Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1894-04-20
REV. DR.. TALMAGE
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject "Strangers Within the
Gates.''
TEXT: "I ,ods n stranger and ye took Ne
IN. "-Matthew XIV. 50.

TEXT: "I ,ods n stranger and se took NJ
tl- "-Matthew XIV, 35.
II is n moral disaster that iocositv has de-
| spolled so many passages Of Scripture, anG
| my text is one that has suffered from irrevcr.
ent and misapplied quotation. 1t show!
great poverty of wit and humOr when people
take the sword of divine truth for a game al
| 1enclng or chip off from the KOhinOOr dia
| mond OF inspiration a sparkle to decorate &
| FOOLS cap. My text Is the salutation in the
last Judgment to be given to those who have
! shown hospitality and Kindness and Chris
| tian nelpfuness to strangers BY railroad
| and steamboat the population of the earth
hre 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 Hud-
| son River, the Pennsylvania, tho Erie, the
/ Long Island Railroads there come passenger
! trains more than can number, 50 that all
| the depots and tho wharves ere a-rumbla
! ana a-ciang with the coming in of q great
| immigration of strangers. Some of them
| come for purposes Of barter, some for mech
| anlsm, sOme for artistic qualification, some
| for sightseeing. A great many of them 20
| out on the evening trains and consequently
! the city makes but iittlo impression upon
! them, but thcrO are muItitudeS who in the
| hotels and boarding houses make temporary
residence. They tGrry hero for three or four
i EDond 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 is
| to como. Multitries of them come into our
| morning and evening services. I am con-
| scIOus that stand in the presence of many
| this moment. [ desire moro especially to
! speak to thcm. May God give me the right
| word and help me to utter it in the right
! way.
| There have glided into this house those
! unknOwG to others whose history if told
! would be moro thrilling than The deepest
| tragedy, moro exciting than PATHS song.
moro bright than n spring morning. moro
| awful than u Wintry midnight. If they
| could stand up here and tell the story of
| their escapes, and their temptations, and
| their bGreavcmCnts, and their disasters and
| their victories, and their defeats there would
| be in this house such a commingIng of
| ErOans and acclamations as would make the
place uncomfortable.
There IS man who, in infancy, lay in a
! cradle satin lined. Out yOnder is man
! who was picked up a fOundIing on Boston
Common. Hero is a man who is cOolIy OBJ
serving this religious service, expecting no
| advantage and caring tor no advantage for
| himself, while yOnder is a man who has been
! for ten years in an awful cOnflagatiOn of evil
! habits, and he is amero cinder Of a destroyed
| nature, and he is wondering if there shall be
in this service any escape or Eclp for his i'm.
mortal soul. Meeting vOu only Onco per
hapS face to face, | strike hands with you in
an earnest talk about your present condition
and your eternal we'll being. 81. Paul's ship
| at Melta went to pieces where two seas
meet, but we stand to-day at point where
thousand seas converge. and eternity alone
can tell the issue of the hour.
The hotels this country, for beauty and
elegance, arc not surpassed by the hotels in
any other land, but those that are most cele-
hri Of f1TNn
cannot give to the guest any costly apart
mcnt unless he can afford a parlOr in addi-
ton to his 10 Lying. The stranger therefore,
will generally find assigned to him room
| without any 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 Do about all
the OrnamPntatiOn. At o'clock in the even
| ing, after having taken his repast he will
look over his memorandum book of the days
work, he Will WTitC n 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, 81 must
Join that procession" and in ten minutes you
have joined it. Whcrc are you going2 "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
always go. Twenty years ago there were two
young men who came down the AstOr House
steps and started out in a wrong direction,
where they have been going ever since.
''Well, whore are you SOinS?" says ono
man. 81 am going to the academy to hear
som" music" Cool. [ would like to join
you 1T the door. AT the tap of the orchestral
baton all the gatea of harmony and beauty
will open before my soul. [ congratulate
you. Whcro are you going? "Well, you
say, 81 am going up to SEQ some advertised
pictures" Good. | should like to gOaIOng
with you and look over tho Same catalogue
and study with you Kensett and Blerstadt
and Church and Moran. Nothing moro
elevating than good pictures. Where are
sou going? 'Well," you say, 81 am going
up to the Young Mems Christian Association
rooms" Good. You will find there
gymnastics to strengthen the muscles, and
books to improve tho mind, and Christian
influence to save the soul. | wish every city
in the United States had as fino paiace for
its Young Mems Christian Association
as New York has. Where arc you going?
''WeH," you say 81 am going to take long
walk up Broadway and so turn around into
the BOWery. l am going to study human
life" Good. A walk through Broadway at
8 o'clock at night is interesting, educating,
fascinating, appalling, cXhilarating to tho
last degree. Stop in front of that theatre
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 curbstono
and cddyinG, down into the saloons. What
IS that mark on the face of that debauChee?
It is the hectic flesh of eternal death. What
is that WOman's laughter? 1t is the shrek
OF Il lost soul.
Who is that Christian man going along
with vial of anodynC to the dying pauper
on Elm street? Who is that belated man
on the way to a prayer meeting? Who Is
that city missionary going to take q box in
which to bury child? Who are all these
clusters of bright and beautiful faces? They
are going to somo interesting place of amuse
ment.
Who is that man going into the drug store?
That is the man who yesterday lost all his
fortune on Wall street He is going in for
dose Of beIladOnna, and before morning it
will make no difference to him whether
stocks are up or down. l tell you that Broad
way, between and u o'clock at night be-
tween the Battery and Central Park, is an
Austerlitz, a Gettysburg, a Waterloo, where
kingdoms are lost or won and three worlds
mingle in the strife.
met another coming down off the hotel
steps, and [ say, "Where are you g0ing?"
You say: II am going with merchant of
New York who has promised to show me the
underground life of the city. [ am his ous-
toner, and he IS going to OblIge me TGry
| much" Stop! A business house that trc>5
to get or keep your custom through such a
| process as that is not worthy OF you. There
are business establishments i'll our cities
+ which have for years been sending to de-
struction hundred and thousands of mer-
| chants. They have secret drawer in the
counter where money is kept, and the clerk
goes and gets it when he wants take these
visitors TO the city through the low slums oil
the place.
Shall [ mention the names of some of these
great commercial establishments? 1 have
them on my lips. Shall l? Perhaps 1 had
better leave it to the young men who in that
process have been destroyed themselves
while they have been destroying others.
care not how high sounding the name OF g
commercial establishment if it proposes to
get customers or TO keep them by such pro
cess as that. Drop their acquaintance. They
will cheat you before you get through. They
will send you style Of goods different from
that which you bought by sample. The!
will give you under weight. There will bt
in the package half dozen less pairs of sus
| Denders than Won maid for They will rOt