Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1903-11-20
TALMAGE
SERMON
By Rev.
FRANK DE WITT TALMaGE. DID,.
Pastor OF jefferson PARK Presby-
tersen Church. Chicago


sizes and OF the minor virtues that go
very far toward making up the sum OF
individual human character. The text
Is Zechariah iv, 10, "Who hath despised
the Day OF small thingsT'
The worlds favorite monocle is the
telescope. We admire objecss for many
different reasons. One of the chief is
their bigness. Every tourist wants to
see Niagara falls 1t is the biggest Of
all falls. And Mount Everest. 1t Is
the highest OF all mountains. And
Kilauea, because that volcano has the
largest crater in the world. We would
ascend the Eiffel tower. Ii is higher
than any other tower. And we would
circle the Ferris wheel because Ii Is
larger than any Of the other wheels.
The human race, conscious that IL Is
finite. aspires to explore the infinite.
Its conception of the sublime is not
the dwarf, but the giant.
But, though tremendous bulk or mag
nituds or hugeness or immensely has
for the human eye an awe inspiring
fascination. yet today 1 want to point
out some seeming insignifcances which
are more essential for the worlds
peace and harmony than was the Co
lossus of Rhodes, or the hanging gar
dens Of Babylon, or the temple of Di-
ma at Ephesus, or the palace OF Cyrus.
cemented with gold, or any of the 9TH
or seven wonders OF the world. 1 find
that. though my watch has Its large
wheels and bars and regulating hand
and handspring and adamantine jew
els, yet II has also its little screws and
little wheels and little cogs and little
pegs, which the jeweler has to study
under the Clarifying eye of the magni-
flying glass. / also find that the alb
scnce perhaps of one OF these little
screws or cogs might stop the whole
machinery of my watch as surely as il
should snap the handspring.
Vital Essentials.
Seeming insignificances may be vital
essentials. Some years ago, when cross
ing the Atlantic ocean, the companion
with whom 1 was travelling one day
suddenly flung open my stateroom door
and cried: Come on deck! Something
has happened to the shlpr' When L ar
rived on deck L found scores and hun
dreds OF passengers excitedly watching
the strange movements of the ships
course. Instead of blowing ahead, we
Were slowly moving around to the
right in a perfect circle. Just then an
officer passed me. and l asked: What
IL the matter, lieutenant? Is the rud-
der brokenT' 'Oh, no." said he. eve
are merely testing q new compass. In
order to find out whether it Is perfect
we had TO wait until we were far away
from the magnetic effect Of rocks and
land Those influences may not seem
to be much, but they may entirely de-
flect the accuracy Of the compass nee
de" Many years ago large ship was
wrecked because small piece of steel
from the point of knife was driven
Into the wood near its compass box and
mnde the compass finger n false guide
Thus. my friends, / would take for
my theme today the "Small Essentials"
OF Me. I would try 10 show you that
many of the seeming insignifcances
and the despiscd monads are pregnant
with large broods OF influences. every
one OF which will have large progcnies.
"A cholera germ may be so small that IL
Is not visible TO the naked eye. II. how
ever, IL Is let alone In It's work OF devas-
tation IL can soon crowd the wards OF
the county hospital with invalids and
keep the undertakers' wagons busy by
day as well as the nurses busy by
night I ask the striking question
which Zechariah put In times Of old,
"who hath dcspised the day Of small
thingsr'
Personal Apparel.
Small essential the first: Appropri-
nd
teness and neatness in
reference TO the coat man wears
upon his back, and TO the shoes on his
feet, and especially in reference to the
cleanliness OF the linen he wears about
bis neck. and TO the modesty with
which he is attired In public. God
would never have condemned the
-cauls and the chains aud the bracelets
and the ruffies and bonnets and the or
naments OF the legs and the headbands
ana the tablets and the earrings aud
the nose jewels and the changea BILE
suits OF apparel and the mantles and
the wimples and the crisping pins and
the glasses and the fine linen and the
hoods and the wells" OF the naughty
daughters Of Zion, who walk with
walking and mincing as they go, and
making tinkling with their feet" un-
'sss there was n direct connection be-
tween a mans inner character and his
"Sartor Resartus," or PHILOSOPHY OF
Clothes" Paul would never have COM
manded the women OF the Corinthian
church to veil themselves in public as
sembiage II he had not been convinced
that a woman's disregard OF the social
customs OF the country and the time
implied lack Of modesty and purity.
There Is, there must be, an unbreak-
able spiritual link binding a mans per-
sonal apparel and his heart. "Cleanli-
ness Is next to godliness" is a trench
ant statement not found in holy writ,
but the substance of it's teachings ia
certainly found within the leaves of
the Holy Bible. The elaborate direc-
uons which God gave to the Israelites
Tor careful and frequent additions of
the body and the clothes show that he
Is not indifferent to the cleanliness Of
those who come into his presence. We
nave, therefore, q right to doubt
whether a person who is In public
chronically dirty in person or slovenly
or immodest in apparel can offer ac-
ceptable worship.
Hidden Talents.
Yet to hear some Stevens talk one
might suppose it was a sign of mental
degeneracy for men and women to be
careful Of their personal appearance.
They pretend to believe that a well
groomed and neat man is essentially
weak man. Therefore they practical
" say that one of the signs OF genius Is
Q disregard Of the decencies of life.
They cite the example OF the Greek
mathematician whose appearance In
dishabille on the streets shocked all the
people who saw him, and the example
or Napoleon and Samuel Johnson and
Horace Greeley, all notorious for their
Indifference to ordinary neatness of at
tire. but such examples are not proofs
or genius, but only of the power Of
Inc, % ~xw4w~ +