Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1904-03-05
TALMAGE
SERMON
By Rev.
FRANK DE WITT TALMAGE. DID,.
Pastor of Jefferson Park Presby-
terrain Church. Chicago

appeal against the evils of race and
social prejudice and in favor of candid
and friendly dealings with each other
in all the reactions of life. The text is
John iv. I. And he must needs 20
through Samlria."
No mans education is complete I'M
less he has travelled. There is "A higher
diploma than that of Yale. Harvard.
Princeton. oxford. Cambridge. Heidel-
berg or the University of Paris The
rough diamond must Ice cut and pol
ished before il can sparkle and gilt
ter and flash. The scholars ragged
metal edges should he smoothed off by
personal contact with those peoples
whose histories he has been studying
as n rcclusc and as n deliver in musty
tones
The word Venice" has for the most
OF us poetic Significance. but the
name never has its full charm for any
hut those who have fioatcd in a gondola
under the moonlight along the canals
of that quecnly city aud have listened
TO the lover wooing his mistress in mu-
sic so soft and sweet that its echoes
blend with the dip of the oars and
gradually melt into silence. The most
realistic picture ever photographed is
seen with the naked eye when. with
the mountains undcrfoot. we sweep the
horizon and have cities for landmarks
and pyramids for statuary and CONT
nents for gardens. where the mighty
rivers off in the distance look like sill
yer threads webbcd together. and
where the iicccy clouds drifting over
the hills look like great fiocks of white
woody sheep pasturing upon the heav-
enly hillsides of blue.
No man ever caught the full inspira-
tion of t;ray's elcgy unless he has been
able 10 dream his dreams within the
little hedsed in burying ground of
Stoke Pogis and under the ev ming
shadow of the village church spire
has seen the poets urn" and his sol
dier's grave" and the last resting place
OF his youth unknown To fame" and
has heard nj sunset the lowing herds
wandering back for the evening milk
ing. SO To fully realize this scene in
which our Lords interview with the
woman took place one must needs 20
through Samaria." | remember we'll
that hill once crowned with the capital
of Samaria at the foot of which still
grow the descendants of those far
famed olive groves. aud whose path
ways are still resonant with the per-
sonal histories of an Omri. an Ahab. a
AhaZiah. Il .Ichu. Il JchoahaZ. a Joash.
n llerod AntipaS. a IIerodias. Il John
the Baptist and the evangelist Philip.
| cannot portray that scene so grand
and majestic in its lonely beauty. but
! would have you realize some of the
circumstances which gave special sig
niiicauce 10 that momcntous journey
of our Lord and present some of the
reasons why ''he must needs 20
through Samaria.''
Jesus journey Through Samaria.
one reason. | think. WAS that jesus
wished Ia roproNc racial antipathy. The
Samaritan cnloniSiS were interlopcrS
WERE To iilf sui.
After the Shalinanc>crian conquest the
Assyrian king carried away ten out OF
the twelve Hebrew tribes into captiv-
ity. Then. the eastern conqueror hay
in. dcpopulaied the best part of the
land flowing with milk and honey"
he rcpcoplcd il with his own followers
In other words. the .ASSyrian king gave
fnll ri IN In
upon and cultivate and own that land
just as King James |. gave Il charter
10 William Penn for the American tract
Of land now called Pennsylvania and
Charles |. gave II charter la Lord Bal
timore Ia take possession of the present
state Of Maryland. 10 hc settled 10y him
and his Catholic friends. After the
Jews had returned from the I:abylo
nish captivity ami had rebuilt the .Ieru
salem walls AMI temple they wanted
10 drive ont these foreign colonists
from the garden spot of Palestine. But
they could not. Year after year decade
after decade and century after century
the Samariians held on Ia the region
lying directly between Ju,a:l. or north
ern t;alilcc. and the Jerusalem capital
There they dwell. ready Ia slay any
Jew or collection of Jews who attempt
cd 10 modest them. There they coniin-
ued Ia dwell. Each year the hatred
between the two races grew more bit
ter and mortal.
Though the Samaritan and the Jew
for centuries had lived side 10y side,
yet they hated each other only ms a
Carthaginian could hate Il Roman. a
Moor could hate u Castilian. Il Turk
could hate an Armenian. II Mexican
Aztec could hate Spaniard. These
two peoples hated each other unto
death. yet when Jesus. with the object
of setting ut rest the invidious com
menis of the lhariSces on his rivalry
of John the Baptist. left Jud:ra for his
home in Galil"c he decided 10 pass
through Samaria He did 50. though
he WAS fully aware of the fact thai:
every man. woman and child in Sa-
maria hated the Jew as every Jew
hated the SamaritauS