Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1905-07-29
Calnnase
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmade. d. d.

Los ahseie~. I'LL. July Zo.-tn tnlS
sermon the preacher demonstrates the
rule of natural law in the spiritual
world. and shows that physical. men,
tai. moral and spiritual development
ought 10 proceed tremendously together
to produce the best type of manhood
and womanhood. The text is Psalm l..
d. The way of the ungodly shall per-
ish.'
Great was the scientific galaxy of the
Victorian era. Herbert Spencer and
John Tyndall and Thomas Henry Hux-
ley and Michael Faraday and Sir Hum
phry Davy and Sir Charles Lyell and
Sir William Hooker and John Stevens
Henslow and scores of other botanists
and physicists and chemists and geolo-
gists Will make the reign of Victoria
famous during the coming centuries. as
the contemporary poets of Shakespeare
immortalized the EliZabethan reign.
Yet among all the naturalists who liv-
cd In England during the nineteenth
century not one will he more quoted by
future generations than Charles Oar
win. The son and grandson of two
great ancestors. he was the greatest OF
the three. From under the overhang-
Ing dome of that great forehead there
looked forth penetrating eyes which
read the prehistoric genealogies of ami
mails and vegetables. As gcologist he
read the open leaves of rocks The past
ages were to him as seconds of time.
He lived not in generations or In cen
turtles. but in ages and i'm millenniums
Though. like Galilei. he was excom-
municated by the church and looked
upon as an enemy of the Cross, his re-
searches will yet be used, and are even
now being used, to prove that true sci
ence and divine revelation are one.
or all the books which Charles Darwin
wrote not one has had greater influence
upon the scientific world that his Or
igin of Species by Means of Natural Sc
lection" We do not accept that book
I'm any of its goddess teaching. but in
that book is one sentence which in
narrow sense We do accept ''The sur
vival of the fittest" is a sentence which
will go ringing down the corridors of
time. We find the survival of the fittest
everywhere. We find the stronger
plants crowding out the weaker We
find the stronger species living upon
and driving out the weaker species.
We find the stronger creatures Of the
various species trampling upon and
destroying the animals and plants Of
their own kind.
Stronger Versus Weaker.
The other day was sitting on q
porch overlooking a beautiful yard
filled with roses. Suddenly l heard
a great commotion in the hencoop.
With that l saw big cat gracefully
leap over the fence with a little chicken
in her mouth. Then, off in the distance,
/ saw that cat run away in terror from
a pursuing dog. Then, in Imagination,
l saw that little dog being seized by a
hungry wolf. Then I saw the wolf
being killed by q mountain lion. Next
I saw the lion being slain by the bull
let Of man. In imagination. every
where i saw the stronger proving upon
the weaker. As l sat on that porch
said to myself. rs not Charles Oar
fittest.' not only the law OF nature. but
also the law of God!" Yes. yes,
said. it Is true. God deals with the
human race just as he deals with the
vegetable and animal kingdoms. as
well as with the mineral 1t is not
for us to vindicate that law Our in
terest and our duty lie i'm recognizing
fits existence and adapting ourselves to
its operation. The penalty of indo-
lence In this world Is subsection and
finally extinction. The men who are
weak through listlessness fail in the
race against strong limbed rivals.
Those who would win must strive.
Strong physically should we be.
Why? Because In this rustling. bus
Ting. pushing. jostling and high pres
sure age 1t is almost an impossibility
for any man to make success In life
unless he Is broad of chest. stout of
limb and clear of eye. Even under
the very brightest Of conditions the
physical strain is awful. With poor
physical equipment successful life
Is well nigh an impossibility.
many man OF clear brain. true
heart and noblest aspirations has been
trampled underfoot merely because
he had not the physical vitality to do
the work which he was called upon to
do. The physical weakling of the hui
man race is almost in the same posi-
ton as is a sick cow amid n herd of
stampeding buffalo. II she cannot
keep up in the mad race for life, she
falls. She Is crushed under hoof Her
sisters and brothers pass over her
PROSTATE form and quivering flesh.
The physical weakling is in the same
position as is the stunted tree The
stouter tree and the taller reaches up
and reaches down. With It's broad
branches II absorbs all the sunlight
overhead and makes the stunted tree
live under Its shadow. With its deep
er and stronger roots the tall tree
absorbs most Of the nutriment out Of
the soil. Thus, IL a man is not able to
stand the physical strain and do as
much work as his stouter and broader
chested brothers. he falls. another
takes his place and the world marches