The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1891-08-28
GREAT EXPLOITS FOR US.
On. TALMAGs POINTS OUT WHAT
WE MAY DO,

Leading OF human soul To God.
OCEAN GROW, N, j., Aug, 2s.-This
Is camp meeting Sunday at Ocean
Grove Its celebration is always re-
garded as the great svent of the year at
this famous religious watering place,
This year the attractions of its observ-
ance have been enhanced by the pres
ence of Dr. Talmage, who preached
this afternoon in the Auditorium. Every
seat was filed and every inch of stand
ing room in the aisles was occupied,
and the greatest enthusiasm prevailed
1t is estimated that fully fifteen thou
sand persons were able to hear the doc
tor, and many others were deprived of
that privilege His text was Daniel ri,
80, 'The people that do know their
God shall be strong and do exploits"
Antiochus Epiphanes, theNld sinner,
came down three times with his army
to desolate the Israeltes, advancing
one time with a hundred and two
trained elephants, swinging their trunks
this way and that, and sixty-two thou
sand infantry, and six thousand calvary
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 he
wanted time to consult with his friends
about 1t, and Popilius, one of the Ro-
man 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, whereupon he lifted the
siege Some of the Hebrews had sub
mitted to the invader, but some of
them resisted valorously, as did Eleazer
when he had swine's flesh forced into
his mouth, spit it out, although he
knew he must die for 1t, and did die
for it, and others, as my text says, did
exploits.
An exploit would define to be an he
role act, brave feat, a great achieve
ment, "Well," you say, 81 admire
such things, but there is no chance for
me; mine is sort of humdrum life. If
I had an Antiochus Epiphanes to fight
l also could do exploits" You are
right, SO far as great wars are concerned.
There will probably be no opportunity
to distinguish 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.
THREE GRAND OPPORTUNITIES.
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 Edi-
son or a Humphrey Davy or an Eli
Whitney. There is not much probable
ity that you will be the one out of the
hundred who achieves extraordinary
success in commercial or legal Or medical
or literary spheres. What then3 Can
you have no opportunity to do exploits
I am going to show that there are three
opportunities 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 great
est things on earth to do are to save 8
man, or save a woman or save 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 6
financial or a moral or a domestic or @
social or a political exigency. You
sometimes see it in courtrooms. A
young man has got into bad company
and he has offended the law, and he /.
arraigned All blushing and confused
he is in the presence of judge and jury
and lawyers. He can be sent right or
in the wrong direction. He is feeling
disgraced, and he is almost desperate.
Let the district attorney overhaul
him as though he were an old offender
let the ablest attorneys at the bar re
fuse to say a word for him, because HI
cannot afford a considerable fee; let the
judge give no opportunity for present
ing the mitigating circumstances, hur
ry up the case, and hustle him up t.
Auburn or Sing Sing If he live seven
ty years, for seventy years be will be ;
criminal. and each decade of his lif,
will be blacker than its predecessor Ii
the interregnums of prison life he cal
get no work, and he Is glad to break {
window glass, or blow up a safe o
play the highwaytnan, so as toget bacl
within the walls where he can ge
something to eat and hide himself from
the gaze of the world
A HOPELESS OuTCAsT.
Why don't his father come and he'll
him2 His father is dead Why don
his mother come and help him? She
dead Where are all the amelioratin
and salutary influences of society
They do not touch him. Why did no
some one long ago in The case under
stand that there was an opportnnit
for the exploit which would be famou
in heaven a quadriliion Of years afte
the earth has become scattered ashe
In the last whirlwindi
Why did not the district attorne
take that young man into his privat
Office and say My son, | see that 20
are the victim of circumstances. Til
is your first crime. You are sorry.
will bring the person you wronged int
your presence and You will apologize,
and make all the reparation you can
and | will give you another chance.
Or that young man is presented in The
courtroom, aud he has no friends pres
ent, and the judge says, who is you