Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-02-12
SERMON.
lad OFF the stage" the Brook
NV 1vn Preachers Theme

..ad OF the Stage" the BROOK
lvn Preachers Theme
.rnd,ne Drama of Everyday
Ns the Characters it Devel'
l''' s-vny some Succeed and
others Miserably Fail.
sermon delivered by the Rev
a ,r rt Talmage at the Brooklyn Taber-
announced as the subject OF MS
e. II. missed Off the Stage" taxing
s,lowing as his text;
lc''0 wv, ola, Their hands ut him and shall
cn sha. n Of his place.-Job, xvii, ~.
i" r,s;on seems to be dramatic. The
hls aro than once makes such allusion.
le NV. nWe are made a theater Tor
sa Wy, to angels and to men," The
c1"vf y. 90 old that no n can fix the
aver ~ lirth. Archilochus, Simonides
E o. who wrote for it dithyrambics,
so rnr+ 500 or 100 years before Christ.
u ":asut from the text that some of the
aoors we're known in Jobs time,
a'" ?, the text he describes an actor
au'' 81 the stage. The impersonator
STU the boards, and, either through
Ns ss,udy of the part he is to take or in
" or other incapacity, the audience
n 'Tarded, and express their disappro-
E.n and disgust first by over-applause,
I l"nt;na bv great clapping of hands to
NY mt what he says; and that failing
'.on the performer, they put theirtongue
s ';uf, their teeth and make terrific sibil-
E;,n until he disappears behind the cur
.Men shall clap their hands at him
a .noll hiss him out of his place"
:. ,.yt suggests that each M of us is
IN lAr stage of this world to take some
Mccullough, the actor recently
~. was no more certainly appointed
NV occasion to appear as %Spartacus, or
aw,n Forrest as King Lear, OF Charlotte
.,nmau as Meg Merrilies, or John KEN
sss Macbeth, or Cooke as Richard III,
yam rs Othello, than you and l r ex-
kerd to take some special and particular
~, IN the great drama of human and inn
Ir,.,l life, Through what hardship and
Lycri,g and discipline these artists went
AZ, after wear that they might be perfect
in their parts, you have often read.
I. we, nut on the stage of this life to rep
ISN'T charity and faith and humility and
s.fulncss-what little preparation we
Ers made, although we have three CALLER
# spectators, earth and heaven and
N. Have we not been more attentive to
le part taken by others than to the part
aken BY ourselves, and while we needed to
g looking at home and concentrating on
III own duty, we have been
riticising the other performers and
aying "that was too high" or
too low" or "too feeble" or "too
Exta7agant" or "too tame' or "too
aemonstrative," while we are making our
elves q dead failure and preparing to be
ANONYMOUSLY Kissed off the stage? Each
ne is assigned a place; no s%upernumer-
ries hanging around the drama of life to
akc this or that or the other part, as he
nay be called upon. No one can take our
|lace, We can take no other place. Aye,
is not the impersonation of another; we
ourselves are the real Merchant Of Venice,
Pr the real Shylock. the real ilial Cor
ella Or the real cruel Regan, the real
|ortia or the real Lady Macbeth. The
f~agedian of the playhouse, at the close of
be third scene of the fifth act, takes off
be attire of Gonzalo, or Edward Mortimer,
Henry v, and resigns the character in
Which for three hours he appeared. But
nc never put off u character, and no
hanse Of apparel can make us any one
Use than that which we eternally are.
Many make a failure of their part In the
lrama of life through dissipation. They
nave enough intellectual equipment and
e'od address, and geniality unbounded.
DMt they have a wine closet that contains
III the forces for their social and business
no moral overthrow. So far back as $50
Ans Edgar of England made q law that
ne drlnk'cups should have pins fastened
d certain point in the side, so
nas the indulger might be reminded
y stop before he got to the bottom. But
tneie are no pins projecting from the
EueS OF the modern wine cup or
tvv III mug and the first point at which
(nli'ohs stop is at the gravelly bottom of
their own grave.
america Is a fruitful country, and we
[a'ss large quantities Of wheat and corr
[ Nv oa's' but the largest crop we raise in
f W., country is the crop Of drunkards.
h 'I sickle made out of the sharp edges of
luz 'foAen glass of bottle and demijohn
lucy are cut down, and there are whole
'""tnes OF them, whole winrows of them
nn' II taxes all the hospitals and peniten-
Ls'5 !tS ana graveyards and cemeteries to
wv ms harvest of hell. Some of YOU arc
IY."S Town under this evil and the never.
oEn of alcoholism has wound
''. you one of its coils, and by
,n", Ne" Years Day it will have
,,t,. ner con around you, and it will
toM awhile, put a coil around YOU
roi 7"v' ana a coil around your brain and &
NV, "ouilu your lungs, and a coil around
inn "eart; and some day this never-dy'
ths Urn VIII, with II spring, tighten al
sV's at once, and in the first twist Q.
mn a"fui c%onvulsion you will cry GU
), "s "od" and be gone. The creates
, "a journalists, in the tragedy of the Tenn
>to sends staggering across the stag,
mPAalo, the drunken butler: but acros
Stage of human life strong drinl
,m mu' A'hsly and queenly and princely ma
iai. staggering forward against the foot
,s.ls " consplcuity, and then staggering
or th.o failure, till the world is impatien
,i,,"n eir disappearance, and human an
''c voices join in kissing them off tn
Many also make a failure in the dram