Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1894-04-13
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
rHE BROOKLYN DIvISE's sun
DAY SERMON.
Subject strangers Within the
Gates"

m."-Matthew XIV, s.
1t "a moral disaster that Iocosity has de.
spoiled so many passages OF Scripture and
! my text Is one that has suffered from irrevers
ent ana misapplied quotation. II shows
/ great poverty OF wit and humor when people
/ take the sword OF divine truth for a game at
fencing or chip of from the kohinoor dia-
mond Of inspiration sparkle to decorate
fools cap. NY text is NE salutation In the
last Judgment TO be given 10 those who have
| shown hospitality and kindness and Chris
! tian helpfilness 10 strangers. BY railroad
and steamboat the population OF the earth
are all the time In motion, and from one
wears end to another our cities are crowded
/ with visitors.
! Every morning ON the tracks OF the Hud-
son River. the Pennsylvania, the Erie, the
! Long Island Railroads there come passenger
trains more than | can number, so that all
the depots and the wharves are a-rumble
| and a-clang with the coming in OF great
| immigration OF strangers. Some OF them
come for purposes OF barter, some for mech
anism, some for artistic qualification, some
for sightseeing. great many OF them 20
out on the evening trains, and consequently
the city makes but little impression upon
them, but there are multitudes 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 in sight
seeing. Their temporary stay will either
! make or break them not only financially, but
morally, for this world and the world that ia
/ to come. Multitudes OF them come into our
! morning and evening services. / am con-
| scious that stand IN the presence of many
| this moment. | desire more especially TO
speak to them. May God give me the right
word and help me to utter 1t in the right
way.
There haze glided into this house those
unknown TO others whose history il told
would Be more thrilling than the deepest
| tragedy, more exciting than PATHS song,
more bright than spring morning. more
| awful than a wlntry midnight. II they
could stand up hero and tell the story OF
| their escapes, and their temptations, and
| their bereavenents. and their disasters, and
their victories, and their defeats, there would
| be in this house such n commingilng OF
| groans and acclamatiOns as would make the
place uncomfortable
There Is q man who, in infancy. lay In a
| cradle satin lined. Out yonder Is man
who was picked up Il founding on Boston
| Common. Here Is n man who Is coolly OBJ
| serving this religious service, expecting no
advantage and caring Tor no advantage for
| himself, while yonder is n man who has been
| for ten years in an awful conllagatlon Of evil
habits, and he is mere cinder OF destroyed
| nature, and he Is wondering If there shall be
In this service any escape or help for his I'm
mortal soul. Meeting you only once per-
haps face to face, strike hands with you In
an earnest talk about your present:condition
and your eternal well being. ST. Paurs ship
! at Melita went 10 pieces where two seas
meet, but we stand to-day mt point where
| Il thousand seas converge, and eternity alone
| can tell the issue OF the hour.
The hOtalq A this n Tor MI
elegance, are not surpassed by the hotels In
any other land, but those that are most cele-
hrated for brllliaucy OF tapestry and mirror
| cannot give TO the guest any costly apart
i, ment unless he can afrorl a parlor In addi-
ton to his lodging. The stranger, therefore,
| will generally find assigned 10 him room
without any pictures and perhaps any rock
ing chair. He will fluid 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 even
Ing, after having taken his repast he will
look over his memorandum book OF the day 3
| work, he will write letter 10 his home, and
then desperation will seize upon him to get
out. You hear the great city laundering
under your windows. and you say, II must
Join that procession. and In ten minutes you
have joined 1t. Where are you going? oh. "
you say, II haven't made up my mind vet "
|
Perhaps the very way you go now you will
always 30. Twenty years ago there were two
young men who came down the Aston House
| steps and started out In a wrong direction
where they have been going ever since.
well, where are you goingi' says one
man. 81 am going to the academy 10 hear
some music" Good would like to Join
you at the door. At the tap OF the orchestral
baton all the gatea OF harmony and beauty
| hATnra I A.,
you. Where are you going2 "Well" YOU
say II am going up to see some advertised
pictures" Good. / should like TO go along
with you and look over the same catalogue
and study with you Kensett and Blerstadt
and Church and Moran. Nothing more
!elevating than good pictures Where are
you goingf well" you say, IL am going
up to the Young Mems Christian Association
rooms Good. You will find there
gymnastics TO strengthen the muscles, and
books to improve the mind, and Christian
influence to save the soul. | wish every city
In the United States had as fine palace for
its Young Mems Christian Association
rs New York has. Where are you going?
well, you say, ~ am going to take long
walk up Broadway and 80 turn around into
the Bowery. / am going to study human
life Good. A walk through Broadway at
o'clock at night Is interesting, educating,
fascinating, appalling, exhtlarating to the
last degree. Stop In front OF that theat re
and see who goes In Stop at that saloon
and see who comes out See the great tides
OF life surging backward and forward and
beating against the marble of the curbstone
and eddying down into the saloons. What
Is that mark on the face OF that debau chez?
II Is the hectic flesh OF eternal death. What
Is that woman's laughter? 1t Is the shrek
OF q lost soul.
Who Is that Christian man going along
with vial of anodyne TO the dying pauper
on Elm street? Who is that belated man
on the way to q prayer meeting? Who ia
that city missionary going to take box In
which to bury a child? Who are all these
clusters OF bright and beautiful faces? They
are going TO some interesting place OF amuse'
ment.
Who Is that man going into the drug storei
Ihat Is the man who yesterday lost all his
fortune on Wall street. He is going in for Il
dose OF belladonna, and before morning Il
will make no difference to him whether
stocks are up or down. tell you that Broad
way, between and IL o'clock at night. be
tween the Battery and Central PARK, Is AT
Austerlitz, Gettysburg, II Waterloo, where
Kingdoms are lost or won and three worlds
y mingle In the strife
met another coming down of tho hote
steps, and say "Where are you going?'
You say: ~ am going with a merchant o
New York who has promised to show me the
: underground life OF the city. / am his Gus
toner, and he ID going to oblige me yer.
much.' Stop! A business house that trle
to get or keep your custom through such
process as that Ia not worthy OF you. Their,
are business establishments in our elite
which have for years been sending to de
struction hundred and thousands OF mer
chants. They have secret drawer In tn
counter where money Is kept, and the clerl
goes and gets 1t when he wants take thes
visitors to the city through the low slums O
I the place.
Shall mention the names Of some OF thes
great commercial establishments hav
them on my lips. Shall /? Perhaps l ha
9 better leave 1t to the young men who in tha