The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1888-11-22
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Weekly Discourse Of the Great
Brooklyn Preacher
subject: "The Ark Of the
American COvenE

height of it."-Exodus xxxvii, /.
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 1t stood two angels facing each
other with outspread wings. In that
sacred box was the law, and there
were in 1t 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. Divinely charged, cost
ly, precious, momentous box. No unholy
hands might lay hold Of it, 1t was called the
ark Of the covenant. But You will Under
stand it was n box, the most precious box Of
the ages. Where is it MOVE Gone forever.
Not crypt OF church or museum Of the
world has fragment OF it.
But is not this nation Gods chosen peoplel
Have we not passed through the Red Seal
Have we not been led with pillar of fire by
nightl Has this nation no ark of the cove
nants Yes, the ballot hox, 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 II is the fate of the nation.
Carried in front of our host again and again
the waters of national trouble have parted.
Mighty ark OF the covenant the American
ballot box! 1t is a very old box.
In Athens long before the art Of printing,
the PEOPLE dropped pebbles into it to give ex-
preston t. their sentiments. After that
leans were dropped into it-a white bean for
the affirmative, a black lean for the mega
tive. After that, when they wished to vote
a man out of citiz nship, they would write his
name upon shell and drop that into the box.
O'CoInell and Grote and Golden and Ma
caulay and Gladstone fought great battles in
the introduction of the ballot boxes in Eng
land, ard to-day it is one of the Businesses OF
that nation. 1t is one of the corner stones OF
our governments 1t is older than tile 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 will be the fate of this
nation. Give the peop'e once year, or once
in four years, an opportunity to express their
political sentiments, and you practically
avoid instruction and revolution
Either give them the ballot or they will
take the sword. Without the ballot box there
can be no fres republican institutions. NIL
ton visiting in Italy noticed that on the sides
OF Nesuvius gardeners and farmers were at
work while the volcano was in eruption, and
he asied them if they were safe. "Y s,nsaii
The farmers and the gardeners. sit is safe;
all the danger is lefore the eruption; then
cones earthquake and terror, but Just as
soon as the volcano begins to pour forth lava
we all feel at rest" It's the suppression Of
political sentiment, tie suppression Of
publ; 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 rermanency to good govern
ment And yet, though the ballot box is the
sacred chest and tie ark of the American
covenant you know as well as | know it hes
its sworn antagonists, and l propose tbs
morning, in Gods name and as a Christian
pair OF, to set before you the names Of some
of the sworn enemies of this sacred chest, tile
ark of the American covenant, the ball,t
box.
First, remark, ignorance is a mighty foe.
Other things being equal, the more inteli-
gence man has the better he is qualified 10
exercise the right of suffrage. You hare
been ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty years study
ing American institutions; you have can
yessed all the great questions about tariff and
home rue and all the educational questions,
and everything in American politics YOU are
well acquainted with. You consider your
self competent to cast vote next Tuesday,
and you are confident. You will take yoar
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 there will como
man who cannot spell the name of comp
troller, or attorney or mayor. He cannot
write, or il he can write he uses small 'in
for the personal pronoun. He could not tsll
on which side OF the Allegheny mountains
Ohio is. Educated canary birds, educated
horses know more than he. He will cast lis
vote and it will balance your vote. His iig-
horance is as mighty as your intelligente
That is not right. All men of fair mind will
acknowledge that that is not right. Until a
man can read the Declaration of Independ-
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
n monarchy or despot;sm 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 100000
children who ought to have been in school.
There were only 1888, COO III other words,
about 50 per cent, and OF the so per cent. not
more than per cent. got anything worthy
the name of an education. Now, take that
foreign ignorance and add it to our American
ignorance, and there will be in November
thousands and thousands of people who are
no more qualified TO exercise the right of suf-
frage than to lecture on astronomy. How
are these things to be corrected? BY laws of
compulsory education, well executed / go
in for a law which after Giving fair warning
for 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. l would have a board of ex-
animation seated beside the officers of regis
tration. and let them decide whether the men
who come up to vote have any capacity to
be monarchs in a land where we are all 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 Cd.
portunity to know and understand what
they do. II they will not take the educa-
ton. DENY them the vote.
Another powerful, enemy of this sacred
cnest, the ark of the American covenant. the
ballot box, is spurious voting. In 1880 in
Brooklyn. there were a thousand names re-
corded of persons who had no residence here.
and if there were a thousand ATTEMPTED
fraudulent votes in the best CITY on the con-
tinent, what NAV we expect in cities not SO
fortunate? What a Grand thing IS the law OF
registration, Without II elections in this
country would he a farce There must he q
scrutiny ON tbis snhiect Tho Ia " mist ha ve
Eaanest twist 70, ~ nan,, ~ ro,,oa.a,s Snn,a,
th;,,rs ' . IT,, ,it nt,e
,a,.;naS .nole ''iai snsnt ING any snoro li,i
80, 30 Nv p, az av.1ipc d. s'ie sa,,ats
a. m ,, ~ une hepunau "nen man a..erpSs
~ par Al spui iou. we Ii o!uei .tto .,
~, aei ,iie'i iau u uiIoiy nanus vi ohe atN "
, VIC o9 9T they uIoppeo uown ueau WIZ
, nuIo Ian. Anu Whei, Hleii ao'einP1 70 pu'
thn o, ,,a nc t,I oi sne AhieIlcan oailoS ooA'
s en- % ~ ono ieai ooVehi'' 'hey ue
~ Ana.Io.. '.'l.s',i
nuoiHer powerful lOe OIL tnls sdcreu cueo'