The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1900-05-16
ELDER BROTHER.
a Lesson From the PaEabls Of
the Prod;gat Son.
REV. Or. TALMAGE'S
Denunciation Of Self Righteous
ness and the Lack OF SYM
pathy for the Fallen and
Unfortunate.

In this discourse DR.. Talmsge pleads
for hearty reception TO all those who
have done wrong and want TO get back,
while the unsympathetic and self
righteousness are excoriated;; text,
Luke XIV, %, "And he was angry and
would not go in"
Many times have l been asked 10
preached a sermon about the e!oe'
brother of the parable. l received
letter from Canada saying, Is the
sI5er son of the parable SO unsynpa-
tberio snd so cold that he is not worthy
of recognition?' The fact Is that We
ministers pursue the younger son. You
can hear the tapping Of his rags IN
many sermonic b1et zs ana the cranch-
ing Of the pods for which lie was sn un-
successful contestant. I confess that
II has been difficult for me to train the
camera obscura upon the elder son OF
the parable. I could not get mega
tive for photograph. There was not
enough light in the gallery, or the
chemicals were too poor, or the sitter
moved in the picture. But now l think
| have him, net side face or three.
quarters or the mere bust, but full
iensth portrait IS he appears to me.
The father in the parable Of the prodl-
gal had nothing to brag Of in his two
sons. The one was a rake and the
other chu-l. I ind nothing adnira.
bic in the dissoluteness Of the one, and
lind nothing attractive in the acid So
briefly Of the other. The one goes
down over the ]srbosrd side, and the
other goes down overthe starboard side,
but they both go down.
From all the windows Of the old
homestead bursts the ministry. The
Soor quakes with the feet Of the rustics,
whose dance is always vigorous and re.
sounding. The neighbors have heard
Of the return of the younger son from
his wsnderings, and they have gathered
together. The house is full Of congrst-
ulstors. Isuppose the tables are load
With luzuries, not only the one kind Of
neat mentioned, but its copcomitsnts.
''ClapI" 60 the cynbals, ''Thum" the
hsrps, CLICK go the chalices, up
and down 60 the feet inside, while out
side is most sorry spectacle:
The senior son stands at the coraer
Of the house, frigid phlegnetlc. He
has just come in from the fields IN
very substantial spparel. Seeing some
wild exhilarations around the old maa-
sion, he asks Of servant passing By
with goatskin Of wine on his shoulder
what al the fuss is about. One would
have thought that, on hearing that his
younger brother had got back, ne would
have gone into the house and rejolced,
aud, if he were not conscientiously op-
posed to dancing, that he would have
joined the oriental schottish. No,
there he stands. His brow lowers; his
face darkens; his lip curls with con-
tempt. He stamps the ground with ln-
dignatioo; he sees nothing at all to at
tract. The odors of the feast, coming
out on the sir, do not sharpen his ap-
petite. The live'y music does not put
sny spring into his step. He is in 8
terrible pout. He criticises the ex-
pense, the injustice snd the morals Of
Of the entertainment. TIE father
PUSHES out bareheaded and coa1es him
to come in. He will not go in. He
scolds the father. He goes iato s pas
quinaSe against the younger brother
and be makes the most uecom!y scene.
BE gays: Father, you put a premium
on vagabondisn. l staid st home and
worked on the farm. You never made
party for me; you didn't so much as
kill kid. That wouldn't have cost
half as much as a calf; but this scspe-
grace went of in Sne clothes, and he
comes back not ft to be seen, and what
time you make over him! He breaks
your heart, and you pay him for it.
That calf, to which We have been CIV
ing 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 vsgab,n deserves to be
cowhided instead Of bauQacied. Ecai
is too good for him" That tveniry
while the younger son sat telllag BIS
father about his adventures and asking
about what had occurred on the place
since his departure, the senior brother
goes to bed disgusted and slams the
door after him. That senior brother
still lives. You can see him any Sun
day. asy day Of the week, At a meet
ing of ministers in Germany some one
ssEed the question. ''Who Is that
elder SOM" and Krunmacher answered
81 know him; I saw him yesterday"
And when they insisted upon knowing
whom be meant he said, Myself;
when I saw the account Of the conver-
sion Of 8 most obnoxious man [ was ir-
ritated."
First, this senior brother OF the text
stands for the self congratulatory, self
satisfied, self wo-slipful man, With the
same breath N which he vituberates
against BIS younger brother he utters
panegyrio for himself. The self right
our maa Of my text, ike every other
self RI ighteo1s man, was full Of faults.
He was an migrate, for be did not ap-
preciste the home blessings which he
had all those years. He vas disobe-
dent for when father toe him to come
in he staid out. He was liar, for he
said that the recreant son lad devoure6
his fathers living, when the father, so
far from being reduced to penury, had
q homestead left, had instruments of
music, had jewels, had mansion, and
instead Of being pauper was prime.
This senior brother, with SO many
faults Of his own, was merciless in his
criticism Of the younger brother. The
only perfect people that l have ever
known were utterly obnoxious. l wos
never so badly cheated in my life as by