The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1895-08-09
JONAH'S PERVERSITY
MORAL LESSONS OF THE MEMORABLE
JOURNEY TO TARSHISH.

Delusions of Life and the Wages of Sin
NEW YORK, Aug, AT this season
of the year, when large portion of the
community is journeying either by lane
or sea, Rev. DR.. Talmage, who is still
absent on his midsummer preaching anG
lecturing tour, has chosen as the subject
of his sermon for today, "Man Over.
board" the text being Jonah i, 6 "Sc
the shipmaster came to him and said
unto him: What meanes thou, o sleep
er? Arise, call upon thy God, if so be
that God will think upon us, that we
perish not. F"
God told Jonah to go to Nineveh on
an unpleasant errand. He would not go.
He thought to get away from his duty
by putting to sea. With pack under his
arm I find him on his way to Joppa, a
seaport. He goes down among the ship
ping and says to the men lying around
on the docks, (Which of these vessels
sails today?" The sailors answer, lyon
der is vessel going to Tarshish. I think
if you hurry you may get on board her. "
OOlull oUCpo Oh DOulu buO lOuSl VI
asks how much the fare is, and pays it.
Anchor is weighed, sails are hoisted,
and the rigging begins to rattle in the
strong breeze of the Mediterranean.
Joppa is an exposed harbor, and it does
not take long for the vessel to get on the
broad sea- The sailors like what they
call a spanking breeze" and the
80 lo x,occo1 fro,,, ha orocf IF a
tall wave is exhilarating to those at
home on the deep. But the strong breeze
becomes a gale, the gale hurricane.
The affrighted passengers ask the cap
tain if he ever saw anything like this
before.
"Ob, yes" he says. "This is moth
ing" Mariners are slow to admit dan
ger to landsmen. But after awhile
crash goes the mast, and the vessel
pitches so far "abeam's end" there is
fear she will not be righted The cap
tain answers few questions, and orders
the throwing out Of boxes and bundles
and of so much of the cargo as they can
get at The captain at last confesses
there is but little hope and tells the
passengers that they had better 60 to
praying 1t is seldom that sea captain
is an atheist He knows that there is
God, for he has seen him at every point
of latitude between Sandy Hook and
Queenstown. Captain Moody, command
ing the Cuba of the Cunard line, at Sun
day service led the music and sang like
a Methodist. The captain of this Medi-
terranean craft, having set the passen-
gers to praying, goes around examining
the vessel at every point He descends
into the cabin to see whether in the
strong wrestling of the waves the vessel
had sprung aleak, and he finds Jonah
asleep. Jonah had had wearisome
tramp and had spent many sleepless
nights about questions of duty and he
is so sound asleep that all the thunder
of the storm and the screaming of the
passengers does not disturb him. The
captain lays hold of him and begins to
shake him out of his inconsistencies
with the cry: Don't you see that we
are all going to the bottom? Wake up
and go to praying if you have any God
to go to. What meanest thou, o sleep
er? Arise, call upon thy God, if so be
that God will think upon us, that we
perish not. " The rest of the story will
not rehearse, for you know it we'll. To
appease the sea they threw Jonah over
board.
Learn that the devil takes a mans
money and then sets him down in poor
landing place. The Bible says he paid
T., Sc 10, 81 D-,4 L.
out. The sailors bring him to the side
of the ship, lift him over the guards and
let him drop with a loud splash into the
waves He paid his fare all the way to
Tarshish, but did not get the worth of
his money. Neither does any one who
turns his back on his duty and does that
which is not right
The Rewards of Dissipation.
There is young man who during the
past year has spent large part of his
salary in carousal What has he gained
by it? A soiled reputation, half starry
ed purse, dissipated look, a petulant
temper, a disturbed conscience. The
manacles of one or two bad habits that
are pressing tighter and tighter will
keep on until they wear to the bone.
You paid your fare to Tarshish, but you
have been set down in the midst of a
sea of disquietude and perplexity.
One hundred dollars for Sunday horse |
hire.
One hundred dollars for wine suppers. |
One hundred dollars for cigars.
One hundred dollars for frolics that |
shall be nameless
Making four hundred dollars for his
damnationi
Instead of being in Tarshish now he
is in the middle of the Mediterranean
Here is literary man tired of the
faith of his fathers who resolves to
launch out into what is called freethink-
ing. He buys Theodore Parker's works
for $12, Remains Life of Christ" for
81. so, Andrew Jackson Davis works
for $40. Goes TO hear infidels talk at the
clubs and to see spiritualism at the table
rapping. Talks glibly of David, the
psalmist, as an old Ebertine, of Paul as
a wild enthusiast and of Christ as de-
cent kind of man, little weak in
some respects, but almost as good as
himself. Talks smilingly of Sunday as
a good day to put a little extra blacking