The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1900-10-19
PRACTICAL LESSONS.
Dr.. Talmage breaches Sermon for
Young Men.
The Temptations of College Life
Suggestions for Those Who Are
Required to Leave Their
Homes-EarIy Training.
Copyright, 1900, by Louis Klopsch.l
Uo

DR.. Talmage staid in London to occu-
py the famous Wesley pulpit in the
City Road chapel, where he had
preached several times before, always
receiving hearty welcome. Thence
he went to Ireland, preaching in Bel
fast and Dublin. The discourse he has
sent this week describes the behavior
of young man away from home and
suggests practical lessons for people
of every age and class. The text is
Daniel l, 5: and the king appointed
them a daily provision of the kings
meat and of the wine which he drank;
so nourishing them three years, that
at the end thereof they might stand
before the king"
My text opens the door of college
in Babylon and introduces you to
young student II years of age, Daniel
by name. Be not surprised if in the
college you find many hilarities. Put
a hundred young men together and
theya are sure to have good time. There
is no harm in that. God does not write
out the trees and the grass and the
blossoms in dull prose. The old robin
does not sit moping in the nest because
of the chirpings and the lively adven-
lures of the fedglings that have just
begun to fly. Do not come into an
orchard looking for winter apples on
May morning.
But Daniel of the text is far from be-
ing gay. What oppressive thoughts
must have come over him as he re-
membered that he was a captive in
strange land! The music that came
into his study window was not the
song of Zion, but the sound of flute,
sackbut and dulcimer in the worship of
the heather god. Moreover, he had no
hope of getting back home again and
meeting those who had missed him
long and bitterly wondering if he
were still alive and finding many
luxury tasteless because they did not
know but Daniel might be lacking
bread.
When you and I were in school or col
lege and the vacation approached we
were full of bright anticipation, and
we could not study the last day, and
we could not study the last night. The
lexicon and the philosophical appa-
ratus were transparent, so we could see
right through them into the meadows
and the orchards. Not so with poor
Daniel. He did not know that he should
ever escape from captivity, or escaping,
he did not know but when he got home
the loved ones would be dead, and he
would go wandering and weeping
among the sepulchers of his fathers.
Besides that the king tried to make
him forget his home and forget his
country; for that purpose actually
changed his name. The king wanted
him to be prodigy in personal ap-
pearance, and so he ordered meat and
wine sent from his own table to Daniel,
but Daniel refuses all this and puts
himself upon the humblest diet, the
poorest o. all herbs, called pulse, and
plain water. His attendants cry out
against this and tell him he will per-
ish under such diet. NO." he says,
''you try us for ten days, and if at the
end of that time you are not full
checked and robust as any, it will be
surprising" Ten days pass along, and
students come up for examination, and
all declare that none are so ruddy and
robust as Daniel and his fellow cap
tives. The days of Industrious pupil
age and the years pass by, and the
day of graduation has come, and Dan
iel gets his diploma, signed by the
king, and reading as follows: "In all
matters of wisdom and understanding
that the king inquired of them he
found them ten times better than all
the magicians and astrologers that
were in all his realm" And so Dan
lei took the first honor, and here the
story ends, for Daniel the student here
after will be Daniel the prime minis
ter.
The first thought suggested to me
by this subject is that young men
may be carried into captivity by their
enemies. There is a captivity more
CALLING than the one in which Daniel
was transported; it is the captivity of
evil habit. Men do not go into that
Willingly. Slyly and imperceptibly
are the chains forged upon them, and
one day they wake up to find them
selves away down in Babylon. Cyrus
afterward consented that some of his
captives should return, and $4,000 of
them accepted the opportunity, but
tell me what evil habit ever consented
to let man go. Ten plaques made
Pharaoh consent to the departure of
Gods people, but tell me what Phar-
aoh of evil habit ever cheerfully con-
sented to let any of its victims go.
Men talk of evil habits as though
they were light and trivial, but they
are scorpion whips that tear the
flesh; they are spikes more bloody
than the path of a Brahman; they
make the poisonous robe of Nessus;
they are the sepulchers in which mil
lions are buried alive.
The young are in more peril be-
cause they are unsuspeeting. The
lions are asleep in their soul, and
their power is not suspected. The
time when a ships company makes
mutiny is when the watchman is off
his guard. When a spider meets a
fly, it does not say: go down with
me to the place where I murder in
sects." No; it says: "Come and take
a bright morning walk with me on
this suspension bridge of glittering
gossamer." Oh, there is difference
between the sparkle of a serpent's
eye and the crush of its Shiny folds.
There is a difference between the
bears paw toying with a kid and the
cracking of the bones in the terrific