News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-10-21
THE SUNDAY PULPIT.
DIR. TAINIIGE ON THE PERIks OF
YOUNG MEN IN CITIES.
The Story of Two Young HTen and the
the Paths They Travelled.

the Paths They Travelled.
, On Sunday DR.. Talmage preached
a sermon especially directed to youn.
men. His subject was "Two Youn!
. Men Who Came to Live in the City,
the text being, ''Ponder the path of thy
, feet, from Proverbs iv, 21. a,openins
: DR.. Talmage drew the following graphic
and familiar picture
1t was Monday morning, Septembe1
20, at country depot. Two young mer
were about to take the cars for the city
The father had brought them In the
! wagon with two trunks. The evening
fbefore had been sad time in the old
farm house. Neighbors came in to say
good by. Indeed, all the Sunday after
noon the farmers were strolling ovel
from the adjoining farms, for they
wished to bid these young men good-by.
They had heard of their intended depar-
ture, and some were hoping for theil
great success, and others without saying
1t were hoping for them city failure.
Seated on the fence, talking the matter
over, their conversation about the crops
Of the preceding summer and the apple
with talk about the prospects of Edward
and Nicholas, for those were the names
of the young men. Edward, II years of
age, Nicholas, IL years of age. But Ed
ward was quicker to learn, and hence
knew as much as the elder brother,
Nicholas. They were both brown faced
and hearty, for they had gone through
the whole curriculum of country sports
by whica the muscle is developed and
the chestfIied out. On Monday morn
ing the father and mother had both ex-
pected to 60 to the rail train, accompany
ing the sons, but at the last moment the
mother backed out, for she said she did
not feel very well that morning, and her
appetite had not been very good for three
or four days, so she said she would bid
them good-by at the front door of the old
farm house. What the mother did,
where she went after the wagon started,
leave other mothers to guess. Moth
ing much was said on the wav to the
railroad station, but as the locomotive
came whlstling around the curve the
father put out his hand, somewhat
knotted at the knuckles and joints,
stldened years ago by stroke from
scythe, and said, 'Goodby, Edward; :;
| goOdby, Nicholas. Take good care of
yourselves, and write as soon as you get
| there, and tell us how they treat you.
| Your mother will be anxious to hear"
Landed in the city, by inquiry of the
| policemen on the street corners, and tho
questioning of car drivers the two
young men soon found the commercial
establishments to which they were des-
for fc
astonishing how far two places may be
apart in the same city, especially If there
be difference of habit Practically,
hundred miles from Bowling Green to
Canal street Practically, hundred
miles from Atlantic avenue to Fulton
street Then the preacher traced the
c3recrs of the two Young men. Edward
formed bad associations, became dissi-
pated, lost his situation, and was finally
killed in low haunt in the city. Mich.
olas became a Christian, and went on
from success to success. Continuing,
DR.. Talmage SAID: What was the dill
ference between these two young men
Religion. The one depended on him
self, the other depended on God. They
were rocked in the same cradle, they
lay on the same maternal heart; they
had the same opportunity of education;
they came to the city the same day. If
there was any difference Edward had
the advantage for he was quicker to
learn, and all the neighbOrs prophesied
him success over and above Nicholas.
But behold the tremendous issue. From
this audience there come up many voices.
saying: ''Did you know those Young
men =" did. ''Did you know those
parents ?'' Very Intimately. You say:
"Ihen tell us the city, tell us the street,
tell us the last name. You have ex-
cited our curiosity Why not tell us
all 2" | will. There is nothing fcti-
t1Ous about these two characters except
their names. They were not only two,
but ten thousand. In every city, in
every street, In every cemetery. They
are on my right hand to-day, and on my
left, and they are above me. Those in
vulnerable through religious defense
Those destroyed through city allure
ments. Some of them will be charac-
terized by longevity in beautiful homes,
others will 60 to early graves in infamy,
and in the name of \ mighty God
stand here to give you the choice be-
tween the destiny OF Edward and that of
Nicholas. Two histories. Two ex-
periences. Two worlds. Two eternities
Standing here as you and l do at the
folks of the road, something tells me
this morning that If | will just let the
people know about the two termini of
the roads they will take the right road
Before me in this audience, and in the
invisible audience back of this for
through the generality of journalism l
am permitted to talk to the people in
all the neighborhoods and towns and
cities of Christendom-in this visible
audience, and in the still greater invisi-
bic audience there is q vast multitude
who have not quite made up their
minds which road to take Come
with us! cry all the voices of sim
Come with usl" cry all the voices of
unrighteousness, while there is another
voice that SAYS "COme with me. ], the
Lord God, l, thy Friend, /. thy Redeem
er. Come with me, come with me'
What annoys me so much is that so
many men make disgraceful surrender.
Now, there is such thing as digniied |
and honorable surrender. 1t is no dis |
grace for a small number of tIoops to |
surrender to great number; it no hui |
initiation for a thousand men to Weld |
to ten thousand; but what is annoving |
about this is that when a man Yields TO |
sin he yields while he has ali the re-
serve troops of God that would come |
down and scatter all the armies of per-
dition. he disgrace and the shame of |
the whole thing is that man surrenders |
TO sin when he could have all the arma- |
ments of almightincsS at one beck of in |
vitation and prayer wheel to the front |
and fight the battle for him. What Is
annoying to me with the young man is
that he surrenders- mind, soul, !
home, pedigree, time and eternity, while |
yet on his side are all the prayers of a
Christian ancestry and all supernal |
forces cherubic, seraphic, archangelic,
deifc There is great deal Of talk now
about the abdication of Alexander, of |
Bulgaria: but oh, what a paltry throne |
that was for king 10 descend as com
red with the abdicatlon which that |
young man, or middle aged man, or old |
man makes when he turns his back up
on throne of heaven and a throne Of |
glorious opportunity and tramps off into
ignominy, and everlasting exile. A
blind man cannot reign on the throne
of Persia, so that if the reigning
monarch has an ambitious friend who is
for the throne he has his
eyes extinguished. for it is an estab-
lished law for all time in Persia that no
blind man can come to the crown. And |
that suggests to me JUST the difference
between what sin does with a man and |
what divine grace does with him. Sin
J. 20, ,H