Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-05-23

At a dinner table in CONSTANT
NOBLE. recently. the talk ineVitaoi'
swung around to Russia. There
were ten of us, all in uniform saw
the padre, and ranging in rank run
a general, a colonel and various
majors down to two war correspon-
dents. Fighting, and not theori|ihe'
was the trade of seven OF the 'en'
After thrashing out all the OLD s'l@"
concerning Russia. the talk TOOK
turn. The futility of armed -
as a remedy against BolsheVisnh ii'-N
been admitted by the soldiers
Then one spoke up: heaiiS'
there are only two ways OIL 'ii''
Russian mess. One is for the ha.ion
+o be left alone to exhaust tseli III
ir+ernal strife and suffering; lettlns
the disease run its course.
other is for a great prophet 10 us
e. col, that essentially, religious ma
zion hack to God. fersh voice
declaring. Thus saith the Aolu'
sounding in the modern tones oi
80 man who loves the RusSthn tha
-ooIla will be listened TO even 1T
paadoned mob. They VIII ac9op ~
!ha i,stice and true brotherhoou ;s
49, ringdon of God, instead VI 49,,
t-rrihie suhstitute of BoishsSioiu, ,.iu
when once it comes to theIh above.
IN the name of the t'ather onhet
Russia's need of neeos 10
of God" c,.,, Cry
That is not the need OF huS9e- he-
ina' We is over; but it has pc
inatbed acute problems. 49,
o,a almost more perplexins .nsn
So itself. Our territorial porsl
lions. our labor question oui ouestion
question, our Temperance. oues-
our entire social ana & Poih The states
',aor .Io' Especially from our 70
tIo tilen, -ises a cry and a chailehse
,sioI, Ine heaven itself CANNOT DC "a
s,seoxo,t Nineyah's voice was SS,,.,
oIih e 60. what of the voice OIL NTI 80
York and Chicago and MoLo;
nTow Orleans and San FranclsoS SarfuI
have been sailing Ihe soca and
MedlterTall 60 often attested the
'iq,tlt uTPI,t of Jehovah; and l am un
me me ~ .tot this is the sea Oh ruia ru.a,'f,,I
st IIls as we'll as of earless. La s tbe
JonaH '1 hotb hearers to ciues ol 20
dit,ine call to repentance noinded
tIink of Jonah is TO De 80 char
that God is interested IN sh az we'll
acter of cities ana GU
as of individuals divine judg-
,ts hnfore our eyes. Behoiu ,d
iiiei'' "a Austria and Russla a.
!apy ne! en- the great nations thac Ill
ee5 e, ~ laws of God and man
are nrostrate and poweriess .he ius-
Tbev have been visited py tbo tit
+ine of the Almighty; Wnile We,snd are
lie peoples they once OPP, road back
Co., as Ninevah to learn tnal
as as of iniouity and oppresslon of
cry OIL ny ~ throne of the Judge OIL
all the earth. I,ronhets
where are the prophets VIZ Ger-
+bis time so bitterly neeus noIi-
mans prophets proved eo.tria's only
ticians: Russia's and austria >; at
eooniasiastics: Turkey had none in
eli What about our propae'91 1uho
tbn ,t Enp Enpnsh-speaking world: wv WV
eIo o Eyes ring the mantle OF JONAH
to-day? - 4oo+s fearlessly.
1vc dare not indulge IN sell-ul ,loen
tion or unwarranted optlliiisIIIW1 sIIW;thout
the issues are SO concern
can+ious criticism, or yeI hat
Sor conventional complacehcy, ~
Tor con asII ,,ban we look into the
90 we IN o,,r nrofessional prophets
re ie''',l ~ ,oie+ers of the GospelE Coun.-
tess godly and faithful men,
tainly. -. +bo+ during the
mast five years of splrlIual tbare
iIs,.oughout the whole eartn, me
I' hen1 no one clear. strong ar
rt;no voice heard in the ChrlsI'ai1,
Iea1t4S of the world. We have hau
lpiool, to the laity for our prophetio
',oeseaqes One reason why soe,OsS
is m ia q state approaching chaos .1 ns1
been the collapse of great splI r,,a
leadership. The men VIII VIII note
!Lorgbt might sound the world Ilote
have become mere admiIlis' '''O'
IA occIesiastical functionarles'
proacbers Who Sinned i'll Francs
worsa vet. So widely had preach
.,g become a profession, wlthouI
tbe divine spiritual passion, that
manv clergymen, instead of beng
leaders and prophets, have them
selves been maintained in conVen-
tionally correct mode of llfe only
hv circumstances. They followed
tbe code of their calling. because 1t
was difficult and dangerous 10 90
otherwise.
MANY of these men went to war
from VARYING motives; and some
ayowedlv to escape the tedium or
their distasteful round of minister
ial duties. of this number per-
centage, small, and yet too large TO
be ignored by conscientious people,
suffered a moral lapse. With the
greater number of these latter, the
failure was merely a relaxation of
their standards of speech and OF
such practices as wine-drinklng.
Others went utterly bad, sinking in
to sensuality and even crime. know
whereof l speak: I am not eXagger-
ating the occasional instance, such
as the minister in Y. M. G. A. work,
who became a confessed and con-
victed thief in France. My informa-
ton comes at first hand and on the
spot, from the officials who know all
the details.
This is horrible, of course. l
shall be accused of slandering the
ministry for revealing the condi-
ton. Instead, 1 am only serving
the cause of truth and power: for it
is far better that the Church should
lose her reputation than that she
should lose her soul. Such hideous
facts as I have stated should send
the Church to her knees. Repent
ance must begin at the house of
God. How can we cry aloud to the
wandering world when our own ut
terance is choked with sin?
Jonahs, and Other Preachers
Comic papers and the stage jest
at the clergy; and the mass of man
kind ignore them, as mild creatures