Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1895-07-12
REV. DR.. TALMAGE
The Eminent New York DiVine's Sun
day Sermon.
Subject; "The Gates OF He'll"

Entranced, until we could endure no nOIo
of the splendor. we have often gazed at the
shining gates, the gates OF pearl, the gates OF
heaven. But we are for awhile 10 look in the
opposite direction and see, swinging open
and shut, the gates of hell.
/ remember, when the Franco Prussian war
was going on, that 1 stood one day in Paris
looking at the gates of the Tuileries, aud
was 50 absorbed in the sculpturing at the
top of the gates-the masonry and the bronze
that / forgot myself, and after awhile,
looking down l saw that there were officers
of the law scrutinizing me, supposing no
doubt was a German and looking at those
gates for adverse purposes. But, my friends:
we shall not stand looking at the outside OF
the gates of hell. In this sermon l shall tell
you of both sides, and I shall tell you what
those gates are made of. With the hammer
of Gods truth l shall pound on the brazen
panels, and with the lantern Of Gods truth
shall flash light upon the shining hinges.
Gate the First-Impure literature. An
thony COmstock seized twenty tons OF bad
books, plates and letterpress, and when our
Professor Cochran, Of the Polytechnic lnstI-
tute poured the destructive acids on those
plates they smoked in the righteous anniht
lation. and vet great deal of bad literature
of the dav is not gripped of the law. 1t is
strewn in YOUR parlors 1t is in your lie
braries Some of your children read it at
night after they have retired, the gas burner
swung as near as possible to their pillow.
Much of this literature is under the title OF
scientific information. book agent with
one of these internal books, CLOSED over
with scientific nomenclature, went into
hotel and sold in one day 100 copies and
sold them all to women! 1t is appalling that
men and women who can get through their
family physician all the useful information
they may need, and without any contamina-
ton. should wade chin deep through such
accursed literature under the plea of getting
useful knowledge, and that printing presses.
hoping to be called decent, lend themselves
TO this infamy. Fathers aud mothers, be not
deceived by the title, "medicai works.
Nine-tenths of those books come hot from the
lost world, though they may have on them
the names of the publishing houses OF New
York. Chicago and Philadelphia. Thenthere
is all the novelette, literature Ofthe day Hung
over the land by the million. AS there are
good novels that are long, so, suppose,
there may be COOL novels that are short,
and SO there may be a good novelette,,
but it is the exception. No one mark this
no one systematically reads the average
novelette, of this day and keeps either In
tegrty or virtue The most of these novel;
cites are written by brOken-down literary men
for small compensation, on the principle
that, having failed in literature elevated and
pure, they hope to succeed in the tainted
and nasty. Oh, this is wide gate OF hell
Every panel is made out OF bad book or
newspaper. Every hinge is the interjoined
type of corrupt printing press Every bolt
or lock of that gate is made out of the plate
Of an unclean pictorial In other words,
there are a million men and women in the
United States to-day reading themselves into
hell!
When in one Of our cities q prosperous
family fell into ruins through the misdeeds
of one of its members, the amazed mother
said to the officer of the law: "Why, never
supposed there was anything wrong. never
thought there could be anything wrong.
Then she sat weeping in silence Tor some
time and sail "Oh, have got it now l
know, l know! found in her bureau after
she went away bal book. That's what
slew her." These leprous booksellers have
gathered up the catalogues Of all the male
and female seminaries in the United States,
catalogues containing the names and resi-
dences of all the students, and circulars OF
death are sent to every one, Will
out any exception. Can you imagine
anything more deathful? There is
not q young PRISON, male or female,
or an old person, who has not had offered 10
him or her a bad book or a bad picture.
Scour your house TO find out whether there
are any of these adders coiled on your par
Tor center table or coiled amid the toilet set
on the dressing case. l allure you before
the sun goes down to explore your family liz
braries with an memorable scrutiny Re-
member that one bad book or bad picture
NAV do the work for eternity. 1 want to
arouse all your suspicious about n0velettes.
I want to put you on the watch against
everything that may seem like surreptious
correspondence through the postoffice. l
want you to understand that impure litera-
ture is one Of the brOadest, highest, might
est gates of the lost.
Gate the SecOnd---The dissOlute dance.
You shall not divert to The &c leral subject
of dancing Whatever you may think of tho
parlor dance or tho meth0dlc motion OF tue
body to sounds OF music in the family or the
social circle, l am not now discussing that
question. / want you to unite with me this
hour in recognizing the fact that there Is u
absolute dance You know of what l
speak. It is seen not only in the low
haunts of death, but in elegant man
sions. 1t is the first step to eternal ruin
for "a great multitude of both sexes. You
know, my friends, what postures and
attitudes and figures are suggested OF the
devil. They who glide into the dlssolute
dance glide over an inclined plane, and the
dance is swifter and swlfter, wilder and
wilder, until, with the spec" 1T lightning.
they whirl off the ed res or Decent life into
a fiery future This cato of he'll swings
across the administer Of Macy line PsrlOr
and across the ballroom of the summer
watering place. You have no right, my
brother, my sister, you have no right to take
an attitude to the sound OF music whicn
would be unbecOming in the absence Of
music No Chickering grand OF city parlor
or fiddle of mountain picnic can consecrate
that which God hath cursed.
Gate the Third-Indiscreet apparel. The
attire of woman for the last few years has
been beautiful and graceful beyond anything
l have known, but there are those who VIII
always carry that lich is right into the eX-
traordinary and indiscreet. l cIIrse ChrlS-
tan women, neither by style of dress nor al
iustment of apparel, 10 become administra-
tive Of evil. Perhaps none else will dare to
tell you, so will tell you that there are mul-
titudes of men who owe their eternal dam
nation to what has been at different
times the boldness of womanly AT
tire. Show me the fashion plates
of any age between this and TIM
time of Louis XVI of France and Henry VIII
of England, and l will tell you the Tyre ii
morals or immorals OF that age or that year.
No exception to it. Modest apparel means
righteous people. limo lest Apparel ~
ways means u contaminated AMI depravel
society. You wonder that the city OF Tvr9
was destroyed with such a terrible de5tr lc-
ton. Have you ever seen the fashion plate
of the city of Tyre? Twill show it to you:
'AIoreOver the Lord saith. because the
daughters of Zion are naughty and walk
with stretched forth necks aud wanton eye;
walking and mincing as they e "ni max
ing tink;lng with their fee' in that day the
Lord will take away the bravery Of their
tinkling ornaments about their feet. and
thni, canls and their round tires ike tho