Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1900-03-01

town. opening the best bottles OF wine,
driving the fastest horses, and living
with evil companions whom he dare
not introduce to his sisters. He does
not describe him in some lewd dance
hall. intoxicated with fiattery as much
as with wine. He does not have q
palace OF Circe flled with pr1nces and
princesses. the walls pictured. the
noors Of mosaic, the banquet table
groaning under the weight Of gold and
silver AZ well as fruits and viands.
Psr.bss om,ts Desaila
"He does not trace him on and on.
running into debt. having his friends
leaving him one by one, as humming
birds with their pretty wings will nut-
ter away from q flower as soon as the
honey Is gone. He does not describe
him at last SO poor that he is begging
alongside OF the beggars whom he once
| cursed In the street. No. Jesus covers
up the months OF wassail, 'libertinism.
and conviviality with the simple SEN
tence OF my text The younger son
gathered all together and took his
Journey into far country In
Christ's parable II Is only one step
from the fathers house to q swine's
trough.
The trouble with many so-called
Christian teachers Is that we put a
halo over sin and talk too much about
water nymphs. fairies. seamaids. deni-
Gems OF the air. sylphs, spirits and
faxen-haired goddesses. We picture
Temptation as q dream of beauty seat
| ed upon the rim Of cloud. She holds
in one hand pack Of cards and In the
other a chalice Of wine. The colors OF
her cheek. the flowers caught in the
folds OF the garment clinglng about her
1.-THE form make her look SO innocent
one can't help loving her, even though
she may be bad.
The great criticism against John
Milton Is that he introduces his Satan
as a very respectable sort OF a gentle
man. Surprising tonight should at
+ tack certain infdel book or a vile
French novel and mention the book by
name and the author. and tell you I'M
der no condition to read 1t; that II you
did you would blast your soul for time
and eternity. What would be the re-
sult7 Tomorrow morning nifty or one
hundred Of the young people sitting be-
fore me would arise early and take the
first car down town and hurry to the
publishers and buy that very book,
merely because the preacher told you
not to read It. That Is human nature.
What Is the greatest damage a
newspaper can do man? Attack
him! No! That always does an In
nocent public man good. The harder
the newspaper denounces. the more
prominent the man becomes. The
worst insult>the newspapers can give
Is to simply ignore a man. Never men
ton his name. Treat him as II he was
not worth noticing. The most awful
contempt you can hurl at an enemy. is
silence. complete silence. never-ending
silence.
Not satan's Bulletin Board.
Refuse to allow your back to be
Satan's bulletin board. Pose not be-
fore a community as reformed drunk
ard, or an evangelical thief. II you
once had q diseased tongue. please do
not tell It II you were once bedaubed
with social filth, we do not want to
know II. Talk not about the gilded
saloon and baechanalian feasts and the
good times you used to have before you
Joined the church and married and
gave up all fun. Throw not the coat of
many colors over RIGHTEOUSNESS and
somber black over virtue. Leave evil
advertisements alone. With one
plunge jump from the highest noun
tain of inspiration into the lowest
depths OF despair with the simple SEN
tence, And he went into Q far coun-
try
"In the next place, learn that the
prodigal OF my text went into the far
country because the father was too
lenient. and divided unto him his liv-
ing. OF course. we all know the great
| teaching of this parable was to show
Gods mercy; how. as broken hearted
parent he IL longing for the hayward
child to come home. Bot there are
many minor truths a. well as thu
major one. All the, gold taken from
the mines 10 not poured into the same
mold. The chlssl Of Michael Angelo
can cut curiy-headed shepherd boy a.
well 40 the long. flowing beard and
swarthy muscles, Of the jewish law
giver. The wheels In 0 factory should
net be despised because they do not re-
volve the one way.
ms. Moody said: This father ought
to be censured. He could not have
done greater unkiadness to the boy
than to give the younger son his goods
and money and let him 60. A true
father would have said to such con-
temptible fiial spirit. 90 and earn
your own portion by the sweat of your
brow Yet handreds Of parents are
making the same mistake every day.
Try 90 hard ~ the loving heart may.
we are very apt 70 be partial to the
babies. Swhep the young couple stand
at the marriage altar. hope and poyerty
generally clasp hands. The first chill
dren who sleep In the eradel have to
take their share Of struggle for daily
bread. But when the youngest babies
are born the parents often have foot
hold. Servants now clean the house
and run the errands and care for the
shoes. To use Q worn-out figure. the
younger son lies on . bed OF rossz
ssinssssss % Chissrsa.
But some one ssys;thN prodixai son
Is the exception Most children would
not take ssafsh advantage OF their
parents in that way. Kindness always