The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1901-05-30
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
,HsCOURSE BY THE EMINENT III.
VINE LAST SUNDAY.
Subject: The Benefits OF Rational Amuse-
ments - Evils of Straitiacl<et Religion
-Depraving Infuences--Warm Heart
ed People Most Tempted.

copyright 1ac1.I
WASHINGTON, d. C.-This discourse of
DR.. Talmage is in accord with all innocent
hllarlties, while it reprehends amusements
that belittle and deprave; text, III Samuel
Ii, Ia, Let the young men now arise and
play before us"
There are two armies encamped by the
pool of Gideon. The time hangs heavily
on their hands. One army proposes
game of sword fencing. Nothing could be
more healthful and innocent. The other
army accepts the challenge. Twelve men
against twelve men, the sport opens. But
something went adversely. Perhaps one
OF the swordsmen got an unlucky slip or
in some way mad his ire aroused and that
which opened in sportfulness ended in vio-
lence, each one taking his contestant by
the hair and then with the sword thrust
ing him in the side, SO that that which
opened in innocent fun ended in the mas
sacre OF all the twenty-four sportsmen.
Was there ever better illustration of
what was true then and is true now-that
that which Is innocent may be made de-
structive?
What of worldly nature is more i'm
portant and strengthening and innocent
than amusement and vet what has count
ed more victims? l have no sympathy
with straitjacket religion. This is very
all l can to make it bright for others. |
never could keep step to dead march. A
book years ago issued says that a Chris
tan man has a right to some amusements.
For instance, if he comes at night weary
from his work and, feeling the need of
recreation, puts on his slippers and goes
into his garnet and walks lively round the
floor several times there can be no harm
in it. l believe the church of God has
made great mistake in trying to suppress
the sportfulnes5 of youth and drive out
from men their love of amusement. Ii
God ever implanted anything in US, He
implanted this desire. But instead of pro-
viding for this demand of our nature the
church of God has for the main part ig-
nored it. AS in a riot the mayor plants
battery at the end of the street and has it
fired off SO that everything is cut down
that happens to stand in the range, the
good as well as the bad, so there are men
IN the church who plant their batteries of
condemnation and fire away indiscrimin-
ately. Everything is condemned. But
Paul, the apostle, commends those who
use the world without abusing it, and in
the natural world God has done everything
to please and amuse us.
And | am glad to know that in all our
cities there are plenty Of places where we
may find elevated moral entertainment.
But all honest men and good women will
agree with me in the statement that one
OF the worst things in these cities is cor
rupt amusement. Multitudes have gone
down under the blasting influence, never
to rise. If we may judge of what is going
on in many of the places of amusement by
the pictures on board fences and in many
of the show windows, there is not a much
lower depth of prohigacy to reach. At
Naples, Italy, they keep such pictures
locked up from indiscriminate inspection.
Those pictures were exhumed from Pom
pei, and are not fit for public gaze. Ii the
effrontery of bad places of amusement in
hanging out improper advertisements of
what they are doing night by night grows
worse in the same proportion, in fifty
years some OF our modern cities will beat
Pompeii.
1 project certain principles by which
you may judge in regard to any amusement
or recreation, finding out for yourself
whether it is right or wrong.
l remark, in the first place, that you can
judge OF the moral character of any amuse-
ment by its healthful result or by its bale
full reaction. There are people who seem
made up of hard facts. They are a combi-
nation of multiplication tables and Stats
tics. If you show them an exquisite pic
ture they will begin to discuss the pig
ments involved in the coloring. If you
show them beautiful rose they will sub
init it to botanical analysis, which is only
the post-mortem examination of Hover.
They have no rebound in their nature.
They never do anything more than smile.
There are no great tides of feeling surging
up from the depths of their soul in bilow
after billow of reverberating laughter. They
seem as if nature had built them by con
tract and made bungling job of it. But
blessed be God, there are people in the
world who have bright faces and whose
In &c afth Of
tory
Now, it is these exhilarant and sympa-
thetic and warm hearted people that are
most tempted to perniclous amusements
In proportion as a ship is swift it wants
strong helmsman, in proportion as horse
Is gay it wants stout driver, and these
people OF exuberant nature will do well to
look at the reaction of all their amuse-
ments. Ii an amusement sends you home
at night nervous, so that you cannot sleep,
and you rise up in the morning not be-
cause you are slept out, but because your
duty drags you from your slumbers, you
have been where you ought not to have
been. There are amusements that send a
man next day to his work with his eyes
bloodshot, yawning, stupid, nauseated, and
they are wrong kinds of amusement. They
are entertainments that give a man dis
gust with the drudgery of life, with tools
because they are not swords, with work
ing aprons because they are not robes,
with cattle because they are not Infatuated
bulls of the arena.
If any amusement sends you home long
ing for life of romance and thrilling ad-
venture, love that takes poison and shoots
itself. moonlight adventures and hair
breadth escapes, you may depend upon it
that you are the sacrificed victim of I'M
sanctifed pleasure. Our recreations are
intended to build us up, and if they pull
us down as to our moral or as TO our ply
steal strength you may come to the con
clusion that they are obnoxious.
There is nothing more depraving than
attendance upon amusements that are full
of innuendo and low suggestion. The
young man enters. At first he sits far
back, with his hat on and his coat collar
up, fearful that somebody there may know
him. Several nights pass on. He takes off
his hat earlier and puts his coat collar
down. The blush that first came into his
cheek when anything indecent was enacted
comes no more to his cheek. Farewell,
young mani You have probably started
on the long road which ends in consum-
mate destruction. The stars of hope will
go out one by one until you will be left in
utter darkness. Hear you not the rush OF
- ~.l..