St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1901-03-16
A SILENT RELIGION.

A SILENT RELIGION
Dr.. Talmage Sets Forth Its Evil.
in His Sermon.
Dsty 81 ChristiaAs 70 Speak On
Heartily On the Side Of Right.
eoasness-Casting Oat the
Dsnb Spirit.
Copyright. 1901. by Louis Klopsch, N. T..
Washington.
In this discourse DIR. Talmage calls
for . more demonstative religion and .
hearty speaking out on the right side
Of everything; text, Mark 9:25: "Thot
dumb and deaf spirit, l charge thee
come out of him.
Here was a case Of great domestic
anguish. The SON of the household was
possessed of an evA spirit, which
among other 8things, paralyzed hi.
tongue and madehim speechless. When
the influence was on the patient. he
could not say a aword-articulation was
impossible. The spirit that captured
this member of the household was q
dumb spirit-eo called by Christ
spirit abroad to-day and as lively and
potent as in the New Testament times.
Yet in all the realms Of sermondom
cannot find discourse concerning this
dumb devil which Christ charged up
on in my text, saying: Come out OF
him."
There has been much destructive su-
perstition abroad in the world concern
ing possession by evil spirits. Under
the form of belief in witchcraft, this de-
lusion swept. the continents. Persons
were supposed to be possessed with
some evil spirit. which made them able
to destroy others. In the sixteenth CEN
tury in Geneva 1900 persons were
burned to death as witches. In one
neigh borhood of France 1000 persons
were burned. In two centuries 100000
persons were slain as witches. So
mighty was the Gelusion that it includ-
ed among its victims some of the great
est intellects OF al time, such as Chief
Justice Matthew Hale and Sir Edward
Coke. and such renowned ministers OF
religion as Cotton Mather, one of whose
books, Benjamin Franklin said, shaped
his life-and Richard Baxter, and Arch
bishop Cranner and Martin Luther;
and, among writer's and philosophers,
Lord Bacon. That belief, which has
become the laughing stock of all SEN
sible people, counted its disciples
among the wisest and best people of
Sweden, Germany, England, France.
Spain and New England But while we
reject witchcraft, any man who be-
ieves the Bible must believe that there
are diabolical agencies abroad in the
world. While there are ministering
spirits to bless there are internal spirits
to hinder, to poison and to destroy.
Christ was speaking to spiritual ex-
istence when, standing before the af-
hicted one Of the text, he said: "Thou
dumb and deaf spirit. come out Of him. =
Against this dumb devil of the text
put you on your guard. Do not think
that this agent Of evil has put his blight
On those who, by omission of the vocal
organs, have had the golden gates Of
speech bolted and barred. Among
those who have never spoken a word
are the most gracious and lovely and
talented souls that were ever incarnat-
ed. The chaplains of the asylums for
the dumb can tel you enchanting
Of those who never called the
name of father or mother or child, and
many of the most devout and prayerful
souls will never in this world speak the
name Of God or Christ.
Many q deaf mute have seen with
he angel Of intelligence seated at the
window Of the eye, who never came
torth from the door Of the mouth.
What q miracle of loveliness and
was Laura Bridgman, Of
New Hampshire, not only without fac |
l.ty of speech, but without hearing |
md without sight, all these faculties
by sickness when two years
II age. yet. becoming wonder 4.
,eedlework. at the piano, at the sewing |
and an intelligent student Of |
he Scriptures, and confounding phi |
osophers, who came from all parts Of |
he world to study the phenomenon.
to Christianity for what it has
one for the amelioration Of the condi-
ion Of the deaf and dumb. Back in
te ages they were put 70 Death rs
laving no right with such paucity Of
quipment to live. and for centuries
hey were classed among the idiotic
md unsafe. But in the sixteenth CEN
ury came Pedro Ponce, the Spanish
monk. and in the seventeenth century
anne Juan Pablo Bonet. another Span
sh monk, with dactylology, CT the fin
yer alphabet, and in our own century
rs have had John Braidwood and Drs.
iitchen and Ackrriy and Pect and Gal
audet, who have given 10 uncounted
thousands of those whose tongues were
orever silent the power to spell ont on
he air by a manual alphabet their
houghts about this world and their
opes for the next. We rejoice in the
rilliant inventions in behalf OF those
10 were bern d Imb. Ono Of tie most
audiences ever addressed
vas in the far west, an audience Of
bout 600 persons, who had never heard
sound or spoken a word an inter-
reter standing beside me while ad-
ressed them. / congratulated that
udience on two advantages they had
YER the most Of us-the one that
hey escaped hearing > great many
things, and on the
ther fact that they escaped say
,g things they were sorry for
fterward. Yet after all the ale
iations 4 shack.ed tongue is an appall-
,g limitation. But we are not this
lorning speaking Of congenital mutes.
Ve mean those who are born with al
,e faculties Of vocalization and yet
ave been struck by the evil one men
oned in the text-the dumb devil to
hom Christ called, when He said:
Thou dumb and deaf spirit. charge
Zee, come out of him."