Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1872-12-12
Fireside Department.

Fireside Department.
The Battle Of Pew and Pulpit.
By THE REv. T. DE WITT rALMAGE,D.D
Two more sermons unloaded,
and Monday morning,I i went saun
tering down town, ready for al
most anything. l met several ol
my clerical friends going to q
ministers meeting. l do not Of
ten 60 there, for 1 have found
that some of the clerical meet
ings are gridirons where theyroas1
clergymen who do not do thing:
just as we do them. I like 9
Presbyterian gridiron no better
than q Methodist one, and prefer
to either of them an old-fashion.
ed spit, t,such as 1 saw, this sum
mer, in Oxford, England, where
the rabbit is kept turning round
before a slow fire, in blessed state
of itinerancy, the rabbit thinking
he is merely taking ride, while
he is actually roasting.
As on the Monday morning
spoke of, 1 was passing down the
street, I heard high words in a
church. What could it bel
Was it the minister, and the sex
ton, and the trustees, fighting
/ went in to see, when, 10!
found that the Pew and the Pull
pit were bantering each other at
a great rate, and seemed deter
mined to tell each one the others
faults. Istood still as a mouse
that l might hear all that was said
and my presence not noticed.
The Pen was speaking as
went in, and said to the Pulpit,
in anything but a reverential
tone. Why don't you speak out
on other days as well as you do
to-day? The fact isl never knew
a Pulpit that could not be heard
when it was thoroughly mad.
But when you give out the hymn
on Sabbaths,I cannot tell wheth-
er it is the SEVENTEEN or the hun
dredth. When you read the
chapter,you are half through with
it before I know whether it il
Exodus or Deuteronomy. Why
do you begin your sermon in SO
low a key? If the introduction
is not worth hearing, it is not
worth delivering. Are you ex-
planning the text? If so, the
Lords meaning is as important
as anything you will have in your
sermon. Throw back your shoul-
ders. Open your mouth! Make
your voice strike against the op-
posite wall! Pray not only for a
clean heart, but for stout lungs.
have nearly worn out my ears
trying to catch your utterances.
When a captain on a battlefield
gives an order, the company all
hear; and if you want to be an
officer in the Lords army, do not
humble your words. The elo-
cution of Christ's Sermon is de-
scribed when we are told that he
opened his mouth and taught
them-that is spoke distinctly ,as
those cannot who keep their lips
half closed. Do you think it a
sign of modesty to speak so lows
l think the most presuming thing
on earth for pulpit to do is to
demand that an audience sit
quiet when they cannot hear,
simply looking. The handsom-
est minister l ever saw is not
worth looking at for an hour and
half at stretch. The truth is
that l have often been so pro-
voked with your inarticulate
speech that l would have got up
and left the church, had it not
been for the fact that l am nail
ed fast, and my appearance on
the out side on a Sabbath day,
walking up and down, would
have brought around me a crowd
of unsanctified boys to gaze atme,
a poor church-pew on its travels.
The Pulpit responded in any
thing but pious tone. The rea-
son you do not hear is that your
mind on Sundays is full of every
thing but the Gospel. You work
SO hard during the week that
you rob the Lord of his twenty
four hours. The man who works
on Sunday as well as the rest
of the week is no worse than
you who abstain on that day
because your excessive devotion
to business during the week kills
your Sunday; and a dead Sun
day is no Sunday at all. You
throw yourself into church as
much as to say. Here, Lord, 1
am, too tired to work any more
for myself; you can have the use
of me while 1 am resting! Be-
sides that, o Pew! you have a
miserable habit. Even when
you can hear my voice on the
Sabbath and are wide awake,
yon have way of putting your
head down or shutting your eyes
and, looking as if your soul had
vacated the premises for six
weeks. You are one of those
hearers who think it is pious to
look dull and you think that the
Pew On the other side the aisle is
an old sinner because he hunch-
es- the Pew behind him, and
smiles when the truth hits the
mark. If you want me TO speak
out, it is your duty not. only to
be wide awake, but to look so.
Give us the benefit of your two
eyes. There is one of the elders,
whose eye l have never caught |
while speaking, save once, and
that was when l was preaching
from Psalms lis: -. They com |
passed me about like bees, and