Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1896-05-22
REV. DR.. TALMAGE
The Eminent Washington pivine's
Sunday Sermon.
Subj ects s'Bet ore They ADJOURN"

government. ana among Otner ET0dt tuln9s
which he did, according to my text, was to
teach his senators wisdom, And II any mep
on earth ought to be endowed With wisdom
1t is senator's, whether they stand in con.
crosses, psrlinrhents or reichstags or assem-
blies Of legislatures. By their decisions
nations go up or down. Lawmakers are
sometimes so tempted by prejudices, by Sec
tional preference, by opportunity OF personal
advancement, and sometimes what is best to
do is so doubtfulthat they ought to be prayed
for and encouraged in every possible way
instead Of severely criticised and blamed anc
exeoriated, as is much OF the time the case
Our public zen Rre so often the target to b'
shot at, merely because they obtain eminenct
which other mon wanted but could not reach
that more injustices are hurled at our ma
tional legislature than the people OF the Uni
ted States can possibly imagine The whole
| sale belying of our public men issimply dam
nable.
By residence n Washington I have CONT
| to find out that many Of our public men ar
persistehtly misrepresented, and some OF thu
| best Of them. the purest in their lives ant
most faithful in he discharge of their duties
are the worst DETAINED. Some day want y.
preach sermon from the text in II Peter
"They are not afraid to speak evil OF diSni
ties. Whereas angels, which are greater u
| power and might, bring not railing accuse
| ton against them before the Lord. Blu
these, as natural brute beasts, made to b
| taken and destroyed. speak evil Of the thing
that they understand not" 30 constant ant
malignant is this work of depreciation ant
standardization in regard to our public mer
that all over the land there are those whit
suppose that the city Of Washington Is thu
center of all corruption, while what with 1t,
parks, and Its equestrian statuary, and III
wide streets, AMI its architectural symme
tries, and its lovely homes, it is not only the
most beautiful city Under the sun, but ha.
the highest style Of citizenship. l have seer
but one Intoxicated man in the more than
six months of my residence, and 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 as talented, as upright
and as patriotic as ever graced the capital
| will take place. Tho two or three unfor-
| tunate outbreaks which you have noticed
| only make more Conspicuous the dignity,
| the fraternity, the eloquence, the fidelity
| which have characterized those two bodies
during all the long months Of important and
anxious elaboration. We put halo around
great men of the past because they were so
rare in their time. Our senate aud house OF
representatives have five such men where
once they had one. But it will not be until
after they are dead that they will get appre-
ciated. The world finds 1t safer to praise
the dead than the living, because the de-
parted, having heavy pile OF marble above
them, may not rise TO become rivals.
But before the gaves OF Adjournment
drop and the doors OF Capitol Hill shut,
there are one or two things that ought to be
done, and lei us pray God that they may be
accomplished. More forcibly than ever be-
tore, congress has been implored to acknOw.-
edge God in our constitution. The Melho-
dist Church, church that is always doing
glorious things, has in its recent Whining
ION 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, Cruising in Almighty God" II
hat amendment is made, it will not only
please all the good people of the country,
but will please the heavens. 1t was only an
oversight or mental accident that the tath-
ers who made the constitution did not insert
/ divinely wor5hipful sentence. They ALI SO
lar as they amounted to anything, believed
In "God the Father Almighty, the Maker OF
neaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His
only begotten Son." The constitution would
have been a failure hal it not been for the
div ne interference. The members OF the
convention could agree on noth'ng until, In
response to Benjamin Franklin's request that
he meetings be opened by prayer, the Lord
IIod was called on to interfere and help, and
then the way was cleared, and all tho states
igned the document, a historical fact that
all the rat terriers Of modern ihhdelity can
not bark out of existence know that there
was an exception to the fact that the promi-
nent men in those times wero good men.
Tom Paine. libertine and sot, did moi
believe in anything good until he was dying,
ind then he shrieked out for Gods mercy.
And Ethan Allen, from one OF whose
descendants have received within few
lays q confirmation of the incident men
Toned in recent sermon, as saying to his
sying daughter that she had better take hel
mother's Christian religion than his own in
fidelity. The article sent me says: "Iht
story has been denied by some OF the Allen
family, but the Bronson family. some o
whom were with the dying girl, affirm tina
It is substantially true. In such matter
one confirmation is worth more than many
ienials." SO says the article sent me
There is no doubt that Ethan Allen was the
vulgarest sort of an infdel, Tor, sitting In
PRESBYTERIAN Church, his admirers say h
truck the pew in trout OF him and swore gu
loud so as TO disturb the meeting, aud NJ
|
that some of his descendants are ashamed o
him, but of course they could not help 1t an(
are not to blame. But all the decent men
The Revolution believed in God, and ou
American congress, now assembled, will oni.
echo the sentiments of the fathers when thel
pntbrone the name OF God in the constt
tuition. We have now more reason 10
Inserting that acknowledgement OF divinity
than our fathers had. Since then the con
tinent has been peopled and great cities IRON
The Atlantic to the Pacific built, and all II
peace, showing that there must have peel
eupernal superyisal. Since then the war
1912, and ours the victory! Since then grea
financial prostrations. out OF when we cam
10 greater prosperity than anything that pre-
coded. Since then sanguinary 1862. 1867
1864 and 1865. and Notwithstanding the fac
that all the foreign despotisms were plan
ming for our demolition, we are united PEG
ole. and tomorrow you will find in bot
, houses of congress the men who fought 10
, the north and south, now sitting side D.
side. armed with no weapon except the per
| with which they write home to their con
vtituents who want to be appointed posi-
1 masters, The man who cannot see dod
our American history is as blind OF sou, q
he would be blind of body if he could not a
I 10 o'clock of an unclouded noon see tn
sun in the heavens.
As matter of gratitude to Almighty Goo
gentlemen of the American congress, Q
pleased TO insert the four words suggeste
by the Methods. conference. Not only b
cause of the kindness of God to this natio
n in the past should such reverential lnsertlo
= he made. but because of the fact that we al
4 going TO want divine interposition stl
0 further in our national history. This sol
and silver question will never be settled I'll
til God settles it, This question OF tariff an