The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-02-27
'LIFE's SPRINGTIMiE.'
Or TALMAGE'S SERMON RECALLS
SCENES OF YOUTH.

He Draws = Vivid Picture of Two
Contrasting H0mes-A Mans True
Character Comes Out at the Fire.
side-Parents Are Writing History.
Copyright. 1899. by American Press Asso-
ciation.l
! WASHINGTON, Feb 28.-Many tender
recollections are stirred by DIR. Talmage's
discourse, and scenes Of boyhood and
girlhood days will be lived over again
text, Timothy v, 4, Let them learn
first to show piety at home"
During tho summer months the tenden-
ey is to the fields, to visitation, to foreign
travel and tho watering places, and the
ocean steamers are throngcd, but In the
winter 1t is rather to gather In domestic
circles, and during these months we spend
many Of the hours within doors, and the
apostle comes to us and says that we ought
to exercise Christian behavior amid all
such circumstances. LET them learn first
to show piety at homo"
There are great many people longing
for some grand sphere in which to serve
God. They admire Luther at the diet Of
Worms and only wish that they had some
such great opportunity In which to dis
play their Christian prowess. They admire
Paul making Felix tremble, and they only
wish that they had some such grand occa-
sion in which to preach Righteousness,
temperance and Judgment to come All
they want is an opportunity to exhibit
their Christian heroism Now, the apostle
practically says: II will show you plaoo
where you Gun exhibit all that is grand
and beautiful and glorious in Christian
character, and that is the domestic circle.
Let them learn first to show piety at
home" II one is not faithful in an insig-
niAcant sphere, he will not be faithful in
resembling sphere. II Peter will not
help the cripple at the cato of the temple,
he will never be ablo to preach 5000 Into
the kingdom at the Pentecost II Paul
will not take pains to instruct In the way
Of salvation the TALLER of the Philippian
dungeon, he will never make Felix trem.
ble He who Is not faithful in skirmish
would not be faithful in an Armageddon
The fact Ia, we are all placed in just the
position in which we can most grandly
serve God, and we ought not to be chiefly
thoughtful about some sphere Of useful
ness which we may after awhile gain, but
the all absorbing question with you and
with me ought to be, Lord, what wilt
thou have me now and here 10 dor"
! An Expressive Word.
There is one word in st. Paul's adjura.
ton around which the most of our
thoughts will revolve That word is
"home." Ask ten different men the mean
ing Of that word, and they will give you
ten different definitions To one it means
love at the hearth, plenty at the table, in
dustry at the workstand, intelligence at
the books, devotion at the altar In that
household discord never sounds its war
whoop and deception never tricks with its
false face. To him 1t means greeting at
the door and smile at the chair, peace
lowering like wings, joy clapping its
hands with laughter. Life Is tranquil
lake. Pillowed on the ripples sleep the
shadows. Ask another man what home
Is, and he will tell you It is want looking
out of cheerless fire CRATE, kneading bum
ger in an empty bread tray The damp
dir shivering with curses No Bible on
the shelf Children robbers and murder
ers in embryo Obscene songs their lula
by. Every face picture Of ruin Want
In the background and sin staring from
the front. No Sabbath wave rolling over
That doorsill Vestibule Of the pit Shadow
of Internal walls. Furnace for forging
everlasting chains Fagots for an unend-
Ing funeral pile Awful word It is
spelled with curses, it weeps with ruin, 1T
choEes with woe, 1t swears with the death
agony Of despair The word "home" in
the one case means everything bright
The word "home" in the other case means
everything terrific.
shall speak now of homo as test Of
character, home az q refuge, home as
political safeguard, home as school and
home as type Of heaven. And in tho
llrst place home Is powerful test Of char
actor. The disposition in public may be |
In gay costume, while in private 1t is
iishabille. As play actors may appear in
one way on the stage and may appear In
another way behind the scenes 90 private
character may be very different from pub
Iio character. Private character Is often
public character turned wrong side out.
A man may receive you into his parlor as
though he were distillation of smiles,
Ind yet his heart may be swamp Of net
les There are business men who all day
OuR dT0 Auu COuEtcOub huu keUlhl
md good natured in commercial life.
lamming back their irritabllity and their
,ctulance and their discomfort, but at
1ightfall the dam breaks and scolding
yours forth in floods and freshets.
Reputation is only the shadow of char
scter, and a very small house sometimes
will cast q very long shadow. The lips
nay seem to drop with myrrh and cassia
md the disposition to be as bright and
warm as sheath Of sunbeams, and yet
hey may only DO magnificent show win
low for wretched stock Of goods. There
8 many a man who is affable in public
life and amid commercial spheres who in
cowardly way takes his anger and his
,etulanoe home and drops them In the
domestic circle. The reason men do not
display their bad temper in public Is be-
ause they do not want to be knocked
lown. There are men who hide their
'etulance and their irritability just for
he same reason that they do not let their
totes go to protest-it does not pay-or
or the same reason that they do not want
man in their stock company to sell his
took below par lest 1t depreoiate the value.
Show Piety at Home.
As at sunset sometimes the wind rises,
o after a sunshiny day there may be q
empestuous night There are people who
n public act the philsnthropist who at
olne act the Nero with respect to their
lippers and their gown. Audubon, the
reat ornithologist, with gun and pencil
rent through the forests Of America to
ring down and to sketch the beautiful
irds, and after years Of toll and exposure
his manuscript and put 1t in o
FUNK In Philadelphia and went off for a
wv days Of recreation and rest and came
ack and found that the rats had utterly
estroyed the manuscript but without
ny discomposure and without any fret OF
ad temper he again picked up his gun
nd bis pencil and visited again all the
reat forests Of America and reproduced
Ia immortal work. And yet there are
eople with the ten thousandth part Of
nat loss who are utterly irreconcilable,