The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-06-06
THE ART OF FORGETTING.
TALMAoE GIVES NEW EVIDENCE
OF HIS ORIGINALITY.


waiting, and There Is the Highes
Possible Example for It's Exercise
1t Is One of the Sublime Attributes
of God.
BROOKLYN, n. Y, June 5.-The enor
nous audience which thronged the Taber
nacle this morning had fresh evidence o
DR.. Talmage's originality. The value OF [
retentive memory every one knew by ex
perience and had heard extolled from theil
schooldays up, but they learned from DIR
Talmage's sermon that the art of forgetting
is worth cultivating, and that there is the
highest possible example for its exercise
His text was Heb. viii, u: "Their sins and
their iniauities will remember no more"
The national flower of the Egyptians is
the heliotrope OF the Assyrians is the water
lily, of the Hindoos is the marigold. of the
Chinese is the chysanthemum. We have
no national flower, but there Is hardly any
flower more suggestive to many of us
than the 'forget-me not" We all like II
be remembered, and one of our misfort-
unes is that there are so many things we
cannot remember. Mnemonics, or the art
of assisting memory, Is an important art
1t was first suggested by Simondes OF Cos
five hundred years before Christ. Persons
who had but little power to recall events,
or nut facts and names and dates in proper
professions have, through this art. had
their memory reinforced to an almost in
credible extent. A good memory is an
invaluable possession. By all means Guilt
vate it. had an aged friend, who detained
all night at a miserable depot in waiting
for a rail-train fast in the snow banks, en-
xertained group of some ten or fifteen
clergymen, likewise detained on their way
home from a meeting Of presbytery, by,
first, with piece Of chalk, drawing out on
the black and sooty walls OF the depot, the
characters of Sir Walter Scott's MAR
mion, y and, then reoiting from memory the
whole Of that poem of some eighty pages Of
fine print. Ny old friend through great age
lost his memory, and when l asked him if
this story Of the railroad depot was true he
said: II do not remember now, but it was
lust like me.n LET me see," said he to me,
shave l ever seen you before" YES"
said, "you were my guest last night and
was with you an hour ago." What an
awful contrast in that man between the
greatest memory / ever knew and no men,
DRY at all
But right along with this art of recollec-
ton, which l cannot too highly eulogize, is
one quite as important and yet never
heard it applauded. mean the art of for
getting. There is a splendid faculty in that
direction that we all need to cultivate. We
might, through that process, be ten times
happier and more useful than we now are.
We have been told that forgetfulness is a
weakness and ought to be avoided by all
possible means. So far from a weakness,
my text ascribes it to God. II is
the very top of omnipotence that God is
able to obliterate a part of his own
memory. IL we repent of sin and
rightly seek the divine forgiveness.
the record of the misbehavior is not
only crossed off the books, but God actually
lets it pass out of memory. Their sins and
their iniquities will l remember no more"
To remember no more is to forget, and you
cannot make anything else out of it.. Gods
power of forgetting is so great that il two
men appeal to him, and the one man. after
life all right, gets the sins of his heart
pardoned, and the other man, after a life of
abomination, gets pardoned, God remem-
bers no more against one than against the
other. The entire past of both the moral
list, with his imperfections, and the profit
gate, with his debaucheries, is as much OBJ
liberated In the one case as in the other.
Forgotten, forever and forever. Their
sins and their iniquities will l remember no
MORE
This sublime attribute of forgetfulness on
the part Of God you and l need, in our finite
way, to initiate. You will do we'll to cast
you. During the course of ones life he is
sure TO be misrepresented to be lied about g,
to be injured. There are those who keep
these things fresh by frequent rehearsals.
If things have appeared In print, they keep
them In their scrap book, for they cut these
precious paragraphs out of newspapers or
books and at leisure times look them over,
or they have them tied up in bundles, or
thrust in pigeon holes, and they frequently
regale themselves and their friends by
an inspection Of these filings, these sar-
casms these falsehoods, thee cruelties.
have known gentlemen who carried them in
their pocket books, 80 that they could easily
get at these limitations, and thev put their
right hand in the inside of the coat pocket
over their heart, and say: Look herel
Let me show you something Scientists
catch wasps and hornets and poisonous iu>
scots and transfx them in curiosity bureaus
for study, and that is well. But these of
whom speak catch the wasps and the hor-
nets and poisonous insects and play with
them and put them on themselves and on
their friends and see how far the noxious
things can jump and show how
deep they can sting. Have no such
possession that is disagreeable. Tear
up the falsehoods and the ISLANDERS and the
hypercriticisms. Initiate the Lord in my
text and forget, actually forget, sublimely
forget. There is no happiness for you in
any other plan or procedure You see all
around you in the church dispositions acerb,
malign, cynical, pessimistic. Do you know
how these men and women got that disposi-
tionl 1t was by the embalmment Of things
pantherine and vigorous. They have spent
much OF their time in calling the roll of oil
the rats that have nibbled at their reputa-
ton. Their soul is a Gage Of vultures
Everything In them Is sour or en-
FILTERED. The milk of human kindness
has been curdled. They do not be-
lieve in anybody or anything. IL they see
two people whispering they think 1t Is
about themselves. II they see two people
laughing they they think 1t is about them
selves. Where there is one sweet pippin in
their orchard there are fifty crab apples.
They have never bsen able to forget They
do not want to forget. They never will
forget. Their wretchedness is supreme, for
no one can be happy If he carries pepetually
IN mind the mean things that have been
done him. On the other hand you can find
here and there a man or woman for there
are not many of them whose disposition is
genial and summary. Why Have they
always been treated we'll o, no. Hard
things have been said against them.
They have been charged with officious-
ness; and their generosities have been set
down to a desire for display and they have
many time been the subject of title
tattle. and they have had enough small
assaults like gnats and enough great at.
tacks like lions to have made them per.
petually miserable, il they would have CON
scented TO be miserable But they have had
enough divine philosophy to cast off the