The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1901-04-10
DIR, TALMAGE'S SERMON
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
DIVINE.
subiec. Good Influences-The "i:si"n nj
the e"writer's Inkhorn'-How 1t Ma kes
For the Worlds Batterment-The Ink
stand of the Worlds Evangelization.
[CopyTirht INi.

[CopyTiEhs lNi.l
WASHINGTON, D. C.-ln new waV ana
from A neculiar text DR.. Ialma2e dis
courses of good influences brought to bear
for the worlds Improvement. The text Is
Ezekiel *, 2, "And one man among them
was clothed with linen. with a writer s
inkhorn 5y his side
The noem from which my text is taken
is epic. lyric. dramatic, weird and over
towering. 1t is more than Eomerlc .! nr
Dontesnue. No one ever had such di-
vine dreams as Ezekiel. In a vision this
nronbet had seen wrathful angels. destroy
mo angels. each with a sword. but In my
text he sees a merciful angel with an INK
horn. The receptacle for the ink IN olden
time was made out of the horn OF a COW
or a ram or a roebuck, as now 1t ls made
out of metal or glass, and therefore was
called tie inkhorn;, as now we say INK.
stand. We have all spoken OF tne power
Of the sword, of the power OF wealth, OF
lie mower Of Office, of the power Of social
influence, but to-day 7 speak of the power
for GOOD or evil in the inkstand. 1t is
mon yonr tables, holding a black or blue
or red liouid. It is fortress, An armory,
a gateway. a ransom or demoiltion.
"You mistake" says some one. 1T Is the
pen that has the power" No. my friend.
What is the influence OF dry pen: Pass
it up and down sheet OF paper. ana 1t
leaves no mark. 1t expresses no OPINION.
It gives no warning. 1t spreads no Inte!ll'
pence. 1t is the liquid which the pen dips
our NJ the inkstand that does the work.
Here and there a celebrated pen. with
which a Declaration of independence. or
Magma Charta or a treaty was signed has
been kept in literary museum or national
archives, Lut for the most part the pens,
whether, as of old. made out OF reed or
later OF wing of bird or still later of me-
tallic substance. have disappeared, while
the liquid which the pens took from the
inkstand remains in scrollc which, If put
together, would be large enough. to en-
wrap the round world. For practical, TOR
moral. for religious, for eternal purposes.
I speak of the mission of the writer 5
inkhorn." g.,
First. I mention that which is purely
domestic. The inkstand is in every house
hold. 1t awaits the opportunity to ex'
press affection or coincidence or advice.
Father uses it; mother uses it; the. sons
and daughters use it, 1t tells the home
news; it announces The marriage, the
birth the departure, the accident, the last
sickness, the death. That home inkstan!d
what mission it has already executed,
and what other missions will 1t yet tul'
fill! May it stand of from all lnslncerlty
and all querulousness. Let 1t tell only tnat
which it would be well to read after the
hand that wrote it and the hand that re.
ceived it can write no more: Dip out OF
that inkstand on ly that which ls paternal;
maternal, flial, ssterly, brotherly. Sacred
let it oe not to what are sometimes called
the "household gods" but to the one and
the only God who "setteth the solitary in
families" Dip out of it solacce for par,
ents on the descending grade of years and
announcement for those who are climbing
The carvers and glass blowers are ever
busy making more ornate and, skllirui
bowls for the ink, but not one OF them Will
be so sacred as the old fashioned inkstand
out of which was dipped the liquid tor the
making of the family record on the PLANK
the New Testaments, not so J leaves
now blank as before recent -ars made
birthday or mortuary Insertions: From
that home inkstand the child dips, out
material for those large and awkward let
tiers that one always makes when learning
to write, and from it are taken the trem,
bling letters that show the wrinkled hand
is gradually forgetting its cunning.
Oh, ye who have with recent years set
homes of your own, out of the new nome
inlistand write often to the old folks, II
they be still living. A letter means more
to them than to us, who are amid the ac-
tivities of life and to whom postal CORE
spondence is more than we can manage.
They await the coming Of the letter. I'm
dertake no great thing in life without their
advice. Old people for counsel, young peo'
ple for action. Even though through de-
cadence they may be incompetent to give
valuable opinions on important atalrs5,
compliment them by asking their counsel
II will do them good; it will make their
last days exhiarant. Make that home ink
stand a source of rejuvenescence to those
who are near the terminus OF the earthly
journey. Domestic correspondence Is not
attended to at once. The newspaper,
joining with. the telegraph, bears the tio-
fngs OF all the neighborhood, but swiftest
revolving wheel of modern printing press
and quickest fash along the electric wires
can never do the sympathetic work OF the
home inkstand. As the merciful angel OF
nv text appeared before the hrazen altar
with the inkhorn at his side in Ezekiels
vision, so let the angel Of tilial kindness
appear at the affairs Of the old homestead:
Furthermore, the inkstand of the busl-
ness man has its mission. Between now
and the hour of your demise, o CONNER.
cial man, o professional man, there will
not be day when you cannot, DIP from
the inkhorn message that will influence
temporal and -ternal destiny. There IS
rash young man running into wild specu-
lation, and with as much ink as you can
put on the pen at one time you may save
him {. om tie Niagara rapids OF ruined
life. On the next street there is young
man started in business who through lack
of patronage or mistake in purchase OF
goods or want of adaptation is on the
Drink of collapse. Cne line of ink from
your pen will save him from being an un-
dcrling all his life and start him on ca
reer that will win him fortune which
will enable him to become an endower OF
libraries, an opener OF art galleries and
builder of churches.
The most largely sue essful and useful
men of our time once wore an old coat
because they could not afford a new t one,
and got wages less than that which they
nav their cook or butler. 1t will be a
mighty thing if out of your inkstand you
can dip a mans earthly and everlasting
fortune. Dip out of that inkstand not one
word of disheartenment. People have
enough burdens to carry without your
adding one ounce to the heft. From your
inkstand put not one blot on an honest
ambition. Keep all the whole of your fac
tory spinning rays of sunshine. If you are
a Christian man, put into your business
letters an adroit, moral, religious sugges-
ton that will keep the receiver thinking
after he has left the counting room for his
home and far on into the night when he
It's upon wakefui pillow. Tomorrow
morning at II o'clock, as you begin to an
swer your letters, you will have on the nib
of your pen enough ink to save soul from
death and hide multitude of sins.
Furthermore. great are the responsible
ties OF the authors inkhorp. All the peo-
pie. or nearly all the people. read, and that
which they read decides their morals or
immorals. their prosperity or failure, their
faith or their urbelief, their purity or cor
ruption, their heaven or hell. Show. me
any mans library. great or small, and af-
ter examining the books, finding those with
leaves uncut. but displayed for sake Of the