The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-12-05
I'm THE RELIGIOUS World

IKE mat of Sanballet Toh;oh
80 0esrem' Neheiniah's ancient enc
thelr message, Come, let rs IN ~
together in one Of the villages in 49,
pialn OF Ono" Four times 7h;e not4e
invitation to conference was sapt 70
Nehemiah. ~ oeil 10
flty n issue that goes into tho
realm OF perpetual palaver. Talk is
lhe hand-maiden of every
proteo. ina beguiles mankind; the
Irst asset of all of the Fraudulent
schemes that prey upon the neonla;s
purse IS "a good line of talk" DELAY
III discussion always serves tha
guilty. Principles cease to be clear
ana purpose become clouded, when
there is prolonged conference. which
the Chinese call "talkee-talkee." Thera
are some subjects which belong out
SIDE OF the range of discussion. .sRight
Is right, since God is God" Wise is
n man who will not go down to
the plain Of Ono to hold a confer
ence with evil. In the first place. it
never pays to stop work for a quar-
rel. It may be laid down as a rule
tnat every quarrel is bad which inter-
1eres with work. Often, as IN the
case of Nehemiah's enemies. their
motive is this stoppage Of activity.
One may go a step further and saw
that there q be ever too much of
religious conventions. In some quar-
tiers the idea of a religious worker is
OF a person who is SO busy going to
conferences and conventions that he
has no time for real work.
Straight Talk to the Conspirators-
Worthy of being memorized is the
mighty answer OF Nehemiah to all en-
Elements, Il am doing a great work.
so that l can not come down; why
shOuld work cease, whilst / leave it.
to come down to you That is sanity
Of judgment. He with clear eyes saw
to the heart Of the Con-
tinuance in work was a better weapon
for Nehemiah thar any amount of
plausible speech. He went straight to
the center Of the issue. The man of
direct words and straight conduct is
the safest, surest and most successful.
He can not easily be trapped.
The three conspirators next cooked
up a charge that the Jews were
building the wall in order to rebel
tried to impeach Nehemiah's loyalty.
Now said they, will o come and
talk it over with us?"
There are no such things done as
thou sayest, but thou hast fancied
them out of thine own heart" replied
Nehemiah. Those were straight
flung words and few" spoken man
fashion. Before that clear and direct
state of mind the %sinuosities Of con-
%spirators falls down.
The Hireling Prophets.
Somebody has said that a few enc
mics are good for a man to keep him
mentally alert. There was no danger
or Nehemiah's becoming sleepy
heE-ed. He found foes in the most
unexpected quarters. In the temple
Itself a prophet babe him fee to the
sanctuary lest his enemies STAY him.
Again came the Nehemiah-like an
swer: Should such a man as I fee.
and who is there that, being such as
/. would go into the temple to save
his life? l will not go in" There
was no soaring or beguiling that a
his purpose was pure; his object was
plain; his work was at his hand; he
By that very suggestion he knew the
prophet to be a traitor and q hireling
in the pay Of his enemies.
What shall we say of the preacher
who peryerts his high office? / met
one the other lay at a railway station
on the border between Virginia and
Tennessee. His distinction is that he
has married more than four thousand
couples. He runs a little hotel and
meets all trains looking for possible
business in the matrimonial line. In
stead of counse1ling hasty young peo-
pie who are running away from home
TO return to their senses and their
families, he exploits them for the sake
of a few miserable dollars. His con-
duct has been a reprOach upon tie
ministry OF two States, but the best
the clergy could do to stop this abuse
is to have the man kept away from
the station platform where he used
to solicit business. Now he must stand
on the sidewalks among the hack
drivers and pOrterS-
This is only one form or per-
version of the most sacred OF calllngs.
are ministers who a their
names to the brewing interests and
to shady financial scf1 Eles, ana
others who, for the sake Of personal
advantage, will defend corrupt pom
ticians. OF them we can only say, as
did Nehemiah, that the Lord Will re
member them .and deal justly with