The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1892-05-26
THE DUMB DEV IL Il
Dr.. Talmage Says His Influence Is
Felt at All Times And All
Places.
This Right Hand Of Satan Appears
in the Churches, and in the
World Everywhere.

BROOKLYN, N. Y.,-(special.) -In
his sermon, Rev. Talmage illustrated,
in potent and convincing language,
the duty incumbent upon Christians
OF embracing every opportunity that
offers in this life to do good and to
advance the cause of the kin gdon of
Christ by a bold Acknowledgement of
their principles before men. The text
selected was: Mark tx, 25, "Thou
dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee,
come out of him."
Here was a case of great domestic
anguish. The son of the household
was possessed OF an evil spirit which,
among other things, paralyzed his
tongue and made him speechless.
When the influence was on the patient
he could notsay a word articulation
was impossible. The spirit cap
tured this member OF the household
was a dumb spirit by
Christ-a spirit abroad today and as
lively and potent as in New Testa-
ment times. Yet in all the realms of
sermonology, I cannot find dis
course concerning this dumb devil
which Christ charged upon in in my
text, saying: Come out of him."
There has been much destructive
superstition abroad in the world con-
corning possession of evil spirits. Un-
der the form OF belief in witchcraft,
this delusiou swept the continents.
Persons were supposed to be.
POSSESSED WITH SOME EVIL SPIRIT,
which made them able to DESTROY
others. In the sixteenth century, in
Geneva, 800 persons were burned
to death as witches. Under one Judge,
in Lorraine, 900 persons were burned
to death as witches. In one neigh
borhood of France, 1000 persons
were burned. In two, centuries 2OO,-
600 persons were slain as witches. So
mighty was the delusion that it in
Guided among it's victims 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 Math-
er, one OF whose books BENJAMIN
Franklin said shaped his life-Rich-
ard Baxter, and Archbishop Cramer,
and Martin Luther; and among the
writer's and philosophers, Lord Ba-
con. That belief, which has become the
laughing stock of all sensible people,
counted.its disciples among the wisest
and best people of Sweden, Germany,
England, France Spain and New Eng.
land. But, while we reject witch
craft, any man who believes the Bible
must believe that there are diabolical
agencies abroad in the world. While
there are n1inistering spirits to bless,
there are Internal spirits to hinder, to
poison, and to 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.
r -. AGAINST THIS DUMB DEVIL
OF the text I 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 chap
lains 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 a deaf mute
havesI seen with the angel of intelli-
gence seated at the window of the eye,
who never came forth from the door
of the mouth. What miracle of
loneliness and knowledge was Laura
lBridgman, of New Hampshire, not
only without faculty OF speech, but
without hearing and without sight, all
these faculties removed by sickness
when two years of age, yet, becominga
wonder at needle work, at the piano,
gent student Of the Scriptures, and
confounding philosophers, who came
from all parts of the world to study
Cne phenomenon. lnankS 60 CnrlSC-
ianity for what it has done for the
amelioration 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 18th century came Pedro
Ponce, the Spanish monk, and in the
18th century came Juan Pablo Bonet,
another Spanish monk, with dacty-
ology or the finger alphabet, and in
our own century we have had John
Braidwood and Drs. Mitchell and
Ackerly and Peet and Gallaudet, who
have given to uncounted thousands of
those whose tongues were forever silent
the power, to spell out on the air by a
manual alphabet their thoughts about
this world and
THEIR HOPES FOR THE NEXT.
There has been an apotheosization
OF silence. Some one has said silence
is golden, and sometimes the greatest
triumph is to keep your mouth shut.
But sometimes silence is q crime and
the direct result of the baleful inhu-
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