The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-10-17

The first Of the series of Sunday eve
ming sermons on the "Prodigal son
was delivered last evening by Pastor
Pierce. of the Penn avenue church.
The ediliCe was crowded. II was a
powerful sermon and Is sure To be pro-
ductive Of much good. lie treated the
subject with plenitude of detail, and
made himself interesting from tirst to
last: he unfolded the cover from the
strong undercurrent Of vice, without
repelling. and touched with a delicate
nand the social evil of the day.
There are, he said, at the present
time, according to statistics, 10000
young men homeless, friendless, out
casts In the world. There is another
army, and it makes one trembe to
name the figures of young girls and
women, three hundred and fifty thous-
ard of them, leading n life of misery.
shame and degradation. Thousands of
these would gladly be out of that en-
V!ronment, but they are spurned and
despiseG, and nifty thousand of them
fill ignoble graves every year.
1t is the work Of the church and the
pastor to reach those whose life has
been shadowed, tC teach them the two
words, Jesus" and "Hope"-words
that have brought more sun shine into
the sorrowing heart than all the other
words in the language combined.
SOME EXPERIENCES.
Rev. Mr.. Pierce related some of his
experiences in New York, Philadel-
phia and other cities with the lower
strata OF society. To show the value
of the work of reclamation he quoted
in figures 7,6ll cases that had been re-
deemed in one year alone. This was
in the large cities, but he said, that he
has seen many cases on the streets OF
Scranton.
To find the cause of this condition it
is necessary, he said, to look back over
the past additions of the family history
and examine the hereditary tendencies
to evil. Children inherit the color Of
| skin, hair and eyes from their par
| ents, and it is but natural that they
will possess the multiplicity of pecu-
| liarities, not only of physical tendencies
| but also of mental qualities. and that
| many of the evil traits under which
| people are struggling today are the
| evils born into their lives.
| Social environment is another great
| factor for good or evil. Parents often
| times have a misconceived idea of
home government. There is q contin-
ual fretting and fault finding with the
| children and of holding up other chill
| dren as models. Sometimes the home
is too good for the children, certain
rooms are kept as family vaults and
used only when company comes.
No part of the house, said the speak,
| CT, is too good for the children. They
are worth more than all the company
in the world The boys and girls are
dearer and sweeter than anybody else
| that crosses the household The best
room in the house is none too good
| for them.
4 SAD LESSON.
Then another error of parents is the
loose view they take of religious mat
| ters. He once saw a child playing on
the front step on Sunday. The mother
came out ard in a Mortified way said
MY dear child, don't you know it is
Sunday Go right back TO the back
stoop with you playthings." That was
a sad lesson, the speaker, said, taught
that child. If it is Sunday on the
front stOOp, it is Sunday everywhere
else, and should be respected.
And parents think they do Il splendil