The New Orleans daily Democrat., 1878-11-11
PULPIT THEATRICALS.
THE REV. FR. TALWAaE HN A HAPPY
VEIN YESTERDAY.

A Crowded Tabernacle and m Racy SER
amon-aonne Hard Facts Ably Present.
ea-Tne Services Close with ~ HaaleAiCs
sion ana IN Roar of Applause.
BnooKhYN, N. Y, Nov. 10-Ihers was a
stretching Of nscks, straining Of eyes and a
general sensation in the Tabernacle this morn
ing. rs the fhnous pastor, Rev. MI Talmage,
half buried beneath q heavy beaver oveicoat.
with o crumpled up felt hat in bis hand and
upon his countenanoe, fought his way through
the throng of humanity That was STRUGGLING
ut the entrances for admission There were
1000 people in attendance and over 1000 were
entry. At 10 80 O'Clock the three stars were
IN their places-Talnlage on the stage Nor
gan Mt the organ aud Arbuckle with his silver
cornet, ready to lead the singing.
After the usual preljmary services Mr..
Talmage advanced to tho front Of the plat
FORM and, striking an attitude bordering on
the lndicrous, announced In q GtentOriau
voice as his text: Proverbs tO-t5, "The Do
structton Of the poor in their poverty"
Then he paused, glanced admiringIy down at
the group Of reporters and repeated it. Then
drawing long breath ho began:
con Oh island nine miles long by two and n
half miles wido stands the largest city of this
continent. A city mightest for virtue and
for vice. Before ! get through with this series
OF sabbath morning discouises | shall show
you the uidnoon of It's magnificent progress
its crime and sin Twice in every twenty
four hours our city hall and old Trinity
clocks strike twelve. Once while business
and art are in full blast, and once while Ini
guilty Is doing its uttermoet. Both stories
must be told, It Is plcasnntor to put
on q plaster than to thrust in a
probe, but 1t is absurd to propose
remedies for q diseaso until we have taken
diagnosis Of tho disease. Tho patient may
squirm, crlnge, fight back and resist, but tho
surgeon must go on. Before | got through
this series Of sermons | shall mpke you all
smilo at tho beautiful things | will say about
the character and magntioence Of this cluster
OF citios but my work Is now excavation and
exposure. ! have Us much amusement MS any
man Of my profession can afford to indulge in
at any one tinc in seeing some Of the clerical
retormcrs OF this day mount their war
chargers, dig In their spurs, and with glitter
ing lance dash down upon the iuuuities of
the cities that have been three or four thou
sand years dead. II,aughter.] These men
will capture an old siunnr Of twenty OF thirty
centuries ago, and sea p him and hang him
and cut him to pieces, and then say. "Ah,
what great things have been done" With
great prowcss thoy throw sulphur at Sodum,
and worms at Herod. and pitch another over
the wall, but they wipe off their gold spocta-
cles and put on their kid gloves, and unrol
their morocco-covereds sermons and look bash
ful, when they begin to speak about the sins
Of our cities as though it were a sin to men
tiOn them
up to bis subject and with II lcap and %
bound be yelled "Oh, yc hvnocritps that
are afraid of the libertines and The men who
drink too much, IN your churches. and those
who grind the faces Of thep poor : better, ] say.
clear outal our audiences from pulpit to storm
Ipr. until no one is left but the sexton. who
only remains TO lock up. than 10 have the pull |
pit afraid Of the pow, The cities standing on
the ground are to be reformed"
MI Ialmage paused for breath and then |
continued with city missionaries and tho
police I have seen things ! have not said |
The night side OF New York is darker than
any other. No, gIittering chandeliers. no
blazing mirror adornsit. It is u long. deep, |
exhaustive night OF city pauporism. We
wont want a carriage tonight. said tho de- |
tective, 1t will hinder us. A carriage going !
along the street would only drive people out |
to sec what is the matter So wo went on
foot 10 the haunts of poverty. finding q mid |
night Of crime and Iaupclism. The at |
mosphere was surcharged with malOder ;
the stairs were oozing with filth the in
mates of tho places were uino-tenths OF the
journey toward their final doom. They
started in some unhappy home but when
they move from their present abode they go
TO hel'nyue hospital and from there to Black
potters' field, and when they move from that
they will move into he'll.
Now let tho police go ahead Tbcy flash
their lig hit, and fourteen persons are soen try
ing to sleep in one room many OF them with
u, |
There are 17H000 families in New York city
living In tenement houses, and multitudcs Of
these people are dying by inches In the
fourth ward 1900 people are living within q
space OF thirty acres. There will be no re-
formation for these cities until tho tenement
houses are broken up. Tho cluster Of cities
have more difficulties than any other city in
the land. You must understand that within
the last twcnty-oight years 5,0Oo,n0O Of foreign
population havC arrived. Tho capitalist went
West. Many staid hero and have become our
best citizens and church mombere, but many
were vagrants. We had enough vngabontlngo
before this importation of sin at Castle Gar
den"
Mr.. Talmage thon referred to poverty and
said that an old-fashioncd silllcn purse caught
IN tho middle with ring, with tho wealth of
Vanderbilt IN one end and the wealth OF VIM.
Il. Astor in the other, could not satisfy the
demand for aid or course he spoke of their
money while they lived, because we nll were
better off than they were now: but oven with
the shroud of the grave we found that their
money was contested, for cursed be the
lnguars at st. Marks church yard"
said Talmage abruptly, and this sentiment
educed loud applause.
Mr. Talmage closed by ptcturng the COM
forts Of Christian and happy home and con-
Q 2sting 1t with the misery Of New York
home life.