The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1888-12-06
TALMAGE's SERMON.
A Disoours, Upol tis Ballot-Box
and Election Franc liss.
The Responsibility Resting Upon the Citi-
zen-How the Ballot should be Used
to Strengthen the Hand of
the Government.


the Government.
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage, In an ante
election sermon az the Brooklyn Tabsr-
nacle, took for his subject ST le Ballot-
B TX and the Election franchise" His
text was:
Two cubits and half was the length of 1t,
and cubit and half the breadth of it. and a
cubit and half the height OF it.-Exodus
xxxvii.. /.
Look at 1.-THE sacred chest OF the an
clients. It was about FIVE feet long. three
feet wide aud 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. Divinely charged, costly,
precious. momentous box. M 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 o fragment
of il.
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 ballot-boxl It 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
that beans were dropped into tia white
bean for the affirmative, black bean for
the negative. After this, when they
wished to vote man out of citizenship.
they would write his name upon a shell
and drop that into the box.
O'Connell, and Grote, and Golden. and
Macaulay, and Gladstone fought great
battles in he Introduction of the ballot-
boxes in England, and today it is one of
the Businesses Of that nation. 1t is one
of the corner-stones OF our Governm IN t.
1t is older than the Constitution. 1t is
our National safety. Tell me what will
be the fate of the American ballot box,
the ark OF the American covenant and I
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 instruction and revo-
luton.
Either give them the ballot or they will
faE a ho1l -h,v
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
If they were SAFE eyes" said the farm
ers and the gardeners, SIT is safe; all the
danger is before the eruption; Their
comes earthquake and terror, but just az
soop as the volcano b sgins to pour forth
lava we all feel at rest.o 1t 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 satisfaction, and that gives
peace, and that gives permanency to good
government And yet, though the ballot
box is the sacred chest and the ark of ths
American covenant, you know as we'll al
know 1t has its sworn antagonists. and
propose this morning, in Gods name
and a. Christian patriot to set before
you the names of some of the sworn enc.
mics t this sacred chest, the ark of the
American covenant. the ballot box.
First Iremark, ignorance is might,
loo. Other things being equal, the more
intelligence man has the better he is
quailhed to exercise ths right of suffrage
You have been ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty
years studying American institutions
you have canvassed all the great ques
tions about tariff and home rule aud all
the educational questions, and ever,
thing in American politics you are well
acquainted with. You consider yoursel
competent to cast a vote in November
and you are competent. You will tax,
your position in the line of electors, yo,
viii wait for your turn to come, the iudg,
Of election will announce your name. yo-
will cast your yote and pass out Wei
done.
But right behind you there will come ,
Irleu who can not spell the name os comp
troler or attorney or mayor. He can no
write, or if he can write he uses a small
"ip for the personal pronoua. He coult
not tell on which side of the Alleghen,
mountains Ohio is. Educated canar,
birds educated horses, know more tina,
be. He will cast his vote, and it will bal
ance your vote. His ignorancs is a
mighty as your intelligence. That is no
right All men Of fair mind will acknowl
edge that that Is not right. Until ma,
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 republican form OF governmea al
and monarchy, or a despotlsom, he Ii
unfit to exercise the right of suff rage a
any ballot-box between Key West ant
Alaska.
In 1872 In England there were 1000 ON
children who ought to have been /,
schools. There were l. 333. 000--in othe
words, about fifty per cent-aud of tn,
nifty per cent not more than FIVE per cent
got any thing worthy the name of a,
education. Now, take that foreign igro
rance and add it 10 our American igno
rance, and there will be in Novembe
thousands and thousands OF people VIII,
are no more qualified to exercise tn
right of suffrage than to lecture or
astronomy. How are these things to b
corrected? By laws of compulsory educa
ton we'll executed. I go in for Law