Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-10-05
CalnaQe
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Taimase, ID. d.

talents ana tnat pride or intellect and
unwillingness to learn from others fire.
quently lead men to ruin is the lesson
OF this sermon, the text chosen being
Proverbs II. II. ''In the multitude of
counselors there is safety" 81. "
In my timsI have been much asso-
ciated with many classes Of men, As
result OF this association i am struck
with tive far reaching facts The. first
is how much the average man knows.
When I say tAis i REFER to the SO called
common people AZ wen as to the
weather. or the more influential social
class. Some OF thesmost 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 1--we 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 il a 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
them" Because an old we'll Is some
times covered by moss and creeping
ivy and entangled thickets, that does
not prove that there are no pure, spar
L fa,.o -.
gem is found giittering amid a lot
OF cobblestones, that does not prove
that 1t is a cobblestone. Many q great
philosopher dresses, like Tolstoi In
peasants garb. Many a stonemason
can find, like Hugh Miller, the Foot
prints OF the .Creator',sin the old. red
sandstone OF Cromarty. Many. a polit-
ical sage is scanning the horizon OF
statecraft. like Marcus Porcius Cato,
with an eagle eye. while he is guiding
his pillow across the field OF a country
farm. -r-t -...-e -..-.-.
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 We're binding the
sheaves in the harvest fields OF Boar,
is tourist who has ears to hear and
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: lit takes both 1int aud
steel TO make Il spark. You must pound
the one upon the other or else tho fire
will never come. You caa pound
piece OF steel for days and weeks upon
n wooden log, and the wood will never
fash back a flame. You must rub up
intelligence against intelligence In or
der to make the intellectual sparks fly.
IL the traveller has n brain OF f!nt he
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 a wooden brain
then he will think that most people he
meets have brains OF wood also" v-,-
A Common weakness.
The second fact which -in,presses me
about the human race Is that, though
the average man has much intelli-
gence. yet most paopie make failures
out OF life. To use an expression
which / once heard used by DR.. Mac
Arthur OF New York. r'They never seem
TO he able to put their mental goods
upon the market" They seem to have
all the capabilities OF success; they are
like an exquisitely and perfectly con-
structed rife. but they always seem. to
mis- Asa -. n
do. What Is the matter with Lawyer
So-and-soY' ] ask. '.HsEWas an old
college ehum OF yours.--. why has he
not made a greater success? Has he
not brains aud APPLICATION l. "Oh,
yes" you answer. He was -one OF
the most promipent men OF my class.
He was an honor man aud graduated
member OF the Phi Beta kappa So
ciety. He is honest and n 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 l were to put my finger
upon the chief weakness of these
lives. j 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 will
not heed the warnings which their
friends are SO anxious to give. And,
like 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
my thought In the words OF my text |
when he says, Where no counsel is |
the people fall. but In the multitude Of |
counselors there is safety"
The blind egotIst in the first place |
nearly always saadere&tImates the dif- I
hculties OF the work which he has 20 /
do. He Is like a commander of an in
Vading army who seems to despise the |
strength of his enemies He pretends
10 think that the opposing forces can
not shoot as well as his soldiers can
shoot and That the very sight of his
STANDARDS Will make his enemies |
craven hearted and run for their lives.
When Edward Braddock, the COM
inander OF the British and colonial I
forces, led his troops against Fort Du- |
quesne In 175S. the young colonel. |
George Washington. warned him
against the dangers. into which he was
He said, MY general, you
are dealing with one Of the bravest |
ana most treacherous foes" Peoh.s