The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1889-03-28
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Weekly Discourse. Of che Great
Brooklyl Preacher
subject; "ssroug Uses Of
Money!

ikArt IHeu thut lplU De rich fdW into
ssmptqtion and a snare, aud into many
FOOLISH and hurtfW lasts, ,ohich droon men
IN destruction and perdition."-I Timothy
w., o
That is the Niagara Falls over which rush
multitude OF souls, namely the determine,
ton TO have money anyh how, right or wrong,
Tell me how man gets his money and what
he does with it, and viii tell you his char.
acter, and what will be h destiny in this
world and the next. propos, to speak this
morning about some Of the ruinous modes Of
getting money.
We recently passed through a national
election in which it has lcen estimated that
thirty million dollars Were expended. i Think
about twenty million of it were spent in out
and out bribery. Both PARTIES raised all
they could for this purpose But that was
only on large scale what has been done on
smaller scale for fifty years and in all de-
partments
Politics from being the science of good
government has often been badraggled into
Che synonym for truculency and turpitude
A monster sin, plausible, potent, pestiferous,
has gone forth to do its dreadful work in
all ages. Its two hands are rotten with
leprosy. 1t keeps its right hand hidden in a
deep pocket. The left hand is clenched, and
with its ichorous knuckle it taps at the door
OF the court room. the legislative hall, the
door swings. open and the monster
enters, and glides through the aisle of the
council chamber as softly as slippered page,
and then it takes its right hand from its
deep pocket and offers it in salutation to
judge or legislator. If that hand be taken.
and the palm of the intruder cross the palm
Of the official, the leprosy crosses from palm
to palm In round blotch, round as a gold
eagle, and the virus spreads, and the doom is
nxed, and the victim per She's Let bribery,
accursed of God and man, stand up for trial.
The Bible arraigns it again and again.
Samuel says of his two sons who became
judges: They took brides and perverted
Judgment" David says of some of his pur-
surers: Their right hand is full of bribes."
Amos saws of some men in his day: "They
take bride and turn aside the poor in the
gate" Eliphaz fortelis the cru 'hing blows
of Gods indignation, declaring: Fire shall
consume the tabernables of bribery"
1t is no light temptation. The mightiest
have fallen under it. Sir Francis Bacon,
Lord Chancellor Of England, founder of our
modern philosophy, author of "Novum
Organum" and a whole library of books,
the leading thinker of his century, so
precocious that when little child he was
asked by Queen Elizabeth: How old
are your he responded, 81 am two years
reign" of whose oratory Ben. johnson
wrote: "The fear of every man that heard
him was lest he should max an end;n hav-
ing an income which you would suppose
would have put him beyond the temptation
OF bribery-thirtys thousand dollars a
year, and Twickenham court a gift, and
princely estates in Hertfordshre and Cor
to bribery falling fiat fiat into o'p'1 ruin,
and on his confession of taking
bribes, giving as excuse that all
his predecessors took them; he was fined
two hundred thousand dollars, or what cor
responds with our two hundred thousand
dollars, and imprisoned in London tower.
SO also Lord Chancellor Macclesield fell; so
also Lord Chancellor W aterbury persisted. The
black chapter in English, Irish, French and
American politics is the chapter of bribery
Some OF you remember the Pacific Mail
subsidies. Most OF you remember the awful
tragedy of the Credit Mobilier. Under
the temptation to bribery Benedict Arnold
$3.50. For this sin Gorgey betrayed
Hungary, Ahthophel forsook David and
Judas kissed Christ. When l see so many
Of the illustrious going down under this
temptation, it makes me think of the red
dragon spoken of in Revelation with seven
heads and ten horns and seven crowns,
drawing a third part of the stars of heaven
down after him. The lobbies of the legisa-
lures of this country control the country.
The land is drunk with bribery.
"Oh," says some one, ''there's no need Of
talking against bribery by promise or by
dollars, because every man has his price" I
do not believe it. Even heathenism and the
dark ages have furnished specimens of in
corruptibllity. A cadi OF Smyrna had a case
brought before him on trial A man
gave him five hundred ducats in
bribery. The case came on. The
briber had many witnesses. The poor
man on the other side had no witnesses. At
the close of the case the cadi said: "This
poor man has no witnesses, he thinks: I shall
against the other side" And then pulling
out the bag of ducats from under the otto
man, he dashed it down at the feet
OF the briber, saying: Il give my
decision against you" "Epan-
1nondas, offered bride, said: II will do
this thing If it be right, and if it be wrong
all your goods cannot persuade me-"
bride by Pyrrhus of Macedon. Fabricius
answered: What an example this would be
to the Roman people: you keep your riches
and will keep my poverty and reputation. y
The President OF the American Congress
during the American Revolution, General
Reed, was offered ten thousand guineas by
foreign commissioners II he would betray
thi country. He r piled: Gentlemen, i am
a very poor man, but tell your King he is
not rich enough to buy me-" But WHY 90
SO lar, wuen you and |, if We move in
honorable society, know men and women who
by all the concen rated force of earth and
hell could not be bribed. They would no
more lie bribed than YOU would think of
tempting an angel of light to exchange heaven
for the nit To offer q hrihe is viIiainv hut
It Is a very poor comnliment to tha man to
whom it is offered.
have not much faith in those naonla ubo
20 about Dragging how much thew could oct
II they would only sell ont Thosa woman
who complain that thew are yerv often in.
gu ted need 10 understand that ,here 10 soma.
thing in their carriage TO invite insnit.
There are men in Albany and at Har.
rishurg and at Washjneton who Womb mr.
more be approached bv n bribe than a nirate
boat with a few cutlasses wonld dare IN at.
tack a British msn-of war with two hanks Of
guns on each side loaded to tho tonch boIo
They are incorruptlbie men and thew are
the few men who are to save the cty and
save the land. Meanwhile INV ad.
vice is to all people to keen ont of nolitics
unless YOU are lnyulnerable To this stvle n
temptation. Indeed. if Won ara natnrally
strong, you need religious buttressinv,
Nothing but the grace of God can sustain
our public men and make them what we
wish. | wish that there might come ar
old fashioned revival of religion, that
1t might break out in Congress and in
the Legislatures and bring many of the lead
ing Republicans and Democrats down on khf