The Penn's Grove record., 1900-01-26
DIR. TALMAGES SERMON.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
DIVINE.

OlvlNEs
-
Subject: The Affairs Of Others-Tne Busy
body Has : Mission to Perform when
His Motive IL Good-search out the
Miserabfe and Oner Them 0on.olat,ou
s
tcopyrisht. Louis Klopsch. 1901
WASHINGTON. p. Gin this discourse DR..
Talmage shows how We should interest
ourselves In b affairs OF others Tor their
benefit, but never for their damaged text,
l Peter, ~, Is, IA busybodyi In other mems
matters"
human nature Is tie SAM In all ages.
II the second century Of the worlds OK.
isfence people q the same characteristics
a. people IN the nineteenth century, the
only difference being that they had tho
characterlstics for q longer time. It vas
800 years Of goodness or 500 years OF mean
hess Instead Of goodness or meanness tor
forty or hfty years. Well. Simon Peter.
who was q keen observer OF what was going
on around him, day caught sight OF 4
man whose characteristics were severe
inspection and blatant criticism OF the al
fairs belonging to people for whom he had
no responsibility. and With the hand once
Drowned and hardened by. fishing tackle
drew this portrait for all SUBSEQUENT ages,
"a busYbodY In other mems matters"
That kind Of person has been q trouble
maker In every country since the world
etood. Appointing himself to the work Of
exploration and detection, he goes forth
mischief making. He generally begins BY
reporting the infelicity discovered. He Is
the advertising agent Of inflrmities and
domestic inharmony and occurrences thai
but for him would never have como to the
public eye or ear. He feels that the secret
ought to be hauled ont into light and her
aided. II he can get n line Of 1t into
the newspapers, that be feels to bd q noble
achievement to start with. But he must
not let It stop. He whispers It to his
neightofs, and they In turn whisper It to
their neiehbors, until the whole town Is
nbuzz and aGog. You can no more catch
i Or put 1t down than you can 9 malaria.
Taken by itself, It seems OF little impor-
tance, but after q hundred people have ham
died It and each has given It an additional
twist It becomes q story In size and shape
marvellous. II It can be kept going, after
awnho lt Will pc large enough 70 call the
attention OF Inc courts or the presbyteries
OF conferences OF ASSOCIATIONS. me most
OF tne scandals abroad ara-tne work OF the
one wnom Peter ia tne text styles "a busy
Oooy n otner mems matters.
Eirs., notice thai eucn q mission ID most
undesirable. because We all require all the
time We can get 20 take care o. our y
auAirs. 10 carry ourselves tnrough the
~acnor stlaits OF thls lie demands
mat We All tne time keep our hand on the
wneet OF our n craft. Wniio, as ! snail
snow you before :! get through, We all have
9 mission OF KINDNESS 70 DINERS We nave
1oztime 70 Waste IN DONG mat Wnlcn %
damaging 70 others:
1neIe u = Woriaiy calling, wnicn must
Do SIOOK8Q 8It8J 0E lG WIZ O060m4 n I8fIuE0.
WING succeeds IN anything without concen-
tIstlne y, ms energies upon tnat one
1hlnGs AL those VINO Try 20 40 many things
g0to pieces either as to their health or
tnelf fortune. They go on until they pay
ten cents on the dollar or pay their body
into the grave. We cannot manage the
affairs OF others and keep q own affairs
prosperous. While We are inquirInR
now precarious is the business OF an
other merchant and finding out how many
notes he has unpaid and how soon he will
probably be wound up or max an assign
ment or hear b sherih's hammer smite
his counter our v Affairs are getting
mixed mp and endangered. While we are
criticising our neighbor for his poor crops
We are negIecting the fertilization OF our
owns fields or allowing the weeds to chokB
u own corn. While we are trying to ex-
tract the mote from our neighbor's eye we
fall under the weight OF the beam Ia our
own eye. Those men disturbed by the faults
whole trains Of faults arrive and from which
whole trains Of faults start. The men who
have succeeded In secular things or relig-
ious things will tell you hat they have no
time Tor hunting out the deficits Of others.
On D way to their counting room they
may have heard that a firm In the same
line OF business was In trouble, and they
40fd ssHnrPU uopR aapru nrf f1.oVy vpank
IN n sat down at their table and opened
the book containing q full statement OF
their affairs TO see II they were IN peril Of
being caught in q similar cyclone.
ladders about town, with hands In
pockets and hats set far back on the head,
waiting to hear baiefui news. are failures
now or Will pc failures. Christian men
women VINO go round with mouth
2 iooks 1uit OF Interrogation points to
una how some other church member Is
given 20 exaggeration or drinks too much
or negiects his home Tor greater outside
attractlons ave themselves so little grace
IN tneir hearts That no one suspects they
have any,. In proportion as people are
consecrated holy and useful they are
ienient With others and disposed to say:
wait until We . the other side Of that
matter. ! cannot believe that charge made
against that man or woman until we have
s~s Suo SAUb HtNOu
py THESE scandal mongers. / guess It is q
lie.
Furthermore. we are incapacitated for
tie supervlsal Of others because we cannot
see all sides OF the affair r~eprehended.
People are generally not so much to blame
as we suppose. 1t Is never right to do
wrong, but there may be alleviations.
There may have arisen q conjunction OF
circumstances which would have flung any
q OF Us. The world gives only one side
Of the transaction, and that is always the
worst side. That defaulter at the bank
who loaned money be ought not to have
loaned did It for the advantage OF another.
not for his own. That young man who
purloined from his employer did 60 be-
cause his mother was dying for the lack OF
medicine. That young woman who went
wrong did not get enough wages to keen
her from starving to death. Most people
who make moral shipwreck would do right
In some ~exiRencv~but thew ave NOT fhe
courage 20 say "No.n
Furthermore. We make ourselves a dis
gushing spectacle when we become busy
bodies. What a diabolical enterprise those
undertake who are eyer looking for the
moral lapse or downfall OF othersl AZ the
human race is q most imperfect race. ali
such hunters ind plenty Of 0ame. Tiare
have been sewing societies in CHURCHES
which tore to pieces more regulations han
they made garments for the poor. with
their sarcasms and sly hints and deprecia-
tton OF motives thew punctured more good
unnoon <han tho~, ~. n.~alo~ MAJ St.s-