Milford chronicle., 1888-11-30

eAneos Ohe Anects the Other-Some
Dieting PARALLELS
BROOKLYN. Nov. 25.-At the Tabernacle
this evening the great congregation sang the
hymn beginning:
Awake my soul to joyful lays,
And sing the great Redeemer's praise.
Rev. 4. De Witt Talmage, d. d, preached.
taking for his text; ''And these are they
which We shall have in abomination among
the fowls: the owl, the vulture, and the bat
These also shall be unclean to you among the
creeping things that creep upon the earth:
the chameleon and the snail. n-Levit. xi, 13
80 Following is the discourse in full:
The Bible offers every possible variety Of
theme, of argument and Of illustration. We
care not much in what kind of a pitcher the
water of life is brought if it is only the clear,
pure water. God gave the ancients a list of
the animals that they might eat, and a list Of
the animals they might not eat. These peo-
pie lived in q hot climate, and certain forms
of animal food corrupted their blood, and
/ disposed them to scrofulous disorders, de-
/ praved their appetites and bemeaned their
souls. A mans food, when he has the means
and opportunity of selecting it, suggests his
moral nature. The reason the wild Indian is
as cruel as the lion is because he has food that
gives him the blood Of the lion. A mis-
sionary among the Indians says that,
by changing his style Of food to
correspond with theirs his temperament
was entirely changed. There are certain
forms Of food that have a tendency to Affect
the moral nature. Many Christian is try
ing to do by prayer that which cannot be
/ done except through corrected diet. For in
stance, he who uses swine's flesh for constant
diet will be diseased in body and polluted Of
Boul-all his liturgies and catechisms not
withstanding. The Gadarene swine were
/ possessed of the devil, and ran down a steep
place into the sea, and all the swine ever
since seem to have been similarly possessed.
in Leviticus God struck this meat off tho
table Of his people, and placed before them q
bill Of fare at once healthful, nutritious and
generous.
But, higher than this physical reason,
there was a spiritual reason why God chose
certain forms of food for the ancients.
God gave a peculiar diet TO his people,
not only because he wanted them
to be distinguished from the surround
ing nations, but because certain birds and
animals, by reason of their habits, have al
ways been suggestive Of moral qualities. By
the list of things from which they were to
abstain, God wished to prejudice their minds
against certain evils; and in the list Of lawful
things given he wished to suggest certain
forms of good. When God solemnly forbade
his people to eat the owl, the vulture, the
bat, the chameleon and the snail, he meant
to drive out of his people all the sins that
were thus emblemized
BALEFUL EFFECTS OF owLIsHNEss AMONG
MEN.
take the suggestion Of the text, and say
that one Of the first upolean things the Chris,
tian needs TO drive out Of his soul is the owl.
/ The owl is the melancholy bird Of night. It
matches out whole broods of superstitions.
1t is doeful and hideous When it sings it
sings through its nose. It loves the gloom Of
night better than the brightness Of the day,
Who has not slept In the cabin near the
woods, and been awakened In the night by
the dismal "too-hoo" of the owll Melancholy
is the owl that is perched in many Chris
tian soul It Is an unclean bird, and
needs to be driven away. A man whose
sins are pardoned and who is on the
road TO heaven, has no right to be
/ gloomy. He says: 81 have so many doubts"
That is because ''you are lazy" Go actively
to work in Christ's cause and your doubts
will vanish. You say; 81 have lost my prop,
erty;" but reply, "You have infinite treas
ures laid up in heaven.n You say; II am
weak and siclily and going to die" Then be
/ congratulated that you are so near eternal
! health and perpetual gladness. Catch few
morning larks for your soul and stone this
owl Off your premises.
CHEERFULNEss AS A PANACEA FOR ALL EVIL.
As little girl was eating the sun dashed
upon her spoon, and she cried, 20, mamma,
! have swallowed a spoonful Of sunshinep
Would God that we might all indulge in the
same beveragel Cheerfulness-it makes the
homeliest face handsome; it makes the hard
est mattress soft; it runs the loom that
weaves buttercups, and rainbows, and au-
roras God made the grass blackl No, that
would be too somber. God made the grass
! redl No, that would be too gaudy. God
made the grass green, that by this parable
all the world might be led to a subdued
! cheerfulness Read your Bible in the sun,
shine. Remember that your physical health
/ is closely allied to your spiritual. The heart
and the liver are only few inches apart,
and what affects one affects the other A
historian records that by the sound Of great
laughter in Rome Hannibalis assaulting army
was frightened away in retreat. And there
is in the great outbursting joy of a Christian
soul that which can drive back any in
fernal besiegement. Rats love dark closets,
and Satan loves to burrow In a gloomy soul.
! "Rejoice in the Lord, o ye righteousl and
/ again 1 say rejoicep
/ Hoist the window of your soul in this, the
/ 70 o'clock of your spiritual night Put the
/ gun to your shoulder and aim at the black
I Jungle from which the hooting comes; pull
the trigger and drop that croaking loath-
some, hideous owl of religious melancholy
/ into the bushes
SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT GossIPs.
Again. taking the suggestion Of the text,
! drive out the vulture from your soul. God
would not allow the Jews to eat it. It lives
on carcasses; it fattens among the dead;
with leaden wing it circles about battle fields
Wilson, the American ornithologist, counted
237 vultures around one carcass. If crossing
the desert when there is no sign of wing in
the air, a camel perish out of the caravan,
Immediately the air begins to darken with
vultures. There are many professed Chris
tians who have a vulture in their souls. They
prey upon the character and feelings Of 9TH
ers. A doubtful reputation is a banquet for
them. Some rival in trade or profession
falls, and the vulture puts out its head
These people revel in the details of a mans
ruin. They say; " told you So" They rush
into some store and say: "Have you heard
the newsl Just as / expected Our neigh
Dor has gone all to piecesl Good for himln
That professedly Christian woman, having
heard of the wrong doing of some sister in
the church, instead Of hiding the sin with a
mantle of charity, peddles it all along the
streets She takes the afternoon to make her
long neglected calls. She tells the story ten
times before sundown, and every time tells
it larger. She rushes into the parlors to tell
It, and into the nursery to tell It, and into
the kitchens to tell it. She says: "Would you
have thought itl Well, always said there
was something wrong about her. Why,
should not speak to her if I saw her in the
street. Is it not horriblel But better not
say any thing about it, because there may
be some mistake do not want my name
involved in the matter. guess l viii just
10 over and ask them at No. 263 whether