The Brookhaven leader., 1886-10-07

what is the old mans surpIis s TO see his
son pass down the aisle with one Of The
silver chalices, showing him to be church
official. The fact was that Nicholas from
the start In city life honored God, and God
had honored him. when the first wave OF
city temptation struck him be had felt the
need of divine guidance and divine
protection, and in prayer had sought re-
generated heart, and had obtained that
mightiest Of all armor, that mightiest Of
all protection, that mightiest Of all REIN
forcements, the multipotent and omipotent
grace Of God, and you might as well
throw thistle down against Gibraltar,
expecting TO destroy 1t, as with all the
combined temptations of earth and hell
try to overthrow a young man who can
truthfuIly say: "God is my refuge and
strength"
Come, let us measure Nicholas around
the head. As many inches of brain as any
ether intelligent man. Let us measure
him around the heart. 1t is so large at
1t takes In all the earth and all the heav-
ems. Measure him around the purse. He
has more resources than nine-tenths of
those who on that Monday, September 20,
north, south, east and west.
But that Sabbath afternoon while in the
back room Nicholas and his father are
talking over any attempt at the reclama-
ton of Edward, there is a ringing of the
door-bell and a man with the uniform of
policeman stands there; and the man with
some embarrassment, and some hating,
and in roundabout way says that in
fight in some low haunt Of the city Ed.
ward had been hurt. He says to Nicho-
last
81 heard that he was some relation of
yours, and thou yht you ought to know it,"
"Hurtf Is he badly hurtY
"Yes, very badly hurt?"
as the wound mortal"
Eyes; it is mortal. To tell you the
whole truth, sir" says the policeman,
"although can hardly bear to tell you,
he is dead"
Dead" cried Nicholas; and by this
time the whole f. mily are in the hallway.
The father says:
"Just as l feared. It will kill his mother
when she hear5 of it. Oh, my son, my
son' Would to God had died for thee.
Oh, my son, my son."
"Wash off the wounds,' says Nicholas,
land bring him ri hit here to my house,
and let there be all respect and gentleness
shown him."
Oh, what obsequies! The next door
neighbors hardly knew what was going
on; ut Nicholas and the father and
mother knew. Out of the Christian and
beautiful home of the one brother is car
ried the diss lutte brother. No word Of
blame uttered. No harsh things said. On
a bank of camelias is spelled out "Bro-
Their" Had the prodigal been true and
pure and noble in life and honorable
in life and honorable in death
he could not have been carried forth with
more tenderness or slept in a more beauti-
full casket, or been deposited in a more
beautiful garden of the dead. Amid the
loosened turf the brothers who left the
country for city life five years before, now
part forever. The last SC ne of the fifth
act of an awful tragedy of human life is
ended.
What made the difference letween these
two young men? Religion The one de-
pended upon himself, the other depended
on God. They started from the same
cation, arrived in the city on the same
day, and.if there was any difference, Ed
ward had the advantage, for he was
brighter and quicker, and all the neigh
bors prophesiel greater success for him
than for Nicholas. But behold and won.
der at the tremendous secret. Voices
come up out of this audience and say:
ibid you know these brothers,"
Eyes; knew them WE'LL"
"Did you know their parents"
eyes; intimately"
Why this sermonp l have made up nv
mind that our city life is destroying too
many young men. There comes in every
September and October a large influx Of
those between sixteen and twentv- four
years Of age, and New York and Brook.
lyn damn at least a thousand of them
every year. They are shoveled on and
down with no more conjunction than that
with which q coal-heaver scoops the an
thracite into dark cellar What with
the wine-cup and the gamblers dice, and
the scarlet enchantress no young man,
without the grace Of God, is safe ten min
utes.
There is much discussion about which is
the worst city of the continent. Some say
New York, some say New Orleans, some
say Chicago, some say st. Louis. What I
have to say is, you can not make much
between the infinites, and in
all our cities the temptation seems infini Q.
We keep a great many mills run
ming day and night. No rice
mills or cotton mills. Not mills of corn or
wheat, but mills for grin ding up men.
Such are all the grog- shops, licensed and
unlicens d. Such are all the gambling
saloons Such are all the houses of in.
famy. And we do all the work according
to law, and we turn out new grist every
hour, and grind up warm hearts and clear
heads, and the earth about a cider mill is
not more saturated with the beverage than
the ground about all these mind destroy
ing institutions is saturated with he
blood of victims. We say to Long Island
and villages:
"Send us more supply"
And to Westchester and Ulster and all
the other counties of New York:
"Send US more men and women TO put
under the wheels"
o, man and woman, ponder the path of
thy feet! See which way you are going.
Will you have the destiny of Edward or
Nicholas? On this sacramento day, when
the Furnished chalices stand in the pres
ence of the people, start from the foot Of
the cross for usefulness and Heaven. Plu-
tarch tells us that after Cse sar was slain
and his twenty three wounds had teen
displayed to the people, arousing an un.
comfortable excitement, and the
body of the dead conqueror, &C.
cordino IN anciant cuStomc had