The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1900-08-17
DR. TALMAGES SERMON.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE sY THE NOTED
DIVINE.
subjeeti The Mission OF Cities-Moraiiy
They Are No Worse Than the Country
Vice 10 More Apparent, But Not Iore
Prevalent-A Plea For Honest Living.


may do by their allurements 70 the unsus-
pecting and the unguarded. The text is
Zechariah j, l.: My cities through pros
perity shall yet be spread abroad"
The city Is no worse than the country.
The vices of the metropolis are more evi-
dent than the vices OF the rural districts,
because there are more people 20 be bad,
II they wish 20 be. The merchant Is as
good as the farmer. There Is no more
cheating IN town than out Of town-no
worse cheating; IL is only on a larger
scale. The countryman sometimes preva-
r!cates about the age OF the horse that he
sells, about the size of the bushel with
which he measures the grain, about the
peaches at the bottom of the basket as
being as large as those at the top, about
the quarter of beef as being tender when
n is tough, and 10 as bad an extent as the
citizen, the merchant, prevaricates about
calcoes or silks or hardware.
And as q villages, | think that in some
respects they are worse than the cities,
because they copy the vices of the cities
IN the meanest shape, and as 20 gossip. its
heaven Is country village, Everybody
knows everybody's business better than
he knows II himself The grocery store
or the blacksmith shop by day and night
Is the grand depot for masculine title tat
tie, and there are always in the village a
half dozen women who have their sun
item of derogatory news they can fly out
and cackle II all over the town. Country.
men must not be too hard IN their critl-
cism of the citizen, nor must the plow run
too sharply against the yardstick.
Cain was the founder of the first city,
and ! suppose II took after him IN morals.
IL takes city a long while 10 escape from
the character of the founder. Where the
founders OF a city are criminal eXlles, the
Nth, the vice, the prisons, are the shadow
OF those founders. 1t viii take centuries
for New York 20 get over the good inilu-
ence of the plous founders OF that city
the founders whose prayers went up IN
the streets where now banks discount,
and brokers bargain, and companies de-
clare dividends, and smugglers swear Gus
tom house hes, and above the roar OF the
wheels and the crack OF the auctioneer's
mallet ascends the ascrlptlon, we wor-
ship thee, o thou almighty dollar"
Cities are not evil necessarily, as some
have argued. They have been the birth
place OF civilization. In them popular lib
erty has lifted it's voice Witness Genoa
and Pisa and Venice. After the death of
Alexander the Great among his papers
were found extensive plans OF cities, some
10 be built IN Europe, some TO be built IN
Asia. The cities in Europe were TO be
occupied by estates; the cities IN Asia
were to be occupied, according to his
plans, by Europeans, and so there should
be a commingling and n fraternity and a
kindness and a GOOD will between the con-
tnents and between the cities. So there
always ought 10 be. The strangest thing
in my comprehension is that there should
be chickering's and rivalres among our
American cities. New York must stop
caricaturing Philadelphia, and Philadel.
phla must stop picking at New York, and
certainly the continent is large enough
fpp pnnl aud kfinpfannltg Wbat IL
good for one city Is good for all the cities.
Here is the great highway of our national
prosperity. On that highway OF national
prosperity walk the cities.
4 city with large forehead and great
bIain-that is Boston; a city with dehb-
crate step and calm manner-that Is Phil.
adeiphia; a city with is pocket full of
gong with rush that astounds the con.
tneHt--they are st. Louis and Chicago; a
city that taSrs Is wife and children along
with it-that y Brooklyn. Cincinnati,
Louisville, Pittsburg, all the cities of the
north, and all the cities OF the south,
some distinguished for one thing, some
for another, one for professional ability.
another for afiluence, another for fashion,
but not ole TO be spared. What advan-
tages one advantages all. What damages
Boston Common damages Washington
square. Laurel Hill, Mount Auburn.
Greenwood, weep over the same grief
The statue o. Benjamin Franklin in New
York greeting the bronze statue OF Ed
ward Everett IN Boston. All the cities
coniraternty / cannot understand how
there should 60 on chickering's and rival
ries. plead for higher style of brother
hood OF sisteIhood among the cities.
Again, IN all cities ! am impressed with
the fact that all classes and conditions OF
society must commingle. We sometimes
cultivate a wicked eXclusiveuess. Intel.
lect despises ignorance. Refinement VIII
have nothing 20 do with boorishness
Gloves hate the sunburned hand. and the
high forehead despises the fat head, and
the trim hedgerow viii have nothing TO
do with the wild copscwood, and Athens
hates Nazareth This ought not so TO be-
| like this democratic principle OF the gos-
pei OF Jesus Christ which recognizes the
fact that we stand before God on one
aud the same platform. Do not take on
any airs. Whatever position you have
gained in society, you are nothing but
man. born Of tho same Parent, regener-
ated by the same Spirit, cleansed IN the
same blood, 10 lie down in the same dust,
TO get up IN the same resurrection. IL ~
high time that we all acknowledged not
only the Fatherhood OF God, but the
brotherhood of man.
Again, IN all cities / am impressed with
the fact that u Is very hard thing Tor
man 10 keep his heart right and TO get TO
heaven. Infinite temptations spring upon
Us from places of public concourse. Amid
so much afiluence, how much temptation
TO covetousness and 10 be discOntented
with our humble lot, Amid 40 many Op-
portunites for overrcaching, what temp
tation 20 vanity. Amid 30 many saloons
Of strong drink. what alurements 20 dis
sipation, In the maelstroms and hell
gates of the street, how many make quick
and eternal shpwreck, III a man-Ofw
comes back from a battle, and - tOwed
into the navy yard, we go down 20 look
az the spintered spars and count the bul.
let holes. and 10 < with patriotic admira-
tion on the flag that hoated IN victory
from the masthead. But that man =
more OF a curiosity who has gone through
thirty years OF the sharpshoOtlng OF bust
ness life and yet sails on, victor over the
temptations Of the street. Oh how many
have gone down under the pressure. leav.
ing not 80 much a. a patch OF canvas 20
tel where they perished Their dishOnes-
ties kept tolling M their ears.
Again IN al these cities / am impressed
with the fact that lie is iuil Of pretension
and sham. What subterfuge, what dou-
bic uealing. what two facednessl DO all
the people who shake hands love each
other Are all those anxious about your
health who inquire concerning it, DO all
want % see you who ask you % CALI Does
all the world know half a. much as Il
pretends % know, l. there not many
wretched stock of goods with a brilliant
store window Passing up and down the
streets 70 your business and your work.
are YOU not impressed with the fact that
society i hollow. and that there are sub
terfuges and pTetenslons. Oh, how many
there are who swagger aud strut. and
how few people who are natural and walk,
While fops simper and fools snicker and
simpieSons gigg,e, how few people are nat
ural and laugh, / say these things not 10