Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1891-08-28
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
The Eminent Brooklyn Divine'S Sur
day SCrnOn.
Subject: "Great Exploits" Preached at
Ocean Grove, New Jcrscy.)


God shall be strong and do exploits. Dan
lei XII, q.
Antiochus Epiphnnes, thu old sinner, came
down three times with his army to desolate
the lTaelites, advancing one time with a
hundred and two trained elephants swinging
their trunks this way and that, and sixty
two thousand infantry AMI six thousand
cavalry troops and they were
driven back Then. the second time. he
advanced with seventy thousand armed
men, and had been again defeated. But the
third time he laid successful siege until the
navy Of Rome came in with the flash Of
their long banks OF oars and demanded
that the siege be lifted. And Antiochus
Epiphanes said no wanted time to consult
with his friends about it, aud POpilius, one
of the Roman ambassadors, took a staff
and made a circle on the ground around
AntiOchus Epiphanes, and compelled him to
decide before he came out of that circle;
whefeupon he lifted the siege. Some Of the
Hebrews had submitted to the invader, but
some of them resisted vigorously, as did
Eleazer when he had swine's flesh forced into
his mouth, spit it out, although he knew he
must die for it, and did die for it; and Others,
as my text says, did exploits.
An exploit | would define 10 be an heroic
act brave feat. a great achievement.
"
there is no chance for me; mine is sort of
humdrum life. IL | had an AntiochuS
Epiphanes TO fight, also could do exploits"
You are right so far as great wars are
concerned There will probably be no OPP
portunity to distingu sh yourself in battles.
The most of the brigadier generals of
this country would never have been
heard of had it not been for the war.
Neither will you probably become a great
inventor. Nineteen hun ired and ninety
nine out of every two thousand inventions
found in the patent Office at Washington
never yielded their authors enough money
10 pay for the expenses of securing the
patent. SO you will probably never be a
Morse or an Edison or a Humphrey Davy
or an Eli Whitney. There is not much
probability that You will be the one out of
the hundred who achieves extraordinary
success in commercial or legal or medical
or literary spheres What then? Can YOU
have no opportunity to do exploits; 7 am
going to show that there are three ODpOr-
tunities open that are grand, thrilling. far
reaching stupendous and overwhelming.
They are before you now In one if not all
three of them, you may DO exploits The
three greatest things on earth 10 do are to
savea man, or save a woman, or save
child.
During the course OF his life almost
every man gets into an exigencv, is caught
between two fires, is ground between two
millstones sits on the edge of some preci-
pice, or in some other way comes near dem
clifton II may be financial or moral
or domestic or a social or a political ext
gency. You sometimes see II in court
rooms. A Young man has got into bad
company and he has Offended tho law, and
he is arraisned. All blushng and coufusel
he is in the presence Of judge and jury and
lawyers. He can be sent right on in the
wrong direction. He is feeling disSracc1 and
be is almost desperate.
Let the district attorney overhaul him as
though he were an Old offender; let the
ableSt attorneys at the bar refuse to shy
word for him, because he cannot afford n
considerable fee; let The judge give no OPP
portunity for presenting the mitigating
circumstances hurry up the case All hustle
him up TO Auburn or Sing Sing If he live
seventy years, for seventy years he will be
q criminal. and each Cecade of his life
will be Llacker than its predecessor. In the
nterregnums Of prison life he can get no
work. and he is glad to break window glass
or blow up safe or play the highwayman
so as to get back within the walls where he
can get something to eat and hide himself
from the gaze of the world.
Why don't his father come and help him.
His father is dead. Why don't his mother
come and help him. She is dead. Where
are all t ameliOrating and salutary in
huences Of society They do not touch
him. Why did not some one long ago in
the case understand that there was an OBJ
portunity for the exploit which would be
famous in heaven n qua1rillion OF years
after the earth has become scattered ashes
in the last whirlwind, Why did not the
district attorney take that young man into
his private office and say: "My son, | SEQ
that you are the victim Of circumstances.
This Is your first crime You are sorry. |
will bring the person you wronged into
your presence, and You will apologize aud
make all the reparation you eau, and viii
give you another chanc'.' Or that young
man is presented in the courtroom, and he
has no friends present, and the judge says
"WhO is your COUNSEL AMI he answers
Il have none" And the judge says "Who
will take this young mans caseY
And there is a dead halt, andnO one offers,
and after awhile the iu lge turns 10 some at
torney, who never had cool case in all his
life and never will. and whose advocacy
would be enough to secure the condenna-
ton of innocence itself. And the profes'
sional incompetent crawls up beside the
prisoner. helplessneSS to rescue despair,
where there ought to be n struggle among
all the hest men Of the profession rs to who
should have the honor OF trying to help that
unfortunate. How much would sucl an at
torney have receive as his fec for such an
Advocacy Nothing in dollars, but much
every way in a happy Consciousness that
would make his own life brighter. and his
own dying pillow sweeter, and his own
heaven happier-the consciousness that he
had saved a man.
SO there are commercial exlgencies: Il
very late spring obliterates the demand ior
spring overcoats aud spring hats and spring
apparel of all sorts Hundreds OF thousands
OF people say. at seems we are going to
have no spring, and we shall so straight
ont of winter into warm weather and we
can get along without the usual spring at
tire Or there is no autumn weather, the
heat plungng into the cold, and the usual
clothing which is a compromise Detween
summer and winter is not required. IL
makes n difference in the sale OF millions
and millions of dollars of goods, and some
oversanguine Young merchant is caught
with vast amount of unstable goods that
will never be salable again, except at prices
ruinously reduced.
The young merchant with a somewhat
limited capital is in a predicament. what
shall the Olu neTcu1ulS w 10 my - ~
vounr man in this awful crisis: Rub tleir
hands and laugh and say: Cool for hun
He might have known better. When he
has been in business as long as we have no
will not load his shelves in that way. la
Hal He will burst up before long. dc had
no business 70 open his store so near 70 ours
ANYHOW" She.ifTs sale. Red has IN the
window: Flow much is bid for these out
of-fashion spring overcoats and spring hats
or fall clothing out of date? what do
hear in the way of bidy -Four do.
lars.p absurd: / cannot take that bid OF
four dollars apiece Why, these coats
when first put upon the market were Offered
Mt fifteen dollars each. aul now am offered
only four dollars. Is that all? Five dollars
do hear? Going at that Gone at ilve
collars" and he takes the wholelo
The young merchant goes home that
night and SAYS to his WIFE well, Mary,
we viii have to move out Of this house. and
sell our piano. That old merchant tnat
has had an evil eve on me ever since l
started has bought out all that clothing,
and he will have it reiuvenatet and next
wear put il on the market rs new, While we
will do well il we keep out OF the poor
house" The young man, broken spritei,
goes to hard drinking The young vile VITA
her baby goes 10 her fathers house, AMI moi
only is his store wiped out but his no ne, his
morals and his prospects for tw) worlds
this and the next Aud devils make ban
quet OF fire and fill their cups OF gall, and