The west Tennessee star. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1888, 1888-11-16
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
A. Discourse Upon the BsIlot-Box
and Election Franchise.
Xhe Responsibility Resting Upon the Cltl-
son-HOw the Ballot Should be Used
70 Strengthen the Hand OF
the Government.

Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage, in an ante.
election sermon at the Brooklyn Tabsr-
nacIe, took for his subject ''The Ballot
Box and the Election franchise" His
text was:
Two cubfts and a half was the length Of it
ARd cuOit and half the breadth OF It, and a
oubit and q half the height Of it--Exodus
xxxyii., 1.
Look at 1.-THE sacred chest OF the an
clients. It was about FIVE feet long, three
feet wide aud three feet high. It 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
great many precious stones. With that
box went the fate of the nation. Carried
In front of the host, tho waters of the
Jordan parted. Divinely charged, costly.
precious, momentous box. No unholy
hands might lay hold of it 1t was called
the ark Of the covenant But you will
understand it was box. the most prec-
ious box Of the ages. Where is it now?
Gone forever. Not a crypt OF church or
museum of the world has q fragment
of it.
But is not this Nation Gods chosen
people? Have we not passed through the
Red Sea? Have we not been led by pill
lar of FIRE by night? Has this Nation no
ark OF the covenant? Yes, the ballot
box, the sacred chest of the Nation, the
ark of the American covenant
In it is the law, in it is the Divine and
the human law, in it is the fate of the Ma
ton. Carried in front of our host again
and again. Mighty ark of the covenant,
the American baTlot-boxi 1t is a very
old box.
In Athens, long before the art OF print
ing, the people dropped pebbles into it to
give expression to their sentiment. After
IL, 4 Sv,&o 10 lit fEa
bean for the affirmative, a black bean for
the negative. After this, wheE they
wished to vote man out OF citizenship,
they would write his name upon a she'll
and drop that into the box.
O'Connell, and Grote, and Golden, and
Macaulay, and Gladstone fought great
battles in ;hs Introduction of the ballot
boxes in England, and to-day it is one Of
the Businesses of that nation. It is one
of the corner-stones OF our Government.
It is older than the Constitution. 1t 10
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 will be the fate Of this
Nation. Give the people, once year or
once in four years, an opportunity to ex-
press their political sentiments, and you
practically avoid insurrection and revO-
luton.
Either give them the ballot or they will
| take the sword. Without the bRllot-box
there can be no free republican institu-
tons. Milton, visiting in Italy, noticed
! that on the sides of Vesuvius gardeners
| and farmers were at work while the vol
! cano was in eruption, and he asked them
| II they were safe. ayes, +" said the farm
ers and the gardeners. 'it is safe; all the
danger is before the eruption; then
1 comes earthquake and terror, but just
soon as the volcano bsgins to pour forth
| lava we all feel at rest" It is the sup
| preston of political sentiment, the sup
preston of public opinion, that makes
moral earthquake and national earth
| quake. Let public opinion pour forth.
| and that gives satisfa action, and that gives
peace, and that gives permanency to good
| government Aud yet, though the ballot
/ box is the sacred chest and the ark of the
| American covenant, you know as we'll as
know it has its sworn antagonists, aud
/ propose this morning, in Gods name
! and as a Christian patriot to set before
you the names of some OF the sworn ene-
niles of this sacred chest, the ark OF the
American covenant, the ballot-bOx.
First, 1 remark, ignorance is a mighty
| foe. Other things being equal, the more
! intelligence a man has the better he Is
qualified to exercise ths right OF suffr age.
You have been ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty
years studying American institutions;
you have canvassed all the great ques-
| tions about tariff and home rule and all
the educational questions, and every
thing in American politics you are we'll
! acquainted with. You consider yourself
competent to cast a vote In November,
and you are competent. You will take
| your 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 ther will come a
man who can not spell the name of comp
troler or attorney or mayor. He can not
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
be. He will cast his vote, and it will ball
Rnce your vote. His ignorance Is as
mighty as your intelligence. That is not
right. All men of fair mind will acknowl-
edge that that is not right Until a man
can read the Declaration Of Independence
and the Constitution of the United States
and calculate the interest on the Ameri-
can debt, and know the difference be-
tween a republican form Of government
and a monarchy, or a despohsom, he is
unfit to exercise the right of suffrage at
any balIot-box between Key West and
Alaska
In 1872 in England there we're 1900, 900
children who ought to have been in
schools. There were 1, 333 0O0-in other
words, about fifty per cent-and Of the
fifty per cent not more than five per cent.
| got any thing worthy the name Of an
education. Now, take that foreign igno-
rance and add it to our American igno-
rance and there will be in November
thousands and thousands Of people who
are no more qualified to exercise the
right of suffrage than to lecture on
astronomy. How are these things to be
correctedg By laws Of compulsory educa-
ton well executed. / go in for a Law
which. after giving fair warning for a few
years, shall make ignorance q crime
! There is no excuse for ignorance on these
subjects in this land, where the common
schools make knowledge as free as tn,
! fresh air of Heaven. / would have
board Of examination seated beside th'
officers of registration, and let them de
eide whether the men who come up Z,
/ vote have any capacity to be monarchs ii
I | q land where we are all monarchs. On
Of the most awful foes OF the America
ballot-box to-day is popular ignorance
. / Educate the people, give them an op
I | portunity to know and understand whs
they do. If they will not take the educa
tion, deny them the vote.
Another powerful enemy Of this sacre
chest the ark or the Amer1can covenant
the ballOt-box, Is spurious voting. I
: 1850, In Brooklyn, there were a thouszn
names recorded Of persons who had 4
Z residence here, aad is there were a thou
sand attempted fraudulent votes in th
. best city on the continent what may "
expect in cities not so fortunatee WINS
. a grand thing is the Law Of registratioI
e Without Il elections in this country Wonl
= be farce. There must be a scrutiny o
r .his subj scf. The law must have Esene'
9 twist for the neck Of repeaters Some
i | ching more ghaa slight and short i'm
a prisonme It is IN attempt at the a.
Y nnn.Ir.ntt.,., - a.. RAnnhlIc when O ma