Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1897-10-08
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
INTERESTING THEME By The WASH.
NcTON PREACHER.

vantage of an nfortunats Name->oms
Mistake. That Claud the Eariy Life.
TEXr. The wind was contrary Mathew
xiv, "a.
A. we'll know hv experience on Lake
Galilee. one hour all may bee calm and the
next hour the winds aud waves will Ice -
hoiSterOus that YOU are In doubt a. 10
whether YOU will land on the shor" or on
the bottom Of the deep. The disciples In
IA. text were caught in such a stress 81
weather aud the sails hrnt ana the ship
plunged, for the wind was contrary.
There Is In one Of the European straits a
place where, whichever way Won SAT-, the
winds are opposing Th-rrurc pruPl" who
all their life seem sailing In the teeth oi
ple wind. All things seem against them.
II may be said Of their condition rs OF that
"i the disciples IN NY text, 'ihe wind was
contrary"
4 great multitude uT people are under
seeming disadvantage. and ! will today,
Ia the swurthi"st Auglo-SaNOu that can
maEage. treat their eases not a. nurse
counts out eight or ten drops 1T "a pr''~'Tip-
tiun and stirs them in half glass ui water,
hut as when a man has by mistake taken
q large amount Of strvrhninc or paris green
or hclladonna. and the patient j. walked
rapidly round the room and shaken up uu-
III he gets wide awake Many of YOU have
taken a large drauGht Of the poison Of dis
cOuragemeut. and come out by the order
of the Divine Physician to rouse you out Of
that lethargv.
First. many people are under the disai-
vantage Of an unfortunate name given
them by parents who thought they were
doing "a good thing. Sometimes at the
baptism Of children while | have held up
one hand la prayer | have held up the
other hand in amazement that parents
should have weighted the babe with such
"A dissOnant and rcpulsiye nomenclature
! have not SO much wondered that some
children should cry out at the christening
font a. that Others with such smiling face
should take a title that will bee the burden
of their lifetime. II il outrageous to afliict
children with an undesirable name because
1t happened to bee possessed by parent or
"a rich uncle from whom iavor~ are eN-
pocted or some prominent man of the day
who may end his life in disgrace. 1t Is no
excuse. because they are scripture names
to call child Jehoiakim or Tiglath-Pil-
eser. | baptized one by the name Bath
sheha. Why, under all the rircumambient
heaven any parent should want 10 give to
child the name of that loose creature of
Scripture times cannot imagine. | have
often felt ut the haptismal altar when
names We're announced To me. like saying,
rs did the Rev. DR.. Richards " Morris
town, y. j., when "A child was handed him
for baptism and the name given. Hadn't
you better call it something clsc''
Impose not upon that babe name sug-
gestiy" OF ilippaucy or mcnnnesS. THERE'S
no excuse for such assault and battery on
the cradle when our language is opulent
with names musical and suggestive in
meaning, such a. John, meaning 9TH" gra-
cious gift of God. " or Henry, meaning the
chief of a huu~rhOld.' or Alfred, meaning
good COUNSELOR or Joshua, meaning
Good our salvation " or Ambrose meaning
"immortal, or Andrew, meaning manly, '
or Esther. meaning star or Abigail
meaning my fathers joy, or Anna, mean-
ing "gracc. or Victoria meaning vie
tory or Resale, meaning beautiful as Il
rose or Margaret meaning "a pearl, or
Ida, meaning "codlike." or Clara. meaning
"illustriOus." or Amelia meaning busy.
or Bertha, meaning beautiful, and hun
dreds of other names Just rs good that are
help rather than hindrance.
But sometimes the great hindran"e in life
is not in the given name but in tn" family
name While legislatures are willing to
lift such incubus there are families that
keep a name which mortgages all the gen
eratious with great disadvantage. You
say, II wonder if ne is any relation to So
/ and-so,' mentioning some family r"lebra-
ted for crime or deception. II is a wonder
to me that in all such families some spirited
/ young man does not rise, saying to his
| brothers and sisters If You want to keep
! this nuisance or standardization OF name
| / will keep it no longer than until by
! quickest course of law can slough oil this
! gangrene.' The city directory has hun
/ dreds Of names the mere pronunciation OF
which has been "a lifelong obstacle. ltyou
/ have started life under a name which either
through ridiculous photography or vicious
/ suggestion has been an incumhranCe. re-
/ solve that the next generation shall not
/ be 50 weighted. 1t il not demoaninG t.
| change name saul of Tarsus became
Paul the Apostle. Haiussah, the myrtle. ~
| became Esther, "thr star We have III
America, and | suppose II is 50 in all couh-
tries, names which ought to be abolished
and can be and will hr abolished for the
reason that they are libel and Islander
But if for any person you are submerged
| either by a given name or by family name
that Won must bear, God will help you to
overcome the outrage by a life consecrated
to the good and useful. You may erast
the curse from the name. If it once stood
| for meanness, yUU can make 1t stand ioi
generosity. If once it stood Tor pride, you
can make it stand for humanity. III II once
stood for fraud, you can make II stand tui
| honesty. If once it stood for wickedncss
you can Il"Ae ~ SIal''' 80 iP,ta,'. ,har,
nave peeh muItltuues u lnIt"'',tH "u't'
men ana women nave hi"Blli'leeh'iS toH,
quered the disasters Of the name lhhie'e"
upon them.
Again, many people labor under the mis-
fortune of incompetent physical equipment
We are by our Creator so economically
built that we cannot aHoru tle opllterallou
of any physical faculty. We want our two
eyes, our two ears, our two hands, our two
feet, our eight fingers ana Two thnmps
Yet what multttudes OF Peohie nave hu'
one eye or but one loot. me ordinary
casualties of lie nave been quauruPIed
quintupled, seXtupled, aye, centuPied, II
our time by the ClVlL war, ana ut the Norti
and South great multitude are hShtlhe
the battle of life with haIi, or less than haIl
the needed physical ornaments. l DO moi
wonder at the pathos OF soldier during
the war who, when tOlu that ne must iaN'