Milford chronicle., 1906-10-05
Ca(n1aqe
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt TalmaGe, D. D.


man ever lived who possessed all the
talents and that pride of intellect and
unwillingness to learn from others fre-
quently lead men to ruin is the lesson
of this sermon, the text chosen being
Proverbs Ii. IA, In the multitude Of
counselors there is safety
In my time I have been much asso-
ciated with many classes of men. As
result of this association / am struck
with two far reaching facts. The first
is how much the average man knows.
When | say this I 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 inteIects are
found in the skulls of men who wear
coarse clothes and live in very humble
houses.
Rev. Dr. William VI. Lawrence, who
for many years was the most proml-
nent Baptist preacher Of Chicago. once
told me that he always made 1T prac-
tice when it was possible TO ride upon
fine nlatforms of the street ears ana
talk with the conductors aud 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
NV pulpit have been suggested by
them" Because an old well is some
times covered by moss and creeping
wv and entaugled thickets, that does
pot proye that there are no pure, spar
kim waters among its rocks. Beca9l,.t
GIN -, -. s--s, G,a,1 lo'
of cobblestones, that d0es not prove
that If is a cobblestone. Many a great
Dbilosopber dresses. like Tolstoi- in
peasants garb. Many stonemason
can find. like Hugh Miller, the Foot
prints of the Creator i'm the Old red
sandstone Of Cromarty. Many polit-
zeal sage is scanning the horizon OF
statecraft. like Marcus lorcius 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 ne may go. as gentle
Ruth Gathered her golden stalks after
the reapers who were binding the
shelves in the harvest fields of Boaz'
is 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 o. mankind by asking the
leading questions which will bring
forfl the desired answers. said old
Fobart South: ut takes both flint and
steel to make spark. You must pound
the one upon the other or else the IRE
will never come. You can pound
piece of steel for days and weeks upon
Il wooden LOG. and the wood VIII never
flash back a flame. You must rub up
Intelligence against intelligence in or
der TO make the intellectual sparks ny
IF fine traveller has a brain of flint be
will find that the average man has
brain of steel. Then the intellectual
sparks will follow thick as the stars
on the Milky way of the heavens, But
if the traveller has a wooden Dralh
fban 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
tbe average man has much inteili-
oance vet most people make failures
ont of life. To use an expression
which l once heard used by Dr. Mac
Arthur of New York "rhey never seem
+o he able to put their mental goods
upou the market" They seem to nave
all the capabilities of success; they are
like an exquisitely and perfectly con
strucfed rifle. but they always seem 10
miss fire. You recognize this fact as
do "What is the matter with Lawyer
So-and-so?" l ask. He was an ola
COLLEGE chum Of yours. Why has he
NOT made Il greater success: Has ne
not brains and application" ION,
ves'' Won answer. He was one OF
The most prominent men of my class.
He WAS an honor man and graduated
n member of the Phi Beta Kappa so
ciety He is honest and hard work
er. But somehow he never seems to De
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, if l were to put my finger
upon the chief weakness Of these
lives. I 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 10 anxious to give. And,
like a fire horse with the blind stag
gers. they needlessly crash into this
obstacle and that danger until at last
they are fang 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
fhe peODIe fall, but in the multitude OF