The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-07-17
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "How to Make Friends"

TEXT: "a man that hath friends must
BhoW himself friendly" Proverbs xviii, "a.
About the sacred and divine art Of making
and keeping friends I speak-a subject on
and yet God thought it of enough importance
to put it in the middle Of the Bible, these
writings of Solomon, bounded on one side by
the popular Psalms Of David and on the other
by the writings of Isaiah, the greatest OF the
prophets. 1t seems all matter of haphazard
have any friends at all; but there is nothing
accidental about it. There is law which
governs the accretion and dispersion Of
friendships. They did not lust happen So"
any more than the tides just happen to rise
or fall, or the sun just happens to rise or set.
1t is a science, an art God-given regula-
tion. Tell me how friendly you are to others
and will tell you how friendly others are to
you. do not say you will not have enc
mics; indeed, the best way to get ardent
friends is to have ardent enemies If you got
their enmity in doing the right thing. Good
men and women will always have enemies be-
cause their goodness is perpetual rebuke to
evil; but this antagonism Of foes will make
more intense the love Of your adherents.
Your friends will gather closer around you
because Of the attacks Of your assailants. The
coadjutors will think of you. The best friends
we ever had appeared at some juncture when
we were especially bombarded. There have
been times in my life when unjust assault
multiplied my friends, as near as I could
calculate, about fifty minute. You are
bound to some people by many cords that
neither time nor eternity can break, and I
twisted by hands malevolent. Human ma
ture was shipwrecked about ffty-nine cen
turies ago, the Captain Of that craft one
adam, and his first mate, running the IA
NOUS cargo aground on a snag in the River
Hiddekel; but there was at least one good
trait Of human nature that waded safely
ashore from that shipwreck and that is the
disposition to take the part of those unfairly
dealt with. When it is thoroughly demon
strated that some one is being perse-
cuted, although at the start slanderous
tongues were busy enough, defenders
finally gathered around as thick as honey bees
on treTlis Of bruised honeysuckle. If, when
set upon by the furies you can have grace
enough to keep your mouth shut, and pre-
serve your equipoise, and let others fight
your battles, you will find yourself after
while with whole Gordon OF allies. Had
not the world given to Christ on His arrival
at Palestine very cold shoulder, there
would not have been one-hah as many angels
chanting glory out Of the hymn books of tho
sky bound in black lids of midnight. Had it
not been for the heavy and jagged and tortur-
Gus cross Christ would not have been the adj
mired and loved Of more people than any be-
ing who ever touched foot on either the east
ern or western hemisphere. Instead, there
fore, Of giving up in despair because you
have enemies, rejoice in the fact that they
rally for you the most helpful and enthusias-
tic admirers In other words. there is no
virulence, human or diabolic, that can hinder
my text from coming true: "a man that
hath friends must show himself friendly"
1t is my ambition to project, especially
upon the young, a thought which may be-,
the hereafter. Before you show yourself
friendly you must be friendly. do not rec
ommend dramatized geniality. There IS
such thing as pretending to be en- rapport
with others when we are their dire destruct-
ants, and talk against them and wish them
calamity. Judas covered up his treachery
by resounding kiss and caresses may be de-
moniacal. Better the NEUROLOGICAL Cerbe-
rus, the three-headed dog of hell, barking at
us, than the wolf in Sleeps clothing its
brindled hide covered up by deceptive wool,
and its deathful howl cedenced into an limo
cent bleating. Disraeli writes of Lord
Manfred, who, after committing many
outrages upon the people, seemed suddenly
to become friendly, and invited them to
banquet. After most Of the courses of food
had been served he blew horn, which was in
those times signal for the servants to bring
on the dessert, but in this case it was the sig
nal for assassins to enter and slay the guests.
His pretended friendliness was cruel fraud,
and there are now people whose smile is a
falsehood. Before you begin to show your
self friendly you must be friendly. Get your
heart right with God and man and this grace
will become easy. You may by your own
resolution get your nature into a semblance
Of this virtue, but the grace Of God can
subimely lift you into it. Sailing on the
River Thames two vessels ran aground. The
owners of one got one hundred horses and
pulled on the grounded ship and pulled
1t to pieces. The owners of the other
grounded vessel waited till tho tides
came in and easily floated the ship out Of all
trouble. So, we may pull and haul at our
grounded human nature, and try to get into
better condition; but there is nothing like
the oceanic tides of Gods uplifting grace to
If when under the flash of the Holy Ghost
we see our own foibles and defects and de-
pravities, we will be very lenient and very
easy with others. We will look into their
characters for things commendatory and not
damnatory. If you would rub your own
eye a little more vigorously you would find
mote in it, the extraction Of which would
keep you so busy you would not have much
time to shoulder your broadax and go
forth to split up the beam in your neigh
bor's eye. In a Christian spirit keep on
exploring the characters of those you
meet, aud I am sure you will find
something in them delightful and fit for a
foundation Of friendliress. You invite me
to come to your country seat and spend few
days. Thank you! I arrive about noon of
beautiful summer day. What do you do !?
As soon as l arrive you take me out under
the shadow Of the great elms. You take me
down to the artificial lake, the spotted trout
floating in and out among the white pillars of
the pond lilies. You take me to the stalls and
kennels where you keep your fine stock. ind
mere are the Durham cattle, and the Gordon
settlers and the high stepping stesds by paw
ing and neighing, the only language they can
speak, asking for harness or saddle, and a
short turn down the road. Then we go back
to the house and you set me il the right
light and show me the Kensetts
and take me into the music room, and show
me the bird cages, the canaries in the bay
window answering the robins in the tree tops.
Thank you! never enjoyed myself more in
the same length of time. Now, why do we
not do that way in regard to tho characters
Of others, and show the bloom and the music
and the bright fountains? No. We say
coHe diouS alu lee uc Siio" you tnaI NAN
character. Here is a green scummed frog
pond, and theresa filthy cellar, and guess
under that hedge there must be q black snake.
Come, and let us for an hour or two regale
ourselves with the nuisances. Oh, my friends,
better cover up the faults and extol
the virtues, and this habit once
established Of universal friendliness will
become as easy as it is this morning for a
syringa to flood the air with sweetness, as
easy as it will be further on in tn season
for a quail to whistle up from the