The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1900-03-22
A KINDLY WARNING.
Dr. Talmage Speaks Concerning
Evil Associations
Aptly Ill.stratss His Text That ~
Companion Of Fools Shall Ne
Dsstroyea"-Advioe fer
Ysung aaa OLD.


speaks ON Q theme which all men,
young and old, will be glad to see dis
cussed, and the kindly warning will
no doubt in many cases be taken;
text, Proverbs 1920: "A companion
Of fools shall be destroyed"
MAY it please the court" said .
convicted criminal when asked by the
Judge what he had to say why SEN
tence of death should not be pro-
nounced upon him, "may 1t please the
court, bad company has been my de-
struction. l received the blessing of
good parents and in return therefor
promised, to avoid all evil associates.
Had kept my promise l should have
avoided this shame and the burden Of
guilt which. like a vulture, threatens
to drag me to justice for my many
crimes. Although | once moved in
high circles and was entertained by
distinguished men, | am lost. Bad
company did the work for me-" Only
one out of thousand illustrations
was that of the fact that "a COM
panion of fools shall be destroyed"
It is an invariable rule.
Here is a hospital with hundred
men down with the ship fever. Here
is a healthy man who goes into it.
He does not so certainly catch the
disease as good man will catch
moral distemper II he consents to be
shut up with the vicious and the
abandoned. In the prisons of the
olden time 1t was the custom to put
the prisoners in a cell together. and
I am sorry to say it is the custom
still in some of our prisons; so that
when the day of liberation comes, the
men, instead of being reformed, are
turned out brutes, not men, each one
having learned the vices of all the
rest.
We may in our worldly occupation
be obliged to talk to and commingle
with bad people, but he who volun-
tarily chooses that kind Of associa-
ton is carrying on courtship with
Delilah which will shear the locks
of his strength, and he will be tripped
/ into perdition. Look over all the
millions of the race, and you cannot
show me single instance where a
man voluntarily associated with the
bad for one year and maintained his
integrity. Sin is catching; it is in
fectious; IT is epidemic.
A young man wakes up in one of
our great cities knowing only the
gentlemen Of the firm into whose
service he has entered. In the morn
ing he enters the store. and all the
clerks mark him, measure him, dis
cuss him. The bad clerks of that es-
eblishment, the good clerks of that
(tablishment, stand in some relation
him. The good clerks will wish
him well, but they will wait for for
NAL introduction. and even after they
have had the introduction they are
very cautious as to whether they shall
call him into their association before
they know him very well.
But the bad young men in that es-
tablishment all gather around him.
They patronize him, they offer to
show him everything that there is in
the city on one condition-that he
will pay the expenses, for it always
happens so when good young man
and bad young man 60 together to
a place Of evil entertainment-the
good young man always has to pay
the charges. just at the time the
ticket is to be paid for or the cham
pagne bill is to be settled the bad
voung man will affect embarrassment
and feel around in his pockets and
BAY: "Well, well, really I have for
gotten my pocketbook.'
In 4S hours after this innocent
young man has entered the store the
bad young men will gather around
him, slap him on the shoulder with
familiarity, and, II he is stupid in not
being able to take certain illusions,
will say: "Ah, my young friend. you
will have to be broken in" And forth
with they go to work to "break
him in"
Oh, young man. let no fallen young
pan slap you on the shoulder familiar
Turn around and give withering
lance that will make the wretch cover
your presence. There is no mon
,&rosity of wickedness that can stand
efore the glance of purity and honor.
od keeps the lightnings of heaven in
Is own scabbard, and no human may
zach them, but God gives to every
Dung man lightning which he may
se, and that is the lightning of an
onest eye. Anybody that understands
he temptations of our great cities
nows the use of one sermon like this,
which I try to enforce the thought
hat "a companion of fools shall be
estroyed."
And, first, charge you. avoid the
keptic-that is, the young man who
uts his thumb in his vest and swae-
ers about, scoffing at your oldfash-
med religion, and taking out the
ible and turning over to some mys-
rious passage and saying: Explain
hat, my friend, explain that. I used
think just as you do. My father and
other used to think just as you do.
ut you can't scare me about the fu-
re. used to believe in those things,