The Red Cloud chief., 1889-09-20
STREET LESSONS.
Rev. Dr.. TalmaGe Diecourao0 On
an Every Day Topic
What Can Re Learned From Our Great
Business Thor0uGhfares-An Equal
In the Street.-The World OF
the Future.

Talmage took for his suhjec': The City
Streets" His text a "Wisdom crieth
without; she uttereth her voice in the
Streets" Proverbs i. 90. He said:
Weare all ready to listen to the voices Of
nature-the voices Of the mountains. the
voices of the sea, the voices of the storm,
the voices Of The star. As in some Of the
c~athedrals in Europe there IL an gan At
either end Of the building. and the one
instrument responds unsteady to tho
other. s o in the great cathedral Of nature
day responds to dav. and night to night,
and flower to a ,wer. and star to star, in
the great harmonies Of the universe. The
springtime is ~ evangelist in blossoms
preaching Of g ,d's love; and the winter
is a rrorhet-white Notwithstanding
woe against our sins. We are all ready to
listen to the voices Of nature; hut how
few Of US learn anv thing from the voices
Of the noisy and dusty street. You 60 10
your merchandise, your mechanism. and
to your work. and you come back again
and often with an indifferent heart you
pass through the streets
Are there no things for Us to learn fro m
these pavements v which We pass?
Are there no TUFTS of truth growing up
between these cobblestones. beaten with
the feet of toll, and pain. and pleasure.
and the slow tread of old age. and the
quick step of childhood? Ave. there are
great harvests to be reaped; and now I
thrust in the sickle because the harvest is
ripe. "Wisdom crieth without; she utter.
eth her voice'in the Streets"
In the first rlacs the street impresses
me it'll the fact that this life is q seen"
Of toll and struggle. By ten O'Clock every
day The city Is jarring with wheels. and
shutting with feet, and cumming with
voices. and covered with the breath of
smokestacks and arush with trafickera
Once in awhile you find q man going along
with folded arms and with leisurely step,
as though he had nothing to do:
but for the most part, as you find
men going down these streets, on the
to business. there is anxiety in their
faces. a. though they had some errand
which must be executed al the first posi-.
bic moment. You are jostled by those
have bargains to make and notes to
sell. Up this ladder with q hod Of bricks.
out of this bank with q roll Of bills. on this
dray with q load Of goods. digging . eel.
lar. or shingling . roof. or shoeing q horse.
building a wall. or mending a watch, or
binding a book. Industry, with her thou
sand arms. and thousand eyes. and thou
sand feet, goes on singing her song of
work! work! work! while the mills drum
it, and the steam whistles fife it. All this
is not because mon love toll. Some one
every man 10 a. lazy as he
can afford to be-" But it is because ueces.
sity. with stern brow and with uplifted
whip. stands over them ready whenever
they relax their toll to make their shout.
ders sting with the lash. Can it be that
up and down these streets on
your way to work and businesa. you do
not learn any thing Of the worlds toll,
and anxiety, ana struggle,
o, how many dropping hearts, how
many ayes on the watch. how many miles
travelled, how many burdens carried, how
many losses suffered, how many battles
how many victories gained, how
many defeats suffered. how many exas.
p%erations endured-what losses. what
hunger. what w~retchedness. what pallor.
what disease, what agony. what despair.
! have stopped at the corner
of the street as the multitude went biiher
and yon. it has seemed to b q great pan.
nssa IS - = sOOAc0 ORVu u NY uCuIS
broke. This great tide of human life that
goes down the street is q rapid, tossed
and turned aside. and dashing ahead and
driven b~ack-beautiful in its confusion
and confused in its beauty. In tho car
peted aisles of the forest, in the woods
from which tho eternal shadow Is never
lifted, on the shore Of the sea over
whose iron coast losses the tangled
foam, s~prinkling tho cracked cliffs
with . baptism Of whirlwind and
tempest is the best place to study
God; but in the rushing. swarming. raw.
ing street is the best place to study man.
Going down to your place Of business and
coming homo again, l charge you look
about-see these signs Of poverty, Of
w~retchedness. Of hunger, Of sin. of be.
reavemeni-and as you 90 through the
streets and come back through the streets.
gather up in the arms Of your prayer all
the SORROW, all the losses all the suffer.
ing, all the bereavements of those whom
you pass and present them in prayer BE-.
fore an all sympathetic God. Then in the
great day Of eternity there will be thou.
sands of persons with whom you in this
world never exchanged one word who
will raise up and call you blessed: and
there will be a thousand fingers pointed
at you in Heaven. SAYING: THAT Is the
man. that is the woman. who helped me
! was hungry, and sick. and wan.
dering. and lost and heart.broken. That
is the man, that is the woman" and the
blessing will come down upon you as
Christ shall say: Il was hungry and ye
fed me. l vas naked ard ys clothed me. ]
was sick and in prison and ye visited me:
inasmuch as We did it to these poor waits
of the streets. ye did it to me-"
Again, the street impresses me with the
fact that all classes and conditions of So
must commingle. We sometimes
a wicked exclusiveness. Intellect
despises ignorance. Refinement will ave
nothing to do with boorishness. Gloves
hate the sunburned hand. and the high
forehead despises the fiat head; and the
trim hedgerOw will have nothing to do
with the wild copsewOod. md Athens
hates Nazareth. This ought not to be 80.
The astronomer must come down from his
starry revelry and help US in our naviga.
ton. The surgeon must come away from
study of the human organism and set
our broken bones. The chemist must come
from his laboratory, where he has
been studying analysis and syntbesis and
help US to understand the nature Of the
soil. bless God that all classes Of peo-
pie are compelled to meet on the street.
Tho glittering coach wheel clashes against