Milford chronicle., 1904-11-25
Calmaqe
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmase. D. D.

picture of our national life and shows
US that we ought to be thankful that
we are living in times that have under
gone vast improvement since the good
old days" of our grandfathers. The
text is Psalm iv, 8, There be many
that say, Who will show us any good?"
The depreciatOrs, the carpers, the
fault finders, the calamity hOwlers, the
pessimists, who, like the blind fish Of
Kentucky's Mammoth cave, cannot
see the light Of day, have an ancestral
record as old as the human race. They
belong especially to no one century or
generation. Their family connections
are not limited to the Caucasian race,
or to the Ethiopian or to the Malay,
or to the red skinned American Indian,
or to the Mongolian, or to the jaun-
diced faced Chinaman. They are found
alike in the poor mans hut and the
rich mans palace, among the sailors
on shipboard and the citizens on land.
Like the EskimOs, they live among
the arctic icebergs. They thrive well
in the temperate zone They bask in
the boiling heat of the tropics. They
are found among all social classes of
all nations of all times.
Mythology placed a representative of
the class among the Greek gods on
Mount Olympus. His name was Mo
mus, the god of fault finding and
mockery. He took pleasure in finding
fault with men. He found fault with
the gods themselves. He criticised
Vulcan because after he had made
man he did not place a window in his
breast, so that mans thoughts could
be seen by the passersby. He de-
nounced Minerva after she had built
a house because she did not make the
house movable. He found fault with
Neptune because he did not place the
horns of the beast he had created
farther forward in his forehead, so
that he could fight better He kept on
finding fault with everybody and
everything until at last the gods be-
came disgusted and drove Momus out
Of heaven. because, said they, "heaven
can be no heaven with chronic fault
finder around"
What the Grecian NEUROLOGICAL gods
said in reference to heaven with a
Momus in it is literally true. No soci-
ETY. on earth can be happy or content
ed with a chronic grumbler around
And vet. coming up to the glorious eel
ebration of our autumnal Thanksgiv-
ing day Of 1904, we find our pessimistiC
AIomuses everywhere. This is the
time when we ought to be making al
inventory of all our blessings, instead
of which these modern calamity howl
ers are making a false collection OF
misanthropic statements. They are
also making their pessimistic prophe
cies. Not only are they saying that thu
world is going to the dogs, but they
Furthermore assert that it has ALREADY
gone to the dogs "Why," they say
Eve have nothing to be thankful TO
this Thanksgiving day. 'Tis true Their
Is more money in the world, more thai
ever before, but we do not have II
Our social, civic and spiritual condl
tions for the great mass Of folks wer
never at as low ebb as they are today
Who will show us any goodY they cry
as the calamity howlers Of my tex
cried in David's time, thousands o
years ago.
Modern Times Versus Ancient.
Some of these modern fault finder
are trying to make our times out to b
much worse than were the ancien
times. I will pick up their challenge
They ask. "Who will show us an
goodY I answer, 81 will" And wi
show that the church of Jesus Chris
ia better today spiritually than the al
eient church. l will show that moder
governments are better and the home
are better and people in the mass al
higher toned morally and better. Th
fact that a lot of chronic croakers
this Thanksgiving time are goin
around finding fault with things doe
not in the least prove that most pc
ple are poorly clad, poorly fed poor
housed and under the merciless hee
Of despotic tyrants. AS a rule, yo
will find that those people who grun
BILE the most have the least to grumb
about.
The Momus of political life declare
that there is nothing in our nations
life to warrant thanksgiving. He say
4'Modern rulers and legislators are sci
fsh oppressOrs. They do not govern
Gods Golden Rule, but by force. IT
code of civilized nations is immOra
merciless and unjust. 1t eonnives
the crimes Of government and Co
dones the thefts Of a province. Stror
governments trample upon the righ
OF the weaker governments. With
those governments one social cia
places the yoke of tyranny upon II
other social class. Within those go
ernments laws are not equitable al
1ust. We find that the poor man wi
steals a loaf Of bread to avert starv
tion is hustled off to jail, as Jean Va
lean was sent to the galleys with
twenty years sentence for stealing tv
loaves of bread to feed the gaunt al
haggard and starving children OF b
widowed sister. on the other hand,
man like James Fisk, If he is a b
enough scoundrel to steal railroa
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