The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1896-05-29
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
rHE NOTED DIvINRs SUNDAY
DISCOURSE.
subjects 'noforo they Adjourn"

Psalms oy., %.
Senators N thls text stand for law.makers.
Joseph was the lord treasurer Of the Egyptian
government. and among other great things
which DO did, according 20 my text, was 20
teach bis senators wisdom. And u any men
on earth ought 20 DO endowed with wisdom
4 m senators, whether they stand I'm con-
presses, parllamont8 or relchataga or agaam-
niio9 o. legislatures. By their decisions
nations 80 up or down. Lawmakers are
sometimes 30 tempted by preiudices. by sec
uonal preference, opportunity o. porsonal
Advancement. and sometimes what IA best 10
DO r. 80 doubtiulthat thes ought 70 Be prayed
Iof and encouraged IN every possible way
instead Of severely criticised and blamed and
exeoriatad, az ismuoh Of tho time the case.
our public men ara so often tho target % bo
anQt az merely because they obtain eminenoe
which other mon wanted but could not reach.
that moro iuiusdoes are hurled ne our ma
uonal legislature than the people Of tho Uni
ted states can possibly imagine The whole
aAe helyng Of our public men isslmply dam
BY residence IN Washington 7 have como
70 IND ont that many Of our public men are
nerHislently misrepresonted, and somo Of tho
oest Of them. tho purest An their lives and
most faithful I'm the discharge OF thelrduties.
are the worst DETAINED. Some day want TO
nreach n sermon from the text I'm IL Peter,
siheY are not afraid 20 speak evil OF digni-
ties. whereas angels, which arc greater In
power and might bring not railing accusa-
ton against them before the Lord. But
THESE, as natural brute beasts, made 10 be
taken and destroyed. speak evil OF the things
that they understand not" SO constant and
malignant Is this work Of depreciation and
seandallznuon In regard to our public men
that OIL over the land there are those who
suppose that the city of Washington Is the
center e. ~ corruption. while what with its
parks. 1nd It's equestrian staluarv and its
Wide reots, and its architectural symme-
tries and Its lovely homes, Il Is not only tho
most beautiful city under the Gun, but has
~ highest style Of citizenship. / have seen
nc one intoxicated man in the more than
SIX months OF my residence. and 1 do not
think any man can give similar testimony Of
any other city on the American continent.
The gavels OF our two houses OF national
legislature will soon fall, and adjournment
OF two bodies OF men ne talented, rs upright
and as patriotic as ever graced the capital
will take place. Tho two or three unfor-
funate outbreaks which you have noticed
only make more conspicuous the dignity.
the fraternity, the eloquenoe, the fidelity
which have characterized those two bodies
during all the long months Of important and
anxious deliberation. We put a halo around
great men OF the past because they were so
rare IN their time. ursenate and house OF
representatives have five such men whore
once they had one. But il will not be until
after they are dead that they will get appre-
elated. The world finds II safer to praise
the dead than the living, because the de-
partee wing a heavy pile of marble above
them, may cot rise to become rivals
But, before the gavels OF adjournment
drop and the doors of Capitol Bill shut,
there are one or two things that ought to be
done, and let us pray God that they may be
accomplished. More foreibly than ever be-
fore, congress has been implored toacknowl-
edge God in our constitution. The Metho-
dist Church, a church that is always doing
glorio1s things, has in its recent Whining
ton conference requested our congress to
amend the immortal document which has
been the foundation and wall and dome Of
our United States government by inserting
the words, "Trusting in Almighty God" If
that amendment Is made, 1t will not only
please all the good people Of the country,
but will please the heavens. II was only an
oversight or a mental accident that the fath-
ers who made the constitution did not insert
aiyinely Worshipful sentence. They all so
"a Is they amounted to anything, believed
81 God the Father Almighty, the Maker of
heaven and earth, and In Jesus Christ, His
only begotten Son." The constitution would
have been a failure had it not been for the
divine Interference. The members OF the
convention could agree on nothing until, in
response to Benjamin Franklins request that
the meetings be opened by prayer, the Lord
God was called on to interfere and help, and
then the way was cleared. and all tho states
signed the document, a historical fact that
all the rat terriers Of modern infldelity can
not bark out of existence. 1 know that there
was an exception to the fact that the promi-
nent men in those times were good men.
Tom Paine. libertine and sot, did not
believe in anything good until he was dying,
and then he snrieked out for Gods mercy.
And Ethan Allen, from one of whose
descendants / have received within few.
days a confirmation Of the incident men
toned in a recent sermon, as saying to his
dying daughter that she had better take her
mothers Christian religion than his own in
fidelity. The article sent me says: "The
story has been denied by some of the Allen
family but the Bronson family, some Of
whom were with the dying girl, affirm that
il is substantially true. In such a matter
one confirmation is worth more than many
denials" So says the article sent me.
There is no doubt that Ethan Allen was the
vuigarest sort of an infdel, for, sitting in a
Presbyterian Church, his admirers say he
struck the pew in front Of him and sWore out
loud so as to disturb the meeting, and no
gentleman would do that. l do not wonder
that some Of his descendants are ashamed Of
MIN, but Of course they could not help it and
are not to blame. But all the decent men of
tae ReYoi $50 believed in God. and our
American congress, now assembled, will only
echo the sentiments of the fathers when they
enthrone the name Of God in the consti-
tuition. We have now more reason for
inserting that acknowledgment OF divinity
than our fathers had. Since then the con-
tinent has been peopled and great cities from
, the Atlantic to the Pacific built, and all in
peace, showing that there must have been
supernal supervisal. Since then the war of
1879, and ours the victory! Since then great
financial prostrations. out Of which we came
TO greater prosperity than anything that pre-
ceded Since then sanguinary 1862, 1858,
1864 and 1865, and notwithstanding the fact
that all the foreign despotisms were plan
ming for our demolition, we are united peo-
pie, and tomorrow you will find in both
houses Of congress the men who fought for
the north and south, now sitting side by
side, armed with no weapon except the pen,