The Monitor-register., 1897-08-20

UeSdn, anu DIS tuey W6I6 lu6 UcSt Coh-
gregation in all the world, and we felt
nothing was too good for them, we
piled all the luxuries on the table l
never completed the undertaking. At
the end of six months was in finan-
cial despair. | found that we not only
had not the surplus of luxuries, but we
had a struggle to get the necessities,
and l learned what every young man
learns, in time to save himself or too
late, that you must measure the size or
a MAPS body before you begin to cut
the cloth for his coat.
When young man willfully and OF
choice, having the comforts OF life, goes
into the contraction Of unpayable debts,
he knows not into what he goes. The
creditors get after the debtor, the pack
of hounds in full Cry, and alas for the
reindeerl They jingle his doorbell be-
fore he gets up in the morning, they
Jingle his doorbell after he has gone to
bed at night. They meet him as he
comes off his front steps They send
him postal card or letter in curtest
style, telling him to pay up. They at
tach his goods They want cash or a
note at 80 days or a note on demand.
They call him a knave. They say he
lies. They want him disciplined in the
church. They want him turned out of
the bank. They come at him from this
side and from that side and from be-
fore and from behind and from above
and from beneath, and he is insulted
and gibbeted and sued and dunned
and sworn at until he gets the nervous
dyspepsia, gets neuralgia, gets liver
complaint, gets heart disease, gets con-
vulsive disorder, gets consumption.
Now he is dead, and you say, "Of
course they will let him alone. Oh,
no! Now they are watchful to see
whether there are any unnecessary ex-
penses at the obsequies, to see whether
there is any useless handle on the cas-
ket, to see whether there is any surplus
plat 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
i'll 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 pillow 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 possible keep out of it
IrreIigious Young Men.
But | think more young men are
slaughtered through irreligion. Take
away 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 man IS morals, take his Bible
away How will you do that? Well. you
will caricature his reverence for the
Scriptures, you will take all those incl
dents of the Bible which can be made
mirth of - ,Jonah's whale, Samson
foxes, Adam S rib. Then you will Carl
cature eccentric Christians or inconsist-
ent Christians. Then you will pass off as
your own all those hackneyed arguments
against Christianity which are as old as
Tom Paine, as old as Voltaire, as old
as sin Now you have captured his BIZ
BILE, and You have taken his strongest
fortress The way is comparatively
clear, and all the gates of his soul are
set open in invitation to the sins of
earth and the sorrows of death, that
they may come in and drive the stake
for their encampment.
A steamer 1000 miles from shore,
With broken rudder and lost compass
aud hulk leaking 80 gallons the hour, is
better off than young man when you
have robbed him Of his Bible. Have
you ever noticed how despicably mean
it is to take away the worlds Bible
without proposing substitute? 1t is
meaner than to come to sick man and
steal his medicine, meaner than to come
to a cripple and steal his crutch, meanel
than to come to a pauper and steal his
crust, meaner than to come to poor
man and burn his house down. 1t is the
worst of all larcenies to steal the Bible
which has been crutch and medicine
and food and eternal home to so many.
What generous and magnanimous
business infidelity has gone into-this
splitting up of lifeboats and taking
away of fire escapes and extinguishing
of lighthouses l come out and say tc
such people, "What are you doing all
this for?' "Oh," they say, "just for
fun" 1t is such fun to see Christians
try to hold on to their Biblesl Many OF
them have lost loved ones and have
been told that there is resurrection,
and it is such fun to tell them there
will be no resurrection Many of them
have believed that Christ came to carry
the burdens and to heal the wounds of
the world, and it is such fun to tell
them they will have to be their own
savior! Think Of the meanest thing
you ever heard of, then go down 1 900
feet underneath it, and you will find
yourself at the top of stairs 100 miles
long; go to the bottom of the stairs,
and you will find ladder / 200 miles
long; then go to the foot of the ladder
and look off a precipice half as far as
the headquarters of the meanness that
would rob this world of its only com.
fort in life, its only peace in death and
its only hope for immortality. Slaugh-
ter young mans faith in God, and
there is not much more left to slaughter
Physical and Moral Wrecks.
Now what has become Ct the slaugh-
tered? Well, some of them are in their
fathers or mothers house, broken down
in health, waiting to die; others are in
the hospital, others are in the cemetery,
or, rather, their bodies are, for their
souls have gone on to retribution. Not
much prospect for young man who
started life with good health and good
education and a Christian example set
him, and opportunity of usefulness,
who gathered all his treasures and put
them in one box and then dropped it
into the sea.
Now, how is this wholesale slaughter
to be stopped? There is not a person
who is not interested in that question
The object of my sermon is to put a
weapon in each of your hands for your
own defense. Wait not for Young Men 8
Christian associations to protect you or
churches to protect you Appealing to
God for help, take care of yourself.
First. have room somewhere that
you can call your own. Whether it be
the back parlor of fashionable board
ing house or room in the fourth story
of cheap lodging | care not Only
have that enc room your fortress Let
not the dissipater or unclean step over
the threshold If they come up the long
flight of stairs and knock at the door.
meet them face to face and kindly yet
firmly refuse them admittance. Have a
few family portraits on the wall, if you
brought them with you from your coun-
try home. Have Bible on the stand
If Won can afford it and can n1av On one