The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1888-08-17
TALMAGE IN THE SOUTH.
land Ne WAS ANGRY, AND WOULD
NOT GO IN"
The Self Congratulmtory. Self Satisfied
Self worshipful Man Ii Full Of Faults
Two Kinds OF Higher Life 1fen-Re
turned Prodigals.

The Self Congratulxtory. Self Satisfied
Self worshipful Man L. Full Of Faults
Two Kinds Of Higher Life Men-Re
turned Prodigals.
ATLANTA, Ga, Aug. la-The Rev. T. d,
Witt Talmage, d. D., Of Brooklyn, Il in thi
region. He has spoken several times at tn
great Piedmont Chautauqua, and his publ,
appearances are attended by vast multitude
everywhere Preaching from the text Uukl
XIV, 2S) sand he was angry and would not &
in," he said:
Is the elder son Of the parable 90 unsym
pathetic and 50 cold that he Is not worthy Of
recognitionl The fact Is that we minister.
pursue the younger son. You can hear the
tapping Of his rags in many ssrmonis
breeze, and the branching of the pods fol
which he was an unsuccessful contestant.
confess that for q long time was unable tc
train the camera obscura upon the elder son
OF the parable. never could get negative
for photograph. There was not enough
light I'm the gallery, or tho chemicals were
poor, or the sitter moved in the picture.
But now think have him. Not side face,
or three-quarters, or the mere bust, but q
full length portrait as he appears to me. The
father in the parable Of the prodieal had
nothing to brag of in his two sons. The one
was rake and the other q churl. find
nothing admirable in the dissoluteness OF the
one and find nothing attractive in the acrid
sobriety Of the other. The one goes down
over the larboard side and the other goes
down over the starboard side, but they both
60 down.
From the window Of the old homestead
bursts tho minstrelsy. The floor quakes with
the feet of the rustics, whose dance Is always
vigorous and resounding. The neighbors
have heard Of the return of the younger son
from his wanderings, and they have gathered
together. The house is full Of congratulatorsI
suppose the tables are loaded with Injuries.
Not only the one kind Of meat mentioned,
but its concomitants. "Clapp 90 the GYM
balls, ''thrum" 60 the harps, "clickI" 90 tbs
chalices, up and down go the feet inside,
while outside is most sorry spectacle.
The senior son stands at the corner Of the
house. frigid phlegmatic. He has Just come
in from the fields In very substantial apparel
Seeing some wild exhilarations around the
old mansion, he asks Of n servant passing by
with a goat skin of wine on his shoulder
what all the fuss is about One would have
thought that, on hearing that his younger
brother had got back, he would have gone
into the house and rejoiced, and IL he were
not conscientiously opposed to dancing, that
he would have joined in the oriental schot-
tische. No. There he stands His brow
lowers. His 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 not put
any spring into his step. He is in a terrible
pout. He criticises the expense, the injustice
and the morals of the entertainment The
father rushes out bareheaded and coaxes him
to come in. He will not 60 in He scolds
the father. He goes into pasquinade against
the younger brother, and he makes the most
uncomely scene. He says, Father, you put
a premium on vagabondism. I stayed at
home and worked on the farm You never
made party for me; you didn't so much as
kill a kid; that wouldn't have cost half as
much as a calf; but the scapegrace went of
in fine clothes and he comes back not fit to
be seen, and what a time you make over him.
He breaks your heart and you pay him
for it. That calf to which we have been
giving extra feed during all these weeks
wouldn't be so fat and sleek if had known
to what use you were going to put It'll That
vagabond deserves to be cowhided instead Of
banqueted. Veal is too good for himr" 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 to bed
disguised and slams the door after him.
That senior brother still lives. You can see
him any Sunday, any day Of the week. Alta
meeting of ministers in Germany some one
asked the question, "Who Is that elder sonF'
and Krummacher answered, 81 know him;
saw him yesterday" And when they in
sisted upon knowing whom he meant, he
said, Myself; when saw the account of the
conversion of a most obnoxious man, was
irritated"
First, this senior brother of the text stands
for the self congratulatory, self satisfied, self
worshipful man. With the same breath in
which he vituperates against his younger
brother he utters a panegyric for himself
The self righteous man of my text. like every
other self righteous man, was full Of faults.
He was an migrate, for he did not appreciate
the home blessings which he had all those
years. He was disobedient, for when the
father told him to come In he stayed out He
was a liar, for he said that the recreant son
had devoured his fathers living, when the
father, so far from being reduced to penury,
had a homestead Jeff, had instruments Of mu-
sic, had jewels, had mansion, and, instead
of being pauper, was prince. This senior
brother, with so many faults Of his own, was
merciless in his criticism Of the younger
brother. The only perfect people
that / have ever known were ut
terly obnoxious. / was never so badly
cheated In all my life as by perfect man.
He got so far up in his devotions that he was
clear up above all the rules Of common hon.
esty. These men that 90 about prowling
among prayer meetings and in places Of busi-
ness, telling how good they are, look out for
them; keep your hand on our pocket booki
have noticed that Just In proportion that q
man gets good he gets humble. The deep
Mississippi does not make as much noise as
the brawling mountain rivulet. There has
been many a store that had more goods In
the show window than inside on the shelves.
This self righteous man Of the text stood at
the corner Of the house hugging himself In
admiration. We hear a great deal In our
day about the higher life. Now, there are
two kinds of higher life men. The one are
admirable, and the other are most repulsive.
The one kind of higher life man Is very leni-
emit in his criticism Of others, does not bore
prayer meetings to death with long har-
angues, does not talk great deal about him.
self, but much about Christ and heaven, gets
kindlier and more gentle and more useful
until one day his soul spreads wing
and he flies away to eternal rest, and
everybody mourns his departure. The other
higher life man goes around with Bible con-
spicuously under his arm, goes from church
to church, a sort Of general evangelist, Is q
nuisance to his own pastor when he Is at
home, and nuisance to other pastors when
he is away from home; runs up to some man
who is counting out roll Of bank bills, or
running up difficult line of figures, and
asks him how his soul is; makes religion
dose Of ipecacuanha; standing in q religious
meeting making an address, he has .
patronizing way. as though ordinary Chris
tians were clear away down below him.
50 he had to talk at the top of his
voice in order to make them hear, but at the
same time encouraging them to hope on;
that by climbing many years they may after
a while come up within sight Of the place
where he now stands tell you plainly that
q roaring, FOSTERING, bouncing sinner Is not
so repulsive to me as that higher life NAL
formation. The former may repent; the lat
ter never gets over his pharisaism. The
younger brother OF the parable came back,
but the senior brother stands outside entirely
oblivious of his own delinquencies and de-
| ficits, pronouncing his own eulogium. Oh,
| how much easier it is to blame others than
| to blame ourselvesI Adam blamed Eve, Eve
blamed the serpent, the serpent blamed the
devil, the senior brother blamed the younger
brother, and none of them blamed them
| selves.
Again, the senior brother Of my text stands
for all those who are faithless about the re-
formation of the dissipated and the dissolute.
In the very tones of his voice you can hear
| the fact that he has no faith that the reforma-