Connecticut western news., 1896-12-24
THE REAL RELIGION.
REV. DR. rALMAGE LAYS STRESS UPON GOOD WORKS.

GOOD WORKS.
 He Sees Little Good In the Religion That
 Is Not Manifest In Good Deeds-Reli-
 glen That Is Made Up of Fluent Per
 petual Talk.
 WASHINGTON, Dec. 20.-This subject of Dr. Talmage cuts through the con- yentionalities and spares nothing of that make believe religion which is all talk and no practice. The text chosen was James ii, 90, Faith without works is dead.
 The Roman Catholic church has been charged with putting too much stress upon good works and not enough upon faith. I charge Protestantism with put ting not enough stress upon good works as connected with salvation. Good works will never save man, but if man have not good works he has no real faith and no genuine religion. There are those who depend upon the fact that they are all right inside while their conduct IS wrong outside. Their reli- zion for the most part is made up of talk-vigorous talk, fluent talk, boast ful talk, perpetual talk. They will en- certain you by the hour in telling you how good they are. They come up to such higher life that they have no pa tienoe with ordinary Christians in the plain discharge of their duty. As near as can tell, this ocean craft is mostly sail and very little tonnage. Foretop- mast staysail, foretopmast studding sail, main topsail, mizzen topsail - every thing from flying jib to mizzen spanker. but making no useful voyage Now, the world has got tired of this, and it wants religion that will work into all the circumstances of life. We do not want new religion, but the old reli- zion applied in all possible directions.
 Two Rivers.
 l Yonder Is river with steep and rocky banks, and it roars like a young Niagara as it rolls on over its rough bed. It does nothing but talk about it. self all tho way from it's source in the mountain to the place where it empties into the sea. The banks are so steep that the cattle cannot come down to drink It does not run one fertilizinR Till into the adjoining field. It has not one gristmill or factory on either side It sulks in wet weather with chilling fogs. No one cares when that river is born among the rocks. and no one cares when it dies into the sea. But wonder is another river, and it moses it's banks with the warm tides. and it rocks with floral lullaby the water lilies asleep on it's bosom. It invites herds of cattle and focks of sheep and coveys of birds to come there and drink. It has three grist- mills on one side and six cotton factories on the other. It is the wealth of 200 miles of luxuriant farms The birds of heaven chanted when it was born in the mountains. and the ocean shipping will press in from the sea to hail it as it comes down from the Atlantic coast. The one river is a man who lives for himself. The other river is a man who lives for others.
 Do you know how the site of the an cient city Of Jerusalem was chosenf There were two brothers who had ad- joining farma The enc brother had large family, the other had no family. The brother with large family said: "There is my brother with no family. He must be lonely, and I will try to cheer him up, and will take some of the sheaves from my field in the night time and set them over on his farm and say nothing about it. /" The other broth CT said, My brother has large family and it is very difficult for him to SUD- port them. and will help him along, and will take some of the sheaves from my farm in the nighttime and set them over on his farm and say nothing about it" So the work of transference went ca night after night and night after night, but every morning things seemed to be just as they were, for, though sheaves had been substracted from each farm, sheaves had also been added. and the brothers were perplexed and could not understand. But one night the broth CTS happened to meet while making this generous transference, and the spot where they met was so sacred that it was chosen as the site of the city of Je- rusalem. If that tradition should prove unfounded, it will nevertheless stand as beautiful allegory, setting forth the idea that wherever a kindly and gener- ous and loving act is performed that is the spot fit for some temple of commem- oration.
 l have often spoken to you about faith. but this morning I speak to you about works, for "faith without works is dead" think you will agree with me in the statement that the great want of this world is more practical religion. We want practical religion to go into all merchandise. It will supervise the labelling of goods. It will not allow man to say that a thing was made in one factory when 1t was made in anoth- CT. It will not allow the merchant to cay that watch was manufactured in Geneva when it was manufactured in Massachusetts. 1t will not allow the merchant to say that wine came from Madeira when it came from California. Practical religion will walk along by the store shelves and tear of all the tags that make misrepresentation. It will not allow the merchant to say that is pure coffee, when dandelion root and ohicory and other ingredients go into it. It will not allow him to say that is pure sugar when there are in it sand and ground glass
 Practical Religion
 When practical religion gets its full swing in the world, it will go down the street, and it will come to that shoe store and rip of the fictitious soles of many 8 fine looking pair of shoes and show that it Is pasteboard sandwiched between the sound leather. And this practical religion will go right into grocery store. and it will pull out the plug of all the adulterated sirups, and twill dump into the ash barrel in front of the store the cassia bark that is sold for cinnamon, and the brickdust that Is sold for cayenne pepper, and it will shake out the prussian blue from the tea leaves, and it will sift from the