The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-02-01
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIvINE'S SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject: Marriage for Worldly,
Success Without Regard 20
Moral Character"


man ,ras usry great, and he had thre: thou
sand sheep and q thousand goats. NJ Sam
ual, XIV, z.
My text introduces US to a drunken blost
of large property. Before the day OF safety
deposits and government bonds and national
banks peop.e had their Investments, in tocks
and herds, and this man, Nabal, Of the text,
had much Of his possession in live stock:
He came also Of a distinguished family ana
had glorious Caleb for an ancestor. But tnis
descendant was sneak. churl, sot aud
fool One instance to Illustrate: II was
wool raising country, and at the time OF
shearing great feast was prepared for the
shearers; and David and his warriors, VINO
had In other days saved from destruction
the threshing floors Of Nabal, sent to hlm
asking, in this time of plenty, for some bread
for their starving men. And Nabal crled
out: "Who is Davidln As though an Eng
a German should say: "Who is Won Moltke"
or an American should say: who is Wash
irgtona" Nothing did Nabal give to the
starving men, and that night the scoundrei
Law dead drunk at home, AMI the Bible gives
us a full length picture of him sprawhng and
maudlin and hopeless =,
Now that was the man whom Abigail, the
lovely and gracious and good woman, mar
ried-a tuberose planted beside q thistle,
palm branch twined into wreath OF deadly
hghtshade Surely that was not one OF the
matches made in heaven. We throw up our
hands in horror at that wedding How did
she ever consent to link her destinles with
such crcaturei Well, she no doubt thought
that it would be an honor to be associated
with an aristocratic family, and no one can
despise a great name Beside this, wealth
would come, and with it chains Of gold and
mansions lighted by swinging lamps OF
aromatic oil, and resounding with the cheer
of banoueters seated at tables laden with
wines from the richest vineyards, and fruits
from ripest orchards, and nuts threshed from
foreign woods, and meats smoking i'll platters
of gold, set on by slaves in bright uniform.
Before she plighted her troth with this dlssl-
pated man she sometimes said to herself;
t.How can endure himl To be associated
for life with such debauche l cannot and
will notW But then again she said to her.
self: ut IS time l was married, and this ID
cold world to depend on, and perhaps
might do worse and may be 1 will make
terry anyhow" And when one day this rep
,resentative OF a great house presented himself
in parentheSis OF sobriety and with an
assumed genality and gallantry Of manner,
and with promises Of fidelity and kindness
and self-abnegation. June morning smiled
on q march squall, and the great souled
woman surrendered her happiness to the
keeping Of this Infamous son Of fortune
whose possessions were in Carmel; and the
man was very great, and he had three thou
-sand sheep and a thousand goats.
Behold here domestic tragedy repeated
every hour OF every day all over Christen.
dom-marriage for worldly success without
regard to character. So Marie Jeanne
Phlipon, the daughter Of the humble en-
graver Of Paris, became the famous Mime.
Roland of history, the vivacious and brill
iant girl united with the cold, formal, mo-
.notonous man, because he came ofan atiiuant
family of Anliens and had lorily blood in
his veins The day when through political
revolution this patriotic woman was led to
the scaffold around which lay piles Of human
heads that had fallen from the ak, and she
said to an aged man whom she had cor,forted
as they ascended the scaifold: go first that
you may not witness my death, and then
undauntcd took her turn to die-that day
was to her only the last act of the tragedy Of
which her uncongenial marriage day was the
first.
Good and genial character in a man, the
very first requisite for woman's happy mar
rage. Mistake me not as depreciative Of
worldly properties. There is religious
cant that would seem to represent poverty as
q virtue and wealth as a crime. can take
you through thousand mansions where God
Is as much worshiped as he ever was in
cabin. The gospel inculcates the virtues which
tend toward wealth. In the millennium we will
oil dwell in palaces, and ride in chariots, and
ait at sumptuous banquetS, and sleep under
rich embroideries, and live 400 or sou years,
for, II according to the Bible, in those times
a child shall die 10O years old, the average Of
human life will be at least five centuries The
whole tendency Of sin is toward poverty, and
the whole tendency of Righteousness is toward
wealth. GodliuesS is profitable for the life
that now is as we'll as for that which is to
come. No inventory can be made Of the
picture galleries consecrated to God, and of
sculpture, and Of libraries, and pillared mag
nificence, and Of parks, and fountains and
gardens in the ownership of good men and
women. The two most lordly residences in
which l was ever guest had morning and
evening prayers all the employees present,
and all day long there was an air Of cheerful
piety in tho conversation and be havior. Lord
Radstock carried the gospel to the Russian
mobility. Lord Cavan and Lord Cairns spent
their vaction in evangeliStic service. Lord
Congleton became missionary to Bagdad.
And the Christ who was born in an eastern
caravausary has again and agnin lived in
palace
It is a grand thing to hive plonty of
money, and horses that don't comrcl YOU to
take the dust of every numbering and lazy
vehicle; and books Of history that give you
a glimpse Of all the past and shelves Of
or Tennyson or Spencer or Tom Moore or
Robert Burns to step down and spend an
evening with you; and other shelves to
which YOU may 20 while you feel disgusted
with the shams OF the world, and ask Thack.
cray to express your chagrin, or Charles
Dickens to expose the Pecksnifianism, or
Thomas Carlyle to thunder your Indignation; !;
stand ready to warn and cheer US while they
open doors into that city which is SO bright
the MONDAY sun is abolished as useless. There
Is no virtue in owning horse that takes four
minutes to 60 mile, if you can own one
that can 60 in little over two minutes and
q half; no virtne in running into the teeth
of q northeast wind with thin apparel,
if you can afford furs; no virtue In
being poor when you can honestly be rich:
There are names Of men and women that
have only to mention and they suggest not
only wealth but religion and generosity and
philanthropy, such as Amos Lawrence, James
Lennox, Peter Cooper, William E. Dodge,
Shaftesbury, Miss Wolf and Mrs Astor.
A recent letter says that OF fifty leading
and of the fifty leading business men
of one Of our western cities three-fourths OF
them are Christians The fact is that about
all the brain and the business genius is on
the side of religion. Infldelity is incipient in
sanity. ALI in6dels are cranks Many OF
them talk brightly, but you soon find that in
their mental machinery there is q screw
loose. When they are not lecturing against
Christianity they are sitting In barrooms
squirting tobacco juice, and when they get
mad swear till the place is sulphurous. They
only talk to keep their courage up and at
best will feel like the nfl'iel who begged to
be buried with his Christian wife and
daughter, and when asked why he wanted
such burial replied. IF there be resurrec,
tion OF the good, as some folks say there VIII
be, my Christian wife and daughter will
somehow get me I'D and take me along with