Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-05-08
TALMAGE
SERMON
BY Rev.
FRANK DE WITT rALMACE, DID,,
Pastor Of Jefferson Park Presby-
terrain Church, Chicago

Chicago, May Ain this sermon,
preached by the Rev. Frank De Witt
Talmage in Jefferson Park Presbyte-
rinn church, the supreme folly Of bar.
tering away ones eternal welfare in
exchange for wealth, ambition and
pleasure or whatever else the world
can give is convinclngly shown. The
text is Mark viii, 80, what shall it
profit man II he shall gain the whole
world and lose his own soul?"
Almost magnificent text. especially easy
Of Interpretation at the present time.
This is prominently commercial age.
Everywhere man is struggling after the
mighty dollar. Capital strives to beat
down every obstacle, that It's rivers Of
gold may grow into oceans. Prove to
a man who has money that by a GER
tain investment he can make more
money, and there is no trouble to per-
suade him to invest. Why does real
estate Spectator buy land? To make
money When examining piece Of
property, he says to himself: "lf buy,
shall I be able to sell at an advanced
price? Is this suburban region going to
be built up? VIII the electric cars come
out here? Shall the future residents
have easy access to the city? Shall I
be able to make enough out of my bar
gain to warrant the output Of cutting
this farm up into streets and building
lots--enough to pay my taxes in the
meantime?" The merchantman's chief
thought is to decrease his expenses and
thereby increase his profits. To have
the maximum of returns for the mini
mum of output he sends his buyers to
Europe. There they can buy the cheap
est. He has wires strung round the
store so he can dispense with his cash
girls. He pays promptly for his goods
to avail himself Of the discount. To
WOO more trade he has his delivery
wagons stationed in the neighboring
towns. His customers are thus ac-
commodated. They do not have to
carry their bundles home.
To increase the profits and decrease
expenses the large corporations are be-
ing formed. There are the steel trust.
the oil trust, the tin can trust, the sug
ar trust, the tobacco trust, the coal
trust, the flour trust, the meat trust.
A trust is primarily formed to regulate
the selling prices; but. secondarily. n
trust Is formed to lessen the cost of
production.
A Community of Interests.
Thirty or forty men in the same line
IF business come together. They say
to each other: What is the good of
trying to financially cut each others
throats? Why not have a community
Of interests: Instead of having many
different offices we can have one .big
central Office. Instead of having thirty
Or forty different presidents and secre-
taries and treasurers and cashiers and
superintendents and general managers
we can have each department under
single head. II we are in the brick
business we can have the brickyard
which is nearest to the site Of the pro-
posed building make the bricks and
thus save expense Of carriage" The
tie which binds the leaders of a great
corporation is not one of sentiment,
but one Of profit. Christ, in my
text, talks to his auditors as though
they were collection Of business men.
he practically says: Before you settle
the question of your eternal destiny
want you to enter into some gospel
mathematics. / want you to put down
upon piece of paper all the riches of
the world. Place there the value Of the
gold Of countless mines and Of the cat
tie on thousand hills. Place there
lea 1p 10 lit
and queens. The value of the great
commercial interests Of the world. Put
all these values down. Add the figures
up. Then from that aggregation Of
numbers subtract the value Of your
immortal soul and behold what you
have left"
Mathematics cannot lie. Two and
Two always make four, Ten times ten
make 100. Twelve divided by four
always gives three. Five from five
leaves nothing. Come, let us try to
solve the greatest of all problems,
what shall it profit man if he shall
gain the whole world and lose his own
Ioul"
He who solves this gospel problem
must realize that he can only get a
life interest in the world and not a
little deed in perpetuity. Every would
be purchaser Of home is very careful
about the title deed. When man is
about to buy house, he has his own
lawyer go to the county building and
look up the records. The attorney
traces the history of that land from
pwner back to owner until he comes
10 the original settler who bought the
land from the government or the In
dams. II there is any flaw in any
deed, the would be buyer refuses to
purchase. He says to himself IL am
afraid that might be involved in fu'
mre litigations. My children may have
This property taken from them after
, am dead. l will not buy. The title
Is not perfect" Within short dis
; lance of my old Brooklyn home there
was tract of land which was calleJ
! Jackson's hollow. 1t was in the very
center OF the city. Well paved streets
Fan through it. The drainage pipes
were all there. The city grew. The
houses were built up for miles anG
miles beyond this location. Jackson's
hollow was uninhabited for fifty years
except by few poor families, who
had erected shanties. These poor fam
, | No, ,x-oro ornottars Wa hovo xyonlf