The Portland daily press., 1893-04-15

the city-fathers, brothers, husbands,
sons, as good as you are by nature, per-
haps better.
In the high circles Of society it is
hushed up. A merchant prince, it he
gets noisy and uncomfortable, is taken
by his fellow jewellers, who try to get
him to bed, or take him home, where he
falls fiat in the entry. Do not wake up
the children. They have had digrace
enough. Do not let them know it. Hush
it up. But sometimes it cannot be hush
ed up-when the rum touches the brain
and the man becomes thoroughly fren-
zied.
Oh, if the rum touches the brain, you
cannot hush it up. You do not see the
worst. In the midnight meetings a great
multitude have been saved. We want a
few hundred Christian men and women
TO come down from the highest circles OF
society to toll amid these wandering and
destitute ones and kindle up light in
the dark alley, even the gladness of
heaven.
Do not go from your well filled tables
with the idea that pious talk is going to
stop the gnawing Of an empty stomach
OF to warm stockinglessfeet. Take bread,
take raiment, take medicine as well as
take prayer. There is a great deal of
common sense in what the poor woman
said to the city missionary when he was
telling her how she ought to love God
and serve him. "Ohr' said she, s'if you
were as poor and cold as am, and as
hungry, you could think of nothing
else"
A great deal of what is called Chris
tian work goes for nothing for the sim
pie reason it is not practical, as after
the battle of Antietam a man got out of
an ambulance with bag Of tracts, and
he went distribu ting the tracts, and
George Stuart, one Of the best Christian
men in this country, said to him: 'sWhat
are you distributing tracts for now?
There are 5000 men bleeding to DEATH
Bind up their wounds, and then distrib-
ute the tracts
PRACTICAL SENSE NEEDED.
We want more common sense in Chris
tian work, taking the bread of this life
in one hand, and the bread of the next
life in the other hand. No such inapt
work as that done by the Christian man
who, during the war, went into a hos
pital with tracts, and coming to the bed
Of man whose legs had been amputated,
gave him tract on the sin of dancingi
rejoice before God that never are sym
pathetic words uttered, never a prayer
offered, never Christian almsgiving in
dulged in but it is blessed.
I There is place in Switzerland, have
been told, where the utterance O. re
word will bring back a score Of ec4os,
and / have to tell you this morning that
a sympathetic word, kind word, gen
erous word, a helpful word uttered in
the dark places of the town will bring
back ten thousand echoes from all the
thrones of heaven.
Are there in this assemblage this
| morning those who know by experience
| the tragedies of midnight in town? I am
not here to thrust you back with one
hard word. Take the bandage from
| your bruised soul and put on it the
soothing salye of Christ's gospel and Of
Gods compassion. Many have come. I
see others coming to God this morning,
tired of sinful life. Cry up the news to
heaven. Set all the bells ringing. Spread
| the banquet under the arches. Let tho
crowned heads come down and sit at the
| jubilee.
tell you there is more delight in
heaven over one man that gets reformed
by the grace of God than over ninety
and nine that never got off the track. I
could give you the history in a minute
of one of the best friends I ever had.
Outside of my own family never had a
better friend. He welcomed me to my
home at the west. He was Of splendid
personal appearance, and he had an ar
dor of soul and warmth of affection
that made me love him like a brother.
saw men coming out of the saloons
and gambling bells, and they surrounded
my friend, and they took him at the
| weak point. his social nature, and I saw
him going down, and had fair talk
with him, for never yet saw man you
could not talk with on the subject of his
habits, if you talked with him in the
right way. l said to him, "Why don't
you give up your bad habits and become
a Christian" remember now just how
he looked, leaning over his counter, as
he replied: 81 wish could. Oh, sir,
should like to be Christian, but have
gone SO far astray can't get back"
SICKNESS AND REPENTANCE.
So the time went on. After awhile
the day of sickness came. I was sum-
moned to his sickbed. / fastened. It
took me but a very few moments to get
there. Twas surprised as Event in. l
saw him in his ordinary clothes, fully
dressed, lying on the top of the bed. I
| gave him my hand, and he seized it con-
vulsively and said: "Oh, how glad am
to see you! Sit down there" I sat down,
and he said: "Mr. Talmage, just where
you sit now my mother sat last night.
She has been dead 30 years. Now,
don't want you to think am out of
my mind, or that I am superstitious;
but, sir, she sat there last night just as
certainly as you sit there now-the same
cap, and apron and spectacles. It was
| my old mother-she sat there"