Democratic Sentinel, Volume 2, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 April 1878 — Applying the Sermon. [ARTICLE]

Applying the Sermon.

The Rev. Mr. , of the Unitarian church in a neighboring State, preached a sermon a few Sundays since on the importance of saying “ No,” and in the course of it dwelt impressively on the moral courage required to use that monosyllable at the right time. After the sermon a collection was taken for a very deserving charity. When the congregation was dismissed a certain newspaper man waylaid the pastor in the vestibule, and, seizing him by the hand, thanked him effusively for the sermon—one of the most effective he had heard. The pastor modestly replied, “I’m glad jou think so, but cannot see why you should.” J J “ Why,” replied he of the newspaper, “ when I went into church I was fully determined to give $5 to that charity, but your sermon impressed me so deeply that I found courage to resist the temptation, and let the plate-passer go by with an emphatic ‘No!’”— Editor's Drawer, in Harper's Magazine for May.