Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1902-08-01
TAL-MAGE
SERMON
* - BY Rev.
FRANK DE WITT TALMAGE. DID,.
Pastor OF jefferson Park PreSny-
terian Church, Chicago

SUCCESSFUL fisherman may be utilized
in Christian work. The text is Matthew
iv. 10. Follow me. and 1 viii make
you fishers OF men,"
Are you q fisherman? "Oh, yes" you
answer; 81 have been a fisherman all
my life. AS Izaak Walton, the father
of angling, used to say that true fish
ermen, like poets were born. not made.
so 1 was born with n love for tie rod
and the reel. AS 4 little boy, many
and many time 1 have been late for
school because L loitered on the way
under the shadow of the old wooden
bridge TO cast n crooked pin used for
hook. Now that / am grown 1 love
to go back to the scene where / was
born. 1 love to wade in the old ia
miliar brook. and catch the speckled
trout l love to take boat and pun
out into the river which flows through
the valley where my father is buried
and try to coax to my hook the black
bass and the timid perch
No, my friend, you are not true
fisherman. a true fisherman is one
whose life employment. not his sum-
mer vacation, is devoted to catching
fish. You are no more fisherman
than William Nj. Evarts was n farmer.
Mr.. Evarts for recreation used to play
ut farming. He used 60 take the moa-
ey which he made as a lawyer i'm New
York city and put it into his Vermont
farm. But Mr.. Evarts never made q
living of his Vermont farm Farming
was such an expensive luxury 10 him
that one day while he was entertain
fner fn11.
he offered them in one hand 4 glass
of milk and In the other n glass of
champagne as he said, "Take your
choice. gentlemen; they both cost mo
the same"
There is just as much difference be-
tween the man who makes his living
by fishing and one who fishes for sport
rs there is between the man who farms
10 make n living and the man who
farms for recreation. 1t is the differ
ence between work and play. 1t is the
difference between the man who sets
sail in the fishing smack from Nam
tucket or New Bedford and spends six
long months Off the banks of New
foundland, facing the dangers of tenn
pest and collision, and the man who
paddles about in n canoe on n quiet
stream 1t is the difference between
the man who is ready to defy the dam
gers of Lake Galilec-the most treach.
erous inland sea in the world-and the
man who stands upon n rock on q sun
shiny afternoon and casts his expcn-
sive line into the brook for few
hours pastime
The Fishermen of GaIIIee.
4 ho
drew. TO whom Christ spoke the words
or my text upon the shores OF Lake
Galilee, were real fishermen. They
were not dilcttanti. They did not go
out into the country for few days
with hundred dollar pole TO catch n
dollars worth OF fish: but they made
fishing their life's business. They be-
Ionged to what is perhaps the bravest
class or men on carth-thc fishermen.
Christ, when he saw them mcndinc
their nets, turned and said: Come.
leave your nets and follow mo. Give
up your work OF catching fish and 1
VIII teach you how you may use your
energy and bravery and conservation
ana viii make you fishers OF men.
Come with me and / will make YOU
hshers in the great troubled sea OF
humanity and will call you my gospel
fishermen"
The true gospel fisherman IS a one
purposcd man. whose life IS dedicated
10 Tie single object OF saving souls.
Every sportsman knows rhat il is an
impossibility for n successful fisher
man TO think OF anything else but his
hsh at the time OF fishing. He cannot
lhnnf nj al
line. lie cannot read a book and watch
MS bait. lie cannot dream OF the
woods and troll at the same time.
When real fisherman fishes, he con-
centratcs his entire attention upon his
hshing and excludes every other
thought from his brain. Because fish
Ing is SO fascinating and absorbing.
some or the greatest men OF the world
have found their recreation in the
sport. Daniel Webster, whom the Mas
sachusetts fishermen used to call Black
Dan because he became so sunburned
when fishing with Seargent S. Prentiss
OH the shoals OF Nantucket, used to for
get his senatorial cares in watching his
line. christopher North, the inteIlcc,
tual giant OF old Scotland, prolonged
his life far into the eighties by his
habit or running away from Edinburgh
with his rod and reel Chester A. Ar.
thur and Grover Cleveland at every
opportunity would exchange the com.
forts OF the stately White House for
the absorbing delight OF batting a hook
and casting line.
80 maa cannot become q true Cos
pei fisherman unless he consecratcs
himself. body and mind and soul. TO the
one purpose of saving men. He must
live and eat and breathe and sleen
only for the hope OF bringing sinful
men and women to Christ. He must
be as deeply absorbed in the work of
saving souls as was John Knox. who
used TO arise frequently in the middle
Oh the night TO pray. And one night,
.whne he was pleading with God TO
help him In the work of saving souls,
ms WIFE chided him and told him to
come back to bed. The great reformer
turned and said Woman, how can
sleep when my country is not saved?,
Then he continued his supplications
with this earnest cry: 20 God. give
Inc Scotland or / der
Tut You~ Mind Into the Work.
Never was more impressed with the
thought that in order TO be q true Cos
pei fisherman man must surrender
himself, body. mind and soul. to the
Masters service than when some
years ago went with n party OF gen.
temen fishing for Atlantic founders.
AT that time L was not much of fish.
erman. l was so absorbed in the beau
ties OF nature that when | threw out
my line would forget all about il, and
tue nsh would come and nibble off the
bait and swim away. IN the meantime
1 was admiring the curving waves; l
was watching the winds pile up the
clouds into valleys and mountains and
domes aud arches and fortresses and
ODelisks; was watching the sea gulls
take their morning baths or swoop