Connecticut western news., 1900-10-11
THICKENING GLOOM.
GROWING OLD WITHOUT RELIGION A
 DISMAL PROSPECT.

DISMAL HHOoFESI.
 pr. TalmaGe Offers Consolfng sug-
 sestisns to TAsse Who Have Pass-
 ed Life's Meriaf.n--Jesus Briwhtens
 the Shadows of Evening.
 WAsHINoroN, Oct. 7.-In this sermon Dr. Talmage discourses upon the invi- tation given to Christ to stay overnight In the oriental village and makes some consolatory suggestions. The text Is Luke xiv, 29, Abide with us, for 1t Is toward evening""
 Two villagers, having concluded their errand in Jerusalem, have started out at the city gate and are on their way to Emmaus, the place of their resi- dence. They go with a sad heart. Je- sus, who had been their admiration and their joy, had been basely massa- cred and entombed. As, with sad face and broken heart, they pass on their way q stranger accosts them. They tell him their anxieties and bitterness of soul. He in turn talks to them, nightly expounding the Scriptures. He throws ever them the fascination of intelligent conversation. They for ret the time and notice not the objects they pass and before they are aware have come up in front of their house. They pause before the entrance and at- tempt to persuade the stranger to tar ry with them. They press upon him their hospitalities. Night Is coming on, and he may meet prowling wild beast or be obliged to be unsheltered from the dew. He cannot go much far ther now. Why not stop there and continue their pleasant conversation IT They take him by the arm, and they insist upon his coming In. addressing him in the words, Abide with us, for 1t is toward evening" The lamps are lighted, the table is spread. pleasant socialities4 are enkfndled- They re- 3oice in the prs1enee of the stranger guest He asks . blessing upon the bread they eat, and he hands . piece of 1t to each. Suddenly and with over whelming power the thought flashes upon the sastounded people -it is the Lord! And as they sit in breathless wonder, looking upon the resurrected body of Jesus, he vanished. The in- terview ended. He was gone.
 On the Down Crude of Fife.
 With many of us 1t Is bright sun shiny day of prosperity. There is not . cloud in the sky. not leaf rustling in the forest, no chill In the air. But we cannot expect all this to last. He is not an Intelligent man who expects perpetual daylight of joy. The sun will after awhile near the horizon; the shadows will lengthen. While I speak many of us stand in the very hour de- scribed in the text, "For 1t Is toward evening"" The request of the text Is appropriate for some in every commu- nity. for with them 1t Is toward the evening of old age. They have passed the meridian of life. They are some times startled to think how old they are. They do not, however, like others to remark upon 1t. If others suggest their approximation toward venerable appearance, they say, "Why, am not 70 old after all" They do, indeed, mo- tice that they cannot lift quite as much as once; they cannot walk quite so fast; they cannot read quite 80 well without spectacles; they cannot so cas- lily recover from a cough or any occa- siOnal ailment; they have lost their taste for merriment; they are surprised at the quick passage of the year; they s3y that 1t only seems but a little while ago that they were boys; they are go- tn hJ11. Su thing in their health, something in their vision, something in their walk, something in their changing associa- lions. something above, something be- meath, something within to remind them that 1t Is toward evening.
 The great want of all such Is to have Jesus abide with them. It is dismal thing to be getting old without the re- juvenating influence of religion. When we stop on the down grade of life and see that 1t dips to the verge of the cold rivers wes want to behold some ono near who will help us across 1t When thersight loses Hts power to glance and gather up. we need the faith that can illumine. When we feel the failure of the ear, we need the clear tones of that voice which in olden times broke up the silence of the deaf with cadences of mercy. When the axmen of death hew down whole forests of strength and beauty around us and we are left in solitude, we need the-dove of divina mercy to, siAe h our buanches. sWhen the shado&ss b4gin to fall and we fed that tee@Asy4 bs far spent, we-need most of all to supplicate the benefcent Jesus in tho prayer of the villagers, Abide with us, for it Is toward even ing"
 Indications of Night.
 The request of the text Is an appro- prtate exclamation for all those who are approaching the gloomy hour ot temptation. There is nothing easier than to be good natured when every thing pleases. or to be humble when there fs nothing to pun us ID, or for giving when we have not been assail ed, CT honest when we have no induce ment to fraud. But you have felt tht grapple of some sptemptation.d Your na ture at some time quaked and groanet under the internal power. You fell that the devil was after you; you saw your Christian graces retreating; 70, feared that you would fail in the awful wrestle with sin and be thrown into the dust. The gloom thickened. Th' first indications of the night were seen In Afethe trembling of your soul. in ai the infefnal suggestions of satan, II all the surging up of tumultuous pas sions and settlements, you felt witl awful emphasis that 1t was toward evening. In the tempted hour yo, need to ask Jesus to abide with you You can beat back the ,monster tha would devour; you cantunhorse tn sin that would ride you down; you cal sharpen the battleax with which yo' split the head of helmeted abomina ton. Who helped Paul shake the bra sen gated heart of Feli1r Who actet like i'Good sailor when all the crev