Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1890-10-09
.'CRooKED THINGS"
DIR. TALMAGE breaches OF AN.
SWER To PRAYER

A Religion That Enters Into All
| the Concerns OF Life, From Suo.
cess 10 Business to Controlling the
Elements.
On Sunday DR.. Talmage announced that
beginning next Sabbath he would preach
series Of sermons entitled my Recent
Journey Through the Holly Land and
Neishboring Countries; What Saw and
Learned" The subject upon which he
spoke Sunday was ''Crooked Things"
Tho text being taken from Isaiah 40. 1:
'"The crooked shall DO made straight"
Geometry, from the time 1t was discovered
or the banks Of the Nile, which, by its over
| now annually obliteratcd the landmarks,
ana the restoration Of these landmarks
made such a science necessary-I say, &C.
ometry, ever since then has been busy with
lines-straight lines, curved lines, lines in
angles and cones and spheres, but has never
been able to evolve any beauty from u line
that was merely crooked. The circle and
the square were always considered admira-
Die. Isaiah recognizes the circle, and says:
The Lord sits upon the circle Of the earth"
me altar OF the ancient tabernacle was
-FOUR square," and the breastplate Of the
priests -four square" and heaven, accord
Ing to st. John, is flour square," But the
Bible has no admiration for lines that are
merely crooked Indeed, my text, in prophe-
sying the worlds complete rcctifcation, de-
clares: Tho crooked shall be made
straight"
There have been so many moral earth
quakes that many things have got into
terrible twist-crookcd laws. crooked gov
ernments, crOOked fortunes. crooked dispO-
sitions-and many OF the efforts to straight
en- things have only madc them more
crooked. And some good people sit down In
despair and become pcssimistic and give up
life and the church and the world dead
failures. With such lachrymose behavior
have no sympathy. 1t is a promise OF the
Lord Almighty: The crooked shall be
made straight" l propose, as l may be
divinely helped, to mention some Of the
crooked things that are going to be straight
encd.
Much OF the wealth Of the world is in the
hands OF the prohigate. while many OF the
best people are subjected to distressing pri-
vation and there Is going to be redistri-
button OF property. II it were possible, it
would be q bad thing to have things divided
equally. Some men are able to endure more
success than Others and prosperity that
might not unbelauce you might destroy me.
The Declaration OF American Independence
declares that all men are born equal, but
the opposite Is the truth, for they are born
unequal. In no respect is this more evident
than In their capacity to endure success.
|
acquisition OF fifty thousand dollars made
arrogant and overbearing, and l have known
others with their millions OF dollars child
like and unassuming and Christian. We
would oil be afuent. but the Lord cannot
trust US. am glad there are those He can
trust. Much is said against capitalists, but
, the world would be very shaky place with
out them. Who built the great railroads
which, while they give such facilities Of
travel, employ tens OF thousands Of labor
x,,ti n,,I tl,nS. A.,., It,,S
Capitalists. Who built great ships that stir
the rivers and bridge the ocean? Capital
) lists. Who reared the thousands OF factories
all over the land in which hundreds OF thou
sands of employees earn their daily bread?
Capitalists? Who endowed your colleges
and opened free libraries, and built asy
: lums for the orphan, the crippled and the
g insane? Capitalists! But for them there
would not be an academy of music, or a
Q picture gallery. or II free library, Or a steam
G boat, or q railroad in America. Who put
the world on seventy-fve years beyond
what 1t would have been in enterprise, in
2 comforts, in educational advantages, in good
S things without NUMBER Capitalists. The
a more money a man gets the better, X it
come honestly and is employed riShteously.
Nevertheless, we all see that there needs to
be a redistribution OF property. Commune
, ism proposes to make that distribution by
- torch and dagger and dynamite Throw the
> tdnisht express off the track and put the
L =
= ourglarize; assassinate. Such people be-
love neither In God nor man nor woman,
- and they know how to make things worse.
Q but never have made and never can make
anything better.
1 tell you how there will come a rcdistri-
. button Of property. Under the divine bless
y ing good people will get more alertness and
It acumen and assiduity. Many good people
are kept in straitened circumstances be-
cause they have been indolent. or lacked
0>sr tf. fut.n nfy- ,tpsr. - .,tr
- cumstanccs, and were too stupid to get on.
With the very same surroundings Others
went on to competency. In the better days
n to como good men will have their faculties
n wakened, and will in consequence rise to q
- larger share OF prosperity. On the other
" hand. estates wrongfully accumulated will
dissolve. II not the sons then the grand
c Bons will make the money fly, and 1t will
gradu ally scatter in their hands. AMI be-
u come part of the general wealth. Then
If As to vast properties righteously gathered
u and there are thousands Of them-such es-
! tAtcs will contribute tow ard helping the I'M
II fortunate. not more ty charities than by
q helping struggling people into lucrative
business, and the maa who ka3 amasseC
enough and a surplus will say: There Is
TO young merchant without any capital: ! will
a start him on Fulton street, and there |.
~ ) young mechanic who has no means OF hi
- own, and will put him on career OF pros
" perity;' and there is farmer with too
10 o.s +" .no' $3.50 VI" ",S A"""' onu WA heii
r. him lift the remembrance" The fact Is
that II the kindness and generosity mani
tested by moneyed men toward the strug
Is Cling during the last fifty years. increases
=, In the same ratio fer the next fifty years
IL there will be a condition of society para
o. diaic. We are going to have q multiplied
g. tiOn Of William E. Dodges, and Peter Coop
-, ers, and James Lenoxes. and George Pea
y bodys. So will come redistribution, and tn
" crooked will be made straight.
Mind this: God never yet undertook
I; failure. The old book which is worth al
~ other books put together, makes 1t plail
IN that God has undertaken to regulate thi
re world by Gospel influences. and II He ha
m the power He will do what He says He will
and no one who amounts to any thing viii
10 deny His power. God has said hundre
ly times II WILL" but never once has said g
cannot" We may with our tack hammer
pound away. trying TO mend and improv
IN and sIraixhten the financial condition of tn