Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1902-08-02
TALRaAGE
SERMON
By Rev.
FRANK DE WITT TALMAGE. DID,.
Pastor Of Jefferson Park Presby-
terian CAureh, Chicago

Chicago, July 2I.-ln TINS DISCOURSE
Rev. Frank De Witt Talmage shows
how the qualities which characterize
a successful fisherman may be utilized
i'm Christian work The text is Matthew
iv. 10, Follow me, and | will make
you fishers of men,
Are you Il fisherman? "Oh. yes you
answer; "I have been n fisherman all
my life. AS Izaak Walton, the father
of angling, used to say that true fish
ermcn, like poets, were born, not made,
so was born with a love for the rod
and the reel AS little boy. many
and many time | have been late for
school because | loitered OH the way
under the shadow of the old wooden
bridge to cast Il crooked pin used for
hook. Now that | am grown | love
TO go back TO the scene where l was
born. love to wade in the old fa-
miliar brook and catch the speckled
trout. | love to take boat and pull
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 a true
fisherman. A true fisherman is one
whose life employment not his sum
mer vacation. is devoted to catching
fish. You are no more a fisherman
than William NJ. Evarts was farmer
Mr.. Evarts for recreation used to play
at farming. He used to take the mon
ev which he made as a lawyer in New
York city and put it into his Vermont
farm. But Mr.. Evarts never made q
| living off his Vermont farm. Farming
was such an expensive luxury to him
that one day while he was entertain
ing some fellow senators at his farm
he offered them In one hand glass
of milk and In the other n glass OF
champagne ms he said. Take youi
choice. gentlemen; they both cost me
| the same"
There is just as much difference be
tween the man who makes his living
by fishing and one who fishes for sport
as there is between the man who farms
to make living and the msn 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 Nan
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 a canoe on quiet
stream. 1t is the difference between
the man who is ready to defy the dan
gers of Lake Galilee-the most treach
erous inland sea in the world-and the
man who stands upon a rock on a sun
shiny afternoon and casts his expen
sive line into the brook for a few
hours pastime.
The Fishermen of Gnlilee.
Now. the two brothers, Peter and An
drew. to whom Christ spoke the words
of my text upon the shores Of Lake
Galiee. were real fishermen. The!
were not dilettanti. They did not e
out into the country for a few days
with q hundred dollar pole to catch
dollars worth of fish; but they made
fishing their life's business. They be
longed to what is perhaps the braves
class of men on earth-the fishermen
Christ, when he saw them mendini
their nets, turned and said: Come
leave your nets and follow me. Civ
up your work of catching fish and
will teach you how you may use you
energy and bravery and consecratiol
and will make you fishers of men
Come with me and | will make yol
fishers in the great troubled sea o
humanity and will call you my gospe
fishermen"
The true gospel fisherman Is a on
purposed man. whose life is dedicate
to the single object Of saving souls
Every sportsman knows that it is a
impossibillty for n successful fisher
man to think of anything else but hi
fish at the time of fishing. He canno
plan about business and attend to hi
line. He cannot read book and watc
his bait. He cannot dream Of tn
woods and troll at the same time
When q real fisherman fishes, he COZ
centrates his entire attention upon hi
fishing and excludes every othe
thought from his brain. Because fisl
ing is so fascinating and absorbing
some Of the greatest men Of the worl
have found their recreation in tn
= sport. Daniel Webster. whom the MAJ
sachusetts fishermen used to call Blac
Dan because he became so sunburne
when fishing with Seargent S. Prenti'
off the shoals of Nantucket used to fo
get lis senatorial cares in watching hi
line. Christopher North. the intelle
tual giant Of old Scotland. prolonge
his life far into the eighties by h
tabit of running away from Edinburg
with his rod and reel. Chester A. A
thur and Grover Cleveland at ever
opportunity would exchange the con
forts Of the stately White House II
the absorbing delight of batting a hoo
and casting & line.
SO man cannot become true go
pei fisherman unless he consecrat'
, himself. body and mind and soul, to Il
sne purpose Of saving men. He mu
uce and eat and breathe and slee
- rnly for the hope of bringing sinf'
mon and women to Christ. He mu
be as deeply absorbed in the work
saving souls as was John Knox, WI
nsed to arise frequently in the midd
% OF the night to pray. And one nigh
It while he was pleading with God
help him In the work Of saving soul
bis wife chided him and told him
come back u bed The great reforms
turned and said. Woman, how can