Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1900-08-10
BY THE PLUMB LINE.
THE KIND Of RELIGION THAT The
WORLD NEEDS.
DIR. Tsimace Says Only That which
Comes stra;Eht Down sssos,, Heaven
Can ne os Benent AZ Hu,nanity-Nan
Made Religions Arc Useless.

DIR. TsimaSe Says Only That which
Comes stra;Ehs Down seros:, Heaven
Can ne os Benent a. iumanity-Nan
Made Religions Are Useless.
WASHINGTON. Aug. 5.-From Trondh-
jem, Norway. where Or. Talmage is
now staying. he sends the following
discourse. in which he shows that the
world can never be benefited by a re-
ligion of human manufacture. which
easily yields to ones surroundings. but
must have religion let down from
heaven; text. Amos vii. &: And the
Lord said unto me. Amos. what seest
thou? And said. A plumb line"
The solid masonry OF the world has
for me fascination. Walk about.
some Of the triumphal arches and the
cathedrals. leo or COO years old. and
see them stand as erect as when they
We're builded. walls of great height.
for centuries not bending quarter of
an inch this way or that. So greatly
honored were the masons who builded
these walls that they were Sree from
taxation and called free masons
The trowel gets most of the credit for
these buildings. and its clear ringing
on stone and brick has sounded across
the ages. But there is another nipple
ment OF just as much Importance as
the trowel. and my text recognizes il.
BricSlayers aud stonCmaSons and car.
penters In the building OF walls use
an instrument made of cord. at the
end of which lump of lead is fasten-
ed. They drop it over the side of the
wall. and. as the plummet naturally
seeks the center of gravity in the
earth the workman discovers where
the wall reccdcs and where ii bulgcs
out and just what is the perpendicular.
Our text represents God as standing
on the wall of character. which the
Tsraelites had built and in that way
testing it. "And the Lord said unto
me. Amos, what Seest thou? And
said, 4 plumb line"
What the world wants is straight
up and down religion. Much of the so
called piety of the day bends this way
and that TO suit the times. 1t is
oblique. with n low state OF sentiment
and morals. We have all been building
n wall of character. and IL is glaringly
imperfect and needs reconstruction.
How shall il be brought into perpen-
dicular? Only by the divine measure
ment. And the Lord said unto me.
Amos, what seest thou? And said.
a plumb line"
The whole tendency of the times Is
TO make us act by the standard of
what others do. We throw over the
wall OF our character the tangled
plumb line of other lives and reject
the infallihle test which Amos saw.
The question for emo should not be
hof inl &c vic t,trt hnt Il
thinks is right. This perpetual refer
ence to the behavior OF others. as
though it decided anything but human
fallibility. is Il mistake rs wide rs the
world. There are 10000 plumb lines
In use. but only one is true and exact.
and that is the line OF Gods eternal
right. There is mighty attempt be-
ing made TO reconstruct and fix up the
Ten Commandments. To many they
seem too rigid. The tower of Pisa
leans over about l3 feet from the per-
pendicular. and people go thousands
OF miles to see it's graceful inclination
and 10 learn how. by extra braces and
various architectural contrivances. Il
Is kept leaning from century to cen
fury. Why not have the ten granite
blocks OF Sinai set little aslant? Why
not have the pillar OF truth n leaning
tower? Why Is not an ellipse ms good
as n square? Why is not an obllque
as good rs straight up and down? My
friends. we must have standard
Shall IL be Gods or mans?
The Divine Plumb Line.
The divine plumb line needs to be
thrown over all merchandise. Thou
sands CT years ago Solomon discovered
the tendency or buyers 10 depreciate
goods. He saw man beating down
an article lower and lower and saying
81 was not worth the price asked. and
wien he had purchased nj the lowest
point he told everybody what sharp
bargain he had struck and how he
had outwitted the merchant. lit Is
naught. saith the buyer. but when he
Is gone his way, then be boasteth"
proverbs Xxx. Id. Society Is so utter
iy nskew in this matter that you sell
dom find seller asking the price that
he expects 10 get. Ec puts on q higher
value than he expects TO receive. know
Ing that he VIII have 20 drop. And
when he wants 30 he says as, and II
he wants 1000 he asks $500. lit is
naught." saith the buyer. 1.-THE fab
ric Is defective, the style OF goods is
poor. can get elsewhere n better ar
ticie ar q smaller price. It is out OF
fashion. II is damaged. II will fade. 1t
Will not wear we'll" After awhile the
merchant. from overpersuaSion or from
desire TO dispose OF that particular
stock OF goods. says. We'll, take it at
your own price" and the purchaser
goes home with light step and calls
into his private Office his confidential
friends and chuckles while he tells
how fer half price he got the goods
In other words. he lied and was proud
OF It.
Noth!>S would make times so good
md the earning OF livelihood so easy
as the universal adoption OF the law Of
right. Suspicion strikes through all
bargain making Men who sell know
not whether they will ever get the
money. Purchasers know not whether
the goods skipped will be according
TO the sample. And what. with the
large number Of clerks who are making
false entries and then absconding and
the explosion OF firms that fail for
miii.ens OF dollars. honest men are at
their wits end to make Il living. He
who stands up amid all the pressure
ana does right is accomplishing some
thing toward the establishment OF O
high commercial prosperity.
The pressure TO do wrcng Is stronger
srom the fact that in our day the large
business houses are swallowing up the
smaller. the whales dining on blueflsh
and minnows. The large houses under
sell the small ones because they buy in
greater quantities and mt lower figures,
from the producer. They can afford to
make nothing or actually lose on some
styles OF goods. assured they can make
IL up oil others. So a great dry goods
house goes outside of its regular line
ana sells hooks at cost or less than
cost, and that swamDs the bookseller