The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1897-08-26

- see WACLAS1ECAS1 ID dAy4I
useless handle on the casket, to see
whether there is any surplus plait on
the shroud, to see whether the hearse
is costly or cheap,.,to see whether the
flowers sent to the casket have been
bought by the family or donated, to
see in whose name the deed to the
grave is made out. Then they ransack
the bereft household, the books, the
pictures, the carpets, the chairs, the
sofa, the piano, the mattresses, the pill
low on which he died. Cursed be debt!
For the sake of your own happiness,
for the sake of your good morals, for
the sake of your immortal soul, for
Gods sake, young man, as far as pos
sible, keep out of it. ~
But I think more young men are
slaughtered through i%rreligion. Take
away a young mans religion and you
make him the prey of evil. We all
know that the Bible is the only perfect
system of morals. Now, If you want to-
destroy the young mans morals, take
his Bible away. How will you do that?
Well, you will caricature his reverence
for the Scriptures, you will take all
those incidents of the Bible which can
be made mirth of-Jonah's whale, Sam
sons foxes, Adams rib-then you will
caricature eccentric Christians, o. in
consistent. Christians, then you will
pass off as you W all those hack
neyed arguments against Christianity
which are as old as Tom Paine, as old
as Voltaire, as old as sin. Now, you
have captured his Bible, and you have
taken his strongest fortress: the way
is comparatively clear, and all the
gates of his soul are set open in invi-
tation to the sins of earth and the sor-
rows of death, that they may come in
and drive the stake for their encamp-
ment.
A steamer fifteen hundred miles
from shore with broken rudder
and lost compass, and hulk
leaking fifty gallons the hour,
is better off than a young man hen
you have robbed him of his Bible. Have
you ever noticed how despicably mean
it is to take away the worlds Bible
without proposing a substitute? 1t is
meaner than to come to a sick man
and steal his medicine, meaner than
to come to a cripple and steal his
c1utch, meaner than to come to a pau
per n steal his crust, meaner than
to come to a poor man and burn his
house down.. It is the worst of all lar
cenies to steal the Bible which has
been crutch and medicine and fooG
l and eternal home to so many. What
a generous and m"agnanimous business
infdelity has gone into! This split
. ting up of l~ife-boats, and taking away
of fre-escapes, and extinguishing O.
: lighthouses. I come: out and I say tt
such people, What are you doing al
this for?" "Oh!" they say, "just fol
fun 1t is such fun to see Christian
i try to hold on to their Bibles! Man!
!, Of them have lost loved ones, and hav'
e been told that there is a resurrection
and it is such fun to tell them Their
will! be no resurrection! Many of then
y nave believed that Christ came to car
e ry the burdens and to heal the wound
j of the world, and it is such fun to tel
them they will have to be their owl
saviour! Think of the meanest thin
you ever heard of; then go down
thousand feet underneath it, and 20
= vii, find yourself at the top of a stair
q a hundred miles long; go to the bot
o tom of the stairs, and you will find
L ladder a thousand miles long; then g
g to the foot of the ladder and look off
= precipice half as far as from here t
p China, and you will find the headqual
u ters of the that would 70
70 this world of it's only comfort in lif'
20 it's only peace in death, and it's onl
hope for Immortality. Slaughter
-. young mans faith in God, and there
~ not much more left to slaughter.
N Now, what has become of the slaugl
ID tered? Well, some of them are
Id their fathers or mothers house, broke
s. down in health, waiting to die; othe1
d, are in the hospital, others are in Il
cemetery, or, rather, their bodies ar
o. for their souls have gone on to retr
o. tuition. Not much prospect for a your
Sc man who started life with good healt
1g and good education, and a Christie
ou example set him, and opportunity
usefulness, who gathered all his trea
re ures and put them in one box, al
us then dropped it into the sea.
r Now, how is this wholesale slaug
ho ter to be stopped? There is not a pc
ia son who is not interested in that que
,ts ton. The object Of my sermon is
put a weapon in. each of your han
he for your own defense. Wait not f
of Young Mems Christian Associations
to protect you, or churches to prote
I you. Appealing to God for help, ia
mt, care of yourself.
IS First, have a room somewhere tt
ou- you can call your own. Whether
a be the back parlor of a fashiona1
no boarding house, or a room in t
az. fourth story Of a cheap lodging, I c;
not. Only have that n room yc
OF fortress. Let not the d%issipater
ife, unclean step over the threshold.
bic they come up the long flight Of sta
,es. and knock at the door, meet them f;
the to face and kindly yet firmly ref
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