The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1906-11-22
& SATURDAY
] NIGHT TALKS.
BY #. z. DAWSON, RUTLAND VT.
SHINING WITH A CART ROPE.
Nov. 25, 'O6-iisaiah 5:11-23.)
BY #. 2. DAWSON,
RUTLAND VT

.
lands for f1atterers, and gallows for
those who will tell "the truth, the
whole truth and nothing but the
truth Hand us sedative, and we
will accept 1t with thanks, prescribe
a tonic and we change our physician.
| Wink at our defects, be blind to our
tniQuities, excuse oar shortcomings,
palliate our vices, saddle our wrong
| doing upon others, and you will be
counted among Our friends, but, tel
us Our faults to our faces, hold US
responsible for our misdeeds, refuse
to allow US to shift upon other snoul-
| ders the blame for our sins, and We
cut your acquaintance. Give us mir
rors that show no blemisiies, and
| friends that always agree with us.
and let our lives flow peacefully
| along, and life will be worth living.
! Not so thought the old prophet
Isaiah. He believed in knowing the
worst and being prepared for 1t. He
! believed in calling things by their
| right names: He thought cancers
should be cut out, not moistened
with rose water He took the ground
| that rascal in the church was worse
| than a rascal out of the church. He
! Tcra no muzzle. He had no job-lct
principles. He did not keep his hand
on the pulse of public opinion, nor
| take his cue from an easy-goin3
| bishop, nor subscribe to the tenetS
| of sect, nor slavishly follow the
/, beck of an ecclesiastical machine" )"
| When he saw iniquity, in church
or state, and he saw plenty of it, he
| thundered against It. in the twelve
| verses of this short section of one Of
his addresses, his words of indigna-
tion reverberate like crashing thun-
| der Woe, woe, woe. He denounced
/ the monopolist, the timeserver, the
| "prudent' teachers, the men who
| said that prosperity" was every
thing, and that "Sunday-school poll
tics" was played out, the priesthood
that called evil good, and good evil
| the victims of alcohol who were
swinish in their thirst, and he did 1t
| publicly, consistently, persistently,
until those who could not answer
| him turned upon him and assassina-
| ted him. But he kept himself
| straight with the Almighty. And he
| lives to-day more potential than
| ever. Millions of people will read
| This speech of his Tomorrow, this
| speech in which I1s unlimbers the
| field guns of the Eternals batteries
| against iniquity, and will unani-
mously declare that he was right.
We can afford to compliment a
man who has been deaa 5000 years.
| 1t is eminently proper to hang gar"
lands on the tomb Of those who are
| in no danger Of coming back. Our
fathers executed them, and we at
| tempt to make reparation by build
| Ing monuments to the memory of the
martyrs, and pronouncing eulogies
concerning their virtuous lives and
heroic deeds. But their ears do not
| hear it, and their broken hearts do
| not thrill We are generations too
late. For it makes no difference
| HOW, whether we agree or not.
The more important and practical
question is. How do we treat the liT'
ing men who dare to antagonize and
denounce the evils of the present
day? Do we stand with those who
say, Let we'll enough alone! You
can't stop it. Or, do we encourage
the men who refuse to say Peace,
peace, when there is no peace?"
That is more Important question
than to discover the meaning of
Hebrew word, or settle the question
whether there were two Isaiahs.
| Certainly there is need enough for
| the man who has the "woe," mes
sage. The evils that existed in the
prophets day were infants in the
| cradle, to-day they are giants stalk
| ing abroad. Like the infant Her
cules they climbed out of the cradle
| to strangle the nation In 1saiah's
| day, they are better able to do 1t
| now. There Is no state capital where
| they are not located; there Is no
| legislature where their lobby does
not work With bludgeon or with
| ballot, they secure their ends. The
church recognizes the encroach-
ments of evil. What minister is
| there who has not been waited upon
| by a weakened committee, pray
| erfully pointing out the results to
the cause If certain pewholders
should take offense at the parsons
| plain speaking. No muzzle! On, no,
not for the world. But the pastor
sees a great light, and shifts to some
less burning issue.
The real, genuine prophet never
polls his congregation. He reports
things as he sees them He takes no
advice from man as to what he shall
preach. He speaks the language of
his God, not of office-seekers, the
cabinet, the committee, the pol
! He was called to blow a trumpet Of
alarm, not to play a jewsharp at an
old ladies tea party. Life to him Is
real. He takes things seriously. He
believes that the only way to rid the
world Of it's evils is to investigate
| them, analyze them, turn them in
| side out, show them up, necessarily
call attention to them, and keep
at it until his breath stops, natur-
ally or unnaturally, or the evil is
overthrown. There are not many
such people In history. Isaiah was
one of them. There are some now
| living What do you think of hand
ing bouquets to the dead Hebrew
prophet? Do you applaud or hiss the
living reformers
| To, nncoFo fo hurv the dead mast