The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-03-07
AMAN'SHOUSE Is HISCASTLE
ssThe Marriage Ring" Discourses Contin-
ued by the Rev. DR.. Talmage.
The Hallowed Memories that Only Home Can
Give the Sheet Anchor Of Life-A Sanct-
uary of Joy and Sorrow.

On Sunday. Feb. %, Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage
preached in the Brooklyn Tabernacle the eighth
of his series of sermons on '"Phe Marriage Ring"
the subject being Hotel aud Boarding-house
Life versus Home Life" Professor Henry Eyre
Browne played 20 Sanctissima, by Lux. The
whole congregation Joined in singing the hymn:
GLORY to God on high!
Let heaven and earth reply:
Praise ye His name"
DR.. Talmage expoun6ed q chapter from the
second book of Samuel, about the ark deposited
in the house of Obed-edom. about which Jose
plus says that the man was poor when the ark
was left at his house, and rich before it left.
The preacher remarked that every house is rich
which has in it the sacred chest of the divine
presence.
The text was Luke, K, "a. IS: "And brought
him to an Inn, and took care of him. And on
the morrow. when he departed, he took out two
pence and gave them to the host, and said unto
him. Take care of him, and whatsoever thou
spendest more. when I come again l will repay
thee" Following is the sermon in full:
This is the good Samaritan paying the hotel
bill Of a man who had been robbed and almost
killed by bandits. The good Samaritan had
found the unfortunate on a lonely, rocky road.
where to this very day depred atoms are some
times committed upon travellers, and had put the
injured man into the saddle, while this merciful
and well-to-do man had walked till they got to
;he hotel. and the wounded man was put to bed
and cared. for. 1t must have been q very SUI
perior hotel In It's accommodations, for, though
In the country. the landlord was paid at the rate
of what in our country would be 81 or S. a day,
a penny being then a days wages, and the two
pennies paid in this case about two days wages.
Moreover, it was one of those kind-hearted land
Horde UhA " vpannod ~ IN tho hupniuaoo IF
their guests, because the good Samaritan leaves
the poor wounded fellow to his entire care,
promising that when he came that way again he
would pay all the bills until the invalid got well.
Hotels and clearinghouse are necessities.
In very ancient times they were unknown.
because the world had comparatively few in
habitants, who were not much given to travel,
and private hospitality met all the wants of so
journers; as when Abraham rushed out at
Mamre to invite the three men to sit down to a
dinner of veal; as when Lydia urged the apostles
to accept of her home; as when the people were
positively commanded to be given to hospitality;
as in many of the places in the East these an
clent customs are p~racticed to-day. But we
have now hotels presided over by good land
lords, and boarding houses presided over by ex-
eellent host or hostess. in all neighberhoods,
villages and cities, and 1t is our congratulation
that those of our land surpass all other lands.
They rightly become the permanent residences
OF many people, such as those who are without
families, such as those whose business keeps
them migratory; such as those who ought not,
for various reasons of health or popularity of
circumstances, take upon themselves the cares
of housekeeping.
Many a man falling sick in one of these board
lighthouses or hotels has been kindly watched
and nursed, and. by the memory of her own suf-
ferings and losses. the lady at the head Of such a
house has done all that a mother could do for a
sick child. and the slumberless eye of God sees
and appreciates her sacrifices in behalf of the
Stranger. Among the most marvellous cases of
- IL-:-xs Ia ----
who keep boarding houses, enduring, without re-
sentiment, the unreasonable demands of their
guests for expensive food and attentions, for
which they are not willing to pay an equivalent
"a lot Of cranky men and women who are not
worthy to tie the shoe of their queenly caterer.
The outrageous way in which boarders some
times act to their landlords and landladies shows
that these critical guests had bad early rearing.
and that in the making up of thosr natures all
that constitutes the gentleman or lady was left
out. Some OF the most princely men and some
of the most elegant women that / know of to-day
keep hotels and boarding houses.
But one of the great evils of this day is found
In the fact that q large population of our towns
and cities are giving up and have given up their
homes and taken apartments, that they may have
more freedom from domestic duties and more
slime for social life, and because they like the
Whirl of publicity better than the quiet and
privacy Of a residence they can call their own.
The lawful use of these hotels and boarding
houses is for most people while they are in tran
stu, but as a terminus they are in many cases
decentralization, utter and complete. That is the
point at which families innuinerable have begun
to disintegrate. There never has been q time
when so many families. healthy and abundantly
able to support and direct homes Of their own.
lave struck tent and taken permanent abode in
,nese public establishments It is an evil wide
~ Christendom, and by voice and through the
rswspaper press l utter warning and burning
rotest, and ask Almighty God to bless the word,
whether in the hearing or reading.
Tn fhasa nuhlic earavanaarias tina damon of
gossip is apt to get full sway. All the boarders
run daily the gauntlet of general inspection
how they look when they como down in the
morning. and when they got in at night; and
what they did for a living. and who they receive
as guests in their rooms, and what they wear,
and what they do not wear, and how they eat.
and what they eat, and how much they eat and
how little they eat If a man proposes in such a
place to be isolated, and ~reticent. and alone. they
will begin to guess about him: Who is hef
Where did he come from? How long is he going
20 stay2 Has he paid his board2 How much
does he payf Perhaps he has some
crime and does not want to be known; there
must be something wrong about him or he
would speak. The whole house goes into
the detective business. They must find
out about him. They must find out about him
right away. II he leaves his door unlocked by
accident he will find that his rooms have been
inspected, his trunk explored, his letters folded
differently from the way they were folded when
he put them away. Who Is hea is the question
asked with intenser interest until the subject
has become q The simple fact is
that he is nobody in particular, but minds his
own business. The best landlords and land
ladies cannot sometimes hinder their places from
becoming q pandemonium of whisperers, and
feputations are torn to ~tatters. and evil sus-
picions are aroused, and scandals started, and
the parliament OF the family is blown to atoms
by some Guy Fawkes, who was not caught in
time, as was his English predecessor of gun
powdery reputation.
= Tk~ ~a,s1r L. that uhs3a - prsvafa hornou
families have so much to keep them busy, in
these promiscuous and multitudinous residences
there are so many who have nothing to do, and
that always makes mischief. They gather in
tfon about others. II they had to walk half a
mile before they got to the willing ear of some
listener to detraction. they would get out of
breath before reaching there, and not feel in full