Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1900-05-11
LIFT UP THE FALLEN.
''''H Or. TACMAee PLEADS FOR WELCOME
FOR THE PRODlGAL.i sy,sef

Righteous Elder D-other- Kind
ness Would Reclaim Many Who
Fall by the Way.
: FwAsHISeToS, May 6. In this, dis
s course Or. Talmage pleads for a hearty
Srece pticn to- all those who have done
Sxropg and wnht 10 yet back. while the
unsympathetic and self righteous are
excoriated: text Luke XIV. 2S. And
he was angry and would not go in"
- Many times have 1 been asked to
preach a sermon about the elder broth
er OF the SparaBle. l received letter
from Canada saying. us the elder son
OF the parable so unsynfpatlretic and
SO cold that he is not worthy of recog-
nitionT The fact is that we ministers
pursue the younger son. You can hear
the fiappings OF his rags i'm many a SER
monte breeze and the branching OF the
pods for which he was an unsuccessful
contestant. | confess that il has been
difficult for me to train the camera OBJ
scura upon the elder son of tie para
BILE. l could not get a negative for n
photograph. There was not enough
light in the. gallery. or the chemicals
were poor. or the sitter moved in the
:
notpa side face or a three-quarters or
theSn bust. but n full length por-
straft as he appears to me. The father
In the parable of the prodigal had moth
ing TO brag of in his two sons. The
one was n rake and the other churl
l find nothing admirable i'm the disso-
luteness of the one and l 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 bursts 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 its
concomitants. CLAP" go the Gym
balls. ''Thrum!' go the harps. "Clickr'
go the chalices. up and down go the
feet inside, while outside is most -sor-
ry spectacle
Always Present.
The senior son stands ut the corner
of the house, n 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 a servant passing by with
goatskin of wine on his 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. IL he were not conscien-
tiously opposed to dancing. that he
would have Joined In the oriental schot-
fish. No. There he stands His
brow lowers; his face darkens: his lip
curls with contempt: he stamps the
ground with indignation: he sees moth
ing ut ali 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 terrible pout; he criticises
the expense. the injustice and the NOR
ais OF the entertainment. The father
rushes out bareheaded and coaxes him
10 come in. lie will not GO in: he
scolds the father; he goes into n pas
Quinade against the younger brother.
and he makes the most uncomely
scene; he says Father. you put n
premium on vagabondism. l staid at
home and worked on the farm. You
never made party for me; you didn't
so much as kill n kid. That wouldn't
have cost half as much as calf. But
This p-a sNM In En al
and he comes back not fit TO be seen,
and what 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 III l had known TO what use you
were going TO put I'll That vagabond
deserves 90 be cowhided instead of
banqueted. Veal Is too good for him -
That evening. while the younger son
sat 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 meeting OF ministers in Germany
some one asked the question. "Who is
that elder SOM" and Erummacher an
swered: 81 know him; | saw him yes
terday." And when they insisted upon
knowing whom he meant he said: MY
self. When | saw the account OF the
conversion OF n most obnoxious man. /
was irritated."
An Migrate.
First. this senior brother of the text
stands for the self congratulat tory, self
satisfied. self worshipful man. With
The same breath in which he vitupe-
rates against his younger brother he
utters n panegyric for himself. The
self righteous man of my text. like ev-
cry other self righteous man. was full
or FAULTS. He was an migrate. for he
hid not appreciate the home blessings
which he had all those years He was
disobedient, for when the father told
him TO come la he staid out. He was
liar. for he said that the recreant son
had devoured his fathers living when
the rather. so far from being reduced
70 penury, had homestead left, had
instruments OF music. had, jewels, had
mansion and instead of being n pau
per was prince. This senior brother
with so iaany faults OF his own, was
merciless In his criticism of the youn-
ger brotrer. The only perfect people
that / have ever known were utterly
obnoxious. ! was never so badly cheat
ed In my life 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 prowling among prayer meet
ings and in places OF business, tell
ing how good they are-look out for
them; keep your hand on your pocket
book! 1 have noticed that just in pro-
portion ms man gets good he gets
humble. The deep Mississippi does not
make as much noise as the brawling
mountain rivulet. There has been many
a store that. had more goods in the