Democratic messenger., 1894-04-14
STRANGERS In TOWN.
A DISCOURSE OF INTEREST TO THE
TABERNACLE THRONG.

Res. Dr. TaImagc Upon I.if. In IA Great City
and the Lessons IL Teaches The FINDER
current of Iife-A Plea For the sabbath.
BROOKLYN, April S.-Before no au-
i.icnce in the world could such a ser
mon rs Rev. DIR. Talmage preached to-
day be 50 appropriate as III the Brooklyn
Tabernacle, where il is estimated that
$50, 900 strangers attend every year. 1t
was sermon that had for them spe-
rial interest. The text selected was Mat
thew xxv, 3J. Il was "A stranger, and ye
took me in -
1t is moral disaster that jocosity has
dcspoiled So many passages of Scripture.
and my text is one that has suffered from
irrevcrent and misapplied quotation. 1t
shows great poverty Of wit and humor
when people take the sword of divine
truth for game ut fencing or chip off
from the Kohinoor diamond of inspira-
ton Il sparkle To decorate a fools cap.
My text is the salutation in the last
judgment To be given to those who have
shown hospitality and kindness and
Christian helpfulncss to strangers. BY
railroad and steamboat the population of
the earth are all the time in motion. and
from one years end to another our cities
are crowded with visitors
Every morning on the tracks Of the
Hudson River. the Pennsylvania, the
Erie. the Long Island railroads there
come passenger trains more than / can
nuiniNr. so that all the depots and the
wharvcs are a-rumblc and a-clang with
the coming i'll of a great immigration of
strangers. Some of them come for pur-
poses of barter, some for mechanism,
some for artistic qualification, some for
sightseeing. a great many of them go
out on the evening trains, and conse-
quently the city makes but little impress
sion upon them, but there are multi
tudes who in the hotels and boarding
houses make temporary residence. They
tarry here for three or four days or as
many weeks. They spend the days in
the stores and the evenings i'll sightsee-
ing Their temporary stay will make or
break them not only financially, but NOR
ally. for this world and the world that is
10 come. Multitudes of them come into
our morning and evening services. l am
conscious that stand in the presence of
many this moment. Idesire more espe-
cially 10 speak to them. May tied give
me the right word and help me To utter
it in the right way.
STRANGERS WITHIN THE GATES.
There have glidcd into this house
those unknown to others whose history
if told would he more thrilling than the
deepest tragedy. more exciting than Pat
it's song, more bright than spring
morning. more awful than a wintry
midnight. II they could stand up here
and tell the story of their escapes. and
their temptations, and their bcreave-
mcnts. and their disasters and their vie
tories, and their defeats, there would be
i'll this house such commingling Of
groans and acclamations as would make
the place uncomfortable.
There is man who. in infancy, lay
in cradle satin lined. Out yonder is
man who was picked up founding on
Boston common. Here is Il man who is
coolly observing this religious service,
expecting no advantage and caring for
no advantage for himself, while yonder
is man who has been for 10 years i'll
an awful conflagration Of evil habits, and
he is mere cinder of a destroyed ma
ture, and he is wondering if there shall
be in this service any escape or help for
his immortal soul. Meeting You only
once perhaps face to face. strike hands
with you in an earnest talk about Your
present condition and your eternal well
being St Paul ship at Melita went to
pieces where two seas meet. but we stand
today ut n point where thousand seas
converge, and eternity alone can tell the
issue of the hour.
The hotels of this country, for beauty
and elegance, are not surpassed by the
hotels in any other land, but those that
are most celebrated for brilliancy of tap
estry and mirror cannot give to the
guest any costly apartment unless he can
afford n parlor i'll addition to his lodg
ing The stranger, therefore, will gen.
orally find assigned to him room with
out amy pictures and perhaps any rock
ing chair. He will find box of matches
on bureau and an old newspaper left
by the previous occupant, and that will
be about all the ornamentation. At
O'Clock in the evening, after having tax
EN- his repast, he will look over his mem
orandum book of the day S work, he will
write letter to his home, and then
desperation will seize upon him to get
out. You hear the great city laundering
under your windows, and you say. Il
must join that procession. and in 10
minutes you have joined it. Where are
you going? "Oh, you say. Il haven't
made up my mind yet. Better make
up your mind before you start. Perhaps
the very way you go now you will al
ways go. Twenty years ago there Were
two young men who came down the AS
tor House steps and started out in q
wrong direction. where they have been
going ever since.
STUDIES OF HUMAN LIFE.
We'll. where are You going:" says
one man. II am going 10 the academy
to hear some music Good would
like to join you at the door At the tap
of the orchestral baton all the gates of
harmony and beauty will open before
your soul. congratulate You Where
are you going? well. You say, Il am
going up To see some advertised pic
lures Good. should like To go along
with you and look over the same cata-
logue and study with you Kensett and
Bierstadt and Church and Moran. Moth
ing more elevating than good pictures
Where are you going? We'll, you say.
II am going up 10 the Young Mems
Christian association rooms. Good.
You will find there gymnastics to
strengthen the muscles, and books To i'm
prove the mind, and Christian influence
to save the soul | wish every city in
the United States had aS fine IL palace for
hts Young Mems Christian association
Buck1en's Arnica Sa1yc.