The Forrest City times., 1888-08-18
TALMAGE IN DIXIE.
A LIPE-LIKB PORTRAIT OBTAINED.
The Elder Son of the Parable at Last
 Focused by the Eminent Divine.

The Elder Son of the Parable at Last
 Focused by the Eminent Divine.
 He Gets Not Fraction of the Photograph,
 But FuliLength Caricature of the Eldest
 Prodigai-A Most Beautiful and Modern
 1ifs-Lks Description of the Contrast Be
 tween the Sons.
 ATLANTA, GEORGIA, August l2.-The Rev. T. Dewitt Talmsge, D. D,, of Brooklyn, is in this region. He has spoken several times at the great Piedmont Chautauqua aud his pub lie appearances are attended by vast multi tudcs everywhere. Preaching from the text duke Ch. xv v. 2s ) And he was angry and would not go in." he said:
 'ls the elder son of tho parable so unsympa- thetic and SO cold that he is not worthy of recognitionr Tho fact Is that we ministers pursue the younger son. You can hesr the fapping of his rags in many a sermoulc breeze, and the cranchlnR of the pods for which he was au unsuccessful contestant l confess that for long time 1 was unable to train the camera obseura upon the elder son of the parable l never could get negative for . photograph. There vas not enough llgh, iu the gallery, or the chemicals were poor or tho
 
 l have him Not side-face or a three guar ters, or the mere bust, but full-length DOT trait as be appears to me. The father In the parable of the prodigal had nothing to brag of in his two sous The one was . rake and the other churl. l find nothing admiraoie m the dissoluteness of the one. and find noth- ing attractive in the rcrld sobrletY of the other. The one goes down oyer the larboard sl. .-al side; but they both go down.
 From the window of the old homestead bursts the minstrelsy. The floor quakes with tho feet of the rustIcs, whose dance is always vigorous and resoundlng. The neighbors have heard of the return of the 5oungsr son from his wanderings, and they have gathered together. The house Is full of congratulstors. l suppose the tables arc loaded with luxuries. Not only the one kind of meat mentioned, but it's coneomitants 'Clapi' go the cymbals. "thrum" go the harpe, "click r' go the chsiices, up and down go the feet inside, while outside is most sorry spectacle.
 The senior son stands at the corner of the housa frigid phlegmatIc He has just come fD from the fields in very substantial apparel. Seeing some wild exhilarations around the old mansion, ho asks Of servant passing by with q goat skin of wine on hs shoulder what all the fuss is about Oae would have thouyht that on hearing that his younger brother had got back, be would h we gone into the house and rejolced, and if be were not consclentiously opposed to dancing, that he would have joined n the Oriental schot- tlsche No There he stands His brow lovers Ills lip curls with contempt He stamps the ground with indignation. He sees nothing at all to attract. The odors Of the feast coming out on the air do not sharpen his appetite. The lively music does no. put any spring into his step. He is in terrible H. Ntt taA. yb. Nta.a a..4.. ticc, and the morals of the entertainment. The father rushes out bareheaded and coaxes him to come in. He will not 70 in. He scods the father. He goes into pasquinade against the younger brother, and he makes the most uneomely scene He says, Father, you put premium on vagabondisn1 stayed at home and worked on the farm. You never made party for me; you didn't so much as kill kid; that wouldn't have cost half as much as a calf; but the sespegrace went of in fue clothes, and he comes back not fit to be seen, and what time you make over him. He breaks your heart aud you pay him for 1t That calf to which we have been glv. ing extra feed during all these weeks wouldn't be so fat and sleek If l had known 10 what use you were going to put it That yagabond deserves to be COW hlded instead Of banqueted. Veal is too good for hmr' That evening, while the younger son sat telling his father about his adventures, and asking about what had occurred on the place since his departure, the senior brother goes 10 bed dsgusted, and slams the door after him. That senior brother still lives. You see him any Sunday, any day of ihe week. At a meeting Of ministers in Germany some one asked The question, Who is that elder son .i and krummacher answered, "l know him; saw him yesterday" And when they insisted upon knowing whom he meant, he said, Myself; when l saw the account ot the con version Of most obnoxious man, l was irritated.n
 First thls senior brother of the text stands for the self-congratulstory, seli-satshed, self elf-worshippful man With the same breath in which he yituperstes against his younger brother he utters panegyric for himself. The self-righteous man of my text. like every other self f-fighteous man, was full of faults. He was an ingrate, for he did not appreciate the home blessings which he had all those years He was disobedent for when the father told him 10 come in he stayed out. He was a liar, for he said that the recreaut son had devoured hls fathers living, when the father, so far from being reduced 10 penury, had a homestead left had instruments of music, had jewels, had a mansion, and in. stead of being pauper was prince. This senior brother with so many faults of his own, was merciless fin his criticism Of the younger brother. The only perfect people that l have ever known were utterly obnoxious. l was never so badly cheated in all my life as by perfect man. lie got so far up in bis deyotions that he was clear up above ali the rues of common honesty. These men that go about prowIing among prayer-meetiugs, and in places of business, telling how good they are--look out for them; keep your hand on your pocket bookl l have noticed that just In proportion a man gets good he gets humble. The Mississippi does not make as much noise as the brawing mountain rlvulet There has been many store that had more goods in the show window than inside on the shelves.
 This self-rIehteous man of the text stood at the corner of :he house hugglng himself In admiration. We hear great deal in our day about the higher lie. Now, there are two kinds of higher-lfe men. Tine one are admirable, and the other are most repulslye. The one kind of higher-life man is very lenient in his criticism of others does not bore payer-meetings to death with long harangues does not talk great deal about himself but much about Christ and heaven, gets kindlier and more gentle and more use ful until one day his soul spreads a wing and he files away to eternal rest, aud every body mourns his departure. The other higherlife man goes around with Bible conspicuously under hls arm, goes from church to church, a sort Of general evsngel- ist, Is s nuisance to his own pastor when he is at home, and a nuisance 10 other pastors when he is away from home; runs up to some msn who is counting out roll Of bank bills. or running up a difficult line of figures, and asks him how his soul Is; makes religion dose of ipecacuanha; standing in \ religious meeting making an address. be has pstronizng way ss though ordinary Christians were clear sway down below hlIn, so he had lc ttlk at the top of his vo cs in order to m q them he IT, but at the same time encouraged them to hope on; that by climbing many years they may after while come up within sight of the place where he now stsnd,l l tell you plainly that roaring, roysie7 ug, bouncing sinner Is not SO repulsive 10 nc as that higher-life malfor- nation. The form may repent; the latter never gets over his hsrisaism. The younger brother of the psrs.e came back, but the senior brother stands outside entirely obllyi- ous Of his own delinqueDcies and deficits, pronouncing hls own eulogium On, how much easier 1t is to blame others than to blame ourselvesl Adam blamed Eye, Eve blamed the serpent. lhe serpent blamed the