The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-03-25
TALMAGE In CHICAGO
lie Prepares a Sermon On Religion
in the Family.

All Other Early Influences-The Prayer
of a Pious Grandmo other Affected All He,
Decentralization Circumstance.
CHICAGO, March 19.-Rev. DR.. Tai
mage, who Is now in this city on brief
visit, did not preach today. He prepared
for the press. however, the following
discourse on Religion at Home" the
text selected being Joshua XIV, Is, GAS
for me and my house, we will serve the
Lord"
Absurd, Joshual You will have no
time for family religion; you are mill
,tary character, and your time will be
taken up with affairs connected with the
army; You are statesman, and your
time will be taken up with public affairs;
you are the Washington, the Yelling
ton, the McMahon Of the Israelitish host;
you will have great many questions to
settle; you will have no time for religion.
But Joshua, with the same voice with
which he commanded the sun and moon
to hall. and stack arms of light on the
parade ground of the heavens, says, GAS
for me andsmy house, we will serve the
Lord"
Before we adopt the resolution of this
old soldier we want to be certain it is a
wise resolution. If religion is going to
put my piano out. of tune, and clog the
feet of the children racing through the
hall, andssoursthe. bread, and put Grape
on theedporbeIl, do not want it in my
house. once gave So to hear Jenny
Lind MARBLE. I-haEe never given cent
to hear any one groan. VIII this religion
spoken, of in my text do anything for the
dining hall, for he=nursery, for the par
lor, for the sleeping apartment
It isagFeat deal easier to invite dis
agreeable guest than to get rid of him.
If you do not want religion, you had bet
ter aotrask it toscome, for after coming
it may stay great while. Isaac Watts
went to visit ST. Thomas and Lady Alb
ney at their place in Theobald and was
to stay aweek and staid IS years, and if
religion once gets into your household
the probability is it will stay there for
ever.
Now, the question / want to discuss is,
What will religion do for the household?
Question the first: What did it do for
your fathers house if you were brought
up in q Christian home?
TIE FATHERS PRAYER.
That whole scene has vanished, but it
comes back today. The hour for morn
ing prayers came. You were invited in.
Somewhat fdgety, you sat and listened.
Your father made no pretention to rhe-
torical reading, and he just went through
the chapter in a plain, straightforward
way. Then you all knelt. It was about
the same prayer morning by morning
and night by night, for he had the same
sins to ask pardon for, and he had the
same blessings for which to be grateful
day after day and year after year.
The prayer was longer than you would
like to have had it, for the game at ball
was waiting or the skates were lying
under the shed, or the schoolbooks need
ed one OF two more looking at the les
sons. Your parents, somewhat rheumat-
ic and stiifened with age, found it diff
cult to rise from their kneeling. The
chair at which they kneh is gone, the BIZ
BILE out of which they read has perhaps
fallen to pieces, the parents are gone, the
children scattered north, east, south and
west, but that whole scene flashes upon
your memory today.
Was that morning and evening exer-
else in your fathers house debasing or
elevating2 LIS it not among the most sa-
cred "reminiscences? You were not as de-
votional as some of the older members
of your fathers house who were kneel-
ing with you at the time, and you did
not bow your head as closely as they did,
and you looked around and you saw just
the posture your father.and mother as
summed whilethey were kneeling on the
floor. The whole scene is so photo
graphed on your memery that if you
were an artist you could draw it now
just as they lnelt.
For how mach would you have that
scene obliterabed from your memory? 1t
all comes back today, and you are in the
homestead again. Father is there, moth
er is there, all Of you children are there.
It is the same old prayer. opening with
the samepetition, closing with the same
thanksgiving. The family prayers Of
1s4o-50 as fresh m your memory as
though they were utteaSA yesterday.
The tear thai starts from your eye melts
all that s5sns. GSars, sit? Why, many
tire 1t has held yon steady in the strug-
giles Of life. You once started for place,
and that memory jerleed you back, and
you coraid net enter.
The broken prayer of your father has
had more effect on you than all you ever
read in Shakespeare and Milton and Ten
nyson and Dante. You have gone over
mountains and across seas. You never
for a moment got out Of sight of that
domestic affair Oh, my friends, is your
opinion tins morning that the 10 or Is
minutes subtracted from each day for
family devotion was an economy OF
waste of time in your fathers house
hold? think some of us are coming to
the conclusion that the religion which
was in our fathers house would be a very
appropriate religion for our homes. If
eo,,,;1r ,,rovars did NOT daInape that