Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1896-06-05
TALMAGE'S SERMON
INTERESTING THEME BN TiiE
WASHINGTON PREACHER
Subject; "Bad Company" /"

\ ID lLau eHs-- 10 TILu alone. hU always lake
some one else with him. MAY il please tho
court. -aida convicted criminal when asked
81 b. had anything 20 say hs.Hre sentence 0f
death was PASSED upon him-''maY IL please
the court. bad company has been my ruin. l
received the blessing 90 good parents Hni iu
return promised 10 avoid ali evil assoeiE-
iions. Had kept my promise / should have
been saved this shame aud been free from
the load OF guilt that hangs around ma like
a yulture; threatening Co drag me to Justice
Tor crimes yet unreyealrl. / who once
moved Ia the first circles OF society ami have
been the guest ot distinguished public men
am lost, and all through bad company"
This is but one OF the thousand proofs
that evil associations blast and destroy. II
is the invaHable rule. There is a we'll man
in the wards of a hospital where there are a
hundred people sick with ship fever. and he
will not be So ant TO take the disease Us q
good man would be apt 70 be smitten with
moral distempor if shut up with iniquitOus
companions. Ia olden times prisoners were
hHrici together in the same cell, but each
one learned the vices OF all the culprits, so
that instead of being reformed py incarcera-
ton tho tay OF liberation turned them out
Upon society beasts. not men.
We may. In our places OF business, be COM
PEELED To talk TO aud mingle with bad men,
but he who deliberately chooses to associate
himself with vicious people is engaged in
carrying on "a courtship with a Delilah
whose shears will clip OF all the locks OF hts
strength and he will be- trippel into perdt-
tion. Sin Is catching, is infectious, is cpl
dcmc. l will let YOU look over the millions
OF people now inhabiting the earth, and l
challenge you 20 show mo a good man who
after one year has made choice and consortcd
with the wicked. A thousand dollars re-
ward for one such instance. | care not how
strong your character may be. Go with
the corrupt ana you will become corrupt
Clan with burglars, AMI you will be-
come a burglar. Go among the unclean,
and you will become uncean. Many
young man has been destroyed 10y not
approaching this. He wakes up some
morning in the great city and knows no
one except the persons into whose employ
he has entered. As he goes into the store all
the clerks mark him. measure him and dis
cuss him. The upright young men OF the
store wish him well, but perhaps wait for u
formal Introduction. AMI even then have
some deicacy about inviting him into their
associations. But the bad young men of the
store at the first opportunity approach and
offer their services. They patrOnjze him.
They profess 10 know all about the town.
They will take him anywhere he wishes TO
gO-iihe will pay the expenses. FOrif good
young man and bad young man 60 To
some place where they ought not, the good
young man mas invariably to pay the
charges. At the moment the ticget is paid
for, or the champagne settled for, the bad
young man feels around in his pockets and
says, Il have forgotten my pocketboOk.'
In iorty-eight hours after the young man
has entered the store the bad fellows OF the
establishment slap him on tho shoulder IA
miliarly, and, at his stupidity in taking c r
tain allusious, say, "My young friend, you
will have to be broken in and they imme-
diately proceed to break him in. Young man,
in the name Of God warn you to beware
how you let a bad man talk fAmiliarly with
you II such one slap you on the shoulder
famiiariy, turn round and give him with
ering look until the wretch crouches in yow
presence. There Is no mOnstrOsity OF wick
edness that can stand unabashed under the
glance OF purity and honor. God keeps the
lightnings Of heaven in His own scahbard
and no human arm can WELD them, but GDC
gives TO every young man lightning that h'
may use and that is the lightning OF an hon
est eye. Those who have been close obsarv
ers of city life will not wonder why l Civ,
warning to young men and say, Beware 0
} evil companions"
+ warn You to shun the skeptic-the younI
MAJ man w92 10 Puts dAif 8qSe5avtp hts EsS TIT
turns over to some mystery of the Bible ant
J says, "EypIain that, my pious friend, eX
plain that" And who says: "Nohoi,
shall scare me; I am not afraid OF the
future. l used to believe in such things
and so did my father and mother, but hay
got over it," Yes, he has got over it, and /
you sit in his company a little longer you vii
} get over it too. Without presenting on
| argument against the Christian religion
\ such men will, by their ieers and SCOTS ant
caricatures, destroy your respect for that re
l1gion which was the strength Of your fathe
| In his declining years and the pillow Of you
, old mother when she lay a-dying.
Alas, a time will come when this buster
ing young intidel will have to die, and thel
his diamond ring will flash no spendor in tn
, eyes Of Death as he stands over the cOucl
waiting for his soul Those beautiful lock
will be uncombed upon the pillow, and tn
dying man will say, II cannot die; 1 canno
die. Death, standing ready beside tn
couch, says: ''YOu must die. You hay
only half minute to live. Let me have i
= right away our SOUL" "No," says tn
= young iutidel, "here are my gold rings an,
1, these pictures. Take them ALL" "No,
says Death. "What do I care for pictures
= Your soulI' "Stand backl" says the dyln
inlide. 81 will not stand back" say
Death, "for you have only ten seconds nov
to live. l want your soul" The dying ma
says: Don't breathe that cold air into m
face. You crowd me too hard. tits gettin
dark i'll the room. O., God?' Hush" say
Death. "You said there was no God.
"Pray for me, eXclaims the expiring inlde
"TOo late to pray" says Death. but thre
more seconds to 1--we, and I will count theI
olT--one, two, three" He has gone! Where
Where? Carry him out and bury him besid
his father and mother. who died while hole
ing fast the Christian religion. They die
, singing, but the young infdel only sale
Don't breathe that cold air into my acD
You crowd me too hard. 1t is getting dar
in the room"
Again, urge you to shun the companion
ship of idlers. There are men hangin
around every store and office and shop VIII
have nothing to do, or act as if they had no
They are apt to come in when the firm al
away and wish to engage you in convers'
tton while you are engaged in your regulf
8 employment Politely suggest to such pc
V sons that you have no time to give thel
a during business hours. Nothing woul
please thom so wall as to havn ynn rannnnc
c your occupation and associate with then
i Much of the time they lounge around th
G doors of engine houses, or after the dinin
hour stand upon the steps of a fashiOnab
y hotel or an elegant restaurant, wishing
: give you the idea that that is the place whel
they dine. But they do not dine ther
9 They are sinking down lower and lower da
= by day. Neither by day nor by night hay
/ anything to do with idlers.
| Before you admit a man into your q
T quaintance ask him politely, "What do yO
= do for a living?' II he says, 'Nothing; a
K a gentleman look out for him. He ma
d have very soft hand and very faultless a
n parel, and have a high sounding fami
: name, but his touch is DEATH Before yc
J., know it you will in his presence be.ishamt
i of your work dress. Business will becon
/. to you drudgery, and after awhile you WI
:, lose your place, and aiterward your respec
:, ability, and last of all your soul. Idlene
u is next door to villainy. Thieves, gambler
e burglars, shoplifters and assassins are mat
from the class who have nothing to d
When the police go to hunt up and arrest
culprit, they seldom go 10 look in at the bu
carriage factory or behind the counter whe
diliOnnt plnrlys nra pONDlpvn1 h1lt fhnv {