Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1888-11-24
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINES SUNDAY
SERMON.

Look at 1.-THE sacred chest of the an
clients. 1t was about five feet long, three
feet wide and three feet high. 1t was
within and out Of pure gold. On the
top Of it stood two angels facing each
other with outspread wings. In that
sacred box was the law and there
were in it a great many precious stones.
With that box went the fate of the nation.
Carried in front of the host, the waters of
the Jordan parted Divnely charged, cost
~, precious, momentous box. No unholy
hands might lay ho'd of it, 1t was called the
ark Of the covenant. But YOU will under
stand it was a box, the most precious box of
the ages. Where is it nows Gone forever.
Not crypt of church OF museum Of the
world has fragment of it
But is not this nation Gods chosen people.
Have we not passed through the Red Sea-
Have we not been led with pillar OF fire by
night Has this nation no arl. of tho cove
Dantl Yes, the ballot box the sacred chest
Of the nation, the ark Of the American cove
nant.
In it is the law, in it is the divine and the
human will, in it is the fate of the nation
Carried in front of our host again AMI again
the waters of national trouble have parted
Mighty ark OF the covenant, the American
ballot boxi 1t is a very old box
In Athens, long before the art of printing,
the people dropped pebbles into it to give ex-
preston to their sentiments. After that
beans were dropped into tia white bean for
the affirmative, black lean for the mega
tive. After that, when they wished to vote
man out of citizenship, they would write his
name upon shell and drop that into the box
O'Connell and Grote and Golden aud Ma
caulay and Gladstone fought great battles in
the introduction of the ballot boxes in Eng
land, aHd to-day it is one of the businesses of
that nation. IL is one of the corner stones OF
our government 1t is older than the consti-
tuition. In it is our national safety Tell me
what will be the fate of the American ballot
box, the ark of the American covenant and
will tell you what viii be the fate OF this
nation. Give the people onceR year. or once
In four years, an opporJunityito express their
political sentiments, and you practically
avoid insurrection and revolution
Either give them the ballot or they win
take the sword. Without the ballot box there
can be no free republican institutions Mil
ton visiting in Italy noticed that on the sides
OF Vesuvius gardeners and farmers were at
work while the volcano was in eruption, and
he asked them IL they were safe ''Y. s said
the farmers and the gardeners, lit is safe;
all the danger is before the eruption. then
comes earthquake and terror, but lust as
soon as the volcano begins to pour forth lava
We all feel at rest" 1t is the suppression of
political sentiment, the suppression of
public opinion, that makes moral earth
quake and national earthquake. Let pub
lie opinion pour forth, and that gives
satisfaction, and that gives peace, and
that gives permanency 20 good govern
ment And yet, though the ballot tox IS the
sacred chest and the ark Of the American
covenant, you know as well as know il has
Its sworn antagonists. and ] propose this
morning, in Gods name ana a Christian
patriot, to set before you the names Of some
Of the sworn enemies of this sacred chest. tie
ark Of the American covenant, the ballot
box.
First, remark, ignorance is a mighty foe.
Other things being equal, the more intelli-
gence a man has the better he is qualified to
exercise the right Of suffrage. You have
been ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty years study
ing American institutions, you nave can
vassed all the great questions about tariff and
home rule and all the educational questions
and everything in Americen politics you are
well acquainted with. You consider YOUR
self competent to cast vote next TUESDAY,
and you are confident You will take vonr
position in the line of electors. you will wait
for your turn to come, the judge of election
will announce your name YOU will cast your
vote and pass out. Well done
But right behind you Tiers will come a
man who cannot spell the name of comp
troller, or attorney or mayor He cannot
write, or il be can write he uses a small ..i''
for the personal pronoun. He could not tell
on which side of the Allegheny mountains
Ohio is. Educated canary birds, educated
horses know more than hi He will cast his
vote and it will balance your vote. His IL
norance is as mighty as your intelligence
That is not right All men Of fairfmnd will
acknowledge that that is not right. Until a
man can read the Declaration Of lndepenl-
ence and the constitution of the United
States, and calculate the interest on the
American debt. and know the difference be-
tween a Republican form Of government and
. monarchy or despotism he is unfit to ex-
ercise the right of suffrage at any ballot box
between Key West and Alaska
In 1872 in England there were 9. GOO 600
children who ought TO have been in school.
There were only 1,333, coo in other words.
about 50 per cent, and OF the so per cent. not
more than 5 per cent. got anything worthy
the name of an education Now, take that
foreign ignorance and add il to our American
ignorance, and there viii be in November
Thousands and thousands of people who are
no more qualified to exercise the right Of sIif-
frage than to lecture on astronomy. How
are these things to be corrected! By laws of
compulsory education, well executed. 20
In for law which, after giving fair warning
Tor a few years, shall make ignorance a
crime. There is no excuse for ignorance on
these subjects in this land where the common
schools make knowledge as free as the fresh
air OF heaven. would have a board OF ex-
animation seated beside the officers of regis-
tration, and let them decide whether the men
who come up 10 vote have any capacity TO
be monarchs in n land where we are ali mon
archs- One Of the most awful foes Of the
American ballot box to-day is popular ignor-
ance- Educate the people, give them an OPP
porsunity to know and understand waat
they do. II they will not take the oduea-
ton. deny them the vote.
Another powerful enemy of this sacred
chest, the ark Of the American covenan5. the
ballot box. is spurious voting In 1850, in
Brooklyn. there were n thousand names re-
corded OF persons who bad no residence here,
and II there were a thousand ATTEMPTED
fraudulent votes in tbs best city on the con-
tinent, what may we expect in cities not so
fortunatei What grand thing is the law of
registrationi Without il elections in this
country would be farce There must be
scrutiny on this subject. Tnr law must have
keenest twist for the neck Of repeateTS. Some
thing more than slight fine and short int
prisonment. IL Is an attempt at the as.assn-
alton Of the Republic when a man attempts
70 put In a spurious vote IN alden times
when men laid unholy hands on the ark Of
the covenant they dropped down dead Wit
De3 Uzzah- And when men attempt 70 put
unholy hands ON the American ballot box,
the ark OF the American covenant, they de-
serve determination
Another powerful fec OF this sacred chest
\ intimidation.
Corporations sometimes demand that their
employes vote m tins AMI that way. IL Is
skilfully done. Il is not positively in 50
many words demanded, but the cmpioye un.