The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1919-04-09
B. G. HUMPHREYS
MADE MASTERFUL
ADDRESS HERE
Discusses At Length the
Covenant Of League
of Nations.
SAYS MAJORITY
POLITICIANS GOOD
Urges the Laymen to
Stand Pat For the
Truth.

Congressman B. G. Humphreys,
representative from the Third Dis
trict, by special invitation, spoke to
| a Greenwood audience here Sunday
night in the auditorium of the Epis-
copal church. The address was one
of the most eloquent and forceful
! speeches which has been made in
Greenwood in many months. His ad-
dress follows in full:
Ladies and Gentlemen:
| have been invited to talk tonight
on the subject "The duty of the lay
man to the Church." A broad sub
ject, certainly, and like the scrip
tural cloak, broad enough to cover a
multitude of sinners. AS | am of
that particular sect of laymen, which
is usually set apart, in public esti-
nation, as the one most lacking in
grace, l assume it will not be in
appropriate for me to talk about the
politician and comment somewhat
upon his duty to the Church. Most
men who hold public office and prac-
tically all men who are trying to es-
tablish that relationship to the public
exchequer, resent even the sugges-
ton that they are politicians. I con-
fess that | have never understood
just why any public official, who had
honestly and earnestly endeavored to
faithfully discharge the duties of his
office, should object to being called a
politician. By your partial judgment
and generous forbearance, | have been
holding political office for twenty
seven Of the fifty-four years of my
life, and as our English cousins would
say II still have hopes" During these
years l think few sane men could
have made more mistakes than |
have. l have done many things and
cast many votes which, L think it
would be difficult now successfully
to defend; but while there is much
in the record that l might wish were
otherwise, while l may have regrets,
am not conscious Of any official act
of which | am ashamed. And my
experience is not unique. l believe
public officials generally can truth
fully say the same thing. The fact is
think politicians as a rule are a
pretty good lot, and l make bold to
say that right here in this holy temple
and in the presence Of all you church
people.
| do not believe there are many men
who are better qualified to speak
advisedly on this subject than | am,
because l have been thrown into in
innate association with politicians in
all the branches of the public service,
and my deliberate judgment is that
the man in an Office of high RESPONSE
bility, who betrays his trust deliber-
ately, is very rare.
| think the very highest evidence
Of the honesty and general efficiency
of our politicians, is this government
of ours, because it was framed and
has always been administered by
them; and under the providence of
God it has grown in a little more
than a century to be the first in the
family of nations, not only in physi-
cal strength and power, but also in
righteousness. The unhappy and dis
tracted peoples of all the world today
are looking to this government for
hope, and on their bended knees are
praying to the God Of Nations to give
to our representative at Paris,
strength and wisdom and courage, t.
lead this blood-soaked world into
lasting peace.
The criticism | would make of our
public officials is not that they lack
in honesty, or high purpose, or in pat
ri tism;>I do not believe they do. Ny
observation is, and my experience too,
because l put myself in hodge-podge
with the rest of them, that the quality
which politicians most lack, is cour-
age.
The first duty in my opinion there
fore which this particular class of
laymen owe the Church, is to be cour-
ageous. When l say duty to the
Church l mean the church in its
broadest significance, as the instru-
mentality, the organized agency for
righteousness in this world. What
i a contribution to the accomplish
ments of the Church, if all the Off
GERS of this county, and all the Off
GERS of this state, and Of all the
other counties and al the other
states, and over and above this, if
all the congressman from all the
| states and the senators too, should
each turn out to be another valiant
| for truth. daresay it has been many
/ years since most of you read Pill
/ grim's Progress, and you read it then
because your Sunday School teach
| er made you read it, and not from
choice. The truth is, Bunyan did no,
write that book for children, he wrote
it for old sinners who could understand
/ it. But many of you still remembe,
the story of Valiant for Truth, ane
how he fought for righteousness un
til his sword cleaved to his hand, un
til they were joined together as if the
sword grew out of his arm.
j When say courage, l mean cour
age, do not mean mere boldness tt
, defy public opinion; to strut around j,
utter disregard of all right thinking
proclaiming that Il am the master O
my soul' like Ajax defying th'
LIGHTNING. / have known lots Of dem
j aporues to do that. That is not cour