Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1901-07-19

WASHINGTON. July 19-In this dis
course DIR. Talmage shows the causes
OF the great financial disturbances
which take place every Few years and
arraigns the people who live beyond
their means: text. jeremiah xvii, IL.
las the partridge stitch on eggs and
hatcheth them not. so he that gettcth
riches and not by right shall leave
them In the midst of his days and at
his end shall be a fool
Allusion is here made to n well
known fact in natural history. If n
partridge or a quail or robin brood
the eggs OF another species. the young
will not stay with the one that happen
ed to brood them. but at the first CD
portunity will assert with their own
species. Those of us who have been
brought up in the country have seen
the dlsmay of the farmyard hen, hay
ing brooded aquatic fowls. when after
awhile they tumble into their natural
element. tie water. So my text Sig
gests that man may gather under his
wings the property of others, but il will
after awhile escape; it will leave the
man in sorry predicament and make
him feel very silly.
What has caused all the black DAVIS
OF financial disasters for the last 60
years! Some say IL is the credit sys-
TEN. Something hack of that. Some
say 1T is the spirit of gambling ever
and anon becoming epidemic. Some
thing back CT that. Some say it Is the
sudden shrinkage in the value of secur-
w :,
intelligent men could not have fore
seen Something back of that. I will
give you the primal cause of all these
disturbances Ii is the extravaganza
of modern society which impels n man
TO spend more money than he can hon.
estly make, and he goes into wild spec
uiation in order TO get the means for
inordinate display. and sometimes the
man Is 10 blame and sometimes his
wife and oftener both Five thousand
dollars income. $4,000. 10000 income,
Is not enough for man TO keep up
the style of living he proposes, aud
therefore he steers his bark toward the
maelstrcm. Other men have suddenly
sDatched up $4,000 or S100.0O0-why
not he? The present income of the man
not being large enough, he must move
earth and hell TO catch up with his
neighbors. Others have n country seat
so must he; others have an extrava-
CANT caterer-so must he; others have
palatial residence-so must he.
Extravaganza.
Extravaganza Is the cause of all the
defslcations OF the last GO years. and il
you will so through the history of all
the great panics and the great financial
disturbances no sooner have you found
the story than right back of il you will
find the story of how many horses the
man had. how many carriages the man
had, how many residences i'm the coun-
try the man had. how many banQuets
the man Cave-always. and not one ex-
ception for the last co years, either di-
rcctly or indirectly extravaganza the
cause.
Now. for the elegances and the re-
finemcnts and the decorations of life
I cast my vote. While I am consider
ering this subject basket OF flowers
is handed in-fowers paradisaical in
their bcauty-wh Gala, with n green
background of begonia; cluster of he
liotropcs Nesting in some geraniums;
scpnl and perlanth bearing on them the
marks OF Gods finger. When | see
that basket of flowers. they persuade
me that God loves beauty and adorn-
plcnt and decoration. God might have
made the earth so &c TO supply the
gross demands OF Scnsc, but left IL
without adornment or attraction. In
stead of the varieSated colors OF the
seasons. the earth might have worn an
unchanging dull brown. The tree
might have pus forth its fruit without
The prophecy OF leaf or blossom. Mag
ara might have come down In gradual
descent without thunder and winged
spray.
Look out OF your window any MORN
ing after there has been n dew and see
whether God loves jewels. Put n crys-
tai or snow under a microscope and see
what Gcd thinks OF architecture. God
commanded the priest OF ol,len time TO
have his robe adorned with n wreath
OF gold and the hem OF his garment 10
DE embroidered In pomegra nates. The
earth sleeps, and God blankets IL with
The briiliants OF the night sky. The
world wakes, and God washes IL from
the FURNISHED layer OF the sunrise. So
have not much patience with a man
who talks as though decoration and
adornElrnt and the elegances or life
ar" Il sin when they are divinely rec
oninended- But there is a line to be
drawn between adjournment and decora-
tons that we can afford and those we
cannot afford. and when IA man crosses
that line he becomes culpable. can
not tell you what is extra VACANT for
you. You cannot tell me what Is ex-
travagant Ger me. What is right for
queen may be squandering for a Ouch
ess- What may be economical for you.
n man with larger income. will be wick
eel waste FOR me. with smaller income.
There is no iron rule on this subject.
Every man before God and on his knees
must judge what is extravaganza. and
when n Iian goes into expenditures be-
yon'! his means ne is extravasaat.
When a r:aD buys anything he cannot
pay for. no IS extravaganza
siean Class of Thicvca.
There are families in all our cities
who can hardly pay their rent and who
owe al 'ac merchants I'm the neighbour !
nood and yet have an apparel unfit for
1neir c'"rS distances and are all the
time sailing so near shore that business
misfortune or an attack of sickness
prepares them for pauperism. You
Know very well there are thousands of
families in our great cities who stay ia
neighborhocds until they have exhaust
cd all their capacity TO get trusted. |
They stay in the neighborhoods until !
the druggists will let them have no !!
more medicines, and the butchers will |
sell them 10 more meat. and the bak- |
ers viii sell them no more bread, and.
the erocerymen viii sell them no more
sugar Then they find the region I'M
healthy. and they hire a carman, whom |
they never pay. TO take them to some
new quarters, where the merchants.
& he drI, 1x..ict.. IL.