The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1894-04-10
DIR. TALMAGE'S SERMON
1T THE BROOKLYN TABERNACLE
LAST SUNDAY.
" Strangers In Town Formed tine Subject of
an Eloquent Discuurse-A Sermon Es-
pecially to Visitors i'll the City.

Brooklyn April S.-(Special )-Before no
audience in the world could such a sermon
as Rev. DR.. Talmage preached today be
so appropriate as in the Brooklyn Taberna-
Gle where it is estimated that 100000 stran-
gers attend every year. 1t was sermon
that had for them d special interest The
text selected was Matthew XIV, 50: L was
Il stranger and We took me in
1t is IL moral disaster that jocosity has
deSpolled 50 many passages of scripture, and
my text is one that has suffered from If
reVerent and misapplied quotation. 1t shows
great poverty of wit and humOr when peo-
pie take the sword of divine truth for
game at fencing, or CHIP off from the
kohinoor diamond OF inspiration Il sparkle
to decorate a FOOLS cap. My text IS the
Salutatlon IN the last judgment to be given
to those who have shown hospitality and
kindness, and Christian helpIulnesS to
strangers. by railroad and steamboat the
population OF the earth all the time
III motion and from one years end to anoth
er our cItleS are crowded with visitors. EV-
cry morning on the tracks of the Hudson
rover, the pennsylvania, the Erie, the Long
Island railroads there come passenger trains
more than 1 can number; SO that all the
depotS and the WlarVeS are a-rumble and
a-clanS with the coming in OF Il great immi-
SfIlloll Oh strangers. some OIL them come
Tor purposes OF batter, some Tor mecnanlSn
some lor artlsuc Srauncatlon, some Tor
Sightseeing. a great many OF them go out
on the evening Trans, and consequently
Inc city makes but Hutle impression upon
them but there are muitlluucs VINO, IN
Inc hotels and boarding houses, make tenn
pOraly residence. They tarry here for
three or TOUR days, many weeks
They spend the days in the stores ana the
evenings III Sightseeing. Thelr temporary
stay Will make break them, noe ony
financially, but morally, for this world ana
the world that is to come. MultltudeS OF
them come into our morning and evening
services. | am conscious that / stand IN
the presence of many this moment. | de-
q ~ n
May God give me the right word and help
me to utter it i'll the right way.
Lere have gllded INTO uhiS house those UNI
known to others, whose history, If tod
would be mere thrilling than the deepest
tragedy, more exciting than PATHS song,
more bright than a spring morning. more
awful than a Wintry midnight. If they
could stand up here and tell the story of
their escapes, ana their temptations, and
their bereaVemeuts and their disasters, and
their victories, and their defeats there
would be in this house such comminglns
of GroanS and vaccinations as would make
the place unendurablc
There is a man. who, in infancy, lay in
who was picked up, a foundling on Boston
common. Here is a man who IS cooly OBJ
serving this religious service, expecting no
advantage and caring for no advantage
for himself; while yOnder is Il man who
has been for ten years III an awful confa-
grafton of evil habits, and he is a mere Gin
der Of a destroyed nature and he is Won
dering if there shall be in this service any
escape or help for his immortal soul.
face. | strike hands with you in an earnest
talk about your present condition ana your
lita went to pieces where TWO seas meet;
but we stand today at a point where
thousand seas converse and eternity alone
can tell the issue of the hour.
The hotels of tins country, for beauty
and elegance, are not surpassed by the
hotels in any other land; but those that
are most celebrated for brilliancy OF tapes
try and mirror cannot give to the guest any
costly apartment unless he can afford
i Il, th
stranger therefore, will generally find as
signed him q room without any pictures,
and perhaps any rocking chair! He will
find box of matches on bureau, and
an old newspaper left by the previous Occu-
pant, and that will be about an the orha-
mentatiOn. At I O'Clock in the EVENING
after having taken his repast, he viii looE
over his memorandum book of the days
work; he will write a letter 70 his home,
and then a desperation will SefHe upon him
to get out You hear the great city thun-
dderng under your windows, ana you say a,
minutes you have joined it. Where are
you going? "Oh," you say, Il haven't
made up my mind YETI Better make up
your mind before you start. Perhaps the
very way you go now you will always go.
Twenty years ago, there We're 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 2oin%?' SAYS one
man. u am going to the Academy to hear
some music" Good / would like to ioin
YOU at the door At the tap of the orches-
beauty will open before your soul. | CON
graduate you. Where are you going?
some advertised pictures Good: | should
like to 90 along with you and look over the
same catalogue and study with you kensett
and Bierstadt and church ana Moran.
Nothing more elevating than good pictures
Where are you going? Well you say,
II am going up t. the Young Mems Chris
tan Association rooms Good. You will
find there gymnastics to strengthen the
muscles and books to improve the mind,
iy1fi1 ttA
wish every city in the United States had as
fine a palace for its Young Mems Christian
Associaton as NGW v n9Fk m has Hs[e
and SO turn round into the BoweIX;
l am going. to study human life
Good. y walk through broadway at 5
o'clock at night is interesting, educating,
Fascinating, appalling, eXhilarating to the
last degree. Stop in front of that theater
and see who come out. See the great tides
of life surSing backward and forward, and
beating against the marble Of the curb
stone, and eddNinG down into the saloons
What is that mark on the face Of that de-
bauchee; 1t is the hectic flush of eternal
death. What IS that woman laughter
1t is the shrek Of lost soul. Who is that
Chris aln man going along with vial or
anodyne to the dying pauper on Elm street?
Who is that bclated man on the way to
prayer meeting? Who is that city mission
airy going to take d box in which to bury
u child? Who are all these clusters of
bright and beautiful faces? They are going
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
a dose OF belladonna, and before morning
it will make no difference to him whether
stocks are up or down. | tell you that
Broadway, between and l. O'Clock at
night, between the battery and Central
park. is an AusterlitZ, Il Gettysburg a
Waterloo where Kingdoms are lost or won,
and three worlds min@le in the strife.
/ meet another coming down off the hotel
steps, and | say: Where are you Song?'
You say: Il am going with Il merchant of
New York who has promised to show me
the underground life of the city. ! am his
customer and he is going to oblige me
very much" Stop! a business house that
tries 10 get or keep your custom through
such d process as that is not worthy of
You. There are business establishments in
our cities which have tor years been send
ing to destruction hundreds and thousands
o. merchants They have a secret drawer
in the counter, where money is kept, and
the clerk goes and gets it when he wants to
take these visitors to the city through the
low Slums of the place. Shall | mention the
names OF some of these great commercial
establishments? | have them on my lips.
Shall |? Perhaps | 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 commercial
establishment if it proposes to get GUS
toners or 10 keep them by such a process
as that; drop their acquaintance. They
VIII cheat you before you set through;