The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1886-12-22
OFF THE TRACK"
The Many Obstacles In the Way OF
Return.
Rev. +. De Witt Talmagc Tells How tho
Shsckles Of Had Habits May BE Unriv-
lied, and How the Paths OF Viz
tue May lie Regained

Meus anu Row the Y0ths OF Viz
tue May lie Regsined
CLEVELAND, O., Dec. Rev DR. Talmage
preached in this city today. He took for his
text the thirty-fifth verse of the twenty
third chapter Of Proverbs: "When shall
awakel will seek it yet again" His sub
ject was: "Ofi the Track--How to Get ON
Again" The sermon is as follows:
With an insight INTO human nature, such
AZ no other man ever reached, Solomon, In
my text sketches the mental operations Of
one who, having stepped aside from the
path of rectitude, desires to return. With
a wish for something better he said:
"When shall awakel When shall come
out Of this horrid nightmare of iniquityW
But seized upon by uneradicated habit and
forced down hill by his passions, he cries
out: ~ will seek it yet again. will try
it once more"
Our libraries are adorned with an ele
CANT literature addressed to young mon,
pointing out to them all the dangers and
perils Of life-coinplete maps of the voyage,
showing all the rocks, the Quicksands, the
shoals But suppose man has already
made shipwreck; suppose he is already of
the track; suppose he has already gone
astray, how is he to get back! That is .
field comparatively untouched. propose
to address myself this morning to such.
There are those in this audience who, with
every passion Of their agonized soul, are
ready to hear such q discussion. They
compare themselves with what they were
ten years ago, and cry out from the bondage
In which they are incarcerated. Now, II
hos hDo iv, hnnoo 1r,;th IN
earnest purpose, yet feeling they are b.
yond the pale Of Christian sympathy, and
that the preacher can hardly be expected TO
address them, then, at this moment, give
them my right hand, and call them brother.
Look up There is glorious and triumph
ant hope for you yet. sound the trumpet
Of Gospel deliverance. The church is
ready to spread banquet at your return,
and the hierarchs Of Heaven to fall into
line Of hammered procession at the news Of
your emancipation. 80 far as God may
help me, Ipropose to show what are the
obstacles to your return, and then how you
nre to surmOunt these obstacles.
The first difficulty in the way Of your re-
turn is the force of moral gravitation. Just
a. there is natural law which brings
down to the earth any thing you throw in.
70 the air, so there is moral gravitation.
In other words, it 10 easier to 20 down than
II is to 60 up; it Is easier to do wrong than
1t is to do right. Call to mind the comrades
Of your boyhoOd days-some of them good,
some Of them bad. Which most affected
you'll Cali to mind the anecdotes you have
heard in the last five or ten years-some
of them pure and some of them i'm.
pure. Which the more easily sticks TO your
mem0rya During the years Of your life you
have formed certain courses of conduct
some Of them good, some of them bad. To
which style OF habit did you most easily
yieldi
Ali my friends, we have to take but q
moment Of self-in pection to find out that
there Is in all souls force of moral gravi.
tation. But that gravitation may be re.
sisted. Just as you may pick up from the
earth something and hold It in your hand
towards Heaven, just 90, by the power OF
Gods grace, q soul fallen may be lifted
towards peace toward pardon, toward
Heaven. The force of moral gravitation
is in every one of US, but there Is power in
Gods grace to overcome that force OF
moral gravitation.
The next thing in the way of your return
is the power Of evil habit know there
are those who say it is very easy for them
to give up evil habits. do not believe
them. Here ia man given to intoxication.
He knows it 10 degrading his family, de.
stroying his property, running him, body,
mind and soul If that man, being an in.
telligent man, could easily give up tina,
habit, would he not do sol The fact that
he does not give it up proves that it is hard
TO give it up. 1t is very easy thing "a
sail down stream, the tide carrying YOU
with great force; but suppose you turn the
boat up stream, is 1t so easy then to row III
As long as we yield to the evil inclinations
in our hearts, and our bad habits, we are
sailing down stream, but the moment We
try to turn we put our boat in the rapids
just above Niagara, and try to row w
stream.
Take q man given to the habit of using
tobacco, as most of you do, and let him re
solve to stop, and he finds it very difficult
Twenty-O years ago IQuit that habit, and
would as soon put my right hand into thu
fire as once to indulge in it. Whyi Be
cause 1t was such terrific struggle to ge,
over It. Now, let man be advised by his
physician TO give up the use of tobacco. He
goes around not knowing what to do with
himself. He can not add up line of fig
ures; he can not sleep nights; 1t seems as
il the world had turned upside down; he
feels his business is going to ruin; where
he was kind and obliging he is scolding and
fretful; the c0mposure that characterized
him has given way to q fretful rest
lessness, and he has become com
plete tidget What power IS it that
has rolled wave OF woe over the
earth and shaken portent in the Heavens
He has tried to stop smoking! After awhile
he says: 81 am going to do as please. The
doctor does not understand my case. an
going back to my old habit" And he re
turns. Every thing assumes its usual com
posure; his business seems to brighten
the world becomes an attractive place Il
live in; his children, seeing the difference
hail the return of their fathers genial dis
position. What wave of color has dashed
blue into the sky, and greenness into the
mountain foliage, and the glow of sapphire
into the sunseu What enchantment ha.
lifted q world Of beauty and Joy on his
souli He has gone back to smoking.
Obi the fact is, as we all know in our owr
experience, that habit is a taskmaster; a.
long as we obey it it does not chastise us
but let US resist and we find we are TO bt
dashed with scorpion whips and bound with
ship cable, and thrown into the track Of
bone-breaking juggernauts.
During the war of 1872 there was shir
set on lire just above Niagara Falls, and
then, cut loose from its moorings, il came
on down through the night and tossed ovel
the falls. II was said to have been q scene