Milford chronicle., 1902-08-01

Chicago, July 27.-In this discourse
Rev. Frank De Witt Talmage shows
how the qualities which characterize
successful fisherman may be utilized
In Christian work. The text is Matthew
", 10, Follow me- and 1 will make
you fishers of men"
Are you fisherman? ooh, yes" you
answer; II 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 was born with love for the rod
and the reel. As a little boy, many
and many time have been late for
school because 1 loitered on the way
under the shadow of the old wooden
bridge to cast a crooked pin used for
hook. Now that l am grown love
to go back to the scene where was
born. l love to wade in the old IA
mlliar brook and catch the speckled
trout. love to take a 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 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 a farmer.
Mr.. Evarts for recreation used TO play
at farming He used to take the mon
ey which he made as n lawyer in New
York city and put it into his Vermont
farm. But Mr.. Evarts never made a
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 a glass
of milk and in the other a glass Of
champagne as he said, Take your
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 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 Nan
tucket or New Bedford and spends six
long months Off the banks of New
fOundlund facing the dangers of tenn
pest and collision, and the man who
paddles about in canoe on n quiet
stream. 1t is the difference between
the man who is ready to defy the dan
gers of Lake Galilec-the most treach-
erous inland sea in the word-and the
man who stands upon a rock on sun
shiny afternoon and casts his expen-
sive line into the brook for few
hours pastime.
The Fishermen Of GnliIee.
Now, the two brothers, Peter and An
drew, to whom Christ spoke the words
Of my text upon the shores of Lake
Galilee, were real fishermen. They
were not dilettanti. They did not go
out into the country for a few days
with a hundred dollar pole to catch a
dollars worth of fish; but they made
AohAtA6 AANAA ilAG DuHluNHHs luHY UE-
longed to what is perhaps the bravest
class of men on earth-the fishermen.
Christ when he saw them mending
their nets, turned and said: Come,
leave your nets and follow me. Give
up your work of catching fish and /
will teach you how you may use your
energy and bravery and conservation
and will make you fishers Of men.
Come with me and l will make you
fishers In the great troubled sea of
humanity and will call you my gospel
fishermen"
The true gospel fisherman is O one
purposed man, whose life is dedicated
to the single object Of saving souls
Every sportsman knows that it is an
imposslbility for a successful fisher
man to think Of anything else but his
fish at the time Of fishing. He cannot
plan about business and attend to his
line. He cannot read book and watch
his bait He cannot dream Of the
woods and troll at the same time.
When q real fisherman fishes, he con-
centrates his entire attention upon his
fishing and excludes every other
thought from his brain. Because fish
ing is so fascinating and absorbing,
some Of the greatest men Of the world
have found their recreation in the
sport. Daniel Webster. whom the Mas
sachusetts fishermen used 10 call Black
Dan because he became so sunburned
when fishing with Seargent S. Prentiss
of the shoals of Nantucket, used to for
get his senatorial cares in watching his
line. Christopher North, the intellec-
tual giant Of old Scotland, prolonged
his life far into the eighties by his
habit of running away from Edinburgh
with his rod and reel. Chester A. Ar.
thur and Grover Cleveland at every
opportunity would exchange the CON-
forts of the stately White House for
the absorbing delight Of batting hook
and casting a line.
So man cannot become a true Cos
pei fisherman unless he consecrates
himself. body and mind and soul. to the
one purpose Of saving men. He mus
. live and eat and breathe and sleeI
only for the hope Of bringing sinful
men and women to Christ. He mus
be as deeply absorbed in the work Of
saving souls as was John Knox. WHIT
used to arise frequently in the middl,
! of the night to pray. And one night
while he was pleading with God Il
: help him in the work of saving souls
his wife chided him and told him t,
8 come back to bed The great reforms
2 turned and said. Woman. how can
sleep when my country is not saved?
9 Then he continued his supplication
q with this earnest cry: 30 God Civ
me Scotland or l der
n Put Your Mind Into the Work.
Never was 1 more impressed with tn
. thought that in order to be a true Cos
: pei fisherman man must surrende
himself, body, mind and soul, to tn
y Masters service than when SON
years ago l went with party of ger
tlemen fishing for Atlantic founder
AT that time was not much of a fist
erman. l was so absorbed in the beal
q ties of nature that when l threw OF
!. my line l would forget all about it, an
the fish would come and nibble off til
bait and swim away. In the meantim
al was admiring the curving waves;
was watching the winds pile up IL
clouds into valleys and mountains an
dOmes and arches and fOrtresses an
u Obelisks; was watching the sea gul
= take their morning baths or swoC
down to clutch a fish in their talon