Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1893-08-16
RIV. DR.. TALMAGF
The Brooklyn Divine's
Sunday Sermon.
SuJiect-"Children's Rights.'

Trvrs "l,g faIs=. If g.ou las, opons1 n,
'r.aH 'r Hr Lnr3. do 10 7ap 7cco,.,i;,,, !,
ha'usa.. hath preceded out Of thy mouth
--JuT-a- E'., So.
J.rntlaE was n freebooter. Early +r-,o5
ont from q home where he ought TO bavf
been cared for. he cousOrted with rorIoh roer
and went .0rth 10 earn his living as bes+ bI
could. I'm those times it was copsiJeraf
right Ili man 10 so out on independent
military expeditions. Jephthah was a cooS
man according 20 the light of his darL, ace
luttH-7u-G wandering and predatory Iife
he h"'aw" reckless and prccipitats The
crg'" o.. Col changes mans heart, but
never r.v.--as his natural temperament
The I~rIa.ites wanted the Ammonite,
driven 0G- OF their country. so they sent .,
delegation In Iaphthah. asking him TO he
come o0ww@D ler-in-chief of all the foroas
II" might have said. ''You drove me ont
whom Won had no use for me. and now Won
are iu trouble you want me back" but he lid
not say chat. He takes command of tbe
army. ~." IS messengers 70 the Ammonftes 70
t'.l'..m f' va'at" the country. and getting
no Ev --H.' response marshals mis- troops
for battle.
Before ,0'n- ont to the war Jenbtbab
makes % very solemn VOW that IL th5 Lord
will give him the victory then on his return
home whatsoever first comes ont Of his door
way he will offer in sacrifice as a hurat o,
ierIE-. Ihe battle opens. 1t was no sliir-
rishiu- on the edges of danger no mill,
herring OF batteries two miles ayyav. but the
hurInE of men on the points Of swords and
spears until the ground could no more drink
the blood and the horses reared to lean over
the piles OF bodies OF the slain. In those
Old times opposing forces would fight until
their swords We're broken, and then each one
would throttle his man until they both fell
teeth 20 teeth. grip to grip. death stare TO
death stare until the plain was one tumbled
mass Of corusas from which the last trace of
manhood had been dashed out
Jephthah wins the day. Twelve cities Iav
captured at his feet. Sound the victory ali
through the mountains OF Gilead. Let the
trumpeters call up the survivors. Home
ward to Your wives and children. Home
wari with your glittering treasures. Home
ward 10 have the applause of an admirinO
Nation. Build triumphal arches. Swing out
flags all over hlZpeh. Open all your doors
@ receive the captured treasures Through
every hall spread the banquet. Pile up the
y.auts. Fill high the tankards. The Nation
is redeemed, the invaders are routed, and the
National honor Is indicated.
HuzzI for Jophthah. the conqueror! Jeph-
thah, seated on o prancing steed. advances
amid a'claiuinG multitudes, but his eve Is
not on the excited pOpulace. Remembering
that he had made a solemn VOW that, return
ing from victorious battle whatsoever first
came out OF the doorway of his home, that
should he sacrifice as a burnt Offering, he
has his anxious look upon the door. 1 won
der what spOtless lamb, what brace Of doves
will he thrown upon the fires OF the burnt
Offering. Oh, hOrrOrsi Paleness OF death
bla9'hg5 his cheek. Despair seizes his
heart. His daughter, his only child. rushes
out the doorway to throw herself in her
fathers arms and shower upon him more
tiSses than there were wounds on his breast
or dents on his shield. All the triumphal
6plnndor yanishes. Holding back his child
from his heaving breast and pushing the
locks back from tho fair brow and looking
INTO the eyes Of inextinguishable affection.
with cho6ct utterance he says would
God lay stark on the bloody plain. My
laughter, my only child, Joy OF my home,
Life OF my life, thou art the sacriflcer'
The whole matter was explained to her.
This was no whining. hollow hearted girl
into whose eyes the father looked. All the
glory OF sword and shield vanished in the
presence OF the valOr Of that giIl. There
may have been n tremor Of the lip as a rose
leaftrembles IN the sOugh of the south wind,
there may have been the starting of a tear
like raindrOp shook from the anther of
wGter lily, but with a self sacrifice that man
may not reach and only woman's heart can
compass she surrenders herselft 10 fire and to
death. She cries out in the words of my
text, my father, II thou hast opened thy
mouth unto the Lord, do unto me whatso-
ever hath proceeded from thy mouth"
She bows TO the knife, and the blood which
so often at the fathers voice mad rushed to
the crimson cheek smokes in the fires OF the
burnt Offering. No one can tell US her name.
There is no need that We know her name.
The garlands that Mizpeh twisted for
Jephthah, the warrior, had gone into the
dust, but all ages are twisting the girls
chaplet. 1t Is well that her name came not
to US, for no one can wear it. They may
take the name of Deborah or Abigail or
Miriam, hut no one in all the ages can have
the title of this daughter of sacrifice.
OF course this Offering was not pleasing to
the Lord :but before you hurl your denuncia-
tions at Jephthahs cruelty, remember that
in olden times, when vows were made, men
thought they must execute them, perform
them, whether they were wicked or good.
There were two wrong things about Jeph-
thah's vow. First, he ought never TO have
made it. Next, having made 1t, it were better
broken than kept. But do not take on pre-
tentious airs and say, II could rot have done
as Jephthah did" II to-dayyou were stand
ing on the banks OF the GanSes and you had
been born in India, you might have been
throwing your children to the crocodfles. 1t
IS not because we are naturally any tetter,
but because we have more gospel light.
Now, 1 make very practical use OF this
question when I tell you that the sacrifice of
Jephthah's daughter was type OF the physi-
cal mental and spiritual sacrifice Of 10, DOO
children in this day. There are parents 1Il
unwittingly bringing to bear upon their chii-
dren a class of influences which will as Ger
tainly ruin them rs knife and torch destroyed
Jephthah's daughter. While L speak, the
whole Nation without emotion and without
shame looks upon the stupendous sacrifice.
In the first place, remark that much OF
the system of education in our day ls a syS-
TEN Of s:rrace. When children spend six
or seven hours q day in school, and tnen
must spend two or three hours In prepara-
ton for school the next day, viii you tell me
how much time they will have for sunshine
and fresh air and the obtaining ofthat eXu-
berance which Is necessary for the duties OF
coming life?
for the advancement of common school edu-
cation. The printing of books appropriate
for schools, the multiplication Of philOsOph-
ical apparatus, the establishment OF normal
schools, which provide for urchtldren teach-
ers Of largest caliber, are themes on which
every philanthrOpiSt ought to be cOnSratulat-
ed. But this herdinC OF great multitudes o.
children In i'll ventilated school-rooms and
poorly equipped halls of instruction IS max
ing many OF the places of knowledge IL this
country huge holocausts.
Politics in many Of the cities gets into ed
ucational affairs, and while the two political
parties are scrabbling for the honors Jeph-
thah's daughter perishes. II is so much so
hat there are many schools in the country to-
day which are preparing tens OF thousahds
of invalid men and women for the future, SO
that In many places by the the time the
childs education Is finished the child is I'M
ishedl In many places, in many cities otthe
country, there are large appropriations Tor
everything else and cheerful appropriations,
but as soon as the appropriation is to be
made for the educational or moral interest OF
the city we are struck through with an econ
omy that Is well nigh the death of US.
In connection with this 1 mention what L
might call the examining system OF the com
mon schools and many of the academies
children of delicate brain compelled to tasks
that might appall mature intellect, chill
dren going down to school with strap OF
books half as high as themselves. The TACT
IS. IN some OF the cities parents do not ALLOW
their children to graduate for the simph
reason, they say, eve cannot afford to ALLOW
our children's health to be destroyed IL
order that they may gather the honors of N
institution"