Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-01-01
TALMAGE's SERMON.
ur.he New Scroll of Martyrs" Forms
an Interesting Theme.
n,o Heroes Who Choose q Sphere Far
,,icher, Far Nobler Than Those Which
J. Rely On h Shedding of Human
Blood for Fame and Glory.


In the course of his recent Western trip
pay. T. Dewitt Talmage visited Detroit,
Mich. and delivered a sermon or the above
INJECT at the Jefferson Avenue Presbyte-
s;on church, taking for his text:
Thou therefore endure hardness-l1I limo.
thy, ill.,
nr Talmage said: Historians are not
u,ou, to acknowledge the merits of great
.~a;,itarv chieftains. We have the full
1anotb portraits of the Cromwells, the
1%yashjngtons, the Napoleons and the Well
,;ngtons of the world. History is not writ
+on in black ink, but with red ink of human
Mood. The gods Of human ambition do
,,ot drink from bowls made out of silver or
ao,d or precious stones, but out of the
s,eached skulls of the fallen. But l am
now to unroll before you a scroll of heroes
.hot the world has never acknowledged;
those who faced no guns, blew no bugle-
tIost. conquered no cities, chained no cap
t;ros to their chariot-wheels, and vet in
tho treat day of eternity will stand higher
+hon those whose names startled the ma.
lions. and seraph and rapt spirits and
orchoncel will tell their deeds to a listen
49, inverse. l mean the heroes of com.
mon everyday life.
In this roll, in the first place, I find ali
tho heroes of the sick-room. When Satan
had failed to overcome Job he said to God:
0Putf forth thine hand now, and touch his
hone and his flesh, and he will curse thee
IN thv face" Satan had found out what
we have all found out, that sickness is
the greatest test of ones character. A
man who can stand that can stand
anvthing-to be shut in a room as fast
as though it were q bastile; to be so
nervous you can not endure the tap of a
child,s foot; to have luxuriant fruit
which tempts the appetite of the robust
and healthy, excite our loathing and dis
gust when it appears on the platter; to
have the rapier Of pain strike through the
side or across the temples like a razor; or
to nut the foot into q wise or throw the
whole body into a blaze of fever. Yet
there have been men and women, more
women than men, who have cheer
fully endured this hardness. Through
wears of exhausting rheumatism and
excruciating neuralgias they have gone,
and through bodily distresses that rasped
the nerves and tore the muscles, and paled
the cheeks and stopped the shoulders. By
the dim light of the sick-room taper they
saw on their wall the picture of that land
where the inhabitants are never sick.
Through the dead silence of the night they
heard the chorus of the angels.
The cancer ate away her life from week
to week, and from day to day, and she
became weaker and weaker, and every
"good night" was feebler than the "good
night" before; yet never sad. The child
looked up into her face and saw suffering
transformed into q heavenly smile. Those
who suffered on the battle field amid shot
and shell, were not so much heroes or hero
ines as those who in the field hospital and
in the asylum had fevers which no ice
could cool and no surgery could cure. No
shout of comrade to cheer them, but numb
ness and aching and inconsistencies, yet
willing to suffer, confident in God and
hopeful of Heaven. Heroes of rheuma-
tism, heroes of neuralgia, heroes of spinal
complaint, heroes of sick-headache, heroes
OF long invalidism, heroes and heroines,
they shall reign forever and ever. Hark!
catch just one note of the eternal an.
Them: There shall be no more pain"
Bless God for that!
In this roll | also find the heroes of toll,
VINO 90 their work uncomplainingly. 1t is
comparatively easy to lead a regiment into
pattle, when you know that the whole ma
ton will applaud the victory; it is compar-
lively easy to doctor the sick, when YOU
know that your skill will be appreciated by
.he large company of friends and relatives;
AZ Is comparatively easy to address an
audience, when in the cleaning eyes
ana hushcd cheeks you know that your
se'llments are adopted; but to do
sewing where you expect that the m
pioyer Will come and thrust his thumb
.n'ousn the work to show how imperfect it
49, OF 10 nave the whole garment thrown
"acA on you to be done over again: to
pullo a wall and know there will be no one
sosuy you did it well, but only to have a
s"ea',ng employer bowling across the
scanold; to work until your eyes are dim,
aiu your back aches, and your heart faints,
anu 10 know that if you stop before night
your children will starve! All. the sword
Los not slain so many as the needle! The
o. AoAuS VI OUT laSC war were not
ue'tysburg and Shiloh and South Noun
'a'a' The great battle fields of the last
we're IN the arsenals and in the shops,
snu IN the %attics, where women made army
ta.Ae,s Tor a sixpence. They toiled on until
,nes oled. They had no funeral eulogium;
Ia.' ~ lne name of my God, this morning,
~ .iioa their names among those of whom
unes world was not worthy. Heroes of the
roes heroes of the sewing.machine, he
o.s VI The attic, heroes of the cellar, heroes
ana n%eroines, bless God Tor them!
~ tnis roll l also find the heroes who
INV u,e uncomplainingly endured domestic
Injustice: There are men who for their toll
ana anxiety have no sympathy in their
h"a homes. Exhausting application to
fneSs gets item a livelib ood, but an un-
nasai wife s%catters it. lie is fretted at
b. the moment he enters the door until
). goes out of it, the ~exasperations of bus
tioss h1e augmented by the exaspera-
la"a s OF domestic life. Such men are
t, .asueo at, but they have a heart breaking
aooie' and they would have long ago
tha into appalling designations but for
s me grace of God. Society to-day is
+h with wrecks of men who under the
a1ftneast storm of domestic infelicity