Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1898-07-01
WHOLESOME SPORT.
The PULPIT A CHAMPION or WHAT
IS BEST.

Trxr: And Il came to pass. when their
hearts were merry, that they said Call for
samson. that he NAV make US snort. Aud
thty called Tor Samson out Of the prison
house aud he made them sport. judges
l6.2j.
There were three thousand people assem-
BLEED in the Temple Of Dagon. They had
come 10 make sport Of eyrleSs samson
They were all ready for the entertainment.
They began to clap and pound, inpatient
for the amusement To begin, and they
cried, Fetch him out Fetch him OUT"
Yunder | see the blind old giant coming
led hy the hand Of II child into the very
midst Of the temple. At his first appear
ance there goes up a shout Of laughter aud
dersion. The blind old giant prctend. he
is tired and wants to rest himself against
the pillars of the house. so he saws TO the
lad who leads him Bring tue where the
main pillars are The lad does 30. Then
the strong man puts his hands on one of
the pillars, and with the mightiest push
that mortal ever made, throws himself for
ward until the whole house comes down in
thunderOus crash, grinding the audience
like grapes in wine-press. "And SO il
came To pass when their hearts were merry,
that they said, Call for Samson, that he
may make us sport. And they called for
Samson out OF the prison-house; and he
made them sport In other words there
are amusements that are destructive and
bring down disaster and death upon the
heads of those who practice them. While
they laugh and cheer they die. The three
thousand who persisted that day in GAIA
are nothing compared to the tens of thou
sands who have been destroyed body,
mind and soul by bad amuscments and
good amusements carried to excess.
nv Won must have mott spI
that have no sympathy with ccrlesiasti-
cal strait jackets, or with that wholesale
denunc!dtion OF amusements to which many
are pledged. | believe the Church of God
has made Il tremendous mistake In trying
to suppress the sportfulness Of youth and
drive out from men their love Of amuse-
ment. If God ever implanted anything in
us He implanted this desire. But instead
of providing for this demand of our nature
the Church of God has for the main part
ignored it. As in a riot the Mayor plants 4
battery at the end of the street and has il
fired of, so that everything is cut down
that happens to stand in the range, the
good as well rs the bad, so there are men
In the church who plant the batteries of
condemnation and fire away indiscrimin-
ately. Everything is condemned. They
talk as If they would like TO have our youth
dress in blue uniform like the children of
path of life to the tune of the Dead March
in Saul. They hate a blue sash, or Il rose
bud in the hair, or tasseed Gaiter, and
think man almost ready for n lunatic
asylum who atters a cOnundrum.
Young Mems Christian Associations of
the country are doing IA glorious work
They have fine reading rooms, and all the
influences are of the best kind, and are
now adding gymnasiums and bowling al
leys, where without any evil surroundings,
our young men may get physical rs we'll as
spiritual improvement We are dwindling
away to Il narrow-chested. weak-armed,
feeble-voiced race, when God calls us to a
work in which he wants physical as well
as spiritual athletes. | would TO God that
the time might soon come when in all our
colleges and theological seminaries, as ut
Princeton, u gymnasium shall be- estab-
lished. We spend seven years of hard
study in preparation for the ministry, and
come out with bronchitis and dyspepsia
and liver complaint, and then crawlup into
the pulpit and the people say, D. esn't ae
| look heavenly because he looks sicklv
Let the Church Of God direct rather than
attempt to suppress the desire for amuse-
/ ment. The best men that the world ever
| knew have had their sports William vii.
| berforce trundled hoop with his children,
Martin Luther helped dress the Christ nar
tree. Ministers have pitched quoits, phil
anthrOpists have gone R-skatiug, prime
ministers have played ball.
Our communities are filed with men and
women who have in their souls uumeas-
ured resources for sportfulncsS and frolir.
Show me man who never lights up with
sportfulness and has no sympathy with the
recreatiOns of others. and ] will show YOU
a man who is Il stumbling block to the
! Kingdom OF God. Such men are cariratures
of religion. They lead young people t.
think that a man Is good in proportion Il,
he grOans and frowns and looks saIlow and
| that the height OF mans Christian stature
is in proportion to the length of his face.
would trade off five hundred such men foI
one bright-fated, radiant Christian on
whose face are the words, "Rejoice ever
more!' Every morning by his cheerful fn",
! he breaches fifty sermons. ! will 90 further
and say that have no confidence In II mar
who makes religion of his gloomy looks
That kind of a man always turns mt badly
| would not want him for the treasurer o
an orphan asylum. The orphans would
suffer.
Among forty people whom | received
into the church at one communion, Their,
was only one applicant of whose piety
was suspicious He had the longest story
to tell: had seen the most visions, and gave
"n ca Poi' T"'' 80 "onoel'"l 'h"' an Tue
other aPphcahtS were discouraged wa
not surprised the year after to learn that
he had run Off with the funds of the banl
Win "hlch ne was connected. VINO Is thl
PACK angel that YOU call religion-wlnS
PACK, Feet PACK, feathers black? our re
ilSloh Is a bright angel-teet bright, eye
bright, wings bright, taking her place II
the soul. She pulls n rope that reaches t.
the skies and sets all the bells of heave
a-chlming There are some persons VINO
wnen taking to a minister, always leel
polite To look luSubrious. Go tofth,
people, to your lawful amusement. 90
means you to be happy. But when ther
are many sources OF innocent pleasure
why talnper with anything that is danger
Gus ana pollutinS? why stop our ears TO
heaven full of songsters to listen to tn
Mss oil a dragon? Why turn pacK lror
the mountain-side all aploom with VIII
flowers and adash with the nlmOle tor