The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1890-05-12
TURKEY GOBBLERS,
Rev. John 1. Scudder on
the PTetence Of
Wealth.
ONE CIRCLE OPEN TO ALL.
Live for Home, Not Society.
Frencllified Hash and
Upstart HeraldTy.
NOTABLE SERMONS YESTERDAY.


The Rev. John L. Scudder at the Taber-
nacle last evening chose his text from
Matthew xiii, 5-..All their works they
do to be seen of men, for his theme.
Living for show or evils OF extrava-
gance."
aOur Lord was good reader of charac-
ter,'' he said, in opening his discourse;
.sand made no mistakes in his estimate Of
men. A few sharp glances at the Phari-
sees of His day were enough to convince
Him of their utter lack of sincerity. Their
piety was make believe and show.
They bound heavy burdens on other
mems shoulders, but would not conde
scend to touch them with one Of their
fingers They deyopred widows houses,
were inwardly full of extortion and ex-
cess, but thought they could cover up
their meanness by making long prayers
in public places.
All their works they did to be seen of
men. In matters Of religion they were
regular turkey gobbIers. They loved to
swell themselves out with pious assump-
tion, strut pompously before the people
and gobbIe forth great lingo about their
own self righteousness. They imagined
themselves the most consequential fig
ures in the whole Judaic barnyard. How
these spectacular religionists must have
drawn in their feathers and skunk into a
corner when the Lord hurled the rocks of
them up with the whip lash of His denun-
citation. Woe unto you. scribes, Phar-
isees, hypocritesl for outwardly We appear
righteous unto men, but within We are
full Of hypocrisy and iniquity. How can
We escape the damnation of hell?n
II u ~ NJ l z z ~ u r
This element of hypocrisy as shown in
matters of religion is by no means so pre-
yalent on this side of the globe as it was
and is in Asia In Oriental countries men
are constitutionally religious; that is,
they conform to. the outward rite and
ceremony whether they have any real
piety or not. Here in the Occident peo-
pie are more matter of fact; II they have
not the devotional spirit they will not at;
tend the sanctuary, and an ox-team could
not drag them TO a prayer meeting. Null
titnGes, in fact, parade their infidelity
and openly scott atreligion. In this oun-
try a hypocrite is hated inside the church
and outside of it, and very few make 1t a
point TO display their piety.
There is, however, tendency in
America for people to display their
wealth, or, lacking wealth, to puff them
selves out and pretend they are much
bigger than they really are. The turkey
g9bbler spirit in human nature is not ex-
tlncr. In this country the turkey has
different color, that Is all; and you can
see him in all sizes and varieties, from
the man who gets 81, 600 month uown to
the man who gets 50 a day. Other peo-
ple's eyes cost us good round sums every
year; as nation, far more than we are
aware of it, we are living for show. We
do great many things to be seen OF men.
The absorbing ideal of Ihe average young
man in America is to accumulate wealth
y l..~tx - L. ~. L..~x<
plenty OF money and let everyone
know it; to initiate the mushroom
aristocracy and watcn the admiration of
the passing thrOng; to have men fawn
upon him, court his friendship and tell
him what q good fellow he is. We have
not attained the wanton wastefulness OF
kings and queens; but the drift of our
times is certainly in the direction of a
senseiess parade Of wealth. In our coun-
try we read of men at Newport skipping
silver dollars likesshells over the water,
and to make themselves supremely con-
spcuous, actually eating sandwiches in
which 800 bills take the place of the Gus
tomary ham and mustard
In this country where speculation is
rife and fortunes are sometimes made by
q sudden turn in the market, this dis
position is conspicuousiy apparent Men
who began lifetanning hides OF telling
Htrees Immediately ape the nobility OF the
older country. They must have servants
in livery, and panels on their coaches
must bear heraldic devise, in which
coronets and even the insignia Of royalty
abound. whereas, in point of early his
!. tosy a pickraxe or shovel would pc
more appropriate. There meals must be
served in French, though all Of them
murder plain English. What in my
fathet's house passed familiarly by the
name of hash, is known only in the
swell" household as "hachis de beuf,"
and instead Of the simple. substantial word
ssonp," you will find them nunibling
about "potage'' or "consumme;" Goldfish
hash under the title of "morue," {" and in
place Of the good, old-fashioned plate of
baked beans, by the way considered alto
gether too vulgar to appear upon their
table, you will ind ''filets de poulel aux
petit bois, or some such Frenchified nom
pianation. The bitter competitive strug-
gle Of our day is not SO much for the abso-
lutte necessaries OF life as for its super
fuities.
WORST OF ALL.
Everyone who has tavelled In this
country has seen innumerable exemplifi-
cations Of q gaudy butterfly type Of soci-
ETY. in the class above mentioned but
worse than these are the multitudes who
are so enamored of q life of display that
they are either forced to live beyond their
means or keep up the appearance of living
allow. 1t is characteristic American
failing, and leads to all manner Of vice,
( hypocrisy and suffering. Gauuy gain is
the great tap root of evil
"Socletyis altogether too complicated a
structure for person to get much COM
fort out Of it. No matter how high you
rise in the social scale, there is always
somebody above you who is kind enough
to let you know that you cannot climb
into his or her particular set. If you live
for society you will have to live in con-
stant irritation, for circle runs upon Cir
Gle and there Is no such thing as getting
to the TOD.
iNow. there is one circle into which
every man can get. 1t is a very small
circle, perhaps, but in it there is no end Of
happiness. The name Of this circle is
Home. II man is content with this
circle II he is satisfied with the love and
appreciation of wife and children and one
orl 40 congeniaE spirits whose home cir
Gle oferlap his own trifie, 50 that he is