The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1902-01-18
A BEAUTIFUL GRACE.
Courtesy Extolled In This Sermon
by DR.. Talmage.
Thoughtfulncss for Others Is Urged
How q Benign ant Spirit May
BE Tostered what the
World Needs.
downright. 1902. by Louis Klopsch. ". ~
Washington.

lNoPyt 6hNt W.
Washington,
In this discourse DR.. Talmage urges
thoughtfulness for others and shows
how such a b%enignant spirit may be
fostered; text, 1 Peter 2:s: BE cour-
teous."
In an age when bluntness has been
~canonized as a virtue it may be use
full 10 extol one of the most beautiful
of all the royal family of graces-
courtesy. 1t is ~graciousness, de1er-
ence to the wishes of others, good man
ners, affability, Willingness to deny
ourselves somewhat for the advantage
of others, urbanity. But what is the
use of my defining the grace of cour-
tesy when we all know 50 well what ii
is? The botanist might say some very
intere sting things about a rose, and
the chemist might discourse aboutwa-
ter or light, but without ever seeing a
botanist or a chemist We know what
a rose is and what water and light
are. Do not take our time in telling
us what courtesy is. Only show US
how we may get more of 1t n aVoio
what are its counterfeits. Mark you,
!. cannot be put on or dramatized sue
cessfully for a long while. We may
be full of bows and genufiections, and
smiles and complimentary phrase, and
have nothing of genuine courtesy
either in our makeup or in our de-
meanor. A backwoodsman who never
saw a drawing-room or a dancing mas
ter or a caterer or a fold of drapery
nay with his big sou and hard hand
and awkward salutation exercise the
grace, while one born under richest
upholstery and educated in foreign
schools, and bothered to know which
of ten garments he will take from a
royal wardrobe, may be as barren OF
the spirit of courtesy as the great Sa-
hara desert is of green meadows and
tossing fountains.
Christian courtesy is born in the
heart by the power of the Holy Ghost,
who has transformed and hlumined
and glorified ones nature. Mark you,
I am speaking of the highest kind of
courtesy, which is Christian courtesy.
Something like it-ordinary politeness
may grow up with us under the di-
r%ection of intelligent and watchful
parentage, but I am not speaking Of
that which is merely agreeableness OF
conversation and behavior. All that
may be a matter of tutelage and fine
surrounding and show itself in lifting
the hat to passersby and in a graceful
way of asking about your health and
sending the right kind of acceptance
when you can go and the right kind OF
regrets when you cannot go and under
standing all the laws of preference at
table and parlor door, all of which is
well. I am speaking of a principle OF
courtesy soimplanted in ones nature
that his suavity of conversation and
manner shall be the outburst of whai
he feels for the happiness and welfare
of others, a principle that will work
in the next world as well as in THU
and will be as appropriate in the man
sions Of Heaven as in earthly dwelling
places.
Now, you know as we'll as l do tina
some of the most undesirable peopl,
have been seeming ~incarnations O.
courtesy. In our early American his
Wy lh0tC " u man VI a
talent, an i~mpersonation of all tina
can charm drawing-rooms and cult
waited circles. Aged men who knew
him in their youth have told me tina
he was the most irresistible man the,
ever met, his voice silvery, his smil
bewitching, his glove immaculate, hi
eye piercing, his high foreheal
wreathed in curls, his attire a fascina
ton. He. became vice president of tn
United States and within one vote o
being president. Men threw ava
their fortunes to help him in his poll
ical aspirations and to forward him !
a conspiracysto overthrow the govern
ment of the United States, he trying t
T do in America what Napoleon at tina
; very time was trying to do in Euror
. Establish a throne for himself. Blu
he was immoral and corrupt. He wa
the serpent that wound its way int
. many a domestic paradise. He shot I
' death one of the greatest Of American
Alexander Hamilton. The worl
found out long before he left it thi
the offender I speak of was an embed
ment of dissoluteness and base amh
a ton. He was the best illustration tn;
I know of of the fact that a man ms
have the appearance of courtesy viii
: within he is all wrong.
- Absalom, a Bible character, was
specimen of n man of polish outsit
. and of rottenness inside. Beautifl
" brilliant and with such wealth of ha
that when it was cut in each Decor
Der as a matter of pride he had
:. weighed, and it weighed 200 sheke
He captured all who came near hi
But, oh, what a heart he had-full
~ treachery and unfilial spirit and bas
~ ness!
!" In the famous Athenian Alcibiad
history ~discourses of the same sple
dor of name covering utter depra
er ity. Noble pedigree, transcendent alb
tiles. radiant personality, eloque
tongue, triumphant warrior, victor
olympic games, but a %debauchee a
70. an impersonation Of all the vices. AL
hat all up and down history and Gle
on into orr dav there are an many