The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1902-01-16
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
THE BEAUTY OF CHRISTIAN COURT
ESY POINTED OUT.
Discourse Preached from the Words of
Feter: BE Courteous"-The Value of
Praise Giving - ThoughtfuIness for
Others Spirit to Be Cultivated.

copyright, 1902, by Louis Klopsch, N Y.)
washington, Jan. 12.-In this dis
conrse DR.. .Talmage urges thoughtful
ness for others and shows how such
benignant spirit may be fostered;
text, l Peter ii, 8, BE courteous
In an age when bluntness has been
canonized as virtue it may be use
ful to extol one of the most beautiful
of all the royal family of graces-
courtesy. 1t is graciousness, Difference
to the wishes of others, good manners,
affability, willingness to deny our
selves somewhat for the advantage of
others, urbanity. Mark you, it can
not be put on or dramatiZed sue
cessful'y for 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 dancing mas
ter or caterer or fold of drapery
may with his big soul and hard hand
and awkward salutation exercise the
5Ae.SS, WhAlC OllC Dolll ulldSl 1ACACoC
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.
Now, you know as we'll as l do that
some of the most undesirable people
have been seeming incarnations Of
courtesy. In our early American his
tory there arose q nan of wonderful
talent, an impersonas. I of all that
can charm drawing rooms and culti-
waited circles. He became vice presi-
dent of the United States and within
one vote of being president Men
threw away their fortunes to help him
in his political aspirations and to
forward him in a conspiracy to over
throw the government of the United
States, he trying to do in America
what Napoleon at that very time was
trying to do in Europe-establish a
throne for himself. But he was i'm
moral and corrupt. He was the SER
pent that wound it's way into many a
domestic paradise. He shot to death
one of the greatest of Americans
Alexander Hamilton. The world found
out long before he left it that the Of
fender speak of was an embodiment
OF dissoluteness and base ambition. He
was the best illustration that l
know of of the fact that man may
have the appearance Of courtesy while
within he is all wrong
Absalom, Bible character, was a
specimen of man of polish outside
and of rottenness inside. He captur-
ed all who came near him But, OH
what heart he had, full of treachery
and unslial spirit and baseness! He
was as bad as he was alluring and
charming.
like what John Wesley said to a
man when their carriages met on the
road. The ruffian. knowing Mr. Wes-
ley and disliking him, did not turn out,
but kept the middle of the road Mr..
Wesley cheerfully gave the man all
the road, himself riding into the ditch
AS they passed each other the ruffian
said, st never turn out for fools,' and
Mr.. Wesley said, 81. always do" 1
like the reproof which a Chinaman in
San Francisco gave an American. The
American pushed him off the side
walk until he fell into the mud. The
Chinaman on rising began to brush off
the mud and said to the American:
you Christian; me heather. Good
by" A stranger entered church in
one of the cities and was allowed to
stand a long while, although there
was plenty of room. No one offered a
seat. The stranger after awhile said
to one of the brethren, What church
is this?" The answer was. "Christs
church, SIR rs he in?" said the
stranger The officer of the church
understood what was meant and gave
him seat. We want more courtesy
in the churches, more courtesy in
places of business, more courtesy in
our homes.
Let us all cultivate this grace of
Christian courtesy by indulging in the
habit Of praise instead of the habit of
Uldme. there are evils IN the world
that we must denounce, and there are
men and women who ought to be
chastised, but never let us allow the
opportunity of applauding good deeds
pass unimproved. The old theory was
that you must never praise people lest
we make them vain. No danger of
that. Before any of us get through
with life we will have enough mean
and ignoble and depreciating and ly-
ing things said about us to keep us
humble. God approvingly recognizes
system of rewards as we'll as of pun
ishments.
When you hear good sermon. ston
after the benediction and tell the pas
tor, though you never saw him before
that day, "Your sermon did me good
When mechanic does a good piece
of work tell him it is well done When
a physician brings you out of per-
ilous illness, stop him in the stseet
and say, Doctor, you saved my life"