News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1888-01-05
SUNDAYS SERMON.
ONE OF REV. DIR. TALNIAGE'S
STERLING DISCOURSES.
Subject: 'Recreations, Good and
Bad"

TEXTS They that use this tUorld, as no
abusing til Corinthians vii, 8. Sand 1
came to pass tChen their hearts tcere merry
may make as sport. And they called 70
Samson out of the prison house; and h
made them sport. Judges xvi, %.
We are entering the gayest season of tn
year. The winter opens before us the gate
of a thousand amusementS, some of then
good and some bad. One of my texts viii
show you that amusements may be destruct
i've, my other text will show that amuse
ments may be under the Divine blessing ano
direction.
There were three thousand people Assem-
bled in the temple of Dagon. They had come
to make sport of eyeleSs Samson. They wert
all ready for the entertainment. They begar
to clap and pound, impatient for the amuse
ment to begin, and they cried: Fetch hin
out! Fetch him outn Yonder | see the blind
giant coming, led by the hand of a child into
the very midst of the temple At his first ap
pearance there goes up shout of laughter
and derision- The blind old giant pretendS
he is tired and wants to rest himself against
the pillars of the house, so he says to the lad
who leads him: ''ShOw me where the main
pillars are The lad does so. Then the strong
man puts his right hand on one pillar and
his left hand on another pillar, and with
the mightiest push that mortal ever made,
throws himself forward until the whole
house comes down in thunderous crash,
grinding the audience like grapes in a wine
press. And so it came to pass, when their
hearts were merry, that they said: Call for
Samson, that he may make us sport. And
they called for Samson out of the prison
house; and he made them SPORT
In other words, there are amuSementS that
are destructive, and bring down disaster and
death upon the heads of those who practice
them. While they laugh and cheer they die.
The three thousand who persisted that day in
GAIA are as nothing compared with the tens
of thousands who have been destroyed by
sinful amusementS
But the other text have read implies that
there is a lawful use of the world, as well as
an unlawful abuse of it; and the difference
between the man Christian and the man I'M
Christian is that in the former case the man
masters the world, while in the latter case the
world masters him. For whom did God
make this grand and beautiful world! For
whom this wonderful expenditure of color,
this gracefulness of line, this mosaic of the
ground, this freSco of the sky, this glowing
fTuitage of orchard and vineyard, this full
orchestra of the tempest, in which the tree
branches flute and the winds trumpet and the
the thunders drum and all the splendors of
earth and sky come clashing their cymbals:
For whom did God spring the arched bridge
of co!ors resting upon buttresseS of broken
storm cloud! For whom did he gather the
upholstery of fire around the window of the
setting sun! For all men, but more especially
for his own dear children.
If you build large mansion and spread
great feast after it to celebrate the compile
ton of the structure, do you allow strangers
to come in and occupy the place, while you
thrust your own children in the kitchen or
the barn or the fields: Oh, no. You say: Il
am very glad to see strangers in my man
sion, but my own sons and daughters shall
have the first right there" Now, God has
built this grand mansion of a world, and he
has oaI oil in, cd
those who are strangers to his grace may
come in, | think that God specially intends to
give the advantage to his own children,
those who are the sons and the daughters of
the Lord Almighty, those who through grace
can look up ana say: Abba, Father" You
cannot make me believe that God gives
more advantages to the world than he
gives 20 the church bought by his own
blood. If, therefore, people of the
world have looked with dolorous sympathy
upon those who make profession of religion,
and have said: Those new converts are go
ing down into privation and into hardship.
Why did not they tarry little longer in
the world, and have some of its enjoy
ments and amusements and recreations!" l
say to such men of the world: ''H on are
greatly mistaken, and before get through
VIII show that those people who stay out of
the kingdom of God have the hardships and
self-denialS, while those who come in have
the joys and the satisfactions.
This morning, in the name of the King of
Heaven and EARTH serve a writ of eject
ment upon all the sinful and polluted who
have Squatted on the domain of earthly
pleasure as though it belonged to them, while
| claim, i'll behalf of the good and the pure
and the true, the eternal Inheritance which
God has given them.
Hitherto, Christian philanthropists, cleri-
cal and lay, have busted themselves chiefly in
denouncing sinful recI cations; but feel we
have no right to stand before men and women
in whose hearts there is a desire for recrea-
ton amounting to positive We. necessity de
when we do not promise to give them some
thing better. God helping Inc this morning,
and with reference to my last account shall
enter upon a sphere not usual in sermoniZ-
presented at this time. | propose now to lay
before you some of the recreations which are
not only innocent, but positively helpful and
advantageous
In the first place, l commend, among in
door recreatlonS, music, vocal and instru-
mental Among the first things created was
the bird, so that the earth might have music
at the start This world, which began with
so sweet a serenade, is finally to be demol-
iShed amidst the ringing blast of the arch
angels trumpet, 50 that as there was music
at the start, there shall be music at the close.
While this heavenly art has often been
dragged into the uses of superstition and dis
sipatlon, we all know it may be the means of
high moral culture. Oh, it is a grand thing
to have our children brought up amidst the
sound of cultured voices and amidst the
melody of musical instruments There is in
this art an Undesirable fascination for the
household. Let all those families who have
the means to afford it, have flute or harp, or
piano or organ. As soon as the hand is large
enough to compass the keys, teach it how to
pick out the melody. Let all our young men
try this heavenly art upon their nature
" baN nj fnIl
IN 1t llllnItable recreation and amusement.
Dark days, stormy nights, seasons of sick
ness, business disasters, will do little toward
depressing the soul which can gal,op Off over
musical keys or soar in iubilant lay. 1t will
cure pain. 1t will rest fatigue. 1t will quell
passion. 1t viii revive health 1t will re-
claim dissipation. 1t will strengthen the i'm.
mortal soul. In the battle of Waterloo Wei
lingtOn saw that the Highanders were fall
ing back; he said: what is the matter
lhere:n He was told that the band of muse
had ceased playing, and he called up the
pipers and ordered them to strike up an in
spiriting air; and no sooner did they strike
the air than the HighlandeIs were rallied
and helped to win the day. Oh, We who have
been routed in the conflicts of life, try by the
force of music to rally your scattered bat
talions.
am glad to know that in our great cities
there is hardly a night in which there are not
concerts where, with the best musical instru-
m9nts and the sweetest voices, people may
find entertainment Patronize such enter
tainents when they are afforded you Buy
season tickets if you can for the "Philhar-
monicn and the Handel and Haydn socie-
ties. Feel that the dollar and a half or two
dollars that you spend for the purpose of
hearing an artist play or sing is profitable
investment. Let your Steinway halls and
your academies of music roar with the ac-
clamation of appreciative audiences assem-
Died at the concert or the oratOriO.
Still further, l commend as worthy of sup
port the gymnasium. This institution is
gaining in favor every year, and know of
nothing more free from dissipation or more
calculated to recuperate the physical and
mental energies. While there are a good
many people who have employed this i1sti-
tuition there is a vast number who are ignor-
ant of its excelences. There are men with
cramped chests and weak sides and despond-
dent spirits who through the gymnasium
might be reused up to exuberance and exhil-
aratiOn of life. There are many Christian
people respondent from year to year who
might through such an institution be bene
flied in their spiritual relations There are
Christian people who seem to think that it is
a good sign to be poorly, and because Richard
EaXter and Robert Hall were invalids they
think that by the same sickness thew may
come to the same grandeur of character |
want to tell the Christian people of my con-
GrcgatiOn that God will hold YOU responsible
for your invalidism if it is your fault and
wnen through right exercise and prudence
you might be athletic and well. The effect
of the body upon the soul you acknowledge
Put a man of mild disposition upon the ami
NAL diet of which the Indian partakes and in
a little while his blood will change its chemi-
cal proportions. 1t will become like unto
the blood of the lion or the tiger or the bear
while his disposition will change and become
fierce, cruel and unrelenting. The body has
powerful effect upon the soul.
There are good people whose ideas of
Hon ven nre all shut ont with clouds of tnhac-