Connecticut western news., 1901-10-17

the evening. a little flushed at 9, talk ltive and garru.ous at 10. at II bias. phemous. at l2 the hat falls off. at the man falls to the floor. asking fc more drink. Strewn through the drinf ing saloons of the city, fathers, hug bands, sons as good as you are by na ture. perhaps better. In the high circle
 If society 1t Is hushed up. A merchant
 prince. if he gets noisy and uncontrol- table, Is taken by his fellow revelers who try to get him to bed or take hiEi home, where he falls flat in the entry Do not wake up the children. They have had disgrace enough. Do not let them know 1t. Hush 1t up. But some times 1t cannot be hushed up when tho rum touches the brain and the man be comes thoroughly frenzied. Such a | one came home, having been absent for some time, and during his absence | his wife died. and she lay in the next room prepared for the obseQuies. and l he went in and dra gged her by t.,e locks md shook her out of her shroud and | pitched her out of the window. Oh. when rum touches the brain you can. not hush 1t up!
 My friends, you see all around about you the need that something radical be done. You do not see the worst. In | the midnight meetings in London a great multitude have been saved. We want a few hundred Christian men and women to come down from the highest circles of society to toll amid these wandering and destitute ones and kin dle up light in the dark alley, even the gladness Of heaven. Do not go wrapped in your fine furs and from your well filled tables with the idea that pious talk Is going to stop the gnawing of an empty stomach or to warm stockingless feet. Take bread | take raiment, take medicine, as well as take prayer. There is a great deal | of common sense in what the poor wo- man said to the city missionary when | he was telling her how she ought to love God and serve him. "Oh," she ] said, If you were as poor and cold as
 I am and as hungry you could think of nothing elsep
 Power of a Helpful Word. A great deal of what Is called Chris | tian work goes for nothing. for the sim | pie reason 1t is not practical. As after l the battle of Antietam a man got out | of an ambulance with bag of tracts, | and he went distributing the tracts. | and George Stuart, one of the best | Christian men in this country. said to | him: What are you distributing tracts | for now? There are 5000 men bleed | Ing to death. Bind up their wounds, .ls want more common sense In Christian work, taking the bread of this life in one hand and the bread of the next | life in the other hand. No such inapt work as that done by the Christian man who, during our civil war. went | into a hospital with tracts and, com ] ing to the bed of Il man whose legs had been amputated, gave him a tract on l the sin of dancing! I rejoice before God that never are sympathetic words | uttered, never a prayer offered, never
 a Christian almsgiving indulged in but | it Is blessed. There Is place in | Switzerland, have been told, where | the utterance of one word will bring | back a score of echoes, md l have to | tell you that sympathetic word, a | kind word, generous word, helpful | word, uttered in the dark places of the | town will bring back 10000 echoes | from heaven. Are there In this as- | semblage those who know by experi- ! ence the tragedies in the third watch ] of the night? I am not here to thrust | you back with one hard word. Take I the bandage from your bruised soul | and put on 1t the soothing sa,ve of i Christ's gospel and of Gods compass | sion.
 I could give you the history in 1 minute of one of the best friends ever had. Outside of my. own family never had better frieid. He wei
 comed me to my home at the west. He was of splendid personal appearance, but he had an ardor of soul and a | warmth of affection that made me love l him like brother. I saw men coming l out of the saloons and gambling hells, : and they surrounded my friend, and i they took him at the weak point-his social nature-and I saw him going
 down, and I had fair talk with him. ] for I never yet saw a man you could rot talk with on the subject of his hab- ; It's If you talked with him in the right
 way. I said to him, "Why don't you i give up your bad habits and become a
 Christian" I remember now just how
 he looked, leaning over his counter, as
 he replied: 'I wish I could. Oh, sir,
 should like to be a Christian, but
 have gone so far astray I can't get
 backv' So the time went on. After
 awhile the day of sickness came.
 was summoned to his sickbed. has
 tened. It took me but a very few mo-
 ments to get there. I was surprised
 as I went in. 1 saw him in his ordi-
 nary dress, fully dressed, lying on top
 of the bed. I gave him my hand. and
 he seized 1t convulsively and said: "Oh.
 how glad l am to see you! Sit down
 there." l sat down, and he said: "Mr.
 Talmage, just where you sit now my
 mother sat last night. She has been
 dead twenty years. Now, I don't want
 you to think I am out of my mind or that I am superstitious, but, sir, she
 sat there last night and she said.
 Roswell. I wish you would do better,
 wish you would do better I said:
 Mother, l wish could do better. try
 to do better, but I can't. Mother, you used to help me; why can't you help
 me nowr And, sir, I got out of bed.
 for 1t was reality. and I went to her
 and threw my arms around her neck.
 and I said: Mother, I will do better.
 but you must help. I can't do this
 aione." knelt and prayed. That
 night his soul went to the Lord who
 made 1t.
 A Tragedy I'm Five Acts.
 Arrangements were made for the ob-
 sequies. The question was raised whether they should bring him to the
 church. Somebody said. You cannot
 bring such absolute man as that into
 the church." I said: You will bring him In church. He stood by me when | |. zIt- Y H.