Connecticut western news., 1900-05-10
LIFT UP THE FALLEN.
DR. TALMAoE PLEADS FOR WELCOME
 FOR THE TROPICAL.

DR. TALMAaE PLEADS FOR WELCOME
 FOR THE TROPICAL.
 Has No Sympathy With the Self
 Righteous Elder Brother,- Kind i Asss Would Reelatn Many Who ! Fall by the Way.
 '. WARRINGTON, May G. In this dis course Dr. Talmage pleads for hearty reception to all those who have done wrong and want to get back, while the unsympathetic and self righteous are excoriated; text, Luke 1v, 28, "And he was angry and would not go h."
 Many times have I been asked to preach a sermon about the elder broth CT of the parable. l received letter from Canada saying, ''Is the elder son of the parable so unsympathetic and so cold that he Is not worthy of recog. nitionY The fact is that we ministers pursue the younger son. You can hear the fappings of his rags in many a ser monic breeze and the cranching of the pods for which he was an unsuccessful contestant confess that 1t haa been difficult for me to train the camera ob- scura upon the elder son of the para ble. I could not get negative for photograph There was not enough light in the gallery. or the chemicals were poor, or the sitter moved in the picture. But now I think I have him; not a side face or a three-Quarters or the mere bust, but full length DOT trait as he appears to me. The father in the parable of the prodigal had noth- ing to brag of in his two sons. The one was a rake and the other Q churl. I find nothing admirable in the disso- luteness of the one, and find nothing attractive in the acrid sobriety of the other. The one goes down over the larboard side. and the other goes down over the starboard side, but they both go down.
 From all the windows of the old homestead burstsI the minstrelsy. The floor quakes with the feet of the rus tics, whose dance Is always vigorous and resounding. The neighbors have heard of the return of the younger son from his wanderings. and they have gathered together. The house Is full of congratulations. suppose the tables are loaded with luxuries; not only the one kind of meat mentioned, but it's concomitants. 'Clapr' go the cym- bals, ''Thrumw 90 the harps, "Clickv' go the chalices, up and down go the feet inside, while outside Is most sor- ry spectacle.
 Always Present.
 The senior son stands at the corner of the house, frigid phlegmatic. He has just come in from the fields In very substantial apparel. Seeing some wild exhilarations around the old mansion, he asks of servant passing by with a goatskin, of wine on bis shoulder what all the fuss Is about. One would have thought that, on hearing that his younger brother had got back, he would have gone into the house and re- joiced and, if he were not conscien- tiously opposed to dancing. that he would have joined in the oriental schot- tish. No. There he stands. His brow lowers; his face darkens; his lip curls with contempt he stamps the ground with Indignation; he sees noth- ing at all to attract. The odors of the feast coming out on the air do not sharpen his appetite; the lively music does not put any spring into his step. He Is in a terrible pout; he criticises the expense, the injustice and the mor als of the entertainment. The father rushes out bareheaded and coaxes him to come in. He will not go In; he scolds the father; he goes into pas quinade against the younger brother, and he makes the most uncomely scene; he says, Father, you put premium on vagabondism. I staid at home and worked on the farm. You never made party for me; you didn't so much as kill a kid. That wouldn't have cost half as much as a calf. But this scapegrace went of in fine clothes, and he comes back not fit to be seen, and what a time you make over him! He breaks your heart, and you pay him for 1t. That calf, to which we have been giving extra feed during all these weeks, wouldn't be so fat and sleek If had known to what use you were going to put it.! That vagnbond deserves to be cowhided instead of banqueted. Veal Is too good for him" That evening, while the younger son snt telling his father about his adven- lures and asking about what had oc- cured on the place since his departure, the senior brother goes to bed disgust ed and slams the door after him. That senior brother still lives. You can see him any Sunday, any day of the week. At a meeting of ministers in Germany some one asked the question, ''Who Is that elder sonY' and Krummacher an- swered: Il know him; saw him yes terday." And when they insisted upon knowing whom he meant he said: My self. When I saw the account of the conversion of a most obnoxious man, I was irritated."
 An Ingrate.
 First, this senior brother of the text stands for the self congratulatory, self satisfied, self worsn .pful man. With the same breath In which he vitupe- rates against his younger brother he utters panegyrie for himself. The self righteous man of my text. like ev- cry other self righteous man, was full of faults. He was an ingrate, for he did not appreciate the home blessings which he had all those years. He was disobedient. for when the father told him to come In he staid out. He was liar, for he said that the recreant son had devoured his fathers living when the. Esther, 30 far from being reduced to benny, had~a homestead left, had instruments of music, had jewels, had a mansion and instead of being 8 pau per was prince. This senior brother, with so many faults of his own waa inerciless in his criticism of the youn- ger brother. The only perfect people that have ever known were utterly obnoxious. I was never 90 badly cheat ed in mu lifs as by perfect man. He got so far up in his devotions that he was clear up above all the rules of common honesty. These men that go about nrowlin1 among nrauer meet.