Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1895-12-18
REY. DR.. TALuAGE.
rhe Eminent Divine's Sunday
Sermon.
Subject: ~The Opening Winter"

Subject: ~The Opening Winter"
TEXT: 81 have determined there to win.
tor. Titus ill.,. L.
Paul was not Independent OF the seasona
He sent for his overcoat to Troas on a mem.
orable occasion. And now in the text he Is
making arrangements for the approaching
cold weather and makes an appointment
with Titus 10 meet him at Necopolis, saying;
81 have Determined there to winter" Well,
this Is the 8th day OF December and the sec.
ond Sabbath Of winter. We have had few
shrill, sharp blasts already, forerunners o
whole regiments of storms and tempests
No one here needs to be told that we are in
the opening gates Of the winter. This season
Is not only n test Of ones physical endur.
ance, but in our great cities is test oi
moral character. A vast number Of people
have by one winter of dissipation been de-
stroyed, and forever. Seated in our homes
on some stormy night, the winds bowling
outside, We imagine the shipping helplessly
driven on the coast, but any winter night
II our ears were good enough, we could
hear the crash of Il thousand moral
shipwrecks. There are many people
who come to the cities on the lst of
September who will be blasted by the 1st Of
March. At this season OF the year temptl-
tions are especially rampant. Now that the
long winter evenings have come, there are
many who will employ them in high pur-
suits, In intelligent socalities. in Christian
work, In the strengthening and ennobling Of
moral character, aud this winter to many of
you will be the brightest and the best of all
your lives, and in anticipation L congratu.
late you. But to others it may not have
such effect, and charge you, my beloved,
look out where you spend your winter
nighis.
In the first place, I have to remark at this
season OF the year evil allurements are es-
pecially busy. There is not very much
temptation for a man to plunge in on a hot
night amid blazing gaslights and to breathe
the fetid air of an assemblage, but in the
COLI nights satan gathers great harvest
At such times the casinos are in full blast
At such time, the grogshops in one night
make more than in four or five nights in
summer. At such times the playbilis of low
places OF entertainment seem especially ut.
tractive and the uctinS is especially impres.
sive, and the applause tally bewitrhing
Many man who has kept right all the rest o
the year will be capsized now and though las
autumn he came IRON the country and there
was luster in the eve and there were roses in
the cheek and elasticity iu the step, by the
time the spring hour has come you will pass
him in the street and say to your friend.
"What's the matter with that man? How
differently he looks from what he looked
last September" Sian of ono winters dis
sipation. At this time OF the year there are
many entertainments. II We rightly en-
ploy them, and they are of the right kind,
they enlarge our socialities. allow US to
make important acquaintance, build us up
i'll our morals, and help us in a thousand
ways. 1 can scarcely think of anything bet
ter than good neighborhood. But there are
those advertisements :rom which others will
come besoiled in character. There are thoSg
who by the sprinStime will be- broken down
in health, and though atthe opening OF the
season their pre- pec,s We're bright, at the
close OF ths season they will be IN
the hands of the doctors or sleeping in the
cemetery. The certificate of death will be
made out, and the physician, to save the
feelings of the family. will call the disease
by Latin name. Bat the doctor knows,
and everybody e'se knows. they died Of too
many levees. Away with all these wine
drinking convivialities. How dare you, the
father Of a family, tempt the appetites of thu
young people? Perhaps at the entertain-
ment, to save the feelings of the minister or
some other weak temperance man, you leave
the decanter in a side room and only n few
people are invited there to partake. but it il
easy enough to know when you come out, by
the glare of your eye and the stencil of youI
breath, that You have been serving tn,
devil.
Men sometimes excuse themselves and saw
after late suppers it is necessary to take some
opinion Is that il you have no more self con.
troll than to stuff yourself until your diges.
tive organs refuse their office you had better
not call yourself a man, but class yourself
among the beasts that perish. At this season
of the year the Young Mems Christian Asso.
Citations of the land send out circulars asking
the pastors to speak Il word on this subject
and so sound In your ear the words of the
Lord God Almighty, "Woe unto him tha,
putteth the bottle TO his neighbor's lips
Rejoice chat you have come to the glad win
ter months that remind you of the times whel
| in your childhood you were shone on by
| the face of father. mother, brothers, sisters
| some Of them, alas! no more to meet yol
| with ''Happy New Year" or 'Merr,
| Christmas" But again and again have W,
| seen on New Years Day the sons of some o
| the best families drunk. and young men hav,
excused themselves by the fact that the win,
| cup has been offered by the ladies, and agail
and again it has been found out that lady
hand has kindled the young mans thirst 10
| strong drink. and long after all tn
| attractions Of the holiday have passe,
| that same woman croucheS in he
rags, and her desolation. and he
woe under the uplifted hand of the drunken
monster to whom she had passed the fascin
ating cup on New Years Day. II we wan
10 go to ruin. let US go alone and not tax,
others with US. Can we not sacrifice ou
feelings il need be2 When the good shi
London went down, the captain was toll
that he might escape in one of the lifeboa,s
"Eo," he replied, "Tll go down with tn
passengers" All the world applauded hi
heroism. And can we not sacrifice our taste
and our appetites for the rescue of others
Surely it is not a very great sacrifice. Oh
mix not with the innocent beverage of tn
holiday the poison Of adders! Mix not will
the white sugar of the cup the snow of thi
awful leprosy! Mar not the clatter of tn
cutlery Of the festal occasion with the clanl
ii n madman's chain.
Pass down the street and look into tn
pawnbrokers window. Elegant watch, ele
giant furs. elegant flute, elegant shoes, ele
giant scarf. elegant books, elegant memento.
You sometimes see people with please
When look into pawnbroker's window
seems to me as II had looked into the wir
dow OF hell! To whom did that watch bs
long? To drunkard. To whom did thos
furs belong? To a drunkard's wife. L
whom did those shoes belong2 To drunk
ards child. I take the three brazen balls a
the doorway Of a pawnbroker's shop and
clank them together, sounding the knell {
the drunkard's soul. A pawnbrokers sho
is only one of the eddies in the great torrel
OF municipal drunkenness. "Oh," say
some one. 81 don't patronize sue
by such influences. I only take ale. AN
it will take a great amount OF ale to intox
cate" Yes. but tell you there is not
drunkard In America that did not begin wit
ale. Three X's-I do not know what the
mean. Three Ks on the brewers dra,
three Ks on the door of the ginshOp. thre
KS on the side Of the bottle. THEE Ks.
asked a man. He could not tell. L aske
another what was the meaning OF the thrt
Ks. He could not tell me. Then L mad
, up my mind that the three KS was an all
CORY, and that they meant 81 heartbreaks,
IaSon'es. 30 broken up households, 80 pro
, pec;s of Il drunkard's grave, 80 ways 10 pc
I di,ion. Three Ks. If We're soiug to wr
a story, the first chapter 1 would ca
Three ks and the last ch apter l Won
call 'The Pawnbroker's shop" Oh, bewa
, of your influence.
Il The winter season is especially full
. Termination, because OF the long evenings a
lowing such full swing for evil induiG nee
You can scarcely expect a young man to {
into his room ana sit there from to
pollock in the evening, reading Motley
, 'Dutch Republic" or John Fosters essay
.. | 1t would be beautiful thing for him to d
but he will not do II. The most of OF
3 young men are busy IN offices, in factorie