Pike County Democrat, Volume 25, Number 52, Petersburg, Pike County, 10 May 1895 — Page 6

TALMAGE’S SEEMON. Pilate's Hypocritical Ablation a Sign of Conscience’s Power. Visions of m IS lad Not at Be»t-Co*. scieuce Hm a Beproof for • Everj Sin. Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage delivered the followings sermon on “Conscience” at the Academy of music. New Ycrk city, basing it on the text: He took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person; see ye to it—Matthew—xxvil.,21. At about seven o’clock in the morning, up the marble stairs of a palace and across the floors of richest mosaic, and under ceilings dyed with all the splendors of color, and between snow • banks of white and glistening sculpture, passes a poor, pale, sick young man of thirty-three, already condemned to death, bn his way to be condemned again. Jesus of Nazareth is

his name. Coming out to meet him on this tessellated pavement is an unscrupulous, compromising,, time-serving cowardly man, with a few traces of sympathy and fair dealing left'in his composition —Gov. Pontius Pilate. Did ever such opposites meet? Luxury and pain, selfishness and generosity, arrogance and humility, sin and holiness, midnight and midnoon.I The bloated-lipped governor takes the cushioned seat, but the prisoner stands, his wrists manacled. In a semi-circle around the prisoner are the Sanhedrists, with# flashing eyes and brandished fists, prosecuting this case in the name of religion, for the bitterest persecutions have been religious prosecutions; and when Satan takes hold of a good man he makes up by intensity for brevity of occupation. If you have never seen an ecclesiastical court trying a man, then you have no idea of the foaming infernalism of these old religious Sanhedrists. Gov. Pilate cross-questions the prisoner, and fiuds right away he is innocent, and wants to let him go. liis caution is also increased by some one who comes to the governor and whispers in his ear. The governor puts his hand behind his ear, so as to catch the words almost inaudible. It is a message from Claudia Procula, his wife, who lias had a dream about the innocence of this prisoner and about the d^hger of executing him, and she awakens from this morning dream in time to send the message to her husband, then on the judicial bench. And what with the protest of his wife, and the voice of Ins own conscience, and the entire failure of the Sauhedrists to make out their case, Gov. Pilate resolves, to discharge the prisoner from custody. "* . . But the intimation of such a thing briugs upon the governor an equinoctial storm of indignation. They will report him to the emperor at Rome. They will have him recalled. They will send him up home, and he will be hanged for treason, for the emperor at

Koine has already a suspicion in regard to Pilate, and that suspicion does not cease until Pilate is banished and commits suicide. sSo Gov. Pontius Pilate compromises the matter, and proposes that Christ be whipped instead oJ assassinated. So the prisoner is fastened to a low pillar, and on his bent and bared back come the thongs of leather, with pieces of lead and bone intertwined, . so that every stroke shall be the more awful. Christ lifts himself from the scourging, with flushed cheeks and torn and mangled and quivering flesh, presenting a spectacle of suffering in which Kubens, the painter, found the %heme for his greatest masterpiece. But the Sanhedrists are not yet satisfied. They have had some of his nerves lacerated; they want them all lacerated. They have had some blood shed; they want all of it, down to^the last corpuscle. So Gov. Pontius Pilate, after all this merciful hesitation, surrenders to the demoniacal cry of “Crucify him!” But the governor sends for something, lie sends a slave out to get something. Although the constables are in haste to take the prisoner to execution and the mob outside are impatient to glare upon their victim, a pause is necessitated. Yonder it comes, a wash basin. Some pure, bright water is ' poured into it, and then Gov. Pilate , puts his white, delicate hands into the water and rubs them together, and then lifts them dripping* for the towel fastened at the slave’s girdle, while he practically says: “I wash my hands of the whole homicidal transaction. I wash my hands of this entire responsibility; you will have to bear it.” That is the meaning of my text when it says: “He took water and washed-his hands before the mnititude, saying, I am inucent of the blood of this just person; see ye to it.” , Behold, in this, that ceremony amounts to nothing if there are not in it correspondencies of heart and life. It is a good thing to wash the hands. <»od created three-quarters of the world water, and in that commanded cleanliness; and when the ancients did not take the hint He plunged the whole world under water and kept it tlmre for some time. Hand-washing was a religious ceremony among the Jews. The Jewish Mishna gave particular direction how that the hands _ must be thrust three times up to the wrists in water, and the palm of the hand must be rubbed with the dosed fist of the other. All that is well enough for a symbol, but here in the text is a man who proposes to wash away the guilt of a sin which he does , not quit and of which he does ndt make any repentance. Pilate’s wash basin was a dead letter. Ceremonies,^ however beautiful and appropriate, may be no more than this hypocritioal ablation. In infancy we may be sprinkled from the baptismal iont, aud in maitoood we may wade into deep -immersions, and yet never come to moral purification. UTe may kneel without prayer, aud bow without reverence, and sing without ac

ceptance. All your creeds, and liturgies, and sacrament*, and genuflections, and religious convocations amount to nothing «»!«*• y°ar heartlife go into them. When the bronzed slave took from the presence of Pilate that wash basin he carried away none jof Pilate's cruelty, or Pilate’s wickedness, or Pilate's guilt Nothing against creeds; we all have them, either written or implied. Nothing, against ceremonies; they are of infinite importance. Nothing against sacraments; they are divinely commanded. Nothing against a rosary, if there be its many heartfelt prayers as beads counted. Nothing against incense floating up from censer amid Gothic arches, if the prayers be as genuine as the aroma is sweet. Nothing against Epiphany, or Lent, or Ash Wednesday, or Easter, or Good Friday, or Whitsuntide, or Palm Sunday, if these symbols have be hind-them genuine repentance, and holy reminiscence. and Christian consecration. But ceremony is only the sheath to the sword, it is only the shell to the kernel, it is only the lamp to the flame, it is only the body to the spirit. The outward must be symbolical of the inward. Wash the hands by all means, but, more than all, wash the heart. Behold, also, as you see Gov. Pontius Pilate thrust his hand into this wash basin, the power of conscience. He had an idea there was blood on his hand—the bipod of an innocent person, whom he might have acquitted if he only had the courage. Poor Pilate! his conscience was after him, and he knew' the stain would never be washed from the right hand or the left hand, and until, the jlay of -his death; though he might wash in all the lavers of the Roman empire, there would be still eight fingers and two thumbs red at the tips. Oh, the powers of conscience when it is fully aroused? With whip of scorpions over a bed of spikes in pitch of midnight it Chases guilt. Arc there ghosts? Yes, not off the grave yard, but of one's mind not at rest. And thus, Brutus, amid his slumbering host. Startled with Caesar's stalwart ghost. Macbeth looked at his hand after the midnight assassination, and he says: Will all great Neptune’* ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas incarnadine,. Making the #reeta one red. For every iin, great or small, conscience, which is the voice of God, has a reproof more or less emphatic. Charles IX., responsible for St. Bartholomew massacre, was chased by the bitter memories, and in his dying moment said to his doctor, Ambrose Parry: “Doctor, I don’t know what's the matter with me; I am in a fever of body and mind, and have been for a long while. Oh, if I had only spared the innocent, and the imbecile, and the cripple!’’ Rousseau declared in his,old

age that a sin he committed m his youth still pave him sleepless nights. Charles II. of Spain could not sleep unless he had in his room a confessor and two friars. Catiline had such bitter memories he was startled at the least sound.) Cardinal Beaufort, having slain the duke of Gloucester, often in the night would say: “Away! away! why do you look at me?” Richard III., having slain his two nephews, would sometimes in the night shout fropi his couch and clutch his sword, fighting apparitions. Dr. Webster, having slain Parkman in Boston, and while waiting for his doom, complained to the jailer that the prisoners on the other side of the wall all pight long kept charging him with his crime, when there were no prisoners on the other side of the wall. It was the voice of his own conscience. From what did Adam and Eve try to hide when they had all the world to themselves?! From their own conscience. What made Cain's punishment greater than he could bear? His conscience. What made Aliab cry out to the prophet: “Hast thou fouud me, 0 mine enemy?” What made the great Felix tremble before the little missionary? Conscience. What made Belshazzar's teeth chatter with a chill when he saw a finger come out of the black sleeve of the-midnight and write on the plastering? Conscience, conscience! Why is it that that man in this audience, with all the marks of worldly prosperity upon him, is agitated while 1 speak, and is now flushed and is now pale, and then the breath is uneven and then beads of perspiration on the forehead, and then the look of unrest comes to a look of horror and despair? I know not. But he knows, and God knows. It may be that he despoiled a fair young life and turned

innocence into a wait, ana the smile of hope into the brazen laughter of despair. Or it may be that he has m his possession the property of others, and by some strategem he keeps it according to law,! yet he knows it is not his own, and tjhat if his heart should stop beating this moment he would be in hell forever. Or it may be he is responsible for a great mystery, the disappearance of some one who was never beard of, and the detectives were baffled, and the tracks were all covered up, and the swift horse or the rail train took him out of reach, and there are orily two persons in the universe who know of it—God and himself. God present at the time of the tragedy and present at the retrospection, and conscience—conscience with stings, conscience with pinchers, conscience with flails, conscience with furnaces, is upon him; and until a man’s conscience rouses him he does not repent. What made that farmer converted to God go to his infidel neighbor and say: “Neighbor, I have four of your sheep. They came over into |my fold six years ago. They had your mark upon them, and I changed it to my mark. I want you to have those sheep, and I want you to have the Interest on the money, and 1 want you to have the increase of the fold; if you want to send me to prison, 1 shal l make no complaint?” The infidel heard of the man’s conversion, and he said: “Now, now, if you have got them sheep you arc welcome * to

them. ][ don't want nothing of those things at alL Yon jnst go away from me. Something iias got hold of yon that I dont umtift-stand. I heard yon were down at those religions meetings.” Bat the converted man would not allow things to stands in that way, and so the infidel said: “Well, now, yon can pay me the value of the sheep, and six per cent, interest from that time to this, and I shan’t say anything more about it Just go away from me.” What was the matter with the two farmers? In the one case,a convicted conscience leading him honesty, and in the other case a convicted conscience warning against infidelity. But is there no such thigg^a^ moral purification? If a mamfiTasinner once must he always be almoner, and an unforgiven sinner? We Jiave all had conscience after us. /Or do you tell me that all the words of your life have been just right and all the thoughts of your heart have been just right and all the actions of your life just right? Then you do not know yourself, and I take the responsibility of saying you are a pharisee, you are a hypocrite, you are a Pontius Pilate, and do not know it You commit the4 very same sin that Pilate committed. You have crucified the Lord of Glory. But if nine-tenths of the audience are made up of thoughtful and earnest people, then nine-tenths t>f this audience are saying within themselves: “Is there no such thing as moral purification? Is there no laver, in which the soul may wash and be clean? Yes, yes, yes. Tell it in song, tell it in sermon, tell it in prayer, tell it in hemispheres. That is what David cried out for when he said: “Wash me thoroughly from my sin, and cleanse me from mine iniquities.” Aud that is what in another place he cried out for when he said: “Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.” Behold, the laver of the Gospel, filled with living fountains. Did you ever see the picture of the laver in the ancient tabernacle or in the ancient temple? The laver in the ancient temple was made out of the women’s metallic looking-glasses. It

was a great basin, standing on a beautiful pedestal; but when the temple was built, then the laver was an immense affair, called the brazen sea; and, oh, how deep were the floods there gathered! And there were ten InVers beside—five at the right and five at the left—and each laver had three hundred gallons of water. And the outside of these lavers. was carved and chafed with' palm trees so delicately cut you could almost see the leaves tremble, and lions so true to life that you could imagine you saw the nostril throb, and the cherubim with outspread wings. That magnificent laver of the old dispensation is a feeble type of the more glorious laver of our dispensation—our sunlight dispensation. Here is the laver holding rivers of salvation, having for its pedestal the Rock of Ages, caved with the figure of the lion of Judah’s tribe, and having palm branches for victory, and wings suggestive of the soul’s flight toward God in prayer, and the soul’s flight heavenward when we die. Come ye auditory, and wash away all your sins, however aggravated, and all your sorrows, however agonizing. Come to this fountain, opeu for all sin add uncleanliness, the furthest, the worst. You need not cany your sins half a second. Come and wash in this glorious Gospel lavfer. Why, that is an opportunity enough to swallow up all nations. That is au opportunity that will yet stand on the Alps and beckon to Italy, and yet stapd ; on the Pyrenees and beckon to Spain, and it will yet stand on the Ural and beckon to Russia, add it will stand at the gate of Heaven and beckon to all

nations, Pardon for all sin, and pardon right away, through the blood of the 8on of God. A little child that had been blind but through skillful surgery brought to sight, said: “Why, mother, why didn't you tell me the earth and sky are so beautiful? Why didn't you tell me?” “Oh,” replied the mother, “my child, I did tell you how beautiful they are; but you were blind, and you eouldu’t see!” Oh, if we could have our eyes open to see the glories in Jesus Christ we would feel that the half had not been told us, and you would go to some Christian man and say: “Why didn’t you tell me before of the glories in the Lord Jesus Chris*?” and that friend would say: “I did tell you, but you were blind and could not see, and you were deaf and could not hear.” History says that a great army came to capture ancient Jerusalem, and when this army got cn the hills, so that they saw the turrets and the towers of ,-erusalem, they gave a shout that made the earth tremble; and tradition, whether true or false, says that,so great was the shout, eagles flying in the air dropped under the atmospheric percussiou. Oh, if we could only catch a glimpse of the towers of this Gospel temple into which you are all invited to come and wash, there would be a song jubilant and wide-resound-ing, :»t New Jerusalem seen, at New Jerusalem taken, the hosanuas of other worlds flying mid-air would fold their wings and drop into our closing doxology! Against the disappointing and insufficient laver of Pilate's vice, and Pilate’s cowardice, and Pilate's sin,I place the brazen sea of a 8avk ur’s pardoning mercy! God’s Watchfulness. “It is not that God does not let one sparrow fall to the ground without Him, but not one good thought, feeling, purpose, deed. Our smiles, our hopes, our efforts, are all numbered, as well as the hairs of our head. Nothing that is genuine is naked, fruitless. The struggle that almost cost you life, though it seem to have no adequate issue, is not void, is not lost. It is an immortal integral in the life you would grow to.” —Gov. Andrew, when near the close of his life, said in a speech: “From all that I can learn, every good thing we have came oat of the church.”

DUN'S COMMERCIAL REVIEW. InihMH In Bettor Conditio* than at Any Time Since the Breakdown In Star. 1893—Smaller In Veltn* than Then XI la Not Shrinking, bat Knlnnring—Itnyn* thaw to Realise the Principal Obstacle to Pall Recovery. New Yore, May 4.—R. G. Don A Co.’a weekly Aiicw of trade, issued to-day, says: Business begins in May in better condition than at any other time since the breakdown in May, 1893. Smaller in volume than then.it is not sbrinking', but enlarging. The chief obstacle to a more complete recovery is tire anxiety of the many to {duck the fruit 'liefore it is ripe. Holders of some staples hare lifted them ao far as to prevent their marketing; consumption of materials in some branches is checked ,by advances which cannot be realised for finished products; workers in some industries are demanding wag!« that cannot be paid oat of any business in sight.

But in spite of labor troubles umd speculative excesses, the outlook brightens, money markets continue healthy, and with heavy sales of rail* way bonds abroad, the deficiency in public revenues, 88,742,840, in. April, causes no apprehension. Demands for full restoration of wages to the level of 1892 have dosed many woolen m ills, and threaten to close others, emp' oying about 9,000 hands, at Qlneyville and about Providence, and have arrested work at other mills of some importance already. Similar demands are made in the cotton mills of Massachusetts. The strike which dosed iron furnaces at Mew Castle, Pa., has just broke up without success. But other strikes have stopped up ^numerous works about Pittsburgh; Pocahontas coke workers are on st rike, and one is threatened by Alabama coal miners. Exaggerated accounts oi recovery in business, so often published and sometimes prompted by manufacturers themselves, make it not entirely strange if operatives fail to see that the business in the great industries is without profit and much of the working force is still unemployed. The speculative fever grows more fierce, as is natural when business starts up with prices at extremely low points, but by lifting wheat 3 cents, to 69 cents, Atlantic exports have been checked, and. flour induded, have been only 1,676,196 bushels, against 8,615,485 last year. The close was at 68}£ cents. Western receipts are now larger than a year ago, and except in partsof some states, the promise for the next yield is excdlent. A sale of 300,000 tons by the Fair estate at San Francisco, loading thirty ihips for Europe, will lessen other demands for Atlantic supplies. Enormous transactions in cotton have been followed by a dedine from 7 to 6.81 cents, though peace in China was represented as securing a greatly increased demand. Already 9,400,000 bales have come into sight this year, and commercial stocks here and abroad, 3,868,266, with unprecedented stocks held by the spinners, so far exceed the 3,700,000 bales required by the world for the remaining months, that no famine will be feared with the next crop smaller by a quarter.

Stocks have reacted a little, but are again higher for railways than a week ago. There is comparative improvement in foreign trade, exports for the month being not 1 per cent, below last year’s, while imports are but IS.2 per cent, larger than last year. The strike at New Castle, now over, stiffened Bessemer pig so that SI0.75 was quoted at Pittsburgh, and the closing of a Wheeling mill stiffened billets, while southern makers have nominally advanced their price, though sal^s have been made here under $10 for No. 2. Cotton ties are a shade higher at 55 cents per bundle, and wire nails at 85 cents and cut nails at 70 cents by the carload are less demoral ized. Consumption does not yet equal the capacity of the works or the output of pig. but improves. Late in the week strikes in the iron works about Pittsburgh threaten disturbances. Another heavy decrease of 11,667 tons in output of coke maks the shrinkage nearly 28 per cent, in two weeks, and furnace is offered at $1.10. Window glass makers have adopted a new scale, for the two lower brackets 50 cents higher than before. The remarkable rise in eather continues, and yet shipments of boots and shoes from Boston for April were slightly larger than two y ears ago or ever before, and most of the works have orders for three or four months’ production at a material advance in prices. The chief embarrassment is uncertainty as to the future price of leather. The rise in prices of cotton goods also continues. The woolen has reached the lowest price yet known, large sales at low prices are yet neutral. Sales since January 1 have been 32,967,910 pounds, against 83,763,350 in 1892, and less in 188:'. and 1894. The demand for woolen goods does not improve, and many cancellations are reported, though sales of wool indicate large consumption. Failures in twenty-five days of April showed liabilities of $9,536,969, of which $3,614,736 were of manufacturing and $3,705,650 of trading concerns. Last year in four weeks ending April 26, liabilities were $8,826,362. The week’s failures are 231 in the United States, against 233 last year, and 34 in Canada, against SO last year. GARMENT WORKERS to Philadelphia Strike Against the Sweating system and for Better,Wages. Philadelphia, May 4.—Two thousand garment makers in this city struck Thursday, and at Knights of Labor meetings Thursday night a general strike was ordered. It is probable that by this evening 1,000 additional garment workers will have gone out. The primary object of the stride is to abolish the “sweating system,” but the workers, who comprise both men and women, also want their wages increased from 10 to 15 per cent

1 Tour First Duty is to Yourself. Your Bodily Condition Galls far the Help to he Found in s Good Spring Medicine The best Preparation for this Purpose is HOOD’S SARSAPARILLA

Spring is the season lor cleansing ] and renewing the blood. During the winter it has crept sluggishly through the reins, gathering impurities from indoor air, from fatty substances in the food, and from many other sources. The great blood purifying medicine especially prepared to do this work is Hood's Sarsaparilla. It will give to the blood purity, richness and vitality and these will bring health and rigor, strong nerves, a good appetite, refreshing sleep, and powers of endurance. Cleanse your blood by taking Hood's Sarsaparilla, a renorating preparation especially prepared to make pure blood, then you may enjoy the season of flowers and birds and out door pleasures, for you will be healthy, strong and well. “Get only Hood’s. Hood’s Pills

“ I cannot speak too highly of HoodVi Sarsaparilla, as it has worked wonders In my case. 1 am 74 years of age and hare been afflicted with salt rheum on my hands for a great many years. I tried many things to care them bnt failed. My hands woold crack open and bleed profusely, and the pain was terrible to bear. Since taking Hood’s Sarsaparilla the flesh has healed and the skin is as smooth as any farmer’s. I recommend Hood’s Sarsaparilla as a re* liable medicine and always speak in its favor.” Lloyd B. Chase. Swansea, Mass. Get only Hood’s because Hood’s Sarsaparilla is the Only True Blood Purifier Prominently in the public eye to-iay^. Be sure to get Hood’s and only Hood's.

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Tommt‘3 Mother—“Did you hear about Mrs. Jones? bhe ran a needle into her band. The doctors had to open every Unger trying to find it.” Tommy—1“What made 'em do that, mamma? W hy didn’t they get the lady another needle?”—Life's Calendar. An Explanation.—Proud Father—“That is a suuset my daughter {tainted. She studied painting abroad, you know.” Friend—“Ah! that explains it. 1 never saw a sunset like that in thiscountry."—Tit-Bits. Bow’s Thin! We offer One Hundred Dollars Reward for any case of Catarrh that cannot be cured by Hsu’s Catarrh Cure. ' n F. J. Chbnbt & Co.. Props., Toledo, O. We, the undersigned, have known F. J. Cheney for the last 15 years, and believe him. perfectly honorable in all business transactions and financiaUy able to carry out any obligation made by their firm. West ft Truax, Wholesale Druggists, Toledo, O. Walding, Kinnan & Marvin, Wholesale Druggists, Toledo, O. Hall’s Catarrh Cure is taken internally, acting directly on the blood and mucous surfaces of the system. Price, Tac. per bottle. Sold by all Druggists. Testimonials free. Hall's Family Pius. 25c. “Go slow when you gits mad/’ said Uncle Eben. “Erman that ’buses somebody when he’s excited am pow’ful U’ble ter bite his own tongue.”—Washington Star.

Scrofula Miss Dells 8tevens, of writes: I bare always suffered from ] hereditary Scrofula, for which I tried l various remedies, and many reliable] physicians, but none relieved me. After) taking 8 bottles of 1 am now welL 1i am very grateful' to yon, as I feel that it saved me i from a life of nn« [ told agony, and me relieved me. After >! SSS shall take pleasure in speaking only words of praise for the wonderful med- ] icine, ana in recommendis umnending it to all. CURED Treatise on Blood and Skin Diseases mailed tree to any address. SWIFT SPECIFIC CO., Atlanta. Qa.

'.'D The Greatest Medical Discovery of the Age. KENNEDY’S MEDICAL DISCOVERY. DONALD KENNEDY, sf R3XBDBY, HASS,, Has discovered in one of our common pasture weeds a remedy that cures every kind of Humor, from the worst Scrofula down to a common Pimple. He has tried it in over eleven hundred cases, and never failed except in two cases (both thunder humor.) He has now in his possession over two hundred certificates of its value, all within twenty miles oI Boston. Send postal card for book. A benefit is always experienced from the first bottle, and a perfect cure is warranted when the right quantity is taken. When the lungs are affected it causes shooting pains, like needles passing through them; the same with the Liver or Bowels. This is caused bv the ducts being stopped, and always disappears in a week after taking it. Kead the label. If the stomach is foul or bilious it wOI cause squeamish feelings at first. ^No change of diet ever necessary. Eat the best you can get, and enough of it. Dose, one tablespoonful in water at bed* time. Sold by all Druggists.

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Scott’s Emulsion is not a secret remedy. It is simply the purest Norway Cod-liver Oil, the finest Hypophosphites, and chemically pure Glycerine, all combined into a perfect Emulsion so that it will never change or lose its integrity. This is the secret of Scott’s Emulsion’s great success. It is a most happy combination of flesh-giving, strengthening and healing agents, their perfect union giving tfrftTn remarkable value in all

WASTING DISEASES. Hence its great value in Consumption, wherein it arrests the wasting by supplying the most concentrated nourishment, and in Anaemia and Scrofula it enriches and vitalizes the blood. In fact, in every phase of wasting it is most effective. Your doctor will confirm all we say about it. Don’t be persuaded to accept a substitute / Scott & Bowue* New York* iUl Druggists. 50c. and X iSiife in