Telegram-herald., 1891-03-16
PLAQUES OF THE CITIES.
STRONG DISCOURSE PREACHED ey
REy. T. 1E WITT TAlMaGE-
Baiefsi Amsss0ssts the Subject -
Great Co4eoz<ss PEsssas-I1e spsAk-
or Specifies Anxss~ssts Tat Are
Harmful and TAosa That Are Not.

mons DR. I2lnlage Is preaching in this city
aud Brooklyn On The Plaques OF tie
Cities" Is attracting general atsectisn
AT tue morning service ia Brooklyn and
AZ tes evening services held uR1er the
auspices Of The Christian Herald. n this
city, ths nuEnoer OF persons who eoms TO
hear the Sermons is far larger than either
Of the buildings can conmotate. The
sermon to-day. which is the fourth Of the
series. Is on "B1lesul AnaQsemsnIs The
text Was ii samuel, ii. IA: Let the young
men nov arise and play before Us"
There aFe two armies sncamped by the
pool OF Gibeon- The time hangs heavily
on their hands One army proposes a game
OF sword fencing. Nothing could be more
heaithfcl and innocent The other arm =
accepts the challenge Twelve zen against
twelve men. ihe sport opens. Aut some
thing went adversely. Perhaps one OF the
ssvorissnen got an unlucky clip, or in sonrs
way had his ire aroused, and that which
opened Ia sportfalae>s ended ia violence,
each one taking his contestant by the hair.
and then with the sword thrustins him in
the side. SO that that which opened in in
nocent fun eIeed ia ths massacre Of all the
twenty four s.Sortsuien- Was there ever "a
~,
and is true now, that that which Is inno-
cent may DC made destructive,
What OF worldly nature is more i'm
portant and strengthening and innocent
than amusement, and yet what has count
ed more yietirns' have no sympathy with
a strai,jacker religion. This Is q very
bright world TO me, and propose to do all
| eau TO make il bright for Others.
YOUTHS sPoErIvESEss SHOULD NOT BE SUP
PEESsEp.
never could keep step to a dead march
A book years ago issued says that Chris
tian man has a right To some amusements
For instance, IL he comes home at night
weary frola his work, and feeling in need
Of recreation. puts on his slippers, and
goes into his garnet and walks lively
round the floor several times there can be
no harm in il. / believe the church Of
God has mad tremendous mistake in
trying TO suppress the sportfulness Of
youth and dri % out ON men their love
Of amusement. II God ever implanted
anything in Us he implanted this desire
But instead of providing for this demand
OF our nature, the church Of God has, for
the main pam, ignored it. As in q riot, the
mayor plants u battery at the end of the
street, and has it tired of so that every
thing is cut down that happens TO stand In
the range, the good as well as the bad, so
there are men in the charch who plant
their batteries Of condemnation and fire
away indiscriminately. Everything Ia con-
demned. But my bible commends those
who use the world without abusing il, and
in the natural world God has done every
thing to please and amuse Us. In poetic
figure we sometimes speak of natural OBJ
jects as being In pain, but it Is a mere
fancy. Poets say the clouds weep, but
they never yet shed tear; and the winds
sigh, but they never did have any trouble;
and that the storm bowls, but it never lost
its temper. The world Is o rose, and the
universe GA, land
And l am glad to know that in all our
cities there are plenty Of places where we
may find elevated. moral entertainment.
But all honest men and good women will
agree with me in the statement that one Of
the worst plaques Of these cities is corrupt
amusement. Multitudes have gone down
under the blasting influence never to rise.
II we may judge Of what is going on in
many of the places of amusement by the
Sodomic pictures on board fences and in
many Of the show windows there is not
much lower depth OF profgacy to reach
At Naples, italy, they keep such pictures
locked up from indiscriminate inspection.
Those pictures were exhumed from Pom
peii and are not fit for public gaze. II the
effrontery of bad places Of amusement il
hanging out improper advertisements of
what they arc doing night by night grows
worse In the same proportion, in llfty years
III
Pompeii, but Sodom.
To help stay the plague now raging l
project certain principles by which you
may judge in regard to any amusement or
recreation, finding out for yourself whether
it Is right or whether it is wrong.
By ITS FRUITS KNOW 1T.
I remark In the first place that you can
judge OF the moral character Of any amuse-
ment by its healthful result or by its bale
full reaction. There are people who seem
made up OF hard facts. They are a COM
bination Of multiplication tables and sta
tistics. IL you show them an exquisite
picture they will begin to discuss the pig
ments involved in the colonng. IL you
show them beautiful rose they will sub
nit it to a botanical analysis. which is only
the post-mortem examination Of a flower.
They have no reSound in their nature.
They never do anything more than smile.
There are no great tides Of feeling surging
up from the depths of their soul in billow
after bilow of reverberafing laughter.
They seem a. If nature had built them by
contract and made a bungling job of 1t.
But. blessed DO God. there are psople in
the world who have bright faces, and
whose life is song. an anthem, a p<nan Of
Of victory. Even their troubles are like
the vines that crawl up the side OF a great
tower. on the top Of which the sunlight
sits. and the soft airs Of summer hold per
petual carnival. They are the people you
like TO have come ~ your house; they Arc
the people ike 70 hare come To my house
IL you but touch the hem of their gar
mshts you are healed
Now IL - these exhilarant and symps-
thet.c and warm hearted people that are
most tempted 70 pe-nicious amusesnents
r. proportion as ship 10 swift IL wants
strong helmsnsan, In proportion A. horpe
is gar. IL wants a stout driver; and these
people Of cxuharant nature will do well to
hook az the reaction Of ali their amHse
meats III an amusement sends yon home
At night nervous so that ron cannot sleep.
and you rise up in the morning, not be
eaDse you are slept out, but because your
duty draes ron from your siumbcrs, you
have been where yoa onght not to have
been There ere am asements thss send =
man next day % his work btoodshos. yswn-
ma. ssayil. nsuseatel, add they are wrong
kinds II amusement They are entertain
raents that give man disgust With the
dr0desry ~ life. WITH tools because they
are not swords. with working aprons BE-
esu~e sis@v a.. not ruses. with cstsle be
-.-,-n thar ara n.r infiiriafrd halAs Of The