Sharp County record., 1888-10-25
TALMAGES SERMON.
A Discourse on "The Three Great
est Things to Do"
The Exigencies of Life and the Way t(
Meet DEMONSTRATION Must Come
In Gods Own Way, Not by
the Ways of Man.

Greatest Things to Do" His text was:
The people that do know their God shall be
strong and do exploits. s.-[Daniel, XII, 80.
Antiochus Epiphanes, the old sinner,
came down three times with his army
to desolate the Jews, advancing one time
with hundred and two trained ele-
phants, swinging their trunks this way
and that, and sixty-two thousand in
fantry, and six thousand cavalry troops,
and they were driven back. Then, the
second time, he advanced with seventy
thous and armed men, and had been
again defeated. But the third time he
laid successful siege until the navy OF
Rome came in with the fash of their long
banks of oars, and demanded that the
siege be lifted Aud Antiochus Epip-
hanes SAID he wanted time to consult
with his friends about 1t, and Popillu
one of the Roman ambassadors
took q staff and made q circle on the
ground around Antiocus Epiphanes, and
compelled him to decide before he came
out of that circle, whereupon he lifted
the siege. Some of the Jews had sub
mitted to the invader, but some of them
resisted valorously, as did Eleazer when
he had swine's flesh forced into his
mouth, spit it out although he knew he
must die for it, and did die for itS2pd
others, as my text shows, were enabled to
do exploits.
During the course of his life almost
every man gets into an eXtgencY Is
caught between two fires, is ground be-
tween two millstones, sits on the edge of
some precipice, or in some other way
comes near demolition. 1t may be a fin
ancial or moral, or domestic, or a.
social, or political exigency. You somei
times see it in court rooms. A young man
has got into bad company and he has Of
Tended the law, and he Is arraigned. All
blushing and confused he is in the pres
ence of Judge and jury and lawyers. He
can be sent right on in the wrong direc-
ton. He is feeling disgraced, and he is
almost desperate. Let the district -attor-
ney overhaul him as though he were an
old offender, let the ablest attorneys at
the bar refuse to say word for him be-
cause he can not afford a considerable
fee let the Judge give no opportunity for
presenting the mitigating circum-
stances, hurry up the case and
| hustle him up to Auburn or Sing Sing.
Il he lives for seventy years he will
still be criminal, and each decade of
| his life will be blacker than its predeces-
sor. In the interregnums Of prison life
he can get no work, and he is glad to
break window glass, or blow up safe,
or play the highwayman, so as to get back
again within the walls where he can get
something to eat and hide himself from
the cruel gaze Of the world. Why don't
| his father come and help him? His
father is dead Why don't his mother
come and help him? She is dead. Where
are all the ameliorating and salutary in
fuences of society? They do mot touch
him. Why did not some one long ago
| in the case understand that there was An
opportunity for the exploit, which w, i
be famous IN Heaven quadrillion of
wears after the earth has become
! scattered ashes in the last whirl-
wind? Why did not the district attor-
ney take that young man into his private
! office and say: "My son, l see that
you are the victim of circumstances. This
! is your first crime. You are sorry. will
bring the person you wronged into your
presence and you will apologize and make
all the reparation you can, and will give
you another chance" or that young man
is presented in the court room and he has
no friends present, and the judge says:
"Who is your counselW And he answers
81 have none" And the judge says:
"Who will take this young mans case?"
And there is a dead halt and no one
offers, and after awhile the judge turns
to some attorney who never had good
case in all his lite and never WILL and
whose advocacy would be enough to Sc
cure the condemnation Of innocence
itself. And the professional incompetent
craws up beside the prisoner, helpless
ness to rescue despair, when there ought
to be a struggle among all the best men
of the profession as to who should have
the honor of trying to help that un-
fortunate. How much would such an at
torney have received as his fee for such
an advocacy? Nothing in dollars,
but much every way in happy con-
seriousness that would make his own life
brighter and his own dying pillow sweet
er, and his own Heaven brighter-the
consciou5n 5ness that he had saved man.
SO there al commercial exigencies, A
very late spr,ng obliterates the demand
for spring overCoats and spring hats and
spring apparel of all sorts. Hundreds Of
thousands of people say: at seems we
are going to have no spring and we shall
go straight out of winter into warm
weather, and we can get along without the
usual spring attire" Or there is no au-
tumu weather, the Beat plunging into the
cold, and the usual clothing, which is a
compromise between summer and winter,
is not required. 1t makes difference in
the sale of millions and millions Of dol
lars of goods, and some over-sanguine
young merchant is caught with vast
amount of unstable goods that never will
be salable again except atpriceS ruinously
reduced. That young merchant with Il
somewhat limited capital is in redlca-
ment What shall the old merchants do
as they see that young man in this awful
crisis? Rub their hands, and laugh, and
say: Good for him; he might have known
better. When he has been in business as
long rs we have he will not load his
shelves in that way. Ha! ha. He will
burst up before long. He had no business
to open his store so near to ours any
how" Sherlff's sale! Red flag in the
window: "How much is bid for these ont
Of the-fashion spring overcoats and
spring hats, or fall clothing out of date?
/ What do | hear in the way of q bid :"