Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1891-08-27
GREAT EXPLOITS FOR US
DR.. TALMAGE POINTS OUT
WHAT WE MAY DO.
A Deed of Greater Worth than Leading
Army to Victory in Battle Is the Lead
ing OF a Human Soul to God.


took for his text, Daniel ri, 80, 1.-The
people that do know their God shall be
strong and do exploits"
Antiochus Epiphanes, the old sinner,
came down three times with his army to
desolate the Israelites, advancing one
time with 102 trained elephants, swing
ing their trunks this way and that, and
p, 900 infantry, and 5000 cavalry
troops and they were driven back.
Then, the second time, he advanced
with 10000 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 he
wanted time to consult with his friends
about it, and Popilius, one of the Roman
ambassadors, took staff and made a
circle on the ground around Antiochus
Epiphanes, and compelled him to de-
eide before he came out of that circle,
whereupon he lifted the siege. Some Of
the Hebrews had submitted to the inva-
der but some Of them resisted valorOusly,
as did Eleazer when he had swine's flesh
forced into his mouth, spit it out, al
though he knew he must die for it; and
did die for it, and others, as my text
says, did exploits.
An exploit / would define 30 be an he
roc act, a brave feat, a great achieve
ment. 'Well," you say, II admire such
things, but there is no chance for me;
mine is a sort of humdrum life. If | 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 opportunity to dis
tingush yourself in battle. 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 hundred and
ninety-nine out of every two thousand
inventions found in the patent office at
Washington never yielded their authors
enough money to pay for the expenses
of securing the patent. So you will
probably never be Morse or an Edison
or 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 COM
mercal or legal or medical or library
spheres. What then? Can you have no
opportunity to do exploits? | am going
to show that there arc three opportuni-
ties 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 eX-
poits. The three greatest things on
earth to do are TO save d man, or save q
woman or save q child.
During the course of his life, almost
every man gets into an eXigency, is
caught between two fires, is ground be-
tween two millstones, sits on the edge of
some precipice, or in some other way
comes near demolition. 1t may be u
financial or moral or domestic or a
social or political eXigency. You some
times see it in conrt-roOmS. A young
man has got into bad company and he
has offended the law, and he is arraigned.
All bushng and confused, he is in the
presence Of judge and jury and lawyers.
He can be sent right on in the wrong
direction. He is feeling disgraccd. and
he is almost desperate.
Let the district attorney overhaul him
as though he were an old offender, let
the abiest attorneys at the bar refuse to
say word for him, because he cannot
afford considerable fee; let the Judge
give NO opportunity for presenting the
mitigating circumstances, hurry up the
case, and hustle him up to Auburn or
Sing Sing. II he lives seventy years,
for seventy years he will be criminal,
and each decade of his life will be
blacker than It's predecessor. I'm the in-
terregnnms of prison life he can get no
work, and he is glad to break window
glass, or blow up "a safe or play the
highwayman, SO as to get back within
10 lie who Etn sonnet hinV
eat and hide himself from the gaze of
the world.
Why don't his father come and hel p
him? His father is dead. Why don't his
mother come and help him? She is
dead Where are all the ameliorating
and salutary influences of society? They
do not touch him. Why did mot some
one long ago in the case understand that
there was an opportunity for the exploit
which would be famous in Heaven a
quadrilaiOn of years after the earth has
become scattered ashes iii the last whirl-
wind?
Why did not the District Attorney take
that young man into his private Office and
say: "Nly son, see that you are the
victim of circumstances. Ills is your
first crime. You are sorry. will bring
the person YOU wronged into your pres
ence and you will apologize and make all
the PREPARATION you can. and ! will give
You another chance Or that young
man is presented in the courtroom and
he has no friends present, and the Judge
says, >'Who is your counsel?' And he
answers, Il have none" And the Judge
says, ''Who will take this young MANS
case?"
And there is dead halt and no one
offers, and after awhile the Judge turns
to some attorney who never had a good
case III all his life, and never will, and
whose advocacy would be enough to Sc
cure the condemnation of innocence it,
self. And the professional incompetent
crawls up beside the prisoner, helpless
ness to rescue despair, when there ought
to be a struggle among all the best men
of the profession as to who should have
the honor of trying to help that unfor-
tunate. How much would such an at
torney have received as his fee for such
an advocacy? Nothing in dollars, but