Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1892-05-16
THE DUMB DEVIL.
DR.. TalMAGE DSgOURSEs UPON THE EVIL
OF SILENCE
Speak Cat for Christ and Resent lmpaiahOns
AGAINST The Best Friend Of Mana Few
Words Spoken Nay Ring Through the
AgG-Was.e Not Your Opportunities.


BeooKrYN, n. Y, May 15.-In bis
sermon to-day, Rev. Or. Talmage Illus
trated, in potent and convincing, Ian
gusCe, the duty incumbent upon ChfiS-
tians OF embracing every opportunity
that offers 10 this life 10 DO good ana 10
advance tho cause Of the kingdom OF
Christ by bold Acknowledgements their
principles before men. The text selected
was: Mark tx; %, "Thou dumb and
deaf spirit, I charge three, 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 speeches.. when
the influence was on the patient, ne
could not say wOrd-articulation was
impossible The spirit that captured
this member Of the household was
dumb spirit-so-called by Christ
abroad to-day and as lively and potent
a. ia New Testament times Yet IN al
the realms of Serm0nOlOgy, l cannot
End discourse concerning this dumb
devil which Christ charged upon In my
text. saving: Come out OF him.
There has been much destructive su-
perstition abroad in the world concern
Ing possession by evil spirits. Under
the form OF belief in wltchcrais, this
delusion swept the continents. Persons
were supposed 20 be possessed with
some evil spirit, which made them able
70 destroy others In the Sixteenth
century, In Geneva, 1900 persons were
burned 10 death aS witches. Under one
nudge. in Lorraine, 900 persons were
burned TO death as witches. In one
neighbOrhoOd Of France 1000 persons
were burned. In two centuries, 2OO,O
persons were slain as witches.
SO MIGHTY WAS THE DELUSIoN
that il included among its victims some
OF the greatest intellects OF all time,
such as Chief Justice Matthew Hale and
SIR Edward Coke, aud such renowned
ministers Of religion as Cotton Mather'
one OF whose books. Benjamin Franklin
said, shaped his life-and Richard Bax-
ter, and Archbishop Cranmer, and Mar
LIN Luther; and, among writers and
philosophers, Lord Bacon. That be-
lief. which had become the laughing
stock OF an sensible people, counted It's
disciples among the wisest and best
ueODle of Sweden, Germany, England,
France, Sain and New England. But,
while we reject witchcrait, any man
who believes the Bible must believe that
there are dia0olical agencies abroad In
in the world. While there are min
istering spirits TO bless, there
are internal spirits 10 hinder. 70
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 out OF him.
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 aud barred. Among
those who have never spoken word
are the most gracious and lovely aud
talented souls that were ever iucarnated.
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, aud many Of
the most deyout aud p-aYerful souls
will never, in this world, speak the
name Of God or Christ. Many a deaf
mute have I seen with the angel Of in
telligence seated az the window Of the
eye, who never came forth from the
door Of the mouth. What a miracle
Of lovlineSs and knowledge
WAS LAURA BRDGMAN,
OF New Hampshire, not only without
faculty of speech, but without hearing
and without sight, all these IA
cultles removed by sickness when
TWO years Of age, yet becoming a
wonder &c needle work at the piano, at
the sewing machine, and an intelligent
student OF the Scriptures, and con-
founding philosophers, who came from
an parts Of the world 20 study the phe-
nomenOn. Thanks 70 Christianity for
what IL has done for the ameliOration
of the condition OF the deaf and the
dumb. Back ia the ages, they were
put 10 death as having no right, with
such pauclty of equipment, 10 live, and
for centuries they were ciaSSed among
the idiotic and unsafe. But In the 10th
century, came Pedro Ponce, the Span
ish monk; and in the nth century came
Juan Pablo B0net, another Spanish
meuk, with dactylology or the finger
alphabet; and in our own century, We
have bad John BraidwOOd and DrS.
Mitchell and Ackerly and Peet and Gal
laudet, who have given 70 uucOunted
thousands of those whose tongues
were forever silent, the power 70 spell
out on the air by a manual alphabet
their thoughts about this world and
their hopes for the next. We rejoice in
the brilliant inventions I'm behalf OF
those who were born dumb. One Of
the most impressive audiences l ever
addressed was In the far West TWO or
three years ago-an audience OF about
600 persons, who bad never heard a
sound or spoken o word, an interpreter
standing beside me while / addressed
them. congratulated that audience
on two advantages they had over the
most of Us-the one that they escaped
hearing a great many diSagreeable
things, aud, on the other fact, that they
escaped saying things they were sorry
for afterward. Yet, after an the alle-
viatiOns q shackled tongue "a an appau-
ing limitation. But, We are not This
morning speaking of congerital mutes.
We mean those who are born with all
the faculties Of vocallzatlon, and yet
have been struck by the evil one mem
toned in the text-the dumb devil TO
whom christ called, when he said,
''Thou dumb and deaf spirit, / charge
thee, come out of him."
THERE HAS BEEN
,potheosization of silence. Some one
said that silence is golden, and