The Penn's Grove record., 1895-07-05
REV. DR.. TaLuaGE.
The Brooklyn Diyine's Sunday
. Sermon.


TEXT: 1.-THE gates OF hell shall not prevail
against IL. "-Matthew XVII, is.
Entranced, until we could endure no NOR,
OF the ~splendor. we have often gazed at the
shining gates, the gates OF pearl, the gates o.
heaven. But we are for awhile to look In thu
opposite direction and see, swinging oper
and shut, the gates of hell.
] remember, whefi the Franco Prussian wa
was going en-, that / stood n day In Parit
looking ut the gates OF the Tuileries, and
was so absorbed in the scuipturing at the
top of the gates-the masonry and the bronze
that I forgot myself, aud after awhile,
looking down / saw that there were officers
Of the law sorutinizing me, ~supposing no
doubt I 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 I shall tell
you OF both sides, and I shall tell you what
those gntes ara made Of. With the hammer
Of Gods truth I shall pound or the brazen
panels, and with the lantern OF Gods truth
shall fash a light upon the shining hinges.
Gate the First-Impure literature. In
thony Comstock seized twenty tons Of bad
books, plates and letterpress, and when our
Professor Cochran, Of the Polytechnic Insti-
tute poured the destructive acids on those
plates they smoked In the righteous annihi.
lation, and yet a great deal Of bad literature
OF the day Is not gripped Of the law. 1t 10
strewn In your parlors. 1t is in your Ii.
hraries. Some OF your children read 1t al
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. A book agent with
| one Of these Internal books, CLOSED over
with scientific nomenclature, went into a
hotel and sold In one day 100 copies and
sold them all TO women! It 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 tina printing presses.
hoping TO be called decent, lend themselves
to this infamy. Fathers and mothers, be not
deceived by the title, "medical 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 1.-THE novelette, literature ofthe ayfiung
over the land by the million. As there are
there may be good novels that are short,
and so there may be o good novelette,,
but 1t IL the exception. No one-mRrkt this
mo one systematically reads the average
novelette, Of this day and keeps either In
tegrity or virtue. The most of these novel;
cites are written by broken-down literary men
for small compensation, or the principle
that, having failed in literature elevated and
pure, they hope to succeed in the tainted
and nasty. oh, this Is a wide gate Of hell
Every panel is made out of 9 bad book or
newspaper. Every hinge Is the interjoined
type OF a 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 for some
time and said: ''0h, l have got II now! ]
know, I know! found In her bureau after
she went way q bad book. That's whai
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 o.
death are sent to eveiy ono. with
anything more deathful? There Il
not Il young person, male or female
or an old person, who has not had offered Il
him or her a bad book or o bad picture
Scour your house to ind out whether there
are any of these adders coiled on your par.
L ZOE CENTER IHDtd OF coiiUl huitu tuo toiiot so
on the dressing case. / adjure you befort
the sun goes down to explore your family IL
braries with an memorable scrutiny. Re
member that one bad book or bad picture
may do the work for eternity. / want Il
arouse all your suspicious about novelties
[ want to put you on the watch agains
everything that may seem like surreptioul
correspondence through the postofice.
want you to understand that impure htera
ture is one OF the broadest, highest, might
sst gates Of the lost.
Gate the Second-The dissolute dance.
You shall not divert to the general subje 4
Of dancing. Whatever you may mir Of the
parlor dance or the methodlo motion OF the
body to sounds OF music In the family or tht
social circle, l am not o discussing thai
question. want you to unite with me thii
hour In recognizing the fact that there Is 4
dissolute dance. You know of what
speak. It is seen not only in the loy
haunts of death, but In elegant man
sions. 1t Ia the first step to eternal ruiz
for a great multitude Of both sexes. You
know, my friends, what postures ant
attitudes and figures are suggested OF the
devil. They who glide Into the dissolute
dance glide over an Inclined plane, and the
dance is swifter and swifter, wilder an5
wilder, until, with the speed Of lightning
they whirl off the edges OF q decent life inf
a fiery future. This gate of hell swing
across the administer Of many q fine parlol
and across the ballroom OF the summel
watering place. You have no right. m,
brother. my sister, you nave nc right to TAX
an attitude to the sound of music whicl
would be unbecoming In the absence o
music. No Ohickering grand OF city parlol
or fiddle of mountain picnic can consecrat,
that which God hath cursed.
Gate the Thir~d-Indiscreet apparel TIL
attire Of woman for the last few years ha
th.an haaufifnl md Oraaaf.l hav0nd anvthini
[ have known, but there are those who will
always carry that which is right into the ex
~raordinary and indiscreet. / charge Chris
ian women, neither by style OF dress nor adj
lustment Of apparel, to become administers
i've OF evil. Perhaps zone else will dare t.
tell you, so I will tell you that there are mul
titudes Of men who their eternal dam
nation to what has been at differen
times the boldness Of womanly at
tire. Show me the fashion plate
OF any age between this m tn
time of Louis XVI Of France and Henry VII
Of England, and I will tell you the tyEe Of
morals or MEMORIALS Of that age or that year.
No exception to IL. Modest apparel means
righteous people. Immo lest apparel al
ways means a contaminated and depraye'
society. You wonder that the city OF Tyr
was destroyed with such q terrible destrue
ton. Have you ever seen the fashion plat
OF the city of Tyre2 Iwill show it to you;
Moreover. the Lord saith. because tn
daughters Of Zion are naughty and wal
with stretched forth neeks and wanton eye.
walking and mincing as they go, and max
ing a tinxling with their feet, in that day the
Lord will take away the bravery OF theii
tinkllng ornaments about their feet, ant
their cauls, and their round tires like thu
moon, the rings and nose jewels, ths
c~hangeable suits of apparel, and th'
,nantIaa and tha vimnlaa and fha crianfno