Connecticut western news., 1892-05-19
AT THE TABERNACLE.
DR. TALMAGE DlscoURsES ON THE
 DUMB DEVIL

tuntty That Oners to Do Good and Ad-
 vance the Cause of Christ.
 BROOKLYN, May 15.-In his sermon today Rev. Dr. Talmage Illustrated, in potent and convincing language, the duty incumbent upon Christians of em- bracing every opportunity that offers in this life to do good and to advance the cause of the kingdom of Christ by bold acknowledgment of their principles be- fore men. The text selected was, Mark K, %, "Thou dumb and deaf spirit, 1 charge thee, come out of him."
 Here was case of great domestic an- guish. The son of the household was possessed of an evil spirit which, among other things, paralyzed his tongue and made him speechless. When the influ- ence was on the patient he could not say word-articulation was impossible. The spirit that captured this member of the household was a dumb spirit-so called by Christ-a spirit abroad today and as lively and potent as in New Tes- lament times. Yet in all the realms of sermonology cannot find discourse concerning this dumb devil which Christ charged upon my text, saying, "Come out of him."
 There has been much destructive su- perstition abroad in the world concern ing possession by evil spirits. Under the form of belief in witchcraft this de- fusion swept the continents. Persons were supposed to be possessed with some evil spirit which made them able to de- stroy others. In the Sixteenth century in Geneva ,500 persons were burned to death as witches. Under one judge in Lorraine 900 persons were burned to death as witches. In one neighborhood of France 1000 persons were burned. In two centuries 100000 persons were slain as witches. So mighty was the de- fusion that it included among its vic- tims some of the greatest intellects of all time, such as Chief Justice Matthew Hale and Sir Edward Coke, and such renowned ministers of religion as Cotton Mather, one of whose books, Benjamin Franklin said, shaped his life-and Rich ard Baxter and Archbishop Cranmer and Martin Luther, and among writers and philosophers, Lord Bacon. That be- lief, which has become the laughing stock of all sensible people, counted its disciples among the wisest and best peo- pie of Sweden, Germany, England, France, Spain and New England. But while we reject witchcraft any man who believes the Bible must believe that there are diabolical agencies abroad in the world. While there are ministering spirits to bless there are internal spirits to hinder, to poison and destroy. Christ was speaking to a spiritual existence when, standing before the afflicted one of the text, he said, "Thou dumb and deaf spirit, come out of him."
 NOT A LITERAL BLIGHT.
 Against this dumb devil of the text, put you on your guard. Do not think that this agent of evil has put his blight on those who, by omission of the vocal organs, have had the golden gates of speech bolted and barred. Among those who have never spoken word are the most gracious and lovely and talented souls that were ever incarnated. The chaplains of the asylums for the dumb can tell you enchanting stories of those, who never called the name of father or mother or child, and many of the most devout and prayerful souls will never in this world speak the name of God or Christ. Many deaf mute have seen with the angel of intelligence seated at the window of the eye, who never came forth from the door of the mouth.
 What a miracle of loveliness and knowledge was Laura Bridgman, of New Hampshirel Not only without fac ulty of speech, but without hearing and without sight, all these faculties re- moved by sickness when two years of age, yet becoming wonder at needle work, at the piano, at the sewing ma chine, and an intelligent student of the Scriptures, and confounding philoso- phers, who came from all parts of the world to study the phenomenon. Thanks to Christianity for what it has done for the amelloration of the condition of the deaf and the dumb. Back in the ages they were put to death as having no right, with such paucity of equipment, to live, and for centuries they were classed among the idiotic and unsafe.
 But in the Sixteenth century came Pedro Ponce, the Spanish monk, and in the Seventeenth century came Juan Pab- To Bonet, another Spanish monk, with dactylology or the finger alphabet, and in our own century we have had John Braidwood and Drs. Mitchell and Ack- erly and Peet and Gallaudet, who have given uncounted thousands of those whose tongues were forever silent the power to spell out on the air by a man. ual alphabet their thoughts about this world and their hopes for the next. We rejoice in the brilliant inventions in be- half of those who were born dumb.
 One of the most impressive audiences I ever addressed was in the far west two or three years ago-an audience of about 600 persons who had never heard sound or spoken word, an interpreter stand ing beside me while 1 addressed them. I congratulated that audience on two advantages they had over the most of us-the one that they escaped hearing a great many disagreeable things, and on the other fact that they escaped saying things they were sorry for afterward. Yet after all the alleviations shackled tongue is an appalling limitation. But we are not this morning speaking of congenital mutes. We mean those who are born with all the faculties of vocal ization and yet have been struck by the | evil one mentioned in the text-the dumb devil to whom Christ called when he said, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, l charge thee, come out of him."
 APoTHEoSIzATIoN OF SILENCE. There has been apotheosization of si- lence. Some one has said that silence is golden, and sometimes the greatest triumph is to keep your mouth shut. But sometimes silence is crime and the | direct result of the baleful influence of the dumb devil of our text. There is hardly man or woman in this house today who has not been present on some occasion when the Christian religion be- came a target for raillery. Perhaps it