Evening journal., 1902-04-28
REV. DIR. TALMAGR
On LIpR INSURANCE
Sermon Delivered by Noted Divine
Before Destruction Of the
Tabernacle


cannot imagine any more unfair or
meaner thing than for man to get his
sins pardoned at the last minute, and
then 90 to heaven and live in man
sion, and go riding about in a golden
chariot over the golden streets, while
his wife and children, whom he might
have provided for, are begging for
cold victuals at the basement door OF
an earthly city.
It seems to me there ought to be a
poorhouse somewhere on the outskirts
Of heaven. where those guilty Of such
improvidence should be kept for
awhile on thin soup and gristle, in
stead OF sitting down at the King S
banquet. It is SAID that the church IS
a divine institution, and ! believe It.
Just as certainly are the savings banks
and the life insurance companies di-
vine institutions. AS out of evil good
often comes. so out of the doctrine of
probabilities. calculated by Professor |
Hugens and Professor Pascal for
games of chance, came the calculation
of the probabilities of human life as
used by life insurance companies, and
no business on earth is more stable
or honorable. and no mightier mercy
for the human race has been born
since Christ was born. Bored beyond
endurance for my signature to papers
of all sorts, there is one style of paper
that ] always sign with a feeling of
gladness and triumph, and that is a
paper which the life insurance COM
pany requires from the clergyman af-
ter a decease in his congregation, in
order to the payment of the policy to
the bereft household. / always write
my name then so they can read it. l
cannot help but say to myself: Good
for that man to have looked after his
wife and children after earthly de-
parture. May he have one of the best
seats in heaveni" Young mani The
day before or the day after you get
married, go to a life insurance com
pany of established reputation and
get the medical examiner to put the
stethoscope to your lungs and his ear
close up to your heart. with your vest
off. and have signed, sealed and deliv-
cred to you a document that will in
the case Of your sudden departure,
make for that lovely girl the differ
ence between a queen and a pauper.
have known men who have had an in
come of $4,000. $4,000, $1,000 a year,
who did not leave one farthing to the
surviving household.
Now that mans death is a defalca-
tion. an outrage, a swindle. He did
not die; he absconded. There are a
hundred thousand people in America
today a-hungered through the sin of
improvidence. But" say some, my
income is so small 1 cannot afford to
pay lne premium on a life insurance" "
Are you sure about that? If you are
sure, then you have right to depend
on the promise in jeremiah, forty
ninth chapter, eleventh verse: Leave
thy fatherless children, l will preserve
them alive. and let thy widows trust
in me-" But if you are able to, re-
member you have no right to ask God
to do for your household that which
you can do for them yourself For the
; benefit of these young men, excuse a
< practical personality. Beginning my
life's work on the munifcent salary of
$500 a year and a parsonage, and when
the call was placed in my hand, 1 did
not know how in the world I would
ever be able TO spend that amount of
money and l remember in indulging
: in a devout wish that ! might not
, be led into worldliness and prodigality
p by such an overplus Of resources, and
at a time when articles of food and
p clothing were higher than they are
e now. / felt it a religious duty to get
p my life insured, and l presented my
!, self at an office of one of the great
{ companies, and 1 stood pale and ner-
vous lest the medical examiner might
j have to declare that had consump-
+ ton. and heart disease and a hall
: dozen mortal ailments. but when I go
: 1.-THE document, which have yet in full
y force. / felt a sense of manliness ant
y confidence and quietude and re-en
- forcement. which is a good thing fol
any young man to have.
For the lack of that feeling ther
are thousands of men today in Green
wood and Laurel Hill and Mt. Auburn
8 who might as well have been alive ant
: well and supporting their families
II They got little sick and they wer
+ so worried about what would becom
l. of their households in case of their de
lmlSe. lndl lutll dblldliou oNNANci
y the skill Of the physicians, and the
N died for fear Of dying. ] have TO
v many years been such an ardent ad
~ vocate of life insurance. and my ser
+ mon on "The Crime OF Not Insuring
has been so long used on both sides o
the sea by the chief life insuranc
companies that some people have SUP
er posed that ] received monetary com
MS pcnsation for what I have said an
e. written. Not a penay ! will give an
gs man 500 for every penny ! have re
at ceived from any life insurance CON
he panv. What ] have said and write
in on the subject has resulted from tn
Up conviction that these institutions ar
is a benediction to the human race. But
IS alas for the widespread improvidenc'
u You are now. I'm your charities. heir
ing to support the families of me
who had more income than you no