The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1902-05-25

Rev. Frank De Witt Talmage warns
young people against the tempters who
would lead them to ruin; text, Proverbs
|, 10, my son. If sinners entice thee
consent thou not"
No cathedral 1t matters not how lofty
the spires or how wonderful the statuary
or how may and bewildering the archi-
lecture, awes the tourist into reverence
Unless time has hallowed 1t. Then the
centuries have covered up the crumbling
walls with moss and creeping Ivy; then
Westminster abbey, with Its dark, damp,
dripping vaults, has become the scpulcher
of dead kings and queens. In the same
way no man has right 10 give advice
or tell US what to do unless gray hairs
begin to fringe the forehead or he can
speal. out of his own bitter experience. 1t
is absurd for the ruddy faced lad to
write an essay upon sorrow, when the
only sorrow he ever fclt WINS the fright
from the DENTS. pulling his first baby
teeth and what audience does not smile
when listening to the schoolboys bonn
bdstic graduation Grafton upon How to
Win Success No refoume r can have
great influence In attacking clubroom
when he himself is so utisociable that the
hearers dislike the rcforfrer worse than
they despse his teachings.
Every speech, every sermon, every ar
gument every essay. must be backed up
by the personality of the individual 1t Is
said that when John ]. Crittenden arose
to address a jury and ran his fingers
through his long gray hair his case was
already half Won All I<entuclians knew
John ]. Crittenden would not defend
client unless he himself believed in that
mans innocence You must respect the
speaker then you can respect his speech
King Solomon wrote with authority He
had drunk from the chaiices OF pleasure.
He had quaffed to the bitter oregs every
cup of woe. He had seer the ups as well
as the downs of life. IIc was no fanatic
or adventure. He was the king who sat
upon the richest throne of the then
known world. His pillared halls were lin
ed with statuary. The fountains which
played in his gardens moistened the
threats of birds whose ancestors once
cleansed their pumage or sang their
young to sleep In foreign lands. His cell
lars were filled with wine of choicest
vintage.
The throneroom and judgment hall were
circled by rooms above rooms. Near by
were his harems, in which the king
gathered a thousand wives and concu-
bines. AS the wit once wrote of Brigham
Young King Solomon was the most mar
ried man that ever lived. Not only was
he great and increased more than all
that were before him in Jerusalem, but
his wisdom renamed with him. When
two women claimed a little child, Solomon
ordered his executioner to cut the baby
in twain and give half to each. The real
mother fell on her knees and begged him
to save the child and II necessary to give
1t to her enemy. Then, said Solomon:
She is the true mother. Give her the
child" AS a gardener he knew all about
flowers; as an equestrian, all about
horses; as an architect, all about build
ings. He made the ant our teacher. AS
a merchant, he fingered in the busy marts
to tell us how to trade. Today amid
wealth and power, within sound of clink-
ing tankards of gold and rumbling
chariot wheels, the old sage writes an
eternal protest against sin. MY son, If
sinners entce thee, consent thou not"
The Importance of Starting Right.
Young men dislike to be patronized. AL
| though willing to accost each other in
| terms of familiarity, we dislike older
| people to pat us condescendingly upon
| the back So today, as a young man, L
| thought you young people would let me
try to interpret these words of the BIZ
Bile. l would especially interpret them
now, because many of you who have
| come from far away are for the first
time living in great city ou are away
from home, away from father and moth
er. Unless you start right you will never
end right The glory of young men is
their strength" The way to keep that
strength is to refuse to allow the sinful
designations to sap the virility of youth.
King Solomon warns the young people
against sin, because young folks are
apt to be thoughtlessly reckless. They
do not want to be bad; they have no in
tention of throwing overheard all the
past teachings of probity and right; they
are naturally religious; they say their
prayers when they arise in the morning;
they say their prayers again before going
to bed at night. But they are full of fun
and animal spirits. They laugh and sing
and frolic just as colt capers kit
ten plays with her tail and bird flies
hither and thither for the mere pleasure
of flying. A full blooded lad canont keen
still He fsquirms and twists and whis-
pers and passes notes in the schoolroom
He does about everything that the teach
er tells him not to do. If you ask him
why he does thus, he could not answer
What schoolboy when out in the country
nas not tried to see how near he could
skate to the airhole in the ice? What
boy has not fished when standing upon
a rolling log or has not tried to walk
across a dangerous trestle or has not
climbed steep precipice until his brain
was dizzy with vertigo? What boy has
not tried TO swim across a river merely
because the older boys said he could not?
When Benedict Arnold was a young
man he would catch hold of the spokes
OF the mill wheel and be dragged round
and round. in and out of the water, mere
~ to tc-ror.se the miller. who thought
tho aoy was going to DIE. When n healthy
boy az boarding school did you not love
to go rowing? Did you not pull the boat
So far from shore ti,at when the storm
came up It was aim ost impossible to get
back?
That is the spirit with which young
people enter large city. This 10 the first
time YOU have ever been away from
home. AT the first manifestation of sin
you were shocked and Mortified. You were
always accustomed to a sacred Sabbath
You went to church regularly. But now
you lnd that most of the clerks and stu
dents IN the boarding house consider Sun
day a play day instead of holy day, a
time for outdoor sports instead of sacred
communion. Then you begin to grow
hardened. Instead of keeping your toe to
the straight line of principle you are
willing to make small digressions. You
say, This will not hurt me, and the other
tl,t, ,,.,TH ,,rt