The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1901-09-20
JUDGING CHARACTER
DR.. Talmage Urges the Adoption Of
an Unusual Mode.
In This Discourse He shows the Diff
ference in the Divine and the
Human Way-The Weigh
ing of Nations.

" dehlLb lOAi may %
In this discourse, from a symbol Of
the Bible, DR.. Talmage urges the adop-
tion Of an unusual mode Of estimating
character and shows how different is
the Divine way from the human way;
text. Proverbs, l6. 2: The Lord
weigheth the spirits"
The subject of weights and meas
ures is discussed among all nations,
is the subject Of legislation and has
much TO do with the worlds prosper
iiy. A system Of weights and meas
ures was invented by Phidon, ruler Of
Argos, about 500 years before Christ.
An ounce. & pound. a ton. were differ
ent in different lands. Henry III. de-
cided that an ounce should be the
weight Of $40 dried grains Of wheat
from the middle of the ear. From the
reign of William the Conqueror 10
Henry III. the English pound was the
weight Of 1850 grains of wheat. Queen
Elizabeth decreed that pound should
be 1000 grains Of wheat taken from
the middle Of the ear. The piece of plat
mum kept at the Office of the eXche-
quer in England in an atmosphere Of
62 degrees +. decides for all Great
Britain what a pound must be. Sci
entific representatives from all lands
met in 1869 in Paris and established
international standards of weights
and measures.
You all know something of avoirdu-
pois weight, Of apothecaries' weight,
Of troy weight. You are familiar with
the different kinds Of weighing ma
chimes, whether a Roman balance,
which is our steelyard, or the more
usual instrument consisting of
beam supported in the middle. having
two basins of equal weight suspended
TO the extremities. Scales have been
invented TO weigh substances huge ike
mountains. and others delicate enough
TO weigh infnitesimals. But in all the
universe there has only been one bal
ance that could weigh thoughts, emo
tions, affections, hatreds, ambitions.
That balance was fashioned by an Al
mighty God and is hung up for perpet-
ual service. "The Lord weigheth the
spirits"
This divine weigher puts into the
balance the spirit of charity and de-
cides how much Of it really exists.
1t may go for nothing at all. 1t may
be that IL says to the unfortunate:
"Take this, and do not bother me any
more" 1t may be an occasional i'm
pulse. 1t may depend upon the con-
dition Of the liver or the style Of
breakfast partaken of little while
before. 1t may be called forth by the
loveliness Of the solicitor. Ii may be
exercised in spirit of rivalry. which
practically says: my neighbor has
given so much, therefore ] must give
as much" II is accidental or occa-
sional or spasmodic. When such a
spirit Of charity is put into the bal
ance and weighed. God and men and
angels look on and say there is moth
ing Of il. II does not weight so much
as a dram, which is only the one-eighth
part Of an ounce, OF a scruple, which
is only the twenty-fourth part Of an
ounce. A man may give his hundreds
and thousands of dollars with such
feelings and amid such circumstances,
and he will get no heavenly recogni-
tion.
But into the divine scales another
mans charity is placed. II starts
from love of God and man. II is born
in Heaven. II is lifelong character
istic. II may have a million dollars
or a penny TO bestow, but the man
ner in which that giver bestows il
shows that it is a divinely implanted
principle. The one penny given may.
considering the limited circum-
stances. attract as much angelic and
heavenly attention as though the
check given in charity was so large
il staggered the cashier of the bank
TO cash it. II is not the amount
given. but the spirit with which it is
given. The Lord weigheth the spir-
its"
Perhaps no one but God heard that
good mans resolutions. but it
amounted about 10 this: From this
present moment to my last moment
on earth, God helping me. l will do
all ! can 10 make this world a purer
world. a better world, a happier
world" But the resolution shines
out in his face. sweetens his conver-
sation. enlarges his nature. controls
his life and shows itself as plainly in
the contribution of 81 as though he
had the means 10 contribute $780, OO0 /
When that charity is put into the
royal balance, the heavens watch the
weighing and invisible choirs chant
from the clouds, and catch one bar
of the music: "Now abideth faith. /
hope. charity-these three; but the /
greatest of these is charity"
There are Christian people who had /
faith that China would be redeemed /
and for 30 years have been contrib
uting toward that object, but they |
changed their minds and now despair /
OF the Flowery Kingdom since the /
Boxers began their massacres. There /
are those who were busy in New /
York missions and expected the sal
walton Of our American cities until /
recent developments showed that /
the police were in completely with /
crime. and now these Christian work
ers are despairful, as though all we're
lost. OF what worth is such a mans
faith? When weighed, will they have