Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1892-06-25
REV. DIR. TALMAGK
The Brooklyn Divine's Sun.
da~ Sermon.

the heliotrope, of the Assyrians is til, v,s,er
lily, OF the Hindoos is the marigo,G, cf the
Chinese is the chr ysanthemum. We ave Go
national 6oSer, but there is. har.i,y any
flower more suggestive TO many Of ~ than
che forgetmenot. Veal ike to be renedn-
bered, and one of oar fnisfortunes is that
there are 60 mary things we cannot remein-
Ter. Mnonlonics, or the art of assisting
memory, is an important art. It. @:s irst
suggested by Simoniies Of Ccs FIVE lu- IT'D
years before Christ.
Persons who h.1i bit little power to rectlll
events, or pat facts and names and dates In
professions, have through this art had thtar
memory reinforced to an almost meredith
extent. "A good memory is an almost Ill
valuable possession. By al means cultivate
il. | tad an aged friend who, detained all
night az a miserable depot in waiting for a
rail train fast In the snow banks. entertained
a g!Orp Of some ten to fifteen clergymen.
Ikewise detained on their way home froma
meeting Of presbytery. first, with a piece iot
chalk. drawing out on the black ana sooty
wal's of The depot the characters Of Walter
SCOTS 'malInion," and then recitlng from
memory the wtoie of that POEM OF some
eighty pages in fire print
My old friend, through great age, lost his
memory and "hrh ! asked him If this story
u tho railroad depot was true he said, II do
not Remember now, but it was just like me-.
Let re See SAID be to me, have ] evIr
seen you before:' "Yes,"I scid, you wc..e
my guest last night and | was with you an
hour ago.h What an awful contrast in that
man between the greatest memory l ever
knew and no memory at all.
But right along with this art Of recollt.-
ton, which l cannot too highly e~ulogize, is
one quite as important and yet l never
hccrdlt a~pplaudel. Inean the art of fo.-
getting. There is "A splendid faculty in tla
direction that we al need TO cultivate. We
mI.ht, through that process, be ten times
harpitr and mcre useiui than we now arr.
We have been told that forgetfulness is a
weahness ala ought to be avoided by all
possible means. SO far from weakness, my
tex ascribesi it to Col. 1t Is the very TOD Il
omnlpotence that God is able to oblilerate a
part Of His own memory If we repent Of
sin and rightly seek the divine forgiveness.
the record OF the misbehavior IS not only
crossed off the book. but God actually lets
1t pass ont OF memory.
Their sins and Their ~in;quities will I re-
member no more" TO remember no more
Is to forget, and you cannot make anything
else out OF II. Gods power OF fOrgetting|is
50 great that Il two men apneal to Him, ana
the one man, after Il lie all right, gets the
sins Of his heart parIonei, and the otlHr
man, after q lite Of abomination, gets pdl.-
doned, God Remembers no more against one
than against the other. The entire past Of
both the moralist, with his inperfectionS.
and the protiigate, with his debaucheries. Is
rs much obliterated in the one case as in tn
other. Forgotten, forever and forever.
Their sins and their lnlQuities will | re
member no more
This sublime attribute Of for5etfulness or
the part OF God you and | need in cur finite
way to initiate. You will do well to cast out
OF Your recollection all wrongs lone YOU.
During the course of ones life he is sure to
be misrepresented, to be lied about, to be in.
Jured, There are those who keep thess
thlngsfresh by frequent rehearsal. Ii things
have appeared in print they keep them in
their scrapbcok, 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 pigeou.
holes, and they frequently regale themselves
and their friends by an inspection of these
filings, these sarcasms, these falsehoous. these
crneltieS.
| have known gentlemen who carried
them In their pocketbooks, so that they
could easily get at these irritations, and thew
put their right hand in the inside of the coat
pocket over the heart and say: Look here.
Let me show You Something." Scientists
catch wasps, and hornets, and poisonous in
sects and transfiX them III curiosity bureaus
foratudy. and that is we'll. But these of
whom speak catch the Wasps, and the hor
nets, and the poisonous insects. and play
with them and put them on tn emseIves and
on their. friends, and see how far the noxious
Insects can jump and show how deep they
can sting. Have no such s~crapbook. KEGS
DOtilig III yolI pOSScS>lOu lldt IS tlStHTec-
able. Tear up the ~falsehoodS, and the Sian
ders, and the hypercriticisms.
Initiate the Lori i'll my text and for
actually forget, sublifnely forget. There IS
no happiness for you III any other plan OF.
procedure. You see all around you, in the.
church and out OF tie church, dispositions
acerb, malign, cynical, p~essimistic. Do you
know how these men and women got that
disposition It was by the embalmment OF
things pantherine and vigorous. They have
spent much of their time in calling the roll
of all the rats that have nibbled at their rep
utatlon. Their soul Is a cage OF vu'tures.
Everything in them is sour or imbitteret.
The milk OF human klndness has been
curdled. They 10 not believe in anybody OF
anything.
II they see two people whispering they
THINK 1t Is about themselves. IT they see
two people lau5hin, ttey think it is about
themselves. Where there is one sweet pip
pin i'll their orchard there are fifty crab
apnlas. Iaev have never bean able TO Tor
get. lhev do not want TO for get. They
never VII forget. Their wretche1uess is sI
preme, fer no one can be happy If he carrie,
perpetnaliy in mind the mean things thai
have been done him.
On tho other hand. YOU can find here an
there a man or wo Fan (tor there are no.
many OF them whose disno ,ition is genia
ami summary. Why Have they AWAY:
been treated well? Oh, no. Hard thing,
have been said against them. They hav,
been charged with oiiiciousnass: and theiI
generositieS have been set down to "A desir;
for display, aud they have many a tim
been the subject OF tittle-tatt.e. ani the,
have had enough small assaults like gnat
and enough great attacas like lions to hav,
made them perpetually miserable. il the,
would have consented to be miserable.
But they have had enough divine plilosa
ply 10 cast OF the annoyaoces, and the
have kept themselves i'll the sun:i hit o
Gods favor. ami have realized that thes
opcositions and lilirances are a part of
mighty discipline. by waica they are to b
prepared FOR usefulness AMI heaven. Th
secret OF Il all Is. they have 10y the help @
the eternal Goll=arlai how II for Get. .
Another practical thousnt-when on
faults ara repeated Of let them go out {
mind. Ii God toTgat> them, we have a rigf
TO forget them. Having once rspentat
our infelc9t!es and iui>deuieanor>. Their,
no need 81 our repent.n- OF them again
Suppose lowe Won n large sum of none,
AMI You are persuaded | am incapacitate
- pay. and You give ne acquitted from tn
obligation, You say: Il cancel that det
All Is right nov. Start again. And Il
neSt dav l come in and say: You know