The Penn's Grove record., 1893-11-03
REV. DIR. TALNAGE.
THE EHOOKLYN DIyINE'S SUM-
DAY SERMON.
Subject: Elections"

Trxr: "Aad all tie people sato he htpna.
eyjDys and the Bghfuings and the noise Of Ht
f],.pU,pet and the mountain smoking. Exc.
Lus XXX, 10.
NV text informs yon that the lightnings
| and earth1uakes united their forces to wrec,
a mountain of Arabia Petrga in olden time
and travellers to-day finds heaps Of porphyry
and greers-one rocks, bowlder against bowl.
der, ths, remains of the first law library,
w-tten, not on parchment or papyrus, but
on shattered slabs Of granite. The corner.
. stones Of all morality, OF all wise law. of all
| righteous jurisprudence, of all good Govern
ment are the two tablets of stone on which
| were written the Ten Commandments.
All Roman law. all French law, all English
law. all American law that is worth ANYTHING,
Mi common law. civil law, criminal law,
martial law, law of Nations were rocked in
the cradle of~thetwentieth chapter Of Exodus.
And II would be well In these times of greit
| political agitation it the newspapers would
mint the Decalogue some day in place of the
! iu,5Ie editorial. The fact is that some people
| suppos that the law has passed out OF exist
ence All some are not aware of some OF the
! passages of that law, and others say this or
that is OF the more Importance, when no ona
has any right to make such an assertion.
These laws are the pillars of society" and IL
! YOU remove one pillar you damage the whole
structure.
| have noticed that men arc particularly
| vehemeu against sins to which they are not
| particularly tempted and find no especial
| wrath against sins in which they them
selves indulge. They take out one gun from
this battery of ten guns, and load that,
an unlimber that, and fire that. They
| saw. ''This ia an Armstrong gun, and this
Is a Krupp gun, and this is a Nordenfeldt
iyr-barreled gun, and this Is Calling ten
barreled gun, and this is a Martini thirty
sayen-barreled gun" But | have to tell
them that they are all OF the same caliber,
and that they shoot from eternityto eternity.
Many questions are before the people in
the elections all over this land, but / shall
try to show you that the most important
thing to be settled about all these candidates
is their personal, moral character. The Dec
nlogue fOrbids idolatry, image making, pro-
family, maltreatment of parents, Sabbath
dissertation, murder. theft, incontinence,
ly,ny and covetousness. That is the Deca-
logue by which you and I will have to be
| tried. and by the same Dscalogue you and I
| must Try candidates for ONCE.
o? course We SINH not find anything like
pers cation. If We do not vote until We find
an Immaculate nominee, we will never vote
at all. We have so many faults OF our own
We ought not 10 he censorious or maledic-
tory or hypercrititii in regard to the faults
ofothers. The Christly rule is as appropriate
| for November as any other month in the
year. "Judge not that ye be not judged,
for with what measure ye mete it shall be
measured TO you again."
Most certainly are we not to takethe state
| ment OF redhot p~artisanshlp as the real char
actor OF any man. From nearly all the great
cities OF this Ian / l receive daily or weekly
| newspapers, sent to me regularly and in com
| pliment. so [ see both sides-I see all sides
| and it is most entertaining and most regular
| amusement TO read the opposite statements.
The one statement says the man is an angel.
and the other says he is a devil, and | split
| the difference and I find him half way be-
tween.
There never has been an honest or respec-
table man running Tor the United States
| presidency, or for a judgeship, or for thl
| mayoralty, or for the shrlevalty since the
| foundation Of the American Government, IL
| we may believe the old files Of the newspa-
| pers in tue museums. What a mercy it is
that they were not all hung before they were
inaugurated! Ii a man believe one-half OF
| what he sees in the newspapers in these
| times, his career will be very short outside OF
Bioomingdale insane asylum.
l was absent two or three years ago dur
| ing one week of a political canvass, and |
| was dependent entirely upon what l read in
| regard to what had occurred in these cities,
and / read there was a procession in New
York of 51Gl patriots and n minute after !
read in anotlGrsaae thai there were l7.OOO,
and then 1 re! / in regard to another process
sion that there were 5000, and then | g
in another paper that there were GO, 1000.
A campaign orator in the Rink or the
Academy OF Music received a very cold re-
ception-a very chilling reception-said one
ufofappnpt Thu nfhnr atpfnnpDt Sn1d the
audience rose at him. So great was the en-
thusiasm that Tor a long while the orator
could not be heard, and 1t was only after mt
ing his hand that the moderation began TO
subside! On statement will twist an inter-
view one way. and another statement VIII
twist an interview another way. You must
admit it Is a very difficult thing in times ike
these to get q very accurate estimate OF a
mans character, and l charge you, as your
religious teacher. 1 charge you to caution
and to merciiulness and to prayer.
1 warn you also against the mistake Which
| many are making and always do make OF ap1
plying q different standard of character LOT
those in prominent position from the stand
ard they apply for ordinary persons. However
much a man may AVE or however high the
position he gets, he has no especial liberty
given him in the Interpretation OF the len
Commandments. A great sinner is no more
10 lt tAtusttl ludu u SluHll SuihVAs
charge illuslrious detection to eecentrlclty
or chop off the Ten Commandments to SUIT
especial eases. The right is everlastingiy
right. and the wrong is everlastingly wrong.
II any man dominated for any once IN TINS
city or State differs from the DecaloSue, 10
not tx up the Decalogue, but Tx. Nun up.
The law must stand, whatever else must IAN
l call your attention also TO the tact tnaI
you are ali aware of-that the breaking oi
one commandment makes it the more easy q
break all OF them-and the philosophy u
plain. Any kind Of sin weakens the eon'
science, and If the conscience is weakened
that opens the door for all kinds OF trans
gression. II, for instance, a man go INTO tnis
political campaign welding scurrllity as hNs
Chief weapon, and he believes everything pau
about a man and believes nothing gooa' nov,
long before that man himself Will get oVel
the moral depression. Neither IN time hog
eternity. i!
If l utter q falsehood in regard TO a man, ,
may damage him, but l get for myself Ten
fold more damage. That is a gun that Kicks!
II, for instance. a man be p~rofane, under pro-
vocation he will commit any crime. l say
under provocation. For, If man VIII ma,-
treat the lord Almighty, would ne NOT ma,
treat his fellow man? Ii a man De gullty y
malfeGsance in office, he will under proyoea
ton commit any sin. He who Will steai Wil'
lie, n he who will lie will steal
II, Tor instance, q man be impure, u Opens
the door for all other iniquity, for in that
one iniquity he commits theft OF the worst
kind, and c~ovetousness of the worst KING,
and MISUNDERSTANDING to De oecent
when he ,s not-and maltreats his parents oy
is5raoing their name, if they We're goou:
BE careful, therefore, how you charSo .hal
sin against any man either in high place Oh
low place, either in office or out OF ONCE,
because when you make that charge against
a man you Charge him with all VlliaihieSS,
with all disgusting propensities, with al
~rottenaess.
A libertine is a beast, lower than the YER
min that crawl over a summer carcass
lower than the swine, for the swine nas ~
intelligence to sin against. Bs careiu''tne
low you charge that against any Ian
You must be so certain that a mathsnlatII
demonstration is doubtful as eompareu wa"
ii.
And then, when you investigate Z nun "
such subjects, YOU must go TO inc WnoIe
length of Investigation and find ont whetnet
or not he has repentsd. He may have pes ~
on his knees before God and lnpIoreu tne
diyine forgiveness, and he may haye I'M
plored the forgiveness OF society ana tne 10
giyeness of the world. Although II d ilan
commit that sin at thirty or thirty-iive year
of age, there is not n case out OF a thou-
sand where he ever repents- 0 mus 49, =.
YOUR investigation see II 1t Is poSsiole VA.
the one case investigated may NOT naVe a.
the exception. But do not chop OF n.
seventh commandment to suit tine case !,
~ H. % a. d1f WhAt