National Republican., 1888-03-03
rALMAGE's CORRESPONDENTS.
Out Of 1t He Evolves Subject for
Friday Nlght Talk.


in Nebraska, saying that he had bought large
tract Of land, and had got in trouble about II,
and he wanted me to loan or give him sl5ugO:
away, Otit, as she did not happen to have that
money about her, the probability i II was not
sent. Recently ! ttceysd 4 letter from iIom
would send him money enough to pay for his
wedding Trip, man in New England wauts
70 become q lecturer, md and won't writ write him
who are desperate, and Il | don't send them
relicfthey viii jump of the Brooklyn bridge.
wS me ST my 9HSgnps nSSsSg
writes me to be honest enough to send bnok
the postage stamp Getting no answer to that;
Sers s and pTeaoh pre- Se Sospe and yet e Gaa
Letters through Brooklyn postoilicc, aud
New York postOiilCe, and handed in AZ my
door, aud left for mt al the church. until my
pockets are full, and my tables are full, and
the shelves are full, and the closets iull, aud
one Of my dess OF the lovelness OF heaven is
that there will be no moTningor evening N tll
] have piles Of letters Of good advice telling
me how 10 preach and how not 10 preach, aud
urgent the counsel Letters discussing theo.
logical points spelling the word God with q
small e." Multitudes OF welcome letters of
encouragement which are to me perpetual
and everlasting help, and which go into the
very fiber Of my immortal nature and VIII be
something to be glad about for all eternity.
Letters through which breathe tenderness
and a pathos and beauty and power which,
put intype and disseminated might bless ali
! say these things for two reasons -one 10 OK.
cuse my unaithflllness IN postal correspond.
ence and the other as Introduction TO the fol-
lowing suggestive communication
DEAR SRI do not believe much that yon
preach, hut am certain that you be.leys Il all,
To he Il Christian ] must believe TIE Bible TO
be true. DO not believe il. 60 to hear yon
preach because you preach the Bible as was
taught 10 In my youth b, father wao, like
yourself, believed what in the capacl yoia
preacher he proclaimed J nave ben for
| thutyhyc ytais CnSiUns 20 wax in thr ptth
| my mother is irrading,c iident y ersimp,e
| faith. ave lived to rec my chidren's call
| dien, and tue distance that lies between ma
am my real e,ta;c in the Graveyard canap' u,
| very great At my ege II would he worse than
| folS lOareue simply to onl9und, or dspl,e
breath growing shorter my, steps more to.ter'
| ing, and am lost IN the Wilderness
.Ancr stating many difficulties in the ninth
chapter OF Romans lie says:
| pray morning, noon. and nigh because !
am aiIald not to pray. What shall do that
have not done so tiat mas see clearly
| ISicnCdl DSE or THE CONSIDERATIONS
This letter eNci,Cs ali my sympathies, for ]
| have n'en in tnat qusgmire, and I know how
| deep 1t is. man may getinto morbid state
| Of mind and may believe any hing OF disOe-
| lieve anything. 4 student of Df. WithGfspDOn
| came aid said: believe everything is i'm
afiraIy,, myself am only an imeGtntry be.
| Ing Dr. WithefSpoou said % him: Go down
( and hit your head against the cOlle1 door, and
| ifyou are imaginary and the dor Is imaginary
| II won't hut vOu.' When a car gets oil track
| you may find 1t next minute upside down or
notice there are no slurs at religion in this
| letter-the first letter of the Kind ever saw.
turning his back upon Christianity is to spit
in the face OF Christ by carricaturing religion.
But this letter is respectful and revercntial,
he had a pious parentage. While we wnat
something stronger than our mothers apron
strings TO save US, 1t Is grand thing to- have
hnI a NJ IN
broke FORTH weeping and said "Oh, that
tear Of my mother that fell on my hand one
night when lay in the trlndle'bed r.
man never gets over having been prayed for
BE is apt to come around all right. cele-
brated The eological professor of Princeton was
asked by o skeptic doctor, how do you ex-
plain this2 You say that train up child in
the way he should go and when he is old he
will not repart from It. Now how do You ac-
count for the fact that your Bill is such a dis
sipattd fellow"' The doctor replied "Ihc
promise is when he is old he will not depart
from it. Bill Is not old yet" Subsequent
years showed h, the wisdom Of ihe doctors
congratulate the author of my letter on
being the son OF minister. II is wrongful
impression that A. minister's h children are worse @
says that in the biographies OF 100 clergymen
he finds they had Ito sons who were clergy
ySS nSw posy Pat ns S Pc Se n or
this letter must have his nlind full of sacred
"reminiscences. The pictures on the wall of
| HIS INtutT phTtDHdpt were VI 'tHrNls IusJ
Supper" "Rebeeca at the We'll, - the Egyptians
making terrible failure OF crossing the Red
sea There was scarcely figure on the clroet
secrated by the knee oi prayer. The people
who used to 80 and stay in that hnu,c were
mostly Christian. The talk was full OF good
| things. and cheerful good things, tor there are
no men n the world more, fond OF !m than
minis cls, nor any houses that ring with more
sporttuInCss than theirs Get a halEdozen
ministers together If you want lively times.
Religion in the parsonage where this man was
brought up wasa happy religion. Some day
all these conversations aud prayers, and
npon HI, soul and capture II in five minutes
for christ That Did Christian father, gone
into glory, will yet greet his nnbelievng SOP!
In This. letter you ask Inc for counsel, and |
give it In, one ralt of your letter you show
that your chief study OF the Bible has been in
the Ith chapter Of Romans, Ny advice is
| portions Of the Bible. and read snly the evan.
gelists-Mn;thew, Mark, Lnke, and Io,n.
But is rot nli Scripture, given by inspiration
mcdicin, In the apothecaries shops good and
useful; hut they all have different uses, aud
ere 10 be- &C minstered in different crclm;
| stances. There are AloCs, aud arsenic and
opium. and Peruvian bark all goSd In their
places; but in one condition o! the system this
medicine NAV cure ,on, and 10 another II
ter OF Romans. which is glorlous ionic 10
T0nE Is to yoq IN yo y9 nnt present
asng at ''enc eny rate in such op large nSn ousn' a
test will kill you. You have asked me TO
prescribe and now, in the name oftae Great
Physician ask II you will take the precrip.
tion? You will never reason your way out o
these perplexities.
If you had been sailing in one direction for
five years for Liverpool and not found H., you
would think 1t time to Try another direction
and now that you have for thirty or forty years
tried to find the harbor OF peace and have not
would tell You to let go the ib sheet and brace
around the head. yards, taking another tack.
In your present spiritual invalidism you can
Ing but the Sincere milk" How dare you
risk your,elt now in the ninth chapter of RI.
mans? You go out TO contend in that ile d
ing have been contounded. In other words
the first time you take u musket in your hand
you trya Waterloo. The devil has had hi,
way with you long enough. He has robbed
you OF the peace of a whole lifetime, and Is
now trying to strangle your immortality.
Yon say You have been advised by Christian
ing faculty. give you no such wretched
The infantry march into the ilghton the plain
The batteries are on the hill, and will in due
time be unlimbercd. So go into this discus
sion with your heart; Hold your logic. and
arGp1mrent G1r in reserve for = later period of the
, battles you will need not only MIME rifles, bu,
Does not This letter tear of all the gloss and
. fascination OF skepticism! There is time in
young mans life when he thrus's his finger
in the aTmhole of his Test, tosScs his head aud
gives Byronic laugh ut Christianity, or asks
Tom Pgines questions about the serpent in
Eden or the miraculous cOnception OF Jesus
Christ. But II Is good deal easter to get lost
| in The luugles than TO got ont Of the woods
SkcptIcism mauls man to dcNth, II IS Hin
doc hook thrust into the flesh to swing It's
| victim into the air The wretch dying OF sul III
, | poE, half tended in the hospitals is moi 50 much
to he piiird NS the man who has caught thi,
: | vile, Iollulng, agOniZiHg disumperO Ol the soul
| Take my right eye, yea, take both ewes and
leave me in midnight all my earthly days
rather than blast my vision Of that Gospel truth
which ismy comfort for time and my nope fol
| eternity.
Will not some Of these parents be com,
| fortCd In The los Oi ther Little chi dryn when
| they read of those who have pfoVyn mn iO ra.