Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1878-10-29
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION.
Gates Of Hell.

1
Gates Of Hell.
Ia his sermon, last Sunday. 10 Brookl;n,
Rev. Dr.. Talmage, said:
| But" said, lit is eleven 'ccck, and va
must be off," and our carriage rolled on tGW'rf
the gates of hell. Who shall describe them
They are FURNISHED until they sparkle 10 tho
ga.licht; they are mighty and set in sockets OF
deep and dreadful masonry; they arc high, 30
| that thcss inside may not climb over; they sro
heavy, but swing easily in to let those IN who
would be destroyed. l went ID, and am here
| this morning to sketch them. We did not
stand looking at the outside. | shall tell you
What these gates are made OF.
Gate the First-Impure literature. a great
dea! of the bad literature is not gripped OF the
law, but it is in your parlors and your libraries
Some of your ohildreo read it at night after
they retre-the gasburner swinging as near az
possible to the pillow. Much of this lireraturs
is under the title of scientific information. 1t Is
| appalling that men and women who might got
| from their family physician al the useiu! 10
| formation needed, and without any contamlna'
ton, should wade chin deep through aceursed
| literature under the plea OF getting useful
| knowledge, and that printing presses, hopsog
| to bs called decent, lend themselves to this 10
fanny. Fathers and mothers, be not deceived
BY the title medical work" Nine tentbs OF
such books come bot from the lost void. Then
| there are the novelettes flung over the lard by
| the million. No one systematically reads the
average novelette, of the day and keeps either
integrity or virtue. On, this is wide gate Ct
| hell There are million men and women 10 the
United States to day reading themselves toto
hell. Scour your house to day to ind ~hsth-
er there are any of these adders colled on you:
parIor table. One bad book or picture may do
the work for eternity.
Gate the Seoond-The dissolute dance. You
know of what l speak. 1t is the first step to
eternal ruin for great multitude Of both sexes
You know what postures and figures are sus-
Rested by the devil They who glidc 10 the
dissolute dances glide over an iuclined plane,
and the dance is swifter and swilter and wilder
and wilder, until, with the speed Of lightning,
they whir off the edges Of a decent life into
fiery future. This gate of hell is SO wide that
it swings across the Administer of many FASH
ionable parlor and across the ball room OF the
summer watering place. You haye 20 right to
take any attitude to the sound OF music which
would be unbecoming in the absence OF Euslc.
Gate tho Third-Iudiscree attire. Tho attire
of women for the last few years has been beau
,iful, but there are those who always carry that
which is right into the extraordinary aDd the
indisoreet [ am told there is fashion to come
from Paris shocking to all righteousness. l
charge Christian women neither by style OF
dress nor adjustment of apparel to become al =
ministratiye Of evil. Perhaps no one e'a, will
dare tell you. so will tell you that there are
multitudes of men who owe their cteraa! dam
patton to boldness Of Woma1ly attire. Az
plause.
Gate the Fourth-Alcoholic Beverages. In
our night exploration We found that all the slos
of wickedness were done under the cnchert-
ment of the wine cup. That was what tho
waiter carried on the platter that was what
goWed on the table that flushed the cheeks
Of the patrons who came 10; that staggered
the steps Of the patrons as they went out. Tho
wine cup is ths patron Of impurlty. Nearly
all the men who 20 into the Shamblos OF death
20 Intoxicated monta uad spirltua! abol.
ished, the brute ascendant. Tell me ycure
man drinks and | know the whole story. No
man ever runs drunkenness alone. That Is
csrrion crow that travels 10 f,ck. La other
words the vine cup uabaanccs and dethrouea
ones better judgment and leaves him prey
to all the evil appetites that may chooso to
alight upon his soul. There is not place c!
sin 10 the United States to day but fods its
chief abetter 10 the chalices OF inebriaoy. The
court that licenses the sao Of strong driuk
licenses gaming. licenses libartlnlsm, ccusc'
diseases, licenses DEATH licenses all crimes. all
suferings, all disasters, all woes. 1t Is the
legislatures aud courts that swing wide open
this grinding, roaliog, stupendou5 gate OF the
lost.
But you say, tell us how these gates
| swing out to allow the escape of the poniteut.
I reply but very few escape. Oat of a thousand
that 20 in nine hundred and ninety nine perish.
| Suppose one of these wanderers shonId koock
| at your door, would you admit hcr2 Would
you introduce her among your acqualntanccs /:
| Would you take the responsibility of pulling en-
| the outside of the gate of hell while she pushed
on the Inside Of that gate, trying to get out?
You would not. You Writo poetry oVcr her
! sorrows and weep over her misfortune, but help
her you never will. There is not one person
| ont of 900 that has come 80 near to the heart
| of the Lord Jesus Christ as to dare to help one
Of these fallen souls. Are thero no ways OF es-
cape? Oh, yes; three or four. Ooe ls tho sew
ing girls garret. diugy, cold. hunger blasted.
Another ia the street that leads 10 the East
River, at midnight, the end Of the city wharf.
| The moon shining down 90 the water makes it
look SO smooth that she wonders if it is deep
enough. 1t il; 90 boatman near to hear the
plunge, uO Watcumau W pich uci out pcioio oho
sinks the third time. Another Way Of escape
is by the curve OF the Hudson River Railroad
at the point where tho engineer of the lightning
express train cant sec moro than hundred
rods ahead to the form that lies across the track.
He may whistle dowa brakes, but not soon
enough to disappoint the one who seeks her
death. Will not God forgive? Yes, but man
wilt mol; women will not; society will not; the
church says it will. but will not Our wolk must
be prevention rather than cure. 1t ls not 90
much that may persuade one that has fallen
to crawl up az to warn those who are gong toe
near the edges.
I - ~, II ,lh G