The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1886-12-09
"OFF THE TRACK"
The Many Obstacles in the Way of
Return.
Rev. 7. De witt Talmage Tells How the
shsckles of Bad Habits May Be Unriv-
tied, and How the Paths of vlr-
= tue May BE RegaIned.

CLEVELAND, O., Dec. 5-Rev. DR.. Talmaee
preached in this city to-day He took for bis
text the thirty-ffth verse of the twenty
third chapter Of Proverbs: "When shall
awakei will seek it yet again" His sub
Iect was: Ion the Track-How to Get on
Again" The sermon is as follows:
With an insight INTO human nature, such
as 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
wish for something better he said I;
When shall awakei When shall come
out Of this horrid nightmare Of iniquityl"
But seized upon by unersdicated habit and
forced down hill by his passions, he cries
out: IL will seek it yet again. Twill try
il once more"
Our Libraries are adorned with an ele.
giant literature addressed 10 young men,
pointing out TO them all the dangers and
pcrils Of lifc-complete maps Of the voyage,
showing all the rocks, the quicksands, the
shoals. But suppose a man has already
made shipwreck; suppose he is already oh
the track; suppose he has already gone
astray, how is he to get backs That is e
field comparatively untouched. PROPOSE
10 address myself this morning to such.
There are those in this auoynce who. with
every passion of thelp agonized soul, are
ready TO hear sp<'h discussion. They
compare themselves with what they were
ten years 49,, and cry outfrom the bondage
III whlcP they are incarcerated. Now, IL
there DC any In this house, come with an
or nest purpose yet feeling they are be-
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.
I.o1k up. There is glorious and triumph
ant hope for you yet sound the trumpet
OF Gospel deliverance. The church is
ready to spread d banquet at your return,
and the hierarchs of Heaven TO fall into
line Of hammered procession at the news of
your emancipation So far as God may
help me, Ipropose TO show what are the
obstacles to your return, and then how YOU
are TO surmount these obstacles.
The first difficulty IN the way Of your re-
turn is the force o. moral gravitation. Just
as there Is natural law which brings
down 70 the earth any thing you throw in.
to the air. so there is a moral gravitation.
III other words, IT is easier to go down than
il is to go up; it is easier 10 do wrong than
IT 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! Cali to mind the anecdotes you have
of the2n pure and some of them i'm
pure, Which the more easily sticks TO your
memory! 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
yieldl
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
10 give up evil habits. ! do not believe
them Here is man given to intoxication.
He knows it is degrading his family, de-
stroying his property, running him, body,
mind and soul. If that man. being an in
teIIigent man, could easily give up that
habit, would he not do 500 The fact that
he does not give it up proves that it is hard
II give 1T up. 1t is very easy thing to
SAD down stream, the tide carrying you
with great force; but suppose you turn the
boat /. Q stream, is 1t so easy then TO row it,
AS long as we yield to the evil inclinations
III 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 up
stream.
Take 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.
TweDty-onc years ago Iquit that habit, and
lwouid as soon put my right hand into the
fire az once TO indulge in it, Why! Be-
cause 1t was such terrific struggle to get
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 lie can not add up line of fig
ureS; he can not sleep nights it seems as
ii the world had turned upside down, he
lie hiS hnE to eIas
Ire was kind and obliging he is scoldng and
fretful; the comPosure that characterized
him has given way TO fretful rest
lessness. and he has become COM
plete Midget. What power is it that
mas rolled wave Of woe over the
e9'rth and shaken portent in the Heavensi
He has tried TO stop smoking After awhile
he says: 81 am going TO do as please, The
doctor does not understand my case. am
going back to my old habit" And he re-
turns. EVc3y thing assumes its usual com
posurei his business seems TO brighten;
the world becomes an attractive place to
1--WE IN; his children, seeing the difference,
Lall 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 sunset What enchantment has
lifted world of beauty and Joy on his
soul! He has gone back to smoking.
Oh! the fact is, as we all know in our own
experience, that habit is taskmaster: as
long as we obey it it does not chastse US,
but let US resist and we find we are to be
dashed with scorpion whips and bound with
ship cable, and thrown into the track of
bone-breaking juggernauts.
During the war Of 1912 there was ship
set on lire just above Niagara Falls, and
then, cut loose from its moorings, it came
on Down through the night and tossed over
the falls. 1t was said TO have been a scene
brilliant beyond description. Well, there
are thousands Of men on fire of evil habit,
coming down through the rapids and
through the awful night of temptation
toward the eternal plunge. Oh! how hard
1t is to arrest them. God only can arrest
them Suppose a man, after five or ten
or twenty years OF evil doing, resolves to
10 right. Why, all the forces of darkness
are allied against him. He can not sleep
nights; he gets down on his knees in the
midnight and cries: "God help me!' he
bites his lip; he grinds his teeth; he
clenches his fist in determination to keep
his purpose; he dare not look at the bottles
in the window Of wine store. 1t is one
long, bitter, exhaustive hand to-hand fight
with inflamed, tantalizing and merciless
habit When he thinks he is entirely free,
the old inclinationS pounce upon him like
pack Of hounds with their muzzles tearing
away at the TANKS of ons poor reindeer.
In Paris there is sculptured represen-
tation of Bacchus, the god of revelry. He
is riding on panther at full leap. Oh,
how suggestive! Let every one who is
speeding on bad ways understand he Is not
riding dOcle and well broken steed, but