Newspapers / Eastern Courier (Hertford, N.C.) / July 11, 1895, edition 1 / Page 2
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REV. DR. TALMAGE i The Eminent New York Divine's Son day Sermon. Subject: The Gates of HelLM Text: "The crates of hell shall not prevail against it." Matthew xvi., 18. Entranced, until we could endure no more of the splendor, we have often gazed at the shining gates, the gates of pearl, the gates of heaven, j But we are for awhile to lohk in the opposite direction and see, swinging open and shut the gates of hell. I remember, when the Franco-Prussian war "was going on. that I stood one day in Paris .loosing at tne gates or the Tuileries, and I ' was so absorbed in the sculpturing at the top of the gates the masonry and the bronze that I forgot myself, and after awhile, looking dqwn I saw that there were officers . of the law scrutinizing me, supposing no doubt I was a German and looking at those gates for adverse purposes. But. my friends, we shall not stand looking at the outside of the gates of hell. In this sermon I shall tell you of both sides, and I shall tell you what those gates are made of. With the hammer of God's truth I shall pound on the brazen panels, and with the lantern of God's truth I shall flash a light upon the shining hinges. Gate the First Impure literature. An-' thony Comstock seized twenty tons of bad books, plates and letterpress, and when our Professor Cochran, of the Polytechnic Insti tute poured the destructive- acids on those dates they smoked in the righteous annihi ation, and yet a great deal of bad literature of the day is not gripped of the law. It is strewn in your parlors. It is in vour li braries. Some of your children read it at night after they have retired, the gas burner swung as near as possible to their pillow. Much of this literature is under the title of scientific information. A book agent with one of these infernal books, glossed over with scientific nomenclature, went into a hotel and sold in one day 100 copies and sold them all to women! It is appalling that men and women who can get through their , family physician all the useful information they may need, and without any contamina tion, should wade chin deep through such, accursed literature under the plea of getting useful knowledge, and that printing presses, hoping to be called decent, lend themselves to this infamy. Fathers and mothers, be not deceived bv the titlp. 1 Nine-tenths of those books come hot from the lost world, though they may have on them the names of the publishing houses of New York, Chicago and Philadelphia. Then there is all the noveletteliterature of the day flung over the land by the million. As there are good novels that are lonsr, so, I suppose,' .there may be good novels that are short, and so there may be a good novelette. n ia mo cAucpiiuu. xxo one marK this no one systematically reaus the average novelette of this day and keeps either in tegrity or virtue. The most of these novel ettes are written by brol:en-down literary men for small compensation, on the principle that, having failed in literature elevated and pure, they hope to succeed in the tainted and nasty. Ob. this is a wide gate of hejl! Every panel is made out of a bad book or newspaper. Even hinge is the interjoined type of a corrupt printine: press. Every bolt or lock of that gate is made out of the plate of an unclean pictorial, la other words, there are a million men and women in the United States to-day reading themselves into hell! When in one of our cities a prosperous family fell into ruins through the misdeeds of one of its members, the amazed mother said to the officer of the law: "Why, I never supposed there was anything wrong. I never thought there could be anything wrong." Then she sat weaning in silence for some time nnd sai l: -Oh, I have got it now! I know, I know! I found in her bureau after she wenf away a bad book. That's what slew her." These leprous booksellers have gathered up the catalogues of all the male and female seminaries in the United States, catalogues containing the names and resi dences of all the students, and circulars of death are sent to eveiv one, with out any exception. Can "you imagine anything more deathful? There is not" a young person, male or female, or an old person, who has not had offered to him or her a bad book or a bad picture. Scour your house to find out whether there aro any of these adders coiled on your par lor center table or coiled amid the toilet set on the dressing case. I adjure vou before the sun goes down to explore your family li braries with an inexorable scrutiny. Re member that one bad book or bad picture may do the work for eternity. I want to arouse all your suspicions about novelettes. I want to put you on the watch against everything that may seem like surreptious correspondence through the postofflee. I want you to understand that impure litera ture is one of the broadest, highest, mighti est gates of the lost Gate the SecondThe dissolute dance. Tou shall not divert to the general subject of dancing. Whatever you may think of the parlor dance or the methodic motion of the body to sounds of music in the family or the social circle. I am not now discussing that question. I want you to unite with me this hour in recognizing the fact that there is a dissolute dance. You know of what I speak. It is seen not only in the low haunts of death, but in elegant man sions. It is the first step to eternal ruin for a great multitude of both sexes. You know, my friends, what postures and attitudes and figures are suggested of the devil. They who glide into the dissolute dance glide over an inclined plane, and the d&aco is swifter and swifter, wilder and Triider, until, with the speed of lightning, thty whirl oil the edges of a decent life into a fiery future. This gate of hell swings atmtsth axminster of many a fine parlor aMl croj'S tho ballroom of the summer watering place. You have no right, my brothe, my sister, you have no right to take an attitude to the sound of music which would bo 'unbecoming in the absence of music. No Chickering grand of city parlor or fiddle of mountain picnic can consecrate that which God hath cursed. Gate the Third Indiscreet apparel. The attire of woman for the last few years has been beautiful and graceful beyond anything I have known, but there are those who will always carry that which is right into the ex traordinary and indiscreet. I charge Chris tian women, neither by style of dress nor ad justment of apparel, to become administra tive of evil. Perhaps none else will dare to tell you, so I will tell you that there are mul titudes of men who owe their eternal dam nation to what has been at different times 'the' boldness of womanly at tire, -Show me the fashion plates of any age between this and tho time of Louis XYI of France and Henry YIII of England, and I will tell you the type of morals or immorals of that a-jje or tha: year. No exception to it. Modest apparel means a righteous people. Immo lest apparel al ways means a contaminated and deprave 1 society. You wonder that the city of Tyro was destroyed with such a terrible destruc tion. . Have you ever seen the fashion plate cf the city of Tyre? I will show it to you: "Moreover, the Lord saitb. because tha daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eye?; walking and mincing as they go, and mak ing a tinkling with their feet, in that dav the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and iiieir cams, ana ineir round tires like the moon, the rinsrs and nose jewels, the changeable suits of apparel, and the mantle?, and the wimples, and the crisping pins.' i " That is the fashion plate of ancient Tvre. And do you wonder that the Lord God in' His indication blotted out the city, so that, fishermen to-day spread their nets where that city once stood? Gate the Fourth Alcoholic beverasre. Oh, the wine cup is the patron of impurity! The officers of the law tell us that nearly all the men who go into the shambles of death co in intoxicated, the mental and the spiritual abolished, that the brute may triumph. TeU me that a young man drinks, and I know the whole story. If he becomes a captive of tho wine cup, he will become a captive of all other vices. Only give him time. .No one ever runs drunkenness "alone. That is a carrion ; crow that goes in a flock, and when you see that beak ahead you may know the other beaks are coming. In1 other words, the wine cup unbalances and dethrones one's better judgment, and, leaves one to orev of all the pvil that may choose to alight upon his soul. There is not a place of any kind of sin in the United States to-day that does not find its chief abettor in the ehalice of inebrietv. There is either a drinking bar before or one behind, or one above, or one underneath. These people escape legal penalty because they are all licensed to sell liquor. The courts that license the sale of strong drink license gambling houses, license libertinism, license disease, license death, license all suf ferings, all crimes, all despoliations, all dis asters, all murders, all woe. It is the courts and the legislature that are swinging wide open this trrindins. creakv. st"imnrlrmB mm of the lost. - But you say: "You have described these gates of hell and shown us how they swing in to allow the entrance to tho doomed. Will you not, please, before you get through the sermon, tell us how these gates of hell may swine out to allow the escaps of the peni tent?" I reply, but very few escape. Of the thousand that go in 9D3 perish. Suppose one of these wanderers should knock at your door. Would you admit her? Suppose vou knew where sh camp, '.mh Wnniii ask her j to sit down at your dininu table? ' Would you ask her to become the governes3 1 vi your cnnareni' would you introduce her among your acquaintanceships? Would you take the responsibility of pulling on the out side of the gate of hell while the pusher on the inside of the gate is tryinsr to get out? You would " not. Not ione of a thousand of you would dare to do so. You would write beautiful poetry over her sor rows and weep over her misfortunes, but give her practical help you never will. But. you say, "Are there no waya by which tha wanderer may escape?" Ob. yes! Three or four. The one way is the sewing girl's gar ret, dingy, cold, hunger blasted. But. you say, "Is there no other way for her to es cape?" Oh, yes! Another way is the street that leads to the river at midnight, the end of the city dock, the moon shining down on the water making it look so smooth she won ders if it is deep enough. It is. No boatman near enough to hear the plunge. No watch man near enough to pick her out before she sinks he third time. No other way? Yes; by the curve of the railroad at tho run -n-h the engineer of the lightning express train vuiuui ft uunurea yaras ahead to the form that lies across the track. He may whistle "nown brakes," but not soon enough to disappoint the one who seeks her dath. But, you sav. "Isn't God good.and won't Ha forgive?" Yes, but man will not, woman will not, society will not. The church of God says it will, but it will not. Our work then, must be prevention rather than cur! . Those gsites of hell are to be prostrated just as certainly as God and the Bible lrue? fcut it, will not be done until Christian men and women, quitting their prudery and squeamishness in this matter rally the whole Christian senti ment of the church and assail these great evils of society. The Bible utters its de nunciation in this direction again and a;ain and yet the piety of the day is such a namby pamby sort of thing that you cannot even quote Scripture without making somebody restless. As long as this holy imbecility reigns in the church of God, sin will laugh you to scorn. I do not know but that before the church wakes up matters will get worse and worse, and that there will have to fce one lamb sacriflced from each of the most carefully guarded folds, and the wave of un eleanness dash to the spire of the village church and the top of the cathedral tower. Prophets and patriarchs and apostles and evangelists and Christ Himself have thun dered against these sins as against no other, and yet there are those who think we ought to take, when we speak of these subjects, a tone apologetic. I put my foot on all the conventional rhetoric on this subject, and I tell you plainly that unless you give up that sin your doom is sealed, and world without end you will be chased by the anathemas of an incensed God. I rally you to a besiege ment of the gates of hell. We want in this besieging host no soft sentimentalists,but men who are willing to take and give hard knocks. The gates of Gaza were carried off, the gates of Thebes were battered down, the gates of Babylon were destroyed, and the gates of hell are sroiner to b nrnstrnpri The Christianized printing press will be rolled up as the chief battering ram. .Then there will be a long list of aroused pulpits, which shall be assailing fortresses, and God's redhot truth shall be the fl vine ammnnitinn of the contest, and the sappers and the min ers will lay the train under these foundations of sin, and at just the right time God, who leads on the fray, will cry, "Down with the gates!" and the explosion beneath will be answered by all the trumpets of Goa on high, celebrating universal victory. But there may bs one wanderer that would like to have a kind word calling homeward. I have told you that society has no mercy. Did I hint, at an earlier point in this subject, that God will have mercy upon any wan derer who would like to come back to the heart of infinite love? A cold Christmas night in a farmhouse. Father comes in from the barn, knoeks the snow from his shoes and sits down by the fire. The mother sits at the stand knitting. She says to him. "Do you remember it is the anniversary to-night?" The father is an gered. He never wants any allusion to the fact that one had gone away, and the mere suggestion that it was the anniversary of that sad event made him quite rough, al though the tears ran down his cheeks. The old house dog that had played with the wan derer when she was a child comes up and puts his head on the old man's knee, but he roughly repulses the dog. He wants nothing to remind him of the anniversary day. A cold winter night in a city church. It is Christmas night. They have been decora ting the sanctuary. A lost wanderer of the street. with t hin shawl about h the warmth and light, comes in and sits near the door. The minister of religion is preach ing of Him who was wounded for our trans gressions and bruised for our iniquities, and the poor soul by the door said: " Whv. that must mean me! 'Mercy for the chief of sin ners; oruised for our iniquities; wounded for our transgressions.'" The music that night in the sanctuary brought back the old hymn which shs used to sing when, with father and mother, shj worshiped God in the village church. The service over, the minister went down the aisle. SLe said to him: "Were those words forme? 'Wounded for our transgressions. Was that for me?" The man of God under stood her not. Ha knew not how to comfort a shipwrecked soul, and ho tiacc1 nn ond he passed out. The poor wanderer followed into the street. "What are vou doincr hero recrV" cnid tha police. "What are you doing here to-night?" wu. sue repuea, "i was in to warm my self." And then the rattling cough came, and she held to the railing until the paroxysm was over. She passed on down the street, falling from exhaustion, recovering herself again, until after awhile she reached the outs of the city, and passed on into the oun- trV road. It Seamed sn t milia r She l-onf on the road, and she saw in the distance a light in -the window. Ah, that light had been gleaming there every night since she went away. On that country road sho passed until she came to the garden gate. She opened it and passed' up the path where she plavcd in childhood. She came to the steps and looked in at the fire on the hearth. Then she put her fingers to the latch. Oh, if that door had been locked she would havo per ished on the threshold for she was near to death! But that door had not been locked since the time she went away. She pushed opened the door. She went in and lay down on the hearth by the fire. The old house dog growled a3 he saw her enter, but there was something in the voice he recognized, and he frisked about her-until he almost pushed her down in his joy. In the morning the mother Icarny down. Rnd she saw a bundle of rags on the nearth, but when the face was uplifted, sh knew it, and it was no more old Meg of the street. Throwing her arms around the returned prodigal, she cried: "Oh, Maggie!" The child threw her arms around her mother'3 neck and said, "Oh, mother!" And while rhey were embraced a rugged form towered aoovethem. It was the father. The sever ity all gone out of his face, he stooped and took her up tenderly and carried her to mother's room and laid her down on moth er's bed, for she was dying. Then the lo one. loosing up into her mother's face, said: Wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities! Mother, do you think that means me." "Oh, yes, my darl ing," said the mother. "If mother is so glad to get you back, don't you think God is glad to get you back?" And there fhe lay dying, and all their dreams and all their prayers were filled with the words. "Wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our inquitif" until, just befom the moment of her departure, her fae lighted up, shoring the pardca of God ' ixjruppt-u upon nor soul. "And ft- - -slept away on the bosom ofa?6 TESITETtAIE. WHAT HATH GOOD TE3TTXABY DOXe' Do ye talk othe failure of Tamperance And ask what has Templary done? ' Then I'll tell Jwa story of gladness, Of joy o'er the laurels she's won So fair is the jangel of Temperance So gracious and kind is her mien' That wherever her banner has floated There may her triumphs be seen. With a heavenlv mesRAf afc., To where riotous ruin held sway And waving her white hand to heaven She swept 11 the dark snares away' Ana the desert grew fragrant with beaut? Dark places shone bright in Hope's sun' Dishonor gave place unto duty All this hasj Good Templary done. She roamed thro' the city's dark allev Where greed bartered virtue for gold' And brought from thence sad little chuw So young, yet so haggard and old And she clad the poor feet that were ban. Gave bread where before there was n. Taught lips that used cursing a prayer All this has Good Templary done. Talk not of the failure of Templary Nor ask where the triumphs have 'been F or wherever ;her banner has floated ' Oh there may her trophies be seen.' And I know in aheautiful future From dawn to the setting of son A land she.has blessed and redeemed Shall tell what Good Templary hath done. THREE r-ITTLE TrKTXKABDS. Three ragged little Italian boy?, who ages ranged from nine to twelve years sta. gered into City Hall Parkso much underthe influence of liquor that they were hardly able to stand. ' They halted! near the fountain, where a large crowd gathered to watch their drunkea antics, which continued until Park Police, men Ryersonl and Sheehan came along. One of the young inebriates was hustled away by some other boys, but the others were captured. One of the'prisoners threatened with his tiny fists the policeman who held him, while the other, the youngest ofths trio and small for his years, begged his cap tor for a drink of whisky. This lad ww barefooted. . j The children must have swallowed the stuff only a short time before, for they had not been in custody many minutes when mcy cuuapsu mto utter helplessness, and the smaller had to be carried to the Oat street police station. Neither of them was able to give his pedigree or make any stat ment. j The policemen finally took them up toira to the rooms of the Society for the Prevar tinn nf fVno'f vr HhilA - .., rri i t " . j i" vuuui uuuu iuira aveuus La train, wnich was crowded with return ing excursionists. New York Herald, i ' Tnij TEEATIXG HABIT. Men do not pesome drunkards In a day. Generallylt is ti slow process. Most youiur men owe iheir downfall to being considered genial in company. A tip-top fellow, as it were, one who is not willing to be thought t mitkSOD. H isftlrlrtm hturi animal love of drink. It is generally socia- ji.ity. generosity, companionship, a false iuea of what friendship, .decency or propri ety requires that leads htm astray. It is this detestable habit of "treating" the pre vailing idea that it is the proper thing. If you want to do an excellent thing for your self and your friends, if you feel you cannot come up to. the standard of total abstinence. shut down on treating. Neither accept nor offer a treat. This will be a great step for wards for you in embracing total abstinence, which is the bst and surest thing to do, if you are in earnest, to suppress the ravage! of intemperance. Pittsburg Catholic. TEMPERANCE SEWS AND NOTES. A blow at the saloon always hits the devil square in the face. Every man who drinks a 'little drink3 great deal too much. It flrtnt-a tho price for his first drink. The Philadelphia bartender who recom mended spring water as a summer drink was right. " It is said that in India they call liquorsold over a licensed bar "Government shame water." j Of the 317 students in tha British Congre gational theological schools, 301 aretotal& stainers. During the past twenty years the con sumption of alcoholic liquor has fallen ol one-half in England, and has doubled in France. j The graduating class of the Indiana L School had a flow of wit and good humor tt its recent banquet, but not of wine, wDici the class voted to exclude from the menu. Hon. Carroll D. Wright, the well-known statistician, recently stated that facts show that for every dollar the people receive from the saloon they pay out twenty-one." The annual parliamentary return of Eng land relating to brewing shows that over 300 breweries were closed last year, and that tie number of them has fallen from 10.000 to little over 9000 in twelve months. The Freshmen class in the Boston Tech nological School did away with all kini w intoxicating liquors at their class banqs It was carried only by a hard fight This the first class tn this institution to baaisa liquors from its banquet It is to be hoj
Eastern Courier (Hertford, N.C.)
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July 11, 1895, edition 1
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