Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-06-03
MORE THAN
This Life is Intended for Something
Better Than Mere Sport.
BE CAREFUL OF YOUR COMPANY.
Each Has Good and Bad Angel Strug-
Cling for Supremacy.
DLEKESS THE SURE ROAD TO SIl
rsprorA1, rrLrcRAn 10 TEE prspArcH.I

ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO rHK prsPArcH.i
BROOKLYN, June 2-The Rev. T. Dewitt
Talmage, D. D., preached at the Taberna
Gle, to-day. After expounding the Script
ures be gave out that popular hymn by A
NJ. Toplady, beginning:
Your harps, We trembling saints,
Down from the willows take.
he took for his text Proverbs xiii, 20
IA companion of fools shall be destroyed.
Following is a verbatim report of the ser
mon:
MAY it please the court" said q convicted
criminal, when asked if he had anything to say
before sentence Of death was passed upon him
''may it please the court, bad company ha:
been my ruin. received the blessings of good
parents, and, in return. promised to avoid al
evil associations. Had kept my promise
should have been saved this shame, and beer
free from the load of guilt that hangs round
me like vulture. threatening to drag me tc
justice for crimes yet unrevealed. ], who once
moved in the best circles of society, and have
been the guest of distinguished public men, am
lost and all through bad company"
This is but one Of the thousand proofs that
the companion of fools shall be destroyed. II
is the invariable rule. There is a well man in
dred people sick with ship fever, and he will
not be so apt to take the disease as a good man
would be apt to be smitten with
MORAL DIsTEMPEE,
If shut up with iniquitous companions. In
olden times prisoners we're herded together in
the same cell, but each one learned the vices
of all the culprits SO that, instead of being re-
formed by Incarceration, the day cf liberation
turned them out upon society beasts not men.
We may, in our places of business, be com
PEELED to talk to and mingle with bad men; but
he who deliberately chooses to associate him.
self with vicious people is engaged in carrying
on q courtship with Delilah, whose shears
will Clip on all the locks Of his strength, and he
will be tripped into perdition. Sin is catching,
is infectious, Is epidemic. Will let you look
over the millions Of people now inhabiting the
earth, and challenge you TO show me good
man who, after one year. has made choice and
consorted with the wicked. A thousand dol
lars reward for one such instance. care not
how strong your character may be. Associate
an Wan vain SrSrs1s s1S snd Ro1 R beeome
burglar. Go among the unclean, and you Will
become unclean. Not appreciating the truth
of my text, many young man has been de-
stroyed- He wakes up some morning in the
great city, and knows no one except the per.
sons into whose employ he has entered.
As he goes into the store all the clerks mark
him, measure him and discuss him. The up
right young men of the store wish him well,
but perhaps wait for a formal introduction
and even then have some delicacy about in
Titing him into their associations. But the
BAD YOUNG MEN
of the store at the first opportunity approach
and offer their services. They patronize him.
They profess to know all about the town They
will trke him anywhere that he wishes to go-if
he will pay the expenses. For If good young
man and bad young man go to some place
where they ought not, the good young man has
the ticket is TO be paid for, or the champagne
settled for. the bad young man feels around in
his pockets and says: u have forgotten my
pocket book"
In As hours after the young man has entered
the store the bad fellows of the establishment
slap him on the shoulder Familiarity, and, at his
stupidity in taking certain illusions, say: MY
young friend, you will have to be broken in"
and they Immediately proceed to break him in.
Young man, in the name Of God warn you to
beware how you let bad man talk familiarly
with you If such an one slap you on the shoul-
Ter Familiarity, turn round and give him a with
ering look until the wretch crOuches in your
presence. There is no monstrosity of wicked
ness that can stand unabashed under the
glance of purity and honor God keeps the
hghtnings of heaven in his own scabbard, and
no human arm can WELD them; but God gives
70 every young IN man gntntfng nf g tha5 ne may
Those who have been close observers will not
wonder why give warning to young men, and
say, Beware of bad company"
L
young man who puts his fingers in his vest and
laughs at your old-fashioned religion. and
turns over to some mystery of the Bible and
tSS E1P wbo sSa seare
me: am not afraid of the future; / used to be-
lieve in such things, and so did my father and
mother but have got over it" Yes he has
got over it; and if you sit in his company a
little longer, you will get over it too. Without
presenting
ONE ARGUMENT
against the Christian religion, such men will, by
their jeers and SCOTS and caricatures, destroy
your respect for that religion which was the
strength of your father in his declining years,
and the pillow of your old mother when she lay
a-dying. Alas! a time will come when that
clustering young intidel will have to die, and
then his diamond ring will flash no splendor in
the eyes of Death, as he stands over the couch,
waiting for his soul Those beautiful locks Will
be uncombed upon the pillow, and the dying
man will say: Il cannot die-I cannot die"
Death, standing ready beside the couch, says:
''You must die; you have only half a minute to
live; let me have 1t night away-your soul"
"NO" says the young infdel, 'there are my gold
rings, and these pictures; take them all. !" mo"
says Death, what do care for picturesl-your
81 will not stand back" says Death, "for you
have only ten seconds now to livei want your
soul"
The dying man says: Don't breathe that
It is getting dark in the room. oh God!"
s.Hush," says Death, 'you said there was no
God pray for meF' exclaims the expiring
infdel. "Too late to pray" says Death; ''but
three more seconds to live, and will count
them of-One, two, three" He has gone!
Where? Where? Garry him out, out, and
bury him beside his father and mother. who
died while holding fast the Christian religion.
They died singing: but the young infdel only
said: Don't breathe that cold air into my face.
You crowd me too hard 1t is getting dark in
the room"
Again, urge you to shuu the companionship
of idlers. There are men hanging around
every store and office and shop who have moth
ing to do, OF act as if they had not. They are
apt to come in when the firm are away and
wish TO engage you in conversation while you
i are enGaea IN your regular enpoymehh 1p 0 hsve 70
time to give them during business hours.
WHAT THEY WANT.
Nothing would please them so well as to have
you renounce your occupation and associate
with them. Much of the time they lounge
around the club rooms or the doors of engine
houses, or after the dining hour stand upon the
steps of a fashionable hotel or an elegant res
ta1rant, wishing to give you the idea that that
Is the place where they dine. But they do not
dine there They are sinking down lower and
lower day by daY. Neither by day nor by night
have anything to do with the idlers. Before
you admit a man INTO your acq9alntance ask
II he says. 'Nothing;i am gentleman" look
out for him.
He may have a very soft hand and very fault
less apparel, and have high sounding family
name, but his touch is death. Before you
know if you will in his presence be ashamed of
your work dress Business will become to you
q drudgery and after awhile you will lose your
place and afterward your respectabllity and
last of ALL your soul 1dleness is next door to
Villainy. Thieves, gamblers burglars, shop
1ifters and assassins are made from the class
who have nothing to do. When the police go
TO hunt up and arrest a culprit they seldom go