The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1891-12-18
SHARES FOR WEAK MEN.
DR.. TALMAGE breaches AT ANN AR
Dor ON NETS FOR THE SOUL.

There Is snare for the Ignorant and
| a stin More Dangerous Snare for the
Youth Proud of His Intellect.
ANN ARBoR, Mich, Dec. 13-Our
citizens in large numbers have availed
themselves of the opportunity of hear
ing DR., Talmage, who is visiting the
city by invitation of the students of the
university. Last night vast audience
greeted the famous Brooklyn preacher
at his lecture, and this evening, when
he was announced to preach a special
sermon to young men, there was no
building in the city that would accom-
modate all who wanted to hear him.
His text was Proverbs i, II, Surely
in vain the net is spread in the sight of
any bird"
EARLY in the morning l went out
with a fowler to catch wild pigeons.
We fastened through the mountain
gorge and into the forest. We spread
out the net, and covered up the edges
of it as well as we could We ar.
ranged the call bird, its feet fast and
its wings Tapping, in invitation to all
fowls of heaven to settle down there
We retired into booth of branches
and leaves and waited
After awhile, looking out of the door
of the booth, we saw flock of birds in
the sky. They came nearer and nearer,
and after awhile were about to swoop
into the net, when suddenly they darted
away, Again we waited. After awhile
we saw another flock of birds. They
came nearer and nearer until just at
the moment when they were about to
swoop they darted away.
The fowler was very much disap-
pointed as well as myself. We said to
each other, What is the natter" and
"Why were not these birds caught9"
We went out and examined the net,
and by fiutter of branch of tree
part of the net had been conspicuously
exposed, and the birds coming very
near had seen their peril and darted
away When saw that, | said to the
old fowler, THAT reminds me of a
passage of Scripture, Surely in vain is
the net spread in the sight of any bird y"
Now, the net in my text stands for
temptation.
The call bird of sin tempts men on
from point to point and from branch
to branch until they are about to drop
into the net. If man finds out in
time that it is the temptation of the
devil, or that evil men are attempting
to capture his soul for time and for eter-
nifty, the man steps back. He says, Il
am not to be caught in that way;
see what you are about; surely in vain
is the net spread in the sight of any
bird"
THE sUBTLETY OF THE DEVIL.
There are two classes of temptations
the superficial and the subterraneous
those above ground, those under
ground. If man could see sin as it is
he would no more embrace it than he
would embrace leper Sin is daugh-
ter of hell, yet she is garlanded and
robed and trinketed. Her voice is a
MARBLE. Her cheek is the setting sun.
Her forehead is an aurora. She says
to men: Come, walk this path with
me; it is thymed and primrosed, and
the air is bewitched with the odors of
the hanging gardens of heaven; the
rivers are rivers of wine, and all you
have to do is to drink them up in chal-
ices that sparkle with diamond and
amethyst and chrysoprasus. See 1t
is all bloom and roSeate cloud and
heaven"
Oh, my friends, if for one moment
the choiring of all these concerted
voices of sin could be hushed we
should see the orchestra of the pit with
hot breath blowing through fiery flute,
and the skeleton arms Oh drums of
thunder and darkness beating the
chorus, The end thereof is death"
l want to point out the insidious
temptations that are assailing more es-
pecially our young men. The only
kind of nature comparatively free from
temptation, SO far as | can judge, is the
| cold, hard, stingy, mean temperament.
What would Satan do with such man
| if he got him? Satan is not anxious to
| get man who after awhile may dis
pute with him the realm of everlasting
meanness. 1t is the generous young
man, the warm hearted young man,
the social young man that is in espe-
cial peril.
A pirate goes out on the sea, and one
! bright morning he puts the glass to his
eye and looks off, and sees an empty
vessel floating from port to port. He
says, Never mind that's no prize for
us. But the same morning he puts
the glass to his eye, and he sees vessel
coming from Australia laden with gold,
Or vessel from the Indies laden with
| spices. He says, That's our prize
bear down on It'll" Across that unfor-
tunate ship tile graphing hooks are
thrown. The crew are blindfolded and
are compelled to walk the plank. 1t is
not the empty vessel, but the laden
merchantmen that is the temptation to
the pirate.
And young man, empty of head,
empty of heart, empty of life-you want
no Young Mems Christian association
to keep him safe; he is safe. He will
not gamble unless it is with somebody
elses stakes. He will not break the
Sabbath unless somebody else pays the
horse hire. He will not drink unless
some one else treats him. He will hang
around the bar hour after hour wait
ling for some generous young man to
come in. The generous young man
comes in and accosts him and says,
Jewell, will you have drink with me
today The man. as though it were
a ssdden thing for him, says, 'Well-
well, if you insist on it, will II will !"
Too mean to go to perdition unless
somebody else pays his expenses? For
such young men we will not fight. We
would no more contend for them than