The Indiana State sentinel., 1880-03-31
TABERNACLE SERMONS.
Discourse of Rev. T. Dewitt Talmags.
On the College Student.

And the king aPpoiRted them a daily provision ot
nourishing years that at the end thereof
they might stand before the king.-Dsniel t.
Since left you u days ago have travel
ed over 5000 miles, and had opportunity of
addressing great multitudes of young men
in the larger cities of Pennsylvsnis, Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, and have never
been so impressed with the magnificent op-
portunities opening before young men, or
with the temptations to which they are sub
jected, or with their great need of full heart
ed sympathy. And what observed during
the past 10 days may give somewhat OF
coloring to the subject that L present this
morning. My text opened the door of
college in Babylon, and introduces You to
young student II years of age, Daniel by
name Be not surprised if in the college you
find many hilarities. Put a hundred young
men together and they are sure to have
good time. There is no harm in that. God
does not write out the trees and the grass and
the blossoms in dull prose. The old robin
does not sit moping in the nest because of the
chirpings and the lively adventures of the
fedglings that have Just begun to fly. Do
not come into an orchard looking for
winter apples on May morning. But Daniel
of the text is far from being gay. What OPP
pressive thoughts must have come over him
as he remembered that he was captive in a
STRANGE land. The music that
came into his study-window was not the song
of Zion, but the sound of flute
sackbut, and dulcimer IN the worship of
heather god. Moreover, he had no hope of
ever getting back home again and meeting
those who had missed him long, and missed
him bitterly, wondering if he were still alive,
anC finding many luxury tasteless because
they did not know but Daniel might be lack
ing bread. When YOU and / were in school
or college, and the vacation approached, we
were full of bright anticipation, and we could
not study the last day, and we could not
sleep the last night. The lexicon and the
philosophical apparatus were transparent, so
we could see right through them into the
meadows and the orchards. Not so with
poor Daniel He did not know that he should
ever escape from captivity. or, escaping, he
did not know but when he got home the
loved ones would be dead, and he would go
wandering and weeping among the sepul-
chres of his fathers. Beside that, the king
tried to make him forget his hOmeGnd forget
his country; for that purpose, actually
changed his name. The king wanted him
to be a prodigy in personal appearance,
and so he ordered meat and wine
sent from his own table to Daniel;
but Daniel refuses all this, and puts himself |
upon the humblest diet, the poorest of all !
herbs, called pulse and plain water. His at
tendants cry out against this, and tell him he /
will perish under such diet. "NO," he says,
''you try us for 10 days, and if at the end of
that time we are not full-cheeked and robust /
as any it will be surprising" Ten days pass
along, and the students come up for exami- /
ton, and all declare that none are so ruddy /
aid robust as Daniel and his itSsllow-captives.
The years of industrious pupilage Pass by, /
and the day of graduation has come, ano ,
Daniel gets bis diploma, signed by the king
and reading as follows;
''Iu all matters of wisdom and understanding that
the king inquired of them he found them 10 times
better than all the msgcians and sstrologers that
were in all his realm"
And so Daniel took the first honor, and /
here the story endsi for Daniel the student |
hereafter will be Daniel the prime minister.
The first thought suggested to me by this /
subject is that young men may be carried i
into captivity by their enemies There is a Z
captivity more CALLING than the one into
which Daniel was transported; it is the cap I
tivity of evil habit. Men do not go into that
willingly. Slyly and imperceptibly are the I
chains forged upon them, and one day thew f
wake up to find themselves away down in i
Babylon. Cyrus consented that some of his /
eaptives should go, and $4,000 of /
them accepted the opportunity; but !
tell me what evil habit ever con- |
sented to let man go. Ten plaques /
made Pharaoh consent to the departure of /
Ged's people; but tell me what Pharaoh of I
evil habit ever cheerfully consented to let /
any ofits victims go. Men talk of evil hab- /
its as though they were light and trivial; !
but they are scorpion whips that tear the /
flesh; they make road of spikes mora
bloody than the path of Brahmin; they are
the poisonous robe of Nessus; they are the /
sepulchre in which millions are buried alive. I
The young are in more peril because
they are unsuspecting. The lions are
asleep in their soul, and their power is not
known. The time when a ships company
makes mutiny is where the watchman is off |
his guard. When spider meets fly it
does not say: "Go down with me to the
place where / murder insects" No. 1t
says. ''Come and take walk with me on
this bridge of gOssamer." Oil there is a
OlHcIcuCc DcbWccH Luc epuIhlo VI tue ser /
pent's eyes and the crush of its Shiny folds.
There is a difference between the bears paw
toying with kid and the cracking bones in
the terrific hug. Pixies Peak looks beauti-
ful in the distance, but ask the starved
travellers by the roadside what they think
of Pixies Peak. Oh2 are there those around
who suspicious companions are gathering2
Do their jests and their entertainments make
the hours go blithely by when you
are with them? Have you taken sip
from their cup Of sin, or gone
with them in one path Of unrighteousness2
Turn back. From Babylon they come, and
to Babylon they would carry you. If so
many plague-stricken men would like to
enter your companionship. before anyone
is allowed TO pass into the intimacy Of your
heart put on them severest quarantine.
Ny subject also impresses me with the fact
that early impressions are almost ineface-
able. Daniel had a religious bringing up.
From the good meaning of his name l know
he had pious parentage. But as soon as he
comes into the possession of the king his