The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-11-09
For November IL is "'Nehemiah's
Prayer" Neh. CHI. 1.
A Statesman on His Knees

A Statesman on His Knees.
Drop into the local room of any
large newspaper after the copy is all
in. and it will be easy to hear flip
pant discussion by the young reporters
concerning the out-of-dateness of re-
igion. Splicing their talk with consid-
cradle profanity, these young men will
demonstrate how such modern and
wise men of the world as themselves
are quite superior to that outgrown
thing called Christianity. Then go
downstairs to where the editorial writ
ers have their offices along with the
men who control the destinies of the
paper. Probably no. profanity will be
heard, and a surprising proportion of
the men will be found to be members
of the church, and occasionally speak
ers at religious conventions The par
allel is significant. but its principal
point is that a little knowledge of life
tends to irreverence, whereas broad
er grasp of human nature and human
history makes men religious. The re-
porters will have outgrown their friv-
olous attitude towards the sublimities
by the time they have graduated into
editorial offices
In like fashion, one may find the
clerks in the departments at Wash
ington, Ottawa and London. quick
with clever sneers and gibes at reli-
gion; but presidents, premiers, cabi-
net officers, and other leading states
men may be found during their hours
OF ease. reading or writing the books
of religion and philosophy The in
ventor of the Calling gun. Doctor Cat
mig, once said to me, when our con-
versation CHANGED to fab upon his
friend, Mr.. Ingersoll, that he thought
Mr. 1ngersol was a very able man
and a very clever man, but by no
means truly great man, for every
great man is possessed of the spirit
Il
the greatness of the great consists in
the recognition of the greater? The
coronation of a king, or the Inaugural
non or a president is a religious func-
ton.
Our present lesson takes us into
an oriental palace We find one of
the confidential servants of 1.-The great
KING, man with constant access to
the royal presence, forgetting his
pride and privileges and bowling low
IN prayer to the Lord of Hosts Old
Shushan, that scene of royal pomp.
! never witnessed a nobler spectacle
than Nehemiah's prayerfdl concern
Tor the welfare of Jerusalem. Nehe-
lnlah was higher when he bent upon
ms knees than when he stood before
the conquering Xerxes.
Religion and Affairs
There is suspicion widely preva-
lent That the writers of religious liter
AZURE do not know real life They
uWeH IN an artificial atmosphere of
piety. They meet only their own kind
Like some preachers, they are out of
touch with men in the everydayness
OF it1e, where men meet as men, and
the trade of each is forgotten. That
religious talk and teaching is often
pc denied. Some of the standards
they hold up will not endure the
| fresh air and the sunlight
I 4 n eVertheiess and notwithstanding
1T Gx- frx.--
|. M Tor the statesman at the capita
ana Tor the farmer at the pillow. That
| is one of the attestations at the pres
eht time The astonishing growth of
the Adult Bible classes, the popular
Fifty of the Laymen's Missionary move
ment, the imposing parades of the
t1oiy Name society, all testify that
Nehemiah, the religious man of af-
Ialrs, has many successors, and that
the man who is out in the busy world
! is also often apart in the closest of
private devotion.
News From Home.
One evening my raft on the Tfgris
/ river led up at Mosul, opposite the
ruins of old Ninevah, reputed to be
| the most inaccessible city in the Turk
ish empire Early the next morning
l mad a visit from a man who said
/ that he had seen the American flag
| Tying above my tent, and he had
made haste to come and speak with
me, because he also was an American
| He was the only American within a
| radius of hundred of miles, and it
! seemed good to him to see the old
| flag once more, and to be able to have
| speech with a fellow-American Thru
out my sojourn at MosuI he was at my
| service, showing me many and varied
| courtesies, all because 1 was a man
from home.
| That is human nature. An inlet
| tered boyhood friend from the old
| home back in the country town, can
| have the ear of the public man in
/ his private office, while men of affairs
| cool their heels in the outer office.
| Who has not seen a busy city man
reading the little home paper with
more interest than he bestows upon
| any of the metropolitan journals :?
| In all this we see rnirrored Nehemiah
| the dweller in a kings court who sud
| denly came upon two men from Je-
| rusalem. Forgotten were the pend
4 ing affairs of state and the latest court
1 gossip. The city on Mount Zion, the
home of every true Jews heart, might
| be lying in ruins but it meant more
! to Nehemiah than all the splendid
palaces of Shushan.
| Reform That Hurt Business.
| Thirteen years have elapsed since
/ Ezra's return. His drastic reforms
| while for the ultimate good of the
returned Jews, had created an as
/ sortment of bitter enemies. He had
| compelled the men to put away their
! heather wives, and each wife had
| returned. to her home and to her
| tribe to foment a feud- Reform does
| interfere with business, especially
with bad business. Yet he has scant
/ devotion to principle who will coun-
! tenance wrong for the sake of tenn
/ porary and temporal benefit No
more shameful defense. of the liquor
! ira fife, for instance, has been offered
! than the one that it brings in
I revenue TO the state; the implication
I being that the jingle of this gold
I in the public Golfers browns all sound
of widows weeping. and children's
/ suffering, and strong mems delirium,
and prisoners reproaches.
/ The condition in Jerusalem called
/ urgently for the help of a strong and