Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1893-11-10
REV. DR. TALMAGE.
The Eminent Brooklyn Divine's Sun
day Sermon.
Subject: "1he Gospel in Politics"

end sd~se another. for the assembly soGs
confused, and the more part kne,o not ,rhere-
fore they lcere come together. And hey drew
Alexander out of he multitude, the Je,ps
putting him Jori0ard And Alexander beck
Oned 10Th the hand. and tcOuld haze made
his defense unto the people But aohea they
kae,o that he 1odS Je'c, all soih one Uoice
about the space of too hours cried out:
Great as Diana Of the Ephesiansr Acts
XIX, 49,
Ephesus was upside down. II was about
the silver question. A manufacturer of silver
boxes for holding heather images had called
his laborers together TO discuss the behavior
of one Paul. who had been in public places
assaultiDg image worship. and consequently
very much damaging that particular busl-
ness. There was great excitement in the
city. People stood in knots along the
streets. violently gesticulating and calling
each other hard names. Some OF the people
favoredthe policy of the sllyersmith. Other
people favored the policy OF Paul. There
were great moral questions involved, but
these did not bother them at ali.
The only question about which they
seemed to be interested was concerning the
wages and the salaried positions. The silver
smith and his compeers bad put up factories
at great expense for the making of these sill
YER boxes, and now, IL this new policy is to
be inaugurated the business will go down,
the laborers will be thrown out OF employ
ment and the whole city will suffer- Well,
what is to be done? "Call convention.
says some one, for In all ages a convention
has been panacea for public evils. The
convention is called, and as they want the
largest room in the city they take the theatre.
Having there assembled, they all want TO
get the floor, and they all want TO talk at
once. You know what excitement that al
ways makes in a convention, where a great
many people want to talk at once. Some
cried one thing, some cried another. Some
wanted TO denOunce. some wanted to resolve.
After awhile a prominent man gets the floor.
and he begins TO speak. but they very soon
hiss him down, and then the confusion rises
into worse uproar. and they begin to shout,
all OF them together. and they keep on until
they are red in the face and hoarse in the
throat for two long hours crying out "Great
is Diana OF the Ephesians. Great is Diana
OF the Ephesians ~
The whole scene reminds me of the excite
ment we have almost every autumn at the
elections. While that goddess Diana has lost
her w0rshipers and her temples have gone
into the dust our American people want TO
set up a god in place of her. and they want
us ali to bow down before it, and that god is
political party. Considering our superior
civilization. I have to declare to you that
Ephesan idolatry was less offensive in the
sight OF God than is this all absorbing Ameri-
can partisanship.
While there are honest men, true men,
Christian men. who stand in both political
parties. and who come into the autumnal
elections resolving TO serve their city or their
State or the Nation in the best possible way,
have noticed also that with many 1t IS a
mere contest between the ms and the outs
VII try 70 / the
outs out. and those who are trying TO get in
and thrust the ms out. And one party cries,
"Great is Diana OF the Ephesians ~ and the
other party cries. Great is Diana OF tho
Ephesians =" neither OF them honest enough
to say, "Great is my pocketbOOS
Once or twice year it is my custom to
talk TO the people about public affairs from
what | call a Christian standpoint ana
this morning | have chosen for that duty. l
hope to say a practical word. History tels
us Of a sermon once preached amid the high
lands Of Scotlsnd-a sermon two hours long
on the sin OF luxury where there were not
NOR, than three pairs of shoes in the au-
dience and during our last war good man
went into a hospital distributing tracts and
gave tract on The Sin OF Dancing to
man both OF whose legs had been amputated
But l hope this morning 10 present an APP
propriate and adapted word. aS next Tues
day at the ballot box great affairs are to be
settled
The Rev. Or. EmmOns, in the early his
tory of our country. in Massachusetts,,
preached about the election Of Thomas JET
ferson to the Presidency. The Rev DR..
Navhew Of Boston. in the early days OF our
republic. preached about the repeal Of the
stamp act There are times when ministers
O. Christ must look of upon public
affairs and discuss them. We need 90 back
TO no example. Every man is. before Goj,
responsible for his own duty.
II the Norwegian boasts OF his home OF
rocks. and the Siberian is pleased with his
land of perpetual snow if the Roman
thought that the muddy TiOer was the
favored river in the sight Of heaven. and II
the Laplan Ter shiyers out his eulOgy Of his
native cline and il tine Chinese have pity
for anybody born outside Of the Flowery
Kingdom. shall not W., horn under these
fair skies ami standing day by day amid
those glorious civil AMI religious liberties.
be public spirited? propose 10 tell the Peo-
pie very plainly what ] consider to be their
Christian duty at the ballot box
First. set yourself against all political false
hood. The most monstrous lies ever told in
this country are during the elections. Istop
at the door OF "a Democratic meeting and
listen and hearthat the Republicans are liars.
stop at the door Of Republican meeting
and listen AMI hear that the Democrats are
scoundrels. Our public men ricroscopized.
and the truth distorted. Who believes a
tenth part of what he reads or hears in the
autumnal electionsy Men who at other sea-
sons of the year are very careful in their
speech become peddlers OF scandal.
In the far east there is place where once
year they let the people do as they please
( and say what they please, AMI the place is
full OF uproar, misrule and wickedness, and
they call it the devils day The nearest
| approximation TO that in this country has
| been the first Tuesday in November. The
| community at such times seems TO say, go
to. now, let us have a good time at lying.
| Prominent candidates for Office are de-
nounced as unprincipled and renegade. A
smart lie will start in the corner OF country
newspaper, AMI keep on running until it has
! capturedthe printing presses OF the whole
continent What garblinc OF speeches What
| misinterpretation of motives What mis-
representation of individual antecedents
The trouble is that we have inthis country
| two great manufactories-manu Of
/ lies-the Republican mandatory OF lies and
the Democratic mandatory Of lies-and
they are run day and night, and they turn
/ out half a dozen a day all equipped and
ready for full sailing. Large lies and small
! lies. Lies private and lies public and lies
J prurient Lies cut bias and lies cut diagonal.
Long limbed lies and lies with double back
] action. Lies complimentary and lies de-
iamatOry. Lies that some people believe.
and lies that all the people believe, and lies
that nobody believes. Lies with humps like
camels. and scales like crOcodies. and necSs
as long as storks. and feet as swift as an an
telOpe's, and stings like a1ders. Lies raw
and scaIloped and PANIED and stewed.
Crawling lies ana jumping lies and soaring
lies. Lies with attachment screws and
rafIlers and braiders and ready wound bob
bins. Lies by Christian people. who never
lie except during elections. and lies by peo-
pie who always lie. but beat themselves in a
| political campaign.
! / confess l am ashamed to have q foreigner
visit this country in these times. | should
think be would stand dazed and dare not go
out at nights What will the hundreds OF
| thousands OF foreigners vino come here TO
live think of us2 What disgust they must
! have for the land Of their adoption : The
! only good thing about II is that many Them
cannot understand the English language.
] But l suppose the German and Italian and
| Swedish and French papers translate II all,
i and peddle cut the internal stun to their sub
scribers.
| Nothing but Christianity will ever stop such
a food Of indecency. The Christian religion