Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1904-11-26
Calnnase
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaee, d. d.

sermon turns the brighter side of the
picture of our national life and shows
us that we ought Ia be thankful that
we are living in times shat have under
gone vast Improvement since the good
old days" of our grandfathers. The
text is Psalm iv, q. There be many
that say, Who will show us any good?"
The deprecators. the carpers. the
fault finders, the calamity howlers. the
pessmists. 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 10 no one century or
generation. Their family connections
are not limited To the Caucasian race.
or 10 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
OH shipboard and the citizens OH 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 md
mockery. lie 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 Il window In his
breast. so that mans thoughts could
he 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 Disguised and drove Menus 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
Menus in il is literally true. No sOci-
ETY. on earth can be happy or content
ed with n chronic grumbler around.
And yet. coming up to the glorious eel
ebration of our autumnal Thanksgiv-
ing day of 1904. we find our pessimistic
Momuses everywhere. This is the
time when we ought TO be making an
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 the
world is going to the dogs. but they
furthermore assert that it has already
gone to the dogs. Why" they say.
1--WE have nothing to be thankful for
this Thanksgiving day. Ills true there
Is more money in the world, more than
ever before. but we do not have it.
Our social. civic and spiritual condi-
lions for the great mass of folks were
never at as low ebb as they are today.
Who will show us any good:" they cry,
as the calamity howlers of my text
cried in David's time. thousands of
years ago.
Modern Times Versus Ancient.
Some of these modern fault finders
are trying to make our times out to be
much worse than were the ancient
I will hal
They ask. who will show us any
good:" | answer, Il will" And will
show that the church of Jesus Christ
is better today spiritually than the an
cient church. | will show that modern
governments are better and the homes
are better and people i'm the mass are
higher toned morally and better. The
fact that lot of chronic croakers at
this Thanksgiving time are going
around finding fault with things does
not i'm the least prove that most peo-
pie are poorly clad. poorly fed. poorly
housed and under the merciless heels
OF dcspotic tyrants. AS a rule. you
will find that those people who grum-
BILE the most have the least to grumble
about.
The Menus of political life declares
that there is nothing in our national
life to warrant thanksgiving. He says:
Modern rulers and Legislators are self
fish oppressors. They do not govern by
Gods Golden Rule. but by force. The
code of civilized nations Is immoral,
merciless and unjust. 1t connives mt
the crimes OF government and con-
dones the thefts of province. Strong
governments trample upon the rights
of the weaker governments Within
those governments one social class
places the yoke of tyranny upon the
other social class. Within those gov
ernments laws are not equitable and
just. We find that the poor man who
steals loaf of bread To avert starva-
ton is hustled Off to Jail. as Jean Val
jean was sent to the galleys with
twenty years sentence for stealing two
loaves of bread to feed the gaunt and
haggard and starving children of his
widowed sister. On the other hand.
man like James Fisk. If he is a big
enough scoundrel to steal railroad,
can defy justice. while a millionaire.