The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1890-09-24
CROOKED THINGS"
Rev. T. Dewitt Talnaee, D. d,
breaches on This Subject
Crooked Laws, Croohlsd ucssrnmonts,
Crooked Fortunes and Croeked Dis-
positions to be sttAishtensd By
Divine nterposition--The s
Power OF Prayer.

Brooklyn Academy OF Music recently
on the subject Of Crooked Things,
taking for his text Isaiah xi, A: 'oThe
crooked shall be made straight" Fol.
lowing is the sermon:
Geometry, from the time 1t was dis
covered on the banks OF the Nile, which,
by Its overflow annually obliterated the
landmarks, and the restoration Of these
landmarks made such science neces-
.sary-1 say, geometry, 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 line that was
merely crooked. The circle and the
square were always considered admira.
BILE. Isaiah recognizes the circle and says:
"The Lord sits upon the circle Of the
earth" The altar OF the ancient taber-
nacle was "four square" and the breast
breastplate Of the priests "four square,"
Heaven. according to st. John, is "four
square," But the Bible has no admira-
tion for lines that are merely crooked.
Indeed, my text in prophesying tho
worlds complete rectification declares
''The crooked shall be made straight"
There have been SO many moral earth
quakes that many things have got into
terrible twist-crooked laws, crooked
governments, crooked fortunes, crooked
dispositions-and many OF the efforts TO
straighten things have only made them
more crooked. And some good people
sit down in despair and become pessi-
mistic and give up life and the church
and the world as dead failures With
such lachrymose behavior I have no
sympathy. 1t is promise Of the Lord
Almighty. "The crooked shall be made
straight" l propose, as l may be d.
vinely helped, to mention some Of the
crooked things that are going to be
Strengthened.
Much Of the wealth OF the world Is in
the hands Of the profigate, while many
OF the best people are subjected to dis
tressing privation; and there is going to
be redistribution Of property. II It
were possible 1t would be a bad thing to
hate things divided equally. Some men
are able to endure more than others and
property that might not unbalance your
mind destroy me. Tho Declaration OF
American Independence declares that
adj mon 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,
financial or social. have seen men by
the acquisition Of fifty thousand dollars
made arrogant and overbearing, and
have known others with their millions
OF dollars, childlike, and unassuming
and Christian. We would all be affiu-
ent, but the Lord can not trust US am
glad there are those He can trust Much
is said against capitalists, but the world
would be very shaky world without
them. Who built the great railroads
which, while they gave such facilities OF
travel, employ tens Of thousands OF la
borers supporting them and their fami-
lies? Capitalists. Who built great ships
that stir the rivers and bridge the oceanP
Capitalists. Who reared the thousands
Of factories all over the land In which
hundreds Of thousands Of employees earn
their k.sily bread? Capitalists. Who
endowed your colleges and, opened free
libraries, and built asylums for the Or
phan, the crippled and tho insane?
Capitalistsl But for them there would
not be an Academy OF Music, or pic
ture gallery, or a free library, or a
steamboat, or q railroad in America.
Who put the world on seventy-Hve years
beyond what 1t would have beenin en-
terprise, comforts, In educational ad-
vantages, in good things without mum.
ber? Capitalistsl The more money a
man gets the better II It come honestly
and is employed righteously. Neverthe-
less we will see that there needs 10 be
redistribution Of property. Communism
proposes TO make that distribution by
torch and dagger and dynamite. Throw
the midnight express train of the track
and put the factory into conhagration.
Disrupt society. Burglarize. Assassi-
nate. Such people believe neither in
God nor man nor woman, and they know
how to make things worse, but never
sen make any thing better. r
tell you how there will come q re-
distribution Of property. Under the
tivine blessing good people will get more
alertness and acumen and assiduity.
Many good people are kept In straight
hned circumstances because they have
been indolent or lacked courage TO take
honest advantage Of circumstances, and
wore too stupid 70 get on. With the
worry same surroundings Others went on
10 competency. In the better days TO
come good mon will have their faculties
wakened, and will. In consequence.
rise 10 larger share OF prosperity. On
the other hand, estates wrongiully ac-
cumulated will dissolve. II not the
sons, then tho grandsons will make the
money hy, and It will gradually scatter
In their hands, and become a part Of the
general wealth. Then, as to vast prop
critics righteously gathered there
are thousands OF them-such estates
will contribute toward helping the, I'M
nat moro by charities than
BY helping struggling people into lucra-
tive business, and tho man who has
amassed enough and surplus will say:
'There is young merchant without
any capital, / will start him on Fulton |
street." and "there Is young mechanic
who has no means Of his own, and l will
put him on career OF prosperity" and
there Is farmer with too big 9 mort
gage on his land, and will help him
lit the encumbrance." The fact Is that