The free press., 1895-12-12

/
have the idea that you can get along in the
world by genius. The curse OF this coun-
| try to-day is geniuses-men with large sell
| conceit and nothing else. The man who
proposes to make his living by his wits
| probably has not any, / should rather be
an OK, plain and plo1ding and useful. than
| to be an eagle, high flying and good for
nothing but to pick out the eyes of carcasses.
Even in the Garden of Eden it was not safe
for Adam to be idle so God made him q
| horticulturist. and il the married pair had
| kept busy dressing the vines they would not
have been sauntering under the trees. hank
ering after fruit that ruined them and their
po5terityl Proof positive OF the fact that
when people do not attend to their business
they get into mischief. "Go to the ant, thou
sluggard; consider her ways and be wise,
which. having no overseer or guide. provld-
eth her food In the summer and gathereth
her meat In the harvest" Satan is roaring
lion and you can never destroy him by gun
or pistol or sword. The weapons with which
you are to beat him back are pen and type
and hammer and ADJ and saw and pickax
and yardstick and the weapon OF honest toll.
Work. work. or die.
Another safeguard that want to present
to young men is a high ideal OF life. Some
times soldiers going into battle shoot into
the ground instead of into the hearts OF their
enemies They are apt to take aim too low.
into conflict with his men, will cry out.
"Now, men. aim highT' The fact is that in
life a great many men take no aim at all.
The artist plans out his entire thought before
he puts 1t upon canvas, before ne taxes up
the crayon or the chisel. An architect thinks
out the entire building before the workmen
begin. Although everything may seem to be
unorganized. that architect has in his mind
every Corinthiau column, every Gothic arch,
every Byzantine capital. A poet thinks out
the entire plot of his poem before he begins
TO chime the cantos of tinkling rhythms.
And yet there are a great many men who
start the important structure OF life without
knowing whether it is going to be
rude Tartar's hut or a st. Marks ca
thedral, and begin to write out the in
tricate poem of their life without know
ing whether it is to be a Homer's "Odyssey'
or a rhymester's botch. Out of 1000, 999
have no life plot. Booted and spurred and
caparisoned. they hasten along. and run
out and say: "Helo, man! Whittier away?"
make every days duty filling up of the
great life plot. Alas, that there should be
on this sea of life 50 many ships that seem
bound for no port! They are swept every
whittier by wind and wave. up by the
mountains and down by the valleys. They
sail with no chart They gaze on no star.
They long for no harbor Oh. young man.
be a mighty safeguard. There never were
grander opportunities opening before young
men than are opening now. Young men OF
the strong arm and of the stout heart and of
the bounding step. marshal you to-day for
q great achievement.
Another safeguard is a respect for the
Sabbath. Tell me how a young man spends
his Sabbath, and l will tell you what are his
in business. and 1 will tell you
what are his prospects for the eternal world.
God has thrust into our busy life a sacred
day when we are to look after our souls. Is
it exorbitant after giving six days to the
feeding and clothing of these perishable
bodies, that God should demand one day
for the feeding and clothing of the immortal
soul?
There is another safeguard that I want to
present l have saved it until the last be-
cause l want it to be the more emphatic.
The great safeguard for every young man is
the Christian religion. Nothing can take
the place of it. You may have gracefulness
enough to put to blush Lord Chesterfield,
you may have foreign languages dropping
from your tongue, you may discuss laws and
literature. you may have pen of une-
qualed polish and power, you may have so
much business tact that you can get the
largest salary in a banking house, you may
be as sharp as Herod and as strong as
Samson. and with, as long locks as those
which hung Absalom, and yet you have no
safety against temptation. Some OF you
look forward to life with great dependency.
l know it. / see it in your faces from time
to time. You say, "All the occupations and
professions are full. and there's no chance
for me-" Oh, young man, cheer up!
| will tell you how you can make your
fortune. Seek first the kingdom OF
God and His Righteousness, and all other
things will be added. I know you do not
ant 70 ha in, xuit
not drink the brimming cup of life and then
pour the dregs on Gods altar To gener-
Gus Saviour you will not act like that; you
have not the heart to act like that. That is
not manly. That is not honorable. That is
not brave. Your great want is new heart.
and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
tell you so to-day, and the blessed Spirit
presses through the solemnities of this hour
70 put the cup of life to your thirsty lips.
Oh, thrust it not back. Mercy presents it
bleeding mercy, long suffering mercy. De-
spise all other friendships, prove recreant to
all other bargains, but despise Gods love
for your dying soul-do not do that. There
comes crisis in a mans life, and the trouble
is he does not know it is the crisis. got
letter in which man says to me:
Il start out now to preach the gospel OF
Righteousness and temperance to the people.
Do you remember me! l am the man who
appeared at the close of the service when you
were Worsnlplng In the chapel after you
came from Philadelphia. Do you remember
at the close of the service a man coming up
to you all a-tremble with conviction, and
crying out for mercy, and telling you he had
very bad business. and he thought he
would change it? That was the turning
point in my history. l gave up my bad bus
iness. l gave my heart to God, and the de-
sire to serve Him has grown upon me all
these years, until now woe is unto me if
preach not the gospel"
That Sunday night was the turning point
of that young mans history. This very Sab
bath hour will be the turning point in the
history of 100 young men in this house.
God help us l once stood on an anniver-
sary platform with clergyman who told
this marvellous story He said;
Thirty years ago two young men started
out to attend Park Theatre, New York, to
see play which made religion ridiculous
and hypocritical. They had been brought
up in Christian families. They started for
the theatre to see that vile play, and their
early seeQvictions came back upon them.
They fykit was not right to go, but still
hkey went. They came to the door of the
Theatre. One of the young men stopped and
started for home, bur returned and came up
to the door, but he had not the courage to
go in. He again started for home and went
l..