The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1895-08-09
J0NAH'S PERVERSITY
MORAL LESSONS OF THE MEMORABLE
JOURNEY TO TARSHlSH.

mon on the waywardness of Nam tho
Deiusions of Life and the Wages of Sin.
New York, Aug. AT this season
of the year, when IA large portion of the
community is journeying either by land
or sea, Rev. DR.. Talmage, who is still
absent ON his midsummer preaching and
lecturing tour, has chosen as the subject
Of his sermon for today, "Man Over
board, the text being Jonah i, 6; $50
the shipmaster came to him and said
unto him: What moanest thou, o sleep
er? Arise, call upon thy CD, if so be
that God will think upon us, that we
perish not. "
God told Jonah to go to Nineveh on
an unpleasant Grand He would not go,
He thought to get away from his duty
by putting to sea. With pack under his
arm find him ON his way to Joppa, q
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, Think
if You hurry you may get on board her. "
Jonah steps on board the rough craft,
asks how much the fare is, and pays it,
Anchor is weighed, sails are hoisted,
aud the rigging begins to rattle i'll 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 spanking breeze" and the
plunge of the vessel from the crest of a
tall wave is exhilarating to those at
home on the deep. But the strong breeze
becomes gale, the gale a 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 a
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 go to
praying. 1t is seldom that sea captain
is an atheist He knows that there is a
God, for he has seen him at every point
of latitude between Sandy Hook and
Queenstown. Captain Moody, command
ipo +l,o Cyubo Of tl,o C1pord limo az ca,
day service led the music and sang like
Methodist The captain of this Medi-
terranean craft, having set the passen-
gers to praying, goes around examining
the vessel at evory 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, 0 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 well. To
appease the sea they threw Jonah over
board
Learn that the devil takes a man s
money and then sets him down in a poor
landing place, The Bible says he paid
his fare to Tarshish But see him get
out. The sailors bring him to the sido
of the ship, lift him over the guards and
let him drop with 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 Oh his duty and does that
which is not right
The Rewards of Dissipation.
There is young man who during the
past year has spent largo part of his
salary in carousal. What has he gained
by it? A soiled reputation, half starv
ed purse, dissipated look petulant
temper, disturbed conscience. The
hanacles of one or two bad habits that
are pressing tighter and tighter will
keep OH until they wear to the bone
7 on paid your fare to Tarshish, but you
have been set down i'll the midst of a
sea of disquietude and porplexity,
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
damnationl
Instead Of being i'll Tarshish now he
is i'll 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 $l2, Remains Life of Christ for
$l.50, Andrew jackson Davis works
for $40. Goes to hear infidels talk at the
tlubH anu " stt Illt ldD1C
rapping. Talks glibly of David, the
psalmist, as an old libel'tine, Of Paul as
a wild enthusiast and of Christ as q de-
cent kind of man, little weak in
some respects, but almost as good as
himself. Talks smilingly of Sunday as
good day to put little extra backing
on ones boots and of Christians as, for
the most part, hypocrites and Of eternity
as the great to be, the everlasting
now" or 'the infinite what is it. -
Some day he gets his feet very wet and
finds himself that night chilly; the
next morning has Il hot mouth and is
headachy; sends word over to the store
that he will not be there today battles
his feet; has mustard plasters; calls the
doctor. The medical man says aside
'This is going to be bad case of con
gestion of the lungs - Voice fails. Chill
dren must be kept down stairs or sent tc
the neighbors to keep the house quiet
You say, Send for the minister Blu
no. He does not believe in ministers
You say, Read the Bible to him." No
he does not believe in the Bible. A law
yer comes in, and sitting by his bedsid