The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1882-09-28
TALM AGE.
The Influences of Our Unhappy
Homes.
Sermon by the Rev. Dewitt TaImage
Preached in Brooklyn Tabernacle,
Sunday, Sept. u, 1882.

TExT-U Kings, iy. 40: $50 they
Doured out for the men to eat; and IL
lame TO pass, as they were eating of the
.ot4sge that thev cried out and said:
q anon man of God, there is death in
che not and they could not eat there
elisha had gone down to lecture to
Rba Theological students in the semina-
70 i'm Gilgal. He found the students
Tsry hungry. Students are apt TO be.
IN order that he might proceed with his
Eeetures successfully he sends out some
servants to gather food Tor these nun
Ery students. The servants are some
8Rat reckless in their work, and while
shev Gather up some healthful herbs
Shev at the same time gather eoloquln-
tids a bitter, poisonous, deathful weed,
md thew bring all the herbs TO the
6onse and nut them in caldrOn and
afir them mn, and then bring the food
IN the table, where are seated the stu
dents and their professors. one OF the
students takes some of the mixture ana
puts il to his lips, and Immediately
sasfps the cOlOquintida, and he cries out
sH tba nrOfessor: so thou man of God,
ihere is death in the pot" What con,
Sfernation it threw upon the group!
what fortunate thing it was he found
ant i'm time. so as to save the lives or
Ais comrades. Well, there are now In
me world a great many caldrons OF
aeath. The cOloquintida OF mighty
KemptatiOn fills them. Some taste ana
guit, and are saved; Others taste ana
sat on and die. Is not that minister OF
christ doing the right thing when ne
points out these caldrOns or lnlqulty
and cries the alarm, saying: Beware!
There is death in the DOt?" In place
In Florence there is a frescO of GiOttO.
BOr many wears that frescO was covered
40 with two inches thickness OF white
Iash and il has only been in recent
simes that the hand of art has restored
fbat frescO. What sacr1lege," you say,
TO destroy the work Of so great mas
sgr." But there Is no sadness in that
compared with the fact that the image
Sf God in the soul has been covered up,
almost obliterated, so that no human
hand can restore the Divine lineaments.
FDiuuity is a coarse, Jagged thing, that
needs to be roughly handled. You have
40 right to garland it with fine phrase
ar lnsfrOus rhetoric. You can not catch
= bnffalo with a silken lassO. Men have
NO objections to having their sins look
Al at in a pleasant light. They Will be
very glad to sit for their photographs If
YOU make a handsome picture. But
avery Christian philanthrOpist must
soIIisiOn with transgressiOn. l was in
A whaling port, and 1 saw vessel that
Mad been on whaling cruise come into
che harbOr, and it had patched sail and
SnIicad rigging and beSpattered deck,
showing hard times and rough work,
and so | have seen Christian philanthrO-
Dists come hack from some crusade
against public iniquities. They have
been compelled to acknowledge that 1t
has not been yachting over summer
fakes. but it has been Outriding tenn
nest and haTpOOning great behemOths.
a company of emigTantS settle in
Wild region. The very first day beast
from the mountains comes down and
sarries off one of the children, and the
Iext dav another beast comes and car
rjes off another child. Forthwith all
the neiphhOrs band together and with
torches in one hand and a gun in the
sther they go down into the cayerns
where those wild beasts are secreted to
sIay them.
r Now nv Christian friends, this morn
ing want to go back of all public ini-
nuity and find out its hiding place. l
want to know what are the caldrOns
from which these iniquities are dipped
out. Unhappy and undisciplined homes
are the source of much iniquity. A
EoOd home is deathless in it's influences.
Parents NAV be gone, the old homestead
NAV be sold and have passed out of the
possession of the family. The house
itself may be torn down. The meadow
brook that ran in front OF the house
NAV have changed its course or have
Sffied mn. The long line of Old-fash-
fOned sun flowers and the hedges of
Wild rose may have been graded, and in
place thereof are now the beauties Of
modern gardening. The old poplar tree
nav have cast down its crown of Verdure
and NAV have fallen. You say you
ywould like to 90 back little while and
3ee that home aud you go, and oh, how
changed it isl Yet that place will never
lose its charm over your soul. That first
Sarthly home will thrill through your
Everlasting career. The dewdrOps that
NON dashed from the chickweed as you
drove the cows afield thirty years ago,
Che fire-flies that flashed in your fathers
home on summer nights when the even
mgs were too short for a candle; the
Einged pebbles that you gathered In
your apron on the margin Of the creek;
The berries that you strung into neck
Ace, and the daisies that you plucked
6Or your hair, all have gone into your
sentiments and tastes, and you will
never get over them. The trundle-bed
where you slept, the chair where you
Ahb, buO UluO-OuSOu uAoh Ou9 Va "AANh
YOU ate, your sisters skipping-rOpe,
your brothers ball, your kite, your hoop,
your mothers smile, your fathers frown
they are all part Of the fibre of your
immortal nature. The mother of mis-
sionary Schwartz threw light on the
8usky brow of the savages to whom he
preached long after she was dead. The
mother of Lord Byron pursued him as
With a fend's fury into all lands,
stretching gloom and death into "Childe
Harold" and don JUAN" and lowering
IN darkness over the lonely grave Of
MissOlOnghi.
Rascalfy and vagabond people for the
most part come forth from unhappy
homes. Parents harsh and cruel, or, on
che other hand, lenient to perfect loose
ness, are raising up generation of vi
pers. A home in which scolding and
fault-fnding predominant is blood rela-
tiOn to the gallows and penitentiary.
Petulance is a reptile that may crawl
1p into the family nest and crush it.
There are parents who disgust their
children even with religion. They scold
their little ones for not loving God.
They go about even their religious du
T1as