Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1889-04-17
DIR TALMAaE's SERMON SUNDAY, APRIL

SHr. LOUIS, April THE Rev. T. De
y Witt Talmage, DID,, of Brooklyn
preached here this evening to vast au
dience. His subject was 1.-The Slaughter"
and his text, Proverbs, viI.. 21: Gas an OK
to the slaughter The eloquent preacher
said:
There is nothing in the voice or manner
of the butcher to indicate to the OK that
there is death ahead. The OK thinks he is
going on to a rich pasture field of clover,
where all day long he will revel in the her.
baceous luxuriance; b1t after while the
men and the boys close in upon him with
sticks and stones and shouting, and drive
him through bars and into doorway, where
be is fastened, and with we'll aimed stroke
the Ak fells him; and so the anticipation of
the redolent pasture field is completely dis
appointed So many young man has been
driven on by temptation to what he thought
would be paradisiac,l enjoyment; but after
a while influences with darker hue and
swarthier arm close in upon him, and he
finds that instead of maklng an excursion
into a garden he has been driven "as an OK
to the slaughter"
I. We are apt to blame young men for
being destroyed when we ought to blame
the influences that destroy them. Society
slauehters great many young men by the
behest, "You must keep up appearances;
whatever be your salary. you must dress as
we'll as others, you must wine and brandy
as many friends, you must smoke as costly
cigars, you must give as expensive enter
taiuments and you must live in as fashion
able boarding house. If you haven't the
money borrow. If you can't borrow, make
false entry, or subtract here and there
bill from a bundle of bank bills; you will
only have to make the deception little
while; in few months, or in year or two,
you can make all right. Nobody will be
hurt by it. Nobody will be the wiser You
yourself will not be damaged" By that
awful process hundred thousand men have
been slaughtered for time and slaughtered
for eternity.
Suppose you borrow. There is nothing
wrong about borrowing money. There is
hardly man in the house but has some.
times borrowed money Vast estates have
been built on a borrowed dollar. But there
are two kinds of borrowed money. Money
borrowed for the purpose of starting ol
keeping up legitimate enterprise and ex
pense, and money borrowed to get thai
which you can do without. The first is
right, the other is wrong. If you have
money enough OF your own to buy coat,
however plain, and then you borrow money
for dandy's outfit, you have taken the
| first revolution of the wheel down grade.
Borrow for the necessities; that may be
| we'll. Borrow for the luxuries; that tips
your prospects over in the wrong direction.
The Bible distinctly says the borrower il
servant of the lender. 1t is bad state O
| things when you have to go down some
other street to escape meeting some one
| whom you owe. If young men knew what
| is the despotism of being in debt more Of
them would keep out of it What die
debt do for Lord Bacon, wi b a mind tow
ering above the centuries? 1t induced
him to take bribes and convict himself as
criminal before all ages. What did deb
do for Walter Scott? Broken hearted 8,
Abbotsford. Kept him writing until his
hand gave out in paralysis to keep the
sheriff away ftom his pictures and statuary
Better for him if he had minded the maxim
which he had chiseled over the fireplace a,
Abbotsford, s'Waste not want not"
The trouble is, my friends the people de-
not understand the ethics Of going in debt
aud that if you purchase goods with no ex
pectation of paying for them. or 60 into
debts which you cannot meet, you steal JUS
so much money If 60 into a grocer
| stOLc, anu Uuy euRnie duu COuc6S dDl
meats, with no capacity to pay fer then
and no intention of paying for them, an
more dishonest than if go into the store
and when the grocer's face is turned tht
other way fill my pockets with the arti
cles of merchandise and carry off ham
In the one case take the merchants time
and take the time of his messenger t.
transfer the goods to my house, while il
the other case | take none of the time O
the merchant, and wait upon myself. ant
/ transfer the goods without any trouble tt
him. In other words, sneak-thief is no
80 bad as man who contracts for debts h'
never expects to pay.
Yet in all our cities there are familie
that move every May day to get int
proximity to other grocers and meat shop
and apothecaries.. They owe everybod
within half q mile Of where they now live