The Monmouth inquirer. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1865-1933, 1906-10-04
Calnage
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmase. d. D.

LOS Angeles, Odi., oept. oU.-lUdl III
man ever lived who possessed all the
talents and that pride of intellect and
unwillingness to learn from others fire.
quently lead men to ruin is the lesson
<pf this sermon, the text chosen being
Proverbs XII, IA, Gin the multitude of
counselors there is safety
In my time | have been much asso-
ciated with many classes of men. AS
result of this association l am struck
with two far reaching facts The first
Is how much the average man knows.
When say this refer to the so called
common people as well as to the
Weather or the more influential social
class. Some of the most valuable mug
gets of gold have been dug out of the
common dirt Some of the rarest ideas
and the most brilliant intellects are
found in the skulls of men who wear
coarse clothes and live in very humble
houses.
Rev. Dr. William NJ Lawrence, who
for many years was the most promi-
nent Baptist preacher of Chicago, once
told me that he always made it prac-
tice when it was possible to ride upon
the platforms of the street cars and
talk with the conductors and the mo-
tormen and the mechanics and laborers
who were returning from their daily
toll And" said he, some Of the very
best ideas which / have preached from
my pulpit have been suggested by
Vi III ic
times covered by moss and creeping
ivy and entangled thickets, that does
not prove that there are no pure, spar
king waters among its rocks. Because
gem Is found gfittering amid lot
of c0bbIestones, that does not prove
that II Is q cobblestone. Many great
philosopher dresses, like Tolstoi, In
peasants garb. Many stonemason
can find, like Hugh Miller, the Foot
prints of the Creator in the old red
sandstone of Cromarty Many polit-
zeal sage is scanning the horizon of
statecraft, like Marcus Porcius Cato,
with an eagle eye, while he Is guiding
his plow across the field Of country
farm.
The traveller who cannot CLEAN in
formation from all classes of men, no
matter where he may go, as gentle
Ruth gathered her golden stalks after
the reapers who were binding the
sheayes In the harvest fields of Boaz,
is q tourist who has ears to hear ana
Will not hear who has eyes to see and
will not see and who has a dumb
tongue too clumsy to probe for the
treasures of mankind by asking the
leading questions which will bring
forth the desired answers Said old
Robert South: "It takes both flint and
steel to make spark. You must pound
the one upon the other or else the fire
will never come. You can pound
piece Of steel for days and weeks upon
q wooden log, and the wood will never
fash back a fame You must rub up
intelligence against intelligence in or
der to make the intellectual sparks ny.
II the traveller has a brain OF flint ne
will find that the average man has a
brain of steel. Then the intellectual
sparks will follow thick as the stars
on the Milky way of the heavens. But
IL the traveller has wooden brain
then he will think that most people he
meets have brains of wood also"
A Common Weakness.
The second fact which impresses me
about the human race is that, though
the average man has much 1ntelii-
gence, yet most people make failures
out of life. To use an expression
which once heard used by DIR. Mac
Arthur Of New York, They never seem
to be- able to put their mental goods
upon the market" They seem to have
all the capabilities of success; they are
ike an exauisitely and perfectly con-
structed rife, but they always seem TO
miss fire. You recognize this fact as
do. what is the matter with Lawyer
So-and-soY l ask. "He was an old
college chum of yours. Why has he
not made greater success? Has he
not brains and application" "Oh,
yes," you answer. He was one OF
the most prominent men of my class.
He was an honor man and graduated
a member Of the Phi Beta Kappa So
ciety. He is honest and hard work
er. But somehow he never seems to be
able to get ahead"
That statement is true of most law
yers, most doctors, most ministers,
most merchants, most men of all de
partments of life. Mentally equipped
they seem to be- Honest they are also.
But failures they have actually turned
out. Now, IL were to put my finger
upon the chief weakness of these
lives, / would state that egotism has
been the main cause of their failure
In the critical moments of their career
they will not take advice. They VIII
not heed the warnings which their
friends are SO anxious to give. And,
like q fire horse with the blind stag
gers, they needlessly crash into this
obstacle and that danger until at last
they are flung and in one sense ruined
as far as their earthly careers are con-
cerned. King Solomon well expresses
nv. thought In the words of my text