The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-05-02
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIvINE'S SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject: Jealousy"


here is Bible theme that for some reason is
left teetotally alone. This morning, asking
your prayers and in the strength Of God, l
There IS an old sin, haggard, furious, mon
strous and diabolical. that has for ages
walked and crawled the earth. It combines
all that is obnoxious in the races, human.
quadrupedal, pathological, reptilian and
insectile, horned, tusked, hoofed, fanged,
adder, the jaws Of a crocodile, the crushing
folds Of an anaconda. the slyness Of seor-
pion, the tongue Of a cobra, and the coil OF
the worm that never dies. 1t is in every
community, in every church, in every legis-
lative hall. in every monetary institution, In
and professional circle. It whispers, it
hises,. it lies, it ;debauches, it -blasphemes,
It damns. My text names it when it says:
Jealousy is the rage Of man. It Is grief
at the superiority Of others; their superiority
in talent or wealth or beauty or elegance or
virtue or social or professional or political
recognition. 1t is the shadow Of other peo-
pies success 1t is the shiver in our pocket
book because it is not as fat as some one
else's pocket book. 1t is the twinge in our
tongue because it is not as eloquent as some
one else's tongue 1t is the futter in our
robes because they are not as lustrous as
some one else's robes It is the earthquake
under our house because it is not as many
feet front and deep as our neighb0r's house.
It is the thunder of other peoples popularity
souring the milk Of our kindness. 1t Is the
father and mother both Of one-half Of the
discomfort and outrages and detractions and
bankruptcies and crimes and woes OF the
human race
It was antediluvian as much as it Is post
diluvian. 1t put rough stick in the hands
OF the first boy that was ever born, and said
to him: "Now, Cain, when Abel is looking
the other way crush in his skull for his sacri.
fee has been accepted and yours rejected.
And Cain picked up the stick as though just
to talk with it, and while Abel was watch
ing some bird in the tree top, or gazing at
some waterfall, down came the blow OF the
first assassination, which has had its echo in
all the fratrieides, matricides, uxoricides,
homicides, infanticides and regicides Of all
ages and all nations. This passion Of jealousy
80 disturbed Caligula at the prominence OF
some of the men OF his time that he cut
much admired curl from the brow OF Cincin-
natus, and took the embroidered collar from
the neck of Torquatus, and had Ptolomaeus
killed because Of his purple robe, which at
tracted too much attention. After Columbus
had placed America as gem in the Spanish
crown, jealousy set on the Spanish cour-
tiers to depreciate his achievement, and
aroused animosities till the great discoverer
had his heart broken. Urged on by this bad
passion, Dionysius hayed Plato because he
was wiser than himself, and Philoxenius be-
cause his music was too popular Jealousy
made Korah lie about Moses, and Succoth
depreciate Gideon
Jealousy made the trouble between Jacob
: and Esau. That hurled Joseph into the pit.
That struck the twenty-three fatal wounds
into Julius Caesar. That banished Aristides.
That fired Antony against Cicero. Tiberius
IoIo - fhn fopa hn
got for a beautiful porch, and slew poet for
his fine tragedy. That set Saul in rage
against David. How graphically the Bibls
puts it when it says: Saul eyed David" 1t
seems to take possession of both eyes and
makes them flash and burn like two port
holes Of hell saul eyed David" That is
he looked at him as much as to say: "You
greata will grind you under my heel !
will exterminate you, will, you miserable
homunculus. Crouch, crawl, stink into that
rat hole. I will teach those women to sing
some other song, instead Of ''Saul has slain
his thousands but David his tens Of thou
sands" When Voltaire heard that Frederick
the Great was forgetting him and putting his
g the old iffidel leaped out Of his bed and
danced the foor in maniacal rage, and
ordered his swiftest horses hooked up to carry
him to the Prussian palace.
That despicable passion Of jealousy led
Napoleon the First to leave in his will be-
quest Of 5000 francs to the ruffian who shot
at Wellington when the victor at Waterloo
was passing through Paris. That stationed
tho grouty elder brother at the back door of
the homestead when the prodigal son re-
turned, and threw q chill on the family re.
union while that elder brother complained,
saying: "Who ever heard Of giving roast
veal to such a prcfigate'" Ay, that passion
rose up and under the darkest cloud that
ever Swallowed the earth and amid the loud
lest thunder that ever shook the mountains,
and amid the widest flash of lightning that
ever blinded or stunned the nations, hung up
on two pieces Of rough lumber back Of Jeru.
salem, the kindest, purest, lovingest nature
that heaven could delegate, and stopped not
until there was no power left in hammer or
bramble or javelin to hurt the dead Son Of
God.
That passion of jealousy, livid, hungry,
unbalked, RACES on: and now, pierces the
earth like fiery diameter and encircles it
like a, fiery circumference. 1t wants both
hemispheres. 1t wants the heavens. 1t
would, If it could, capture the palace Of God,
and dethrone Jehovah, and chain the Al
mighty in eternal exile and after the demo-
htlon Of the universe would cry: Satisfied
. at last, here I am! Alone, the undisputed
and everlasting I, Me- Mine, Myself" That
passion keeps all Europe perturbed. Nations
jealous Of Germany, Of England, Of Russia,
and those jealous Of each other, and all Of
them jealous Of America
In our land this pss ion of jealousy keeps
all the political world aboil. There are at
least 500 people who are jealous Of Governor
Hill, and would like to be his successor;
about 5000 who are jealous Of Grover Cleve-
land, and would like to relieve him of the
cares Of Office, and after the nomina-
tions Of next summer have been mede
q whole pandemonium Of defamation,
sour nlity, hatred, revenge, falsehood. pro-
family and Misrepresentation will be turned
upon this land. The tariff. about the raising
or lowering or reformation Of which many
of them care nothing except as to its effect
on votes, will be discussed from thousand
platforms, and the people Of Louisiana will
be told that the tariff will be arranged to suit
American sugar, the people of Virginia will
be told that the tariff will be arranged to suit
American tobacco, and the people OF Penn
sylvania will be to'd that the tariff will be
arranged to suit American iron, and the
people of Ohio that the tariff will be
arranged to suit American wool,
will be be~promised protection for manufact-
ures, and all the monetary interests, north,
south, east and west, will to told in each
neighborhood that the taxes and tariff will
be fixed to suit them, irrespective of any
body else; and, the Presidential election
over, all will settle down as it was before.
If you think that all this discussion in public
places is from anv desire Of the welfare Of
the dear people and not for political effect,
you are grievously mistaken.
Go into all occupations and professions,
and il you want to know how much jeal-
cnsy Is yet to be extirpated, ask master
builders what they think Of each others
houses, and merchants what their opinion is
of merchants in the same line Of business in
the same street, and ask doctors what they
think Of doctors, and lawyers what they
think Of lawyers, and ministers what they