The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1888-03-15
TIE AGE OF SWTNDLE.
THE REV. DR.. TALMAGE'S SERMON
AT THE TABERNACLE.

THE REV. DR.. TALMAGE'S SERMON
AT THE TABERNACLE.
When . nam. business Life Does Not
Correspond with His Profession, His
Religion Is a Humbug-When 1t Is
Right to Borrow.
sung at the Tabernacle this morning
begins:
A cloud OF witnesses around
Hold thee fl fun survey;
ForI->t the steps already trod,
And onward urge thy way.
As, last Sabbath. the Rev. 7. De Witt
Talmage, d. D., the pastor. had baptized
by sprinklns. he, this morning. baptized
by immersion. those whe preferred this
mode. Il ba;?ti.:rv having been built
under the mi! il. The subject of his
sermon WIS: ..i7,c Age OF Swindle, and
the text Ju, Viii. IA: Whose trust
shall be -f.i:cr's web" DR.. Talmage
said:
The tu>o mort .tzfl1ful architects in all
the world are t.,c l,ce and the spider. The
one puts m, a sugar mandatory and the
other Gttilds slaughter house for flies.
On BRIGHT r1lrufner morning when the
sun comes tat nnd shines upon the
spiders wei. ls>1cckcd with dew, the
gossanlcr structure sct.rns bright enough
for suspension Bridge for supernatural
beings TO cross ON. But, alas for the poor
Hy which, II, the latter part Of that very
day, ventures On It and is caught and
dunenoncd and destroyed. The fly was
informed that It was free bridge, and
would cost nothing. but at the other end
Of the inffgn tire toll paid was its own
life. The next day there came down q
strong wind and away goes the web, and
the marauding spider and the victimized
fly. So delicate are the silken threads Of
the spiders web that many thousands Of
them are put together before they be-
come visible to the human eye, and
It takes 1000, 900 Of them 10 make
. thread as large as human hair.
Most cruel as well as most ingen-
ious is the spider. A prisoner in the
Bastile, France, had one 50 trained that
at the sound of violin It every day came
for its meal OF flies. Job, the author Of
my text and the leading scientist of his
day, had no doubt watched the voracious
process OF this one insect with another,
and saw spider and fly swept down with
the same broom or scattered BY the same
wind. Alas, that the world has 30 many
designing spiders and victimized fliesi
There has not been a time when the
utter and black responsibility of many
men having the financial interests of 9TH
ers in charge has been more evidsnt than
in these last few years.
The unroofng Of banks and disappear
ance Of administrators with the funds Of
large estates, and fhe disorder amid post
Office accounts and deficits amid United
States officials, have made a pestilence Of
crime that soiemni1es every thoughtful
man and woman, and leads every phil
anthropist and Christian TO ask: What
shall be done to stay the plagued There
COCO. I sometimes ask myself If It would
not be better for men making willis 4. be-
queath the property directly 10 the exec
utors and officers q the court, and ap-
point the widows and orphans a COM
mittee to see that the former got an
that did not belong to them. The simple
fact is that there are large number Of
men sailing yachts and driving fast
horses, and members Of expensive club
houses and controlling country seats who
are not worth 81 Ii they seturn to other.
their iu-d rigi,tA. Under some suddcA
reverse they fail, and with afflicted ai-
seem t., retire from the world, and seer,
almost ready for fnoRnstio life, when il
two or tn,ve years tasy blossom ot:s
again, having COMPROMISED with the.r
creditors. thai h. ls,i.s them nothin <
but rgrrt.., and ,i,s only difference
betwe,,a utc secnud chapter OF prosperi, '
and the Lax. il tiiat their pictures a: =
Hurilios i4l>te:,d Of hensetts, and the, =
horses g..u mile ia twenty seconds lcss
than tlci- Predecessors. and instead Of OF, =
country .c~t they have thres.I have
watched u..d have noticed that nine out
of tea of t:l.rrc who fail in what is called
high lie. L~yc more means after than
before I-.- failure. and in many of these
cases failure 10 only Il stratesem to escape
the payment Of honest debts and put the
world of the track while they practice q
large swindle. There is something woe
| fully wrong in the fact that these thin !
| are possible.
First of Ill, 1 charge the blame on
careless. indifferent bank directors and
boards having in charge great financial
| Institutes. 1t ought not to be possible
| Tor {, l':>.=i3e:it cashier or promincat
| officer of Il banslng institution TO swim ID
| 1t year after year without detection.
| will undertake to say that If these frau ii
| are carried OH for two or three ye IN
| without detection. either the direc, re
| arc partners III the mfamy and poke cd
| part OF t.e theft. or they are guilty OF q
culpabic neglect Of duty, for which Go,
| will hold them rs responsible rs he hold
the acknowledged defrauders What
| right have prominent business men to
allow their names to be- published as
| director. in financial institution, SO that
unsophisticatei people are thereby in
duced TO tc{-,.it their money in or buy
the scrip thez,aT. when they, tho pub
ished dirvr.oue, are doing nothing 70,
| the safety 81 the institution? It n a case
| of deccPtiex, iae-ss reprehensible. Man,
people with a Surplus OF money MOI
| neeG.-i for immediate use, although il
may he little further on Indispensable
| are without friends competent TO advis.
them, snd ttley ere guided solely b,
| the character Of the men who's,
names are associated with tn,
institution. When tho crash came, Ant
with the overthrow of the banks wen
the small earnings and limited fortune.
of widows and orphans. and the help
lessay aged, the direetors stood will
idiotic stare, ard b the inquiry of tn,
frenzied d,.;p-dtors and stockholders VIII,
had lost r.ae-a ali, and to the arraignmeil
! OF an Indignant public had nothin, +
say EXCEPT: I'VE thought It was ~
right We did not know there was ANY
thing wrong going on" It was tl,-i
duty to know. They stood in positi..
which dciuded the people with the id..
that they we're carefully observant. Cal
ing Themselves directors, they did IL,
direct. They had opportunity OF -
diting accounts and inspecting r.
books. No time to do sof IT,.
they HAD no business 30 accept { !
] position. It seems to me The nr