The Penn's Grove record., 1894-04-13

o. AStAN nv ~
what he has seen will be moral pollution. J
think you had better let the city missionary
and the police attend to the exploration OF
New York and underground life. You do
not go TO a smallpox hospital for the pur-
pose of exploration. You do not go there
because you are afraid of contagton. ANA
yet you go into the presence of a moral lep-
rosy that is as much more dangerous to you
as the death Of the soul is worse than death
OF the body. I will undertake to say that
nine-tenths Of the men who AVE been ruined
in our cities have been ruined by simply
going to observe without any idea of particl-
pating. The inct is that underground city life
Isl filthy, Tuning, reeking, pestiferous Gepth
which blasts the eye that looks at it. In the
reign ofterror in 1892 in Paris people escap-
ing from the officers of the law got into the
sewers OF the city and crawled and walked
through miles Of that awful labyrinth, stifled
with the atmosphere and almost dead, some
OF them, when they came out to the river
Seine, where they washed themselves and
again breathed the fresh air. Blu 1 have to
Tell you that a great many of the men who go
on the work OF exploration through the I'M
foreground cutters Of New York life never
come out at any Seine River where they
can wash of the pollution Of the moral
sewerage. Stranger. If one of the represent
, ~tatives of a commercial establishment pro-
poses to take you and show you the "sights"
| VI ~ NoNh blhI uultTRTOuul NOW Olh Guy
to him, "Please, sir, what part do you pro
pose TO show mc?'
About sixteen years ago as a minister OF
religion L felt I had a divine commission TO
explore the iniquities of our cities. l did not
ask counsel OF my session or my p~resbytery
or OF the newspapers, but asking the COM
pan1onship Of three prominent police officials
and two Of the elders OF my church l I'M
rolled my commission, and 1t said 'Son Of
man, dig into the wall. And when l had
digged into the wall behold q door, and He
said go in and see the wicked denominations
that are done here. And I went in and saw
and behold" Brought up in the country
and surrounded hy much paternal care, |
had not until that time seen the haunts Of
iniquity. By the grace of God defended, J
had never sowed my wild oats"
l had somehow been able to tell from
various sources something about the iniqui-
ties ofthe great cities and to preach against
them, but l saw in the destruction OF n great
multitude OF the people that there must be
an infatuation and a temptation that had
never been spoken about, and 1 said, 81 will
explore" | saw thousands of men going
down, and il there had been a spiritual per-
%cussion answering to the physical percussion
the whole air would have been full of the
rumble and rom and crack and thunder of
the demolition, AMI this moment, II we
should pause in our service, we should hear
the crash. crash! Just rs in the sickly sea-
son you sometimes hear the bell at the gate
| of the cemetery ringing almost necessarily,
| SO l found that the bell at the gate of the
, cemetery where ruined souls are buried was
tolling by day and tolling by night. 1 said,
Il will explore
1 went as a physician goes into a fever
l~azareto to see what practical and useful in
formation | might get. That would be a
| foolish doctor who would stand outside the
door of an invalid writing a Latin prescrip-
ton. When the lecturer in q medical col.
lege is done with his lecture, he takes the
| students into the dissecting room, and he
shows them the reality. 1 went and saw
and come forth to my pulpit to report a
| plague and to tell how sin dissects the body
and dissects the mind and dissects the soul.
"Oh," say you. ARE you not afraid that in
consequence of such exploration of the mi
quities of the city other persons might make
exploration and DO themselves damage?" ]
| reply SIT in company with the commits
sioner OF police, and the captain of police,
and the inspector of police and the com-
pany of two Christian gentlemen, and not
! with the spirit Of curiosity, but that you may
see sin in order the better to combat 1t, then,
in the name Of the eternal God, go? But, ii
DOT. then stay away
Wellington, standing in the battle OF
| WATERLOO when the bullets were buzzing
Il uIOuuu MS htttIt saw ii NIN1lAtu VII IN ubils
He said to him "Sir, what are you doing
here2 Be of" "Why," replied the civilian,
| "there is no more danger here for me than
there is for YOU" Then Wellington flushed
up and said, God and my country demant
hat l he here. but you have no GRAND here
Now /, as an officer in the army of Jesus
Christ, went on that exploration and en- to
that battlefield. If you bear a like commits
sion, go. II not, stay away. But you say,
"Don't you think that somehow the descrip-
lion Of those places induces people to go and
see for themselvesp' L answer yes, Just as
much as the description of yellew fever in
some scourged city would induce people tc
70 down there and get the pestilence.
But 1 may be addressing some stranger
already destroyed. Where is he, that I may
pointedIy yet kindly address him? Come
back and wash in he deep fountain Of a
Saviour's mercy. I do not give you a cup.
or a chalice, or a pitcher with a limited sup
ply to effect your ablutions. I point you to
the five oceans of Gods mercy. oh, that the
Atlantic and Pacific surges of divine forgive
ness might roll over you soul As the glori-
Gus sun OF Gods forgiveness rides on toward
the mid heavens ready to submerge you in
warmth and light and love I bid you good
morning. Morning of peace 70: all your
troubles. Morning of liberation for all your
incarcerations Morning Of resurrection for
your soul buried in sin. Good morning
Morning for the resuscitated household tha
has been waiting for your return. Morning
for the cradle and the crib already disgraeed
with being that OF a drunkard's child. Morn
ing for the daughter that has trudged off
to hard work because you did not take care
of home. Morning for the wife who at forty
or fifty years has the wrinkled face, and the
stopped shoulder. and the white hair. Morn
ing for one. Morning for all. Good morn
lnc! In Gcd's name, good morning.
- l.,,lf,l trva Nh.
the Confederates were encamped on opposite
sides OF the Rappahannook, and one morn
ing the brass band of the northern troops
PLAYED the national air, and all the northern
troops cheered and cheerad. Then on the
opposite side of the Rappahannock the brass
band Of the Confederates played my Mary
land and ''DiXie," and then all the south
ern troops cheered and cheered. But after
awhile one of the bands struck up "Home,
Sweet Home" and the band on the opposite
side of the river took up the strain, ami
when the tune was done TIE ConfederAtes
and the Federals all together united as the
tears rolled down their cheeks in one great
huzza, huzZl!
Well, my friends, heaven comes very near
to-day. II is only a stream that divides us,
the narrow stream of death, and the voices
there and the voices here seem to commin.
gle, and we join trumpets and hosannahs and
halleluiahs, and the chorus of united song
of earth and heaven is "Home, Sweet Home"
Home of bright domestic circle on earth.
Home of forgiveness in the great heart OF
God. Home OF eternal rest in heaven. HoGel
Home, Home!
But suppose you arc standing on a crae
of the mountain and on the edge OF a preci-
pice, and all unguarded, and some one
either in Joke or hate shall run up behind
you and push you of. 1t is easy enough tc
push you of. But who would do so das,
tardIy a deed Why, this is lone every houI
of every day and every hour OF every night.
Men come 10 the verge Of city life and say
'.Ncw, w will just look off. Come, youne
Young man, do not be afraid. Come near,
let US look on He comes to the edge and
looks and looks until, after awhile, satan
sneaks up behind him and puts a hand on
each of his shoulders and pushes him OF,
Society says it is evil procliylty on the part
of that young man. oh, mol He was sim,
ply an explorer and sacrificed his life in dis.
eovery.
A young man In from the country
Dragging thai nothing can do him any harm.
He knows about all the tricks of city life.
''Why," he says, "did not 1 receive q circu-
Tar in the country telling me that somehow
they found out ! was a sharp business man,
and IL 1 would only send a certain amount
OF money by mail or express, charges pre-