The Red Cloud chief., 1892-06-17
4 LIFE BLEMISH.
~ Dr.. Talmage on the Folly Of Re-
Numbering Past Sins.
How Trctful Christians Continually vcx
God by Asking Pardon for That
which lie Promises to Re-
member No More.

thronged the tabernacle at Brooklyn
last Sabbath morning had fresh evil
dencc of DR.. Talmagc's originality.
The value Of a retentive memory every
knew by experience and had heard
extollcd from their schooldays up, but
they learned from DR.. Talmage's SER
mon that the art Of forgetting is worth
~cultivating, and that there is the high
est possible example for It's exercise.
His text was Heb. viii. 12: Their sins
and their iniquitics will I remember no
more"
The national flower Of the Egyptians
Is the heliotrope, of the Assyrians is the
water lily, of the Hindoos Is the mari
gold, Of the Chinese is the chrysanthe-
mum. We have no national flower, but
there Is hardly any flower more sug-
gestive TO many OF us than the forget
me-nots." We all like to be remem-
bered, and one Of our misfortunes is
that there are so many things we can
not remember.
Mnemonics, or the art of assisting
memory, Is an important art. 1t was
first suggested by Simonides of Cos 500
years before Christ. Persons who had
but little power to recall events, or to
put facts and names and dates In proper
professions have, through this art, had
their memory reinforced to an almost
incredible extent. A good memory is
an invaluable possession. by all means
cultivate it. I had an aged friend who,
detained all night ut a miserable depot
in waiting for n rail train fast In the
snow banks, entertained n group OF
some ten or fifteen clergymcn, likewise
detained on their way home from II
meeting of presbytery. by, first. with a
piece of chalk, drawing out on the
black and sooty walls of the depot, the
character of Walter SCOTS "Marmion,"
and, then, reciting from memory the
whole of that poem of some
eighty pages of fine print. My
old friend through great age
lost his memory, and whcn /
asked him IL the story of the railroad
depot was true, he said: 81 do not re-
member now, but it was just like me-"
'Let me see," said he to me, ''have 1
ever seen you before?" YES" I 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 l ever knew and no
memory at all.
But right along with this art Of rccol-
lection, which 1 cannot too highly
eulogize, is one quite as important and
yet l never heard 1t applauded. I mean
the art Of forgetting. There is a
splendid faculty in that direction that
we all need to cultivate. We might,
through that process, be ten times hap
pier and more useful than we now are.
We have been told that forgetfulness l.
a weakness and ought to be avoided by
all possible means. So far from {
\. weakness, my text ascribes it Il
Mod. 1t is the very top OF ON
impotence that God is able to obliterate
q part OF His own memory. If W
repent Of sin and rightly seek the Di
vine forgiveness the record of the mis-
behavior is o only crossed off thu
books, but God actually lets it pass on
Of memory. "Their sins and their In
EQUITIES will I remember no more" II
remember no more is to forget, and yo'
cannot make anything else ont of it
Gods power Of forgetting is SO grea
that If two men appeal to him, and TIN
one man, after a life all right, gets tn
sins of his heart pardoned, and tn
other man, after a life of abomination
gets pardoned, God remembers no NOR
against one than against the other
The entire past Of both the moralist
with his imperfections, and the profit
gate, with his debaucheries, Is as muc
obliterated in the one case as In tn
other. Forgotten, forever and forever
''Their sins and their iniquities will
remember no more"
This sublime attribute of fOrgetfu'
ness on the part of God you and l neet
in our finite way, to initiate. You wi
do we'll to cast out Of your recollection
all rong done you. During tn
course of ones life he Is sure to be mi
represented, to be lied about, to be II
jured. There are those who keep thes
things fresh by frequent rehearsal.
things have appeared in print, the
keep them in their scrap book, for the
cut these precious paragraphs out
the or books and Mt leisui
times look them over, or they hay
them tied up in bundles, or thrust
pigeon holes, and they frequently r
gaze themselves anu tiiciT ifiShuo " "
inspection of these filings, these sa
casms, these fa~lsehoods, these crueltie
/ have known gentlemen who ca
ried them in their pocket books,
that they could easily get at these irr
tations, and they put their right han
IN the inside OF the coat pocket ov'
their heart and say: "Look here! L.
me show you something" Scientis
catch wasps and hornets and poisono'
insects and transfx them in curiosi'
bureaus for study, and that is we.
But those of whom l speak catch q
wasps and the hornets and poisono
insects and play with them and p
them on themselves and on their frien
and see how far the noXious things CT
jump and show how deep they a stin
Have no such scrap book. Keep not
ing in your possession that Is disagree
able. Tear up the ~falsehoods and Il
FLANDERS Nud the hypercriticisms. In
tate the Lord In my text and forg'
actually forget, sublimely forg'
There Is no happiness for you In a