Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1895-02-02
SINS OF PESSIMISM.
REV Or. TALMAGE DEPLoREs The
MODERN TENDENCY.

There l. No Place In the life Of IA Chris
tian For Gloomy FosebodIing-- ToucIi-
ing Incident OF Cladsio-ir Optimism Of
Christianity.
NEW YORK. Jan. 2s.-Nhcn Rev DR.
Talmage came upon the stage ia the
Academy of Music this afternoon. he
found before him an audience such as is
seldom seen in any public building in
America. The vast space was crowded
from auditorium 10 topu0st gallery and
the aisles and corridors literally block
ed. while many thousands who had come
To hear him preach crowded Fourteenth
street and Irving place. unable TO gain
admission. He took for his subject The
Dangers Of Pessimism. the text selected
being Psalm cxvi, n. Il said in NJ
haste, All men are liars
Swindled, betrayed. prosecuted David
In paroxysm of pe.ulance and rage
thus insnlted the human race. David
himself falsitied when he said. "All
men are liars He apologies and says
no was unusually provoked. and that he
was has;y when be hurled such univcr-
rtAA administration TtAAtA al ny s4sA7ANs
and 30 on. IL was in him only momen-
tary triumph Of pes-imism. There IS
ever and anon, and never more than
now. a disposition abroad % distrust ev-
erybody, and because some bank err
ployees dcfraud 10 disuust all bank en-
ployces, and because some police officers
have taken brides 10 believe that all
policemen take brides. and because di-
vorce cases are in the court 10 believe
that most. If not all. marriage relations
are unhappy.
There are men who seem rapidly com.
ing 10 adopt this creed: All men are
liars. scoundrels thieves. libertiDes
When a new case Of pcriidy comes TO the
surface, these people clap their hands III
glce. Il gives piquancy 10 their break
fast il the morning newspaper discloses
new exposure or a new arrest They
grow fat on yormiB. They Join the devils
ia hell in Jubilation over recrcancy and
pollution. II some one arrested Is proved
innocent, IL is 10 them q disappointment
They would rather believe evil than
good They are vulturos. preferring car
rion They would like To- he on a com.
mit;ee 90 find something wrong They
wish that rs eyeglasses have been in.
vented to improve tho sight. and ear
trnmpots have been invented 60 help the
hearing, a corresponding instrument
might be invented for The nose 20 bring
nearer malodor.
Evils Of Cynicisn.
Pcssimism SAYS Of the church. The
-
although il Is no temporal advantage 10
DO member Of tho church. and there
fore there Is no temptation 10 hypoc-
risy " Possimism says that the influence
Of newspapers is only bad. aud that they
are corrupting the world. when the fact
Is that they are the inigh;icst agency
for the arrest Of crime and the spread
Of intelligence, and tie printing press
secular and religious. i setting the M.
tions free. The whole tendency Of things
Is toward oynicism. and the gospel Of
Smashup We excuse David Of the text
for = paroxysm Of disgust, because he
apologies for il to all the centuries. but
IL IL u deplorable fact that many have
taken tho attitude Of perpetual dislrust
aud anathomatization There are. we
must admit. deplorable facts. and we
would not hide or miBify them We arc
not much encouraged a. find that the
great work Of official reform in New
York city begins by proposition 20 the
liquor dealers 20 break the law by keep
ing their saloons open on Sunday from
. In tho afternoon q / 20 night
Mover since America was discovered
has there been worse insult 20 sobrioiy
and docoDcy and religion than that prop.
osition. That proposition j. equal 20 Say
ing. Lot law and order ard religion
have chance on Sunday foronoons. but
Sunday afternoons open I'll tho gates 70
gin aud alcohol and Schicdain schnapps
and sour mash and Jersey lightning,
and tho variegatcd swili Of 'reweries
and drunkenness and crime Consccrato
the first half Of the Sunday 90 God and
tho last half TO tho devil Let the chill.
dren on their way 20 Sunday schools III
New York 40 O'Clock IN tho afternoon
meet tho alcoholism that docs more than
all other causes combined 20 rob chill
dron Of their fathers and mothers and
strew tho land with helpless orphanagc
Surely strong drink can kill enough pco-
pie and destroy enough families and
sufficiently crowd the alnlshouses and
ponitcntiaries in six days of the week
without giving 1t on extra half day for
paupcrism and assassination
Power Of Good.
Although We arc not very jubilant
over a municipal reform that opens tho
exercises by doxology 10 rum. we have
full faith in God and in tho gospel
which will yet sink AL iniquity as the
Atlantic ocean melts flake Of snow
What we want. and what ! believe we
will have, is great religious awaken
ing that will moralize and Christianize
our great populations and make them
superior 20 temptations. whether unlaw-
full OF legalized. So SEQ no cause for
disheartenmrnt. Pessimism H. "a sin. and
those who yield 10 it cripple themselves
for the war, on one si6o Of which are
all the forces II darkness, led on by
ApOllyon, and ON the other side Of which
are all the forces of light. led on by the
Omnipotent risk tho statement that
the vast majority Of people are doing
the best they can Nine hundred and
ninety nine out Of thousand Of the
officials 81 tho municipal and the United
States governments are honest
Out of thousand bank presidents and
cashiers. nine hundred and ninety-nin
are worthy the position they occupy.
Out Of thousand merchants, mechanics
and professional men. nine hundred and
ninety nine are doing their duty ms they
understand IL Ou' II one thousand en-.
gineors and conductors and switclmen
nine hundred and ninotynine are true
TO their responsible positions II is sci.
dom that people arrive ai positions OF
responsibility until they have been test
I'd over and over again. II the Theory Of
the pessimist were accurate. society
would long ago have gone 20 pieces, and
civilization would have been submerged
with barbarism. and the wheel o. the
centuries would have turned back 20 the
dark ages 4 wrong impression is made
that because two men fslsify their bank
accounts those two wrongioers are bla-
zoned before the world. while moth
ing is said in praise II the hundreds ~
bank clerks who have stood at their
desks year in and year out until their
health is well nigh gone, taking not
pin's worth of that which belongs TO
ii IA uanrs l. Il