pOet-laureateship and
decorations is not to tell the whole
some truth for the present hour but
TO espouse the cause and party in
power, and to be discreet" at what
ever cost to truth. Since the first
bard smote his Tyre, the Jeremiahs of
history have received more stones than
0GCOIaLlOuSs more Dealings lAictA AcluICA
crowns. But who would not rather be
a Sipling than an Austin, Jere-
miah than one of the now namelesS
court prophets of Baal2
When the Pendulum Swings.
The pendulum of Judah's history
had swung the other way after the
death of the cody King Josiah. He
himself had been guilty of grave po-
litical blunder in espousing the cause
of Assyria- in the conflict between that
power and Egypt In the ripeness
of his powers, Josiah was slain In bat
tie. The result was that an Egyp-
tian puppet was placed upon the
throne. King Jehoiakin, who natur-
ally turned to the fashions Of the
powerful neighbor to whom he owed
his position. Thus the old, old curse
Of idolatry came back into the land
and the reforms of Josiah were largely
undOne.
Bewildered by the rapid succession
of good and bad kings in Jewish his
tory, and the swift reVersals of re-
ligious policy, one is tempted to ask
whether the same fickleness is pos
sible in our own time. Which brings
us to a significant difference between
this day and the times of old. At
present, the greatest determining
factor in nations life is the mind of
the people. Nothing can hold sway
for long against the popular will. 1t is
necessary for the national conscience
to be scared, or the national heart to
be corrupt, for the nation to go alto
gether astray in morals or religion.
Not so in Olden time. Then the king
was the state. Dynasties rose and fell
with amazing swiftness, because the
king was AL and the people were
naught. Modern history moves more
steadily and nationally because the
spirit Of democracy controls.
The Patriot Eyes.
= -
ion in those days the one man had
greater corresponding power than to-
day: for now we have hundreds of men
in the prophets Office where Judah
had one. Consider the editors, teach
ers, preachers, and publieists who are
as Watchmen upon the walls of the
commonwealth. The reason that the
sanest of these are not weeping Jere-
miahs Is that there is no sufficient
reason to be so. It would be we'll to
pause in the teaching Of this lesson to
speak word Of gratitude for the
ciean-eyed and high~sOuled men and
women who discern and publish
abroad the signs of the times.
This ability to appraise Alright the
conditions Of his own time is what
makes the prophet It was Jeremiah g
characteristic. Self-analysis is neces-
sary to self-cleansing We must know
our own day ere we can better it. That
is why the need is great and ever
greater for more prophets with patriot
eyes. We need new race OF poets
filled with national spirit, The lack OF
poems, paintings and sculptures, and
of music also. truly embodying the
spirit of this new western democracy
and its providential place in the econ
omy Of nations, Is really remarkable
Where are our cheerful Jeremiahs?
A Good Mans Enemies.
The present lesson Is a story of plots
and enemies. The Prophets foes were
athirst for his life. They did not like
his tidings, and so they thought te
silence his voice. That Is an old
fashion which has not yet gone out OF