Connecticut western news. [volume] (Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Conn.) 1871-1970, 1901-02-14
SPEAK FOR THE RIGHT.
Dr.. Talmage Calls For a More
Vociferous Religion.
DIAB0ILuAL AGENCIES ACTIVE.

Are Evfl1 TO DenOunce-he Ready
with Tongue When Christianity Is
Assaulted - Lift Up the Voice In
Prayer and Song.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 10.-In this dis
course DIR. Talmage calls for a more
demonstrative religion and a hearty
speaking out on the right side of every
thing; text, Mark tx, %, Thou dumb
and deaf spirit, charge thee, come out
Of him."
Here was a case of great domestic
anguish. The son Of the household
was possessed of an evil spirit, which
among other things paralyzed his
tongue and made him speeches.. When
the influence was ON the patient, he
could not say a word-articulation was
impossible. The spirit that captured
this member Of the household was a
dumb spirit-so called by Christ-a
spirit abroad today and as lively and
potent as In New Testament times.
Yet, In all the realms of sermonology,
cannot find a discourse concerning
this devil which Christ charged upon
In my text. saying. Come out Of him."
There has been much destructive
superstition abroad In the world con-
corning possession by evil spirits. I'm
der the form of belief in withcraft this
delusion swept the continents. Per
sons were supposed to be possessed
with some evil spirit which made them
able to destroy others. In the sixteenth
century In Geneva 1900 persons were
burned to death as witches Under
one judge, in Lorraine, 900 persons
were burned to death as witches. In
one neighborhood Of France 1000 per-
sons were burned. In two centuries
100000 persons were slain as witches.
So mighty was the delusion that 1t In
Guided among it's victims some Of the
greatest intellects Of all time, such as
Chief Justice Matthew Hale and Sir
Edward Coke, and such renowned min
listers OF religion as Cotton Mather, one
of whose books Benjamin Franklin
said shaped his life-and Richard Bax-
ter and Archbishop Cranmer and Mar
tin Luther, and among writers and
philosophers Lord Bacon. That belief
which has become the laughing stock Of
all sensible 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-
lieves the Bible must believe that there
are diabolical agencies abroad in the
world. While there are ministering
spirits to bless there are internal spir-
it's to hinder, to poison and to destroy.
Christ was speaking to spiritual ex-
istence when standing before the af-
flicted one Of the text he said, Thou
dumb and deaf spirit, come out of
him."
Blight of EVIL.
Against this dumb devil of the text 1
put you Oh 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 word
are the most gracious and lovely and
talented souls that were ever incarnat-
ed. The chaplains of the asylums for
the dumb can tell you enchanting sto-
ries 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 a deaf mute have I seen with
the angel Of intelligence seated at the
window Of the eye, who never came
forth from the door of the mouth. What
. miracle of loneliness and knowledge
was Laura Bridgman of New Hamp-
shire. not only without faculty of
speech, but without hearing and with
out sight, all these faculties removed
by sickness when years of age, yet
becoming a wonder at needlework, at
the piano, at the sewing machine and
an intelligent student of the Scriptures
and confounding philosophers, who
came from all parts Of the world to
study the phenomenon. Thanks to
Christianity for what 1t has done for
the amelioration of the condition of
the deaf and the dumb. Back in the
ages they were put to death as having
no right. with such paucity Of equip
ment. to live, and for centuries they
were classed among the idiotic and un-
safe. But In the sixteenth century
came Pedro Ponce, the Spanish monk,
and In the seventeenth century came
Juan Pablo Bonet, another Spanish
monk. with dactylology, or the finger
alphabet, and In our own century we
have had John Braidwood and Drs.
Mitchell and Ackerly and Peet and Gal
To- nd hA ho civ RI
thousands Of those whose tongues were
forever silent the power to spell out on
the air by q manual alphabet their
thoughts about this world and their
hopes for the next. We rejoice in the
brilliant inventions in behalf Of those
who were born dumb. One Of the most
impressive audiences 1 ever addressed
was in the far west. an audience of
about 900 persons, who had never
heard a sound or spoken a word. an
interpreter standing beside me while
addressed them. l congratulated that
audience on two advantages they had
over the most Of us-the one that they
escaped hearing a great many disa-
greeable things and on the other fact
that they escaped saying things they
were sorry for afterward. Yet after
all the alterations shackled tongue
is an appalling limitation. But we are
not this morning speaking of con-
genital mutes. We mean those who
are born with all the faculties of yo-
calization and yet have been struck
by the evil one mentioned In the text
the dumb devil to whom Christ called,
when he said, "Thou dumb and deaf
spirit, charge thee, come out of him."
Silence II u Crime.
There has been apotheosization of
silence. Some one has said silence Is
golden, and sometimes the greatest tri-
umph Is to keep your mouth shut. But
sometimes. silence Is a crime and the
direct result of the baleful influence
of the dumb devil Of our toxt Thara