Democratic messenger., 1892-05-21
Court I'rs
AT THE TABERNACLE.
DR.. TALMAGE DiscouRSeS ON TAE
DUMB DEVIL.

lie illustrates the Duty Incumbent Upon
Christians of Embracing Every oppor-
tunity That Offers To DO G"od and td-
vance the Cause of Christ.
BROOKLYN. May l5.-ln his sermon
today Rev. DIR. Talmage illustrated, in
potent and convincing language. the
duty incumbent upon Christians of EN-
bracing every opportunity that offers in
this life to do good and TO advance the
cause of the kingdom of Christ by u bold
acknowledgment of their principles be-
fore men. The text selected was. Mark
ix, %, Thou dumb and deaf spirit,
charge thee, come ont 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 intiu
ence was on the patient he could not say
a word-articulation was impossible
The spirit that captured this member Of
the household was u 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 i'll the world concern
ing possession by evil spirits. Under
the form of belief in witchcraft this de-
lusion swept the continents. Persons
were supposed 10 be possessed with some
evil spirit which made them able to de-
stroy others. In the Sixteenth century
in Geneva | 800 persons We're burned TO
death as witches. Under one judge in
Lorraine 800 persons We're burned 10
death as witches. In one neighborhood
of France 900 persons were burned.
In two centuries 100000 persons were
slain as witches. SO mighty was the de-
lusion that it included among its vic
tins some of the greatest intellects Of
all time, such as Chief Justice Matthew
Hale and Sir Edward Coke. and such
renowned ministers of religion us 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 REQ
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 spiritual existence
when. standing before the afflicted one
of the text. he said. Thou dumb and
deaf spirit. come ont of him.
NOT \ LITERAL. BLIGHT.
Against this dumb devil of the text,
put you on your guard. Do not think
that this agent Of evil has pu; 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 miracle of loveliness and
knowledge was Laura Bridgman. of
New Hampshire! 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-
piers. who came from all parts of the
world to study the phenomenon. Thanks
to Christianity for what it has done for
the ameioration of the condition of the
deaf and the dumb. Back in the ages
they were put 10 death rs having no
right, with such paucity Of equipment,
Ia live, and for centuries they We're
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
10 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 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 We're born dumb.
One of the most impressive audiences
ever addressed was in the far west two
or three years ago-an audience of about
800 persons who had never heard a sound
or spoken n word. an interpreter stand
ing beside me while | addressed them
| congratulated that audience on two
advantages they had over the mos; Of
us-the one That they escaped hearing a
great many disagreeable things, and on
the other fact that they escaped saying
thisgs they were sorry for afterward
Yet after all the allevia:ions a 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.
charge thee, come ont of him"
AroTHEosIZATIoN OF SILENCE.
There has been apotheosization of 81
lence. Some one has said that silence
is golden, and sometimes the greatest
Triumph is to keep your mouth shut.
But sometimes Silence II acrime and the
direct result Of the haleful Influence Of
the dumb devil of our text. There is
hardly man or woman IN this house