The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-02-22
THE EVIL Or SILENCE.
DR.. Talmage Pleads For a More
Demonstrative Religion.
CASTING OUT THE DUMB SPIRIT.
The Duty of Christians to Speak Out
Heartily on the Side of Righteous
ness and to Sing with Joyous
Hearts Gods Praise.


ness and to Sing with Joyous
Hearts Gods Praise.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 10.-In this dis
course DIR. Talmage calls for a more
demonstrntive 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 an
guish. The son of the household was
possessed of an evil spirit, which, among
other things, paralyzed his tongue n
made him speechless. When the infiu-
ence 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 Tesla
ment times. Yet in all the realms of
~sermonology / cannot find a discourse
concerning this dumb devil which Christ
charged upon in my text, saying, "Come
out of him."
There has been much destructive super
stition abroad in the world concerning
possession by evil spirits. Under the form
Of belief In witchcraft this delusion swept
IQe cOQIi0enJS. PERSONS were SuppOSeu
to be possessed with some evil spirit,
which made them able to destroy others.
In the sixteenth century in Geneva 1,5OO
persons were burned to death as witches.
In one neighborhood Of France 1000 per-
sons were burned. In two centuries 200
600 persons were slain as witches. So
mighty was the delusion that it included
among its victims some of the greatest
InfaiIaofS nf oil time SIyah &c Chief IuS-
tice 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 Archbishop
Cranmer and Martin Luther; and, among
writers Inc philosophers, Lord Bacon.
That belief, which has become the laugh
ing 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
believes the Bible must believe that there
are diabolical agencies abroad in the
world. While there are ministering spir-
its to bless there are Internal spirits to
hinder, TO poison and TO destroy. Christ
was speaking to a spiritual existence
when, standing before the afflicted one of
the text, he said, Thou dumb and deaf
spirit, come out of him"
Dumb and Deaf Spirit.
Against this dumb devil OF the text i
put you on your guard. Do not think hat
this agent of evil has put his blight on
those who, by omission Of the vocal or
gans, nave had the golden gates of speech
Ibolted and barred. Among those who
have never spoken a word are the most
gracious and lovely and talented souls
that were ever i~ncarnated. The chap
lains Of the asylums for the dumb can
tell you enchanting stories Of those who
never called the name of father or moth
er 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 win
dow of the eye, who never came forth
from the door of The mouth. What a
miracle of loneliness and knowledge was
Laura Bridgman Of New Hampshire,
not only without faculty of speech, but
without hearing and without sight, all
these faculties removed by sickness when
2 years Of age, yet, becoming q wonder
at needlework, at the piano. at the sew
ing machine and an intelligent student
VI AhC SNAAPLAASS oAo PhA
l~losophers, who came from all parts Of
the world to study the phenomenon.
Thanks to Christianity for what it has
dome for the amelioration of the condi
ltion Of the deaf and the dumb. Back in
the ages they were put to death as hav-
ing NJ right with such paucity Of equip
iment to live, and for centuries they were
.classed among the idiotic Inc unsafe.
But in the sixteenth century came Pedro
Ponce, the Spanish monk, and in the
seventeenth century came Juan Pablo
Bonet, another Spanish monk, with lac
tylology, or the finger alphabet, and
In our own century We have had John
Braidwood and Drs. Mitchell and Acker-
IL and Peet and Gallaudet, who have
given to uncounted thousands of those
whose tongues were forever silent the
power to spell out on the air by q man
ual alphabet their thoughts about this
world and their hopes for the next. We
rejoice in the brilliant inventions in be-
half OF those who were born dumb. One
OF the most impressive audiences / ever
addressed was in the far west. an audi
snce of about 600 persons, who had new
er heard q sound or spoken 3 word, an
interpreter standing beside me while l
addressed them. 1 congratulated that
audience on two advantages they had
over the most of us-tbe one that they
escaped hearing q great many disagreed
bic things and on the other fact that
they escaped saying things they were
sorry for a~fterward. Yet after all the
alleviations a shackled tongue is an ap-
palling limitation. But we are not this
morning speaking Of congenital mutes.
We mean those who are born with all
the faculties Of vocalization M 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 Sometimes O Crime.
There has been apotheosization Of ST.
lence. Some one has said silence is gold
en-, and sometimes the greatest triumph is
to keep your mouth shut. But sometimes
silence is q crime and the direct result Of
the baleful influence of the dumb devil Of
our text. There is hardly q man or wom-
an who has not been present on some oc-