Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-03-20
PLAQUES OF THE CITIES.
STRONG DISCOURSE PREACHED
BY REV. TALMAGE.
8aleful Amusements the suhtect-A Great
Concourse Prescnt-The Speaker Spcc:-
hes Amusements That Are Harmful and

Those That Are Not.
The series of sermons Dr. Talmage
ts preaching on 1.-The Plaques of the
CitfeS" is attracting general attention.
This sermon, which is the fourth of the
series, is on ''Baeful Amusements." The
text was III. Samuel. ii, ID: 'sLet the
young men now arise and play before
u.s."
There are two armies encamped by the
pool OF Gideon. The time hangs heavily
ON their hands. One army proposes
game OF sword fencing. Nothing could
other army accepts the challenge.
sport opens. But something went adj
versely. Perhaps one of the swordsmen
got all unlucly clip, or in some way had
his ire aroused. and that which opened
in sportfulness ended in violence, each
one taking his contestant by the hair
and then with the sword thrusting him
in the side, so that that which opened in
innocent fun ended in the massacre of
all the twenty-four sportmen. Was
there ever a better illustration of what
was true then, and is true now, that that
which is innocent may be made de-
Structive?
What of worldly nature is more inn
portant and strengthening and innocent
than amusement, and yet what has
counted more victims? I have no SYM
pathy with o straitjacket religion. This
is . very bright world to me, and pro-
pose to do all can to make it bright for
others.
never could keep step to dead
march. A book years ago issued says
that a Christian man has right to some
amusements. For instance. if he comes
home ut night weary from his work, and
feeling in need of recreation, puts
on his slippers, and goes into his garret
and walks lively round the floor several
times there can be no harm in it. be-
lieve the church Of God has made ire
mendous mistake in trying to Suppress
the sportfulness Of youth and drive oft
from men their love of amusement. If
God ever implanted anything in us he
implanted this desire.
But Instead Of providing for this de-
mand of our nature, the church of God
has, for the main part, ignored it, AS
in riot, the mayor plants battery at
the end of the street, and has it fired off
so that everything is cut down that hap
pened to stand in the range, the good as
|
church who plant their batteries of con-
domination and fire away indiscriminate-
ly. EVERYTHING is condemned. But my
Bible commends those who use the
world without abusing it, and in the nat
ural world God has done everything to
please and amuse US. In poetic figure
we sometimes speak Of natural objects
as being in pain, but it is mere fancy.
Poets say the clouds weep, but they
never yet shed tear; and the winds
sigh, but Their never did have any trou
BILE; and that the storm bowls, but it never
lost its temper. The world is a rose and tn,
universe a garland.
And am glad to know that in all GU
cities there are plenty of places where w
may find elevated, moral entertainment
But all honest men and good women viii
agree with me in the statement that on
of the worst plaques of these cities i
corrupt amusement. Multitudes liav
gone down under the blasting influenc
never to rise. Ii we may judge of wha
is going on in many of the places o
amusement by the Sodomic picture o.
board fences and in many of the SHOW
windows there is not a much lower deptl
of prolgacy to reach. At Naples, Italy
they keep such pictures locked up from
indiscriminate inspection. Those pict
nres were exhumed from Pompeii and ar
not fit for public gaze. If the effronter.
of bad places of amusement in hangin,
out improper advertisements of what the,
are doing night by night grows worse ii
the same proportion, in fifty years New
York and Brooklyn will beat not oMl,
Pompeii, but Sodom.
To help stay the plague now raging
rtoi, ,.in niv,1o Inv iot,x
may Judge in regard to any amusemen
or recreation, finding out for yoursel
whether it is right or whether it
wrong.
1 remark in the first place that you cal
Judge of the moral character OF an,
amusement by it's healthful result or b.
, it's baIeful reaction There are peopl
who seem made up of hard facts. The,
, are combination OF multiplication table
and statistics. If you show them al
exquisite picture they will begin to dis
cuss the pigments involved in the color
ing. If you show them beautiful ros
they will submit it to botanical ana
Z lysis, which is only the post-mortem OK
{ animation of a flower. They have N
rebound in their nature. They neve
| do anything more than smile. Their
, are no great tides OF feeling surging VI
, from the depths of their soul in billo,
! after billow of reverberating laughter
They seem as if nature had built then
by contract and made a bungling job of it
But, blessed be God, there are people il
the world who have bright faces, an
whose life is song, an anthem, a paa
! of victory. Even their troubles are Xix
8 the vines that crawl up the side of
9 great tower, on the top of which the sun
Q light sits, and the soft airs of summe
hold perpetual carnival. They are tn
: people you like to have come to you
: house; they are the people like t
have come to my house. If you bu
. touch the hem of their garments you ar
: healed.
Now it is these exhilerant and sympa
; thetic and warm hearted people that ar
. most tempted to pernicious amusement:
g In proportion as ship is swift it want
/ strong helmsman; in proportion as
horse is gay it wants a stout driver; an
q these people of eXuberant nature will d
o we'll to look at the reaction Of all the
l. amusements. If an amusement send
"a you home at night nervous so that yo
I cannot sleep, and you rise up in til
/. morning, not because you are slept GU