The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-05-18
DIR. T'al1lage's Sermon.
BY REV. FRANK DE WITT rALMAeE, D. D..

Chicago, May LIN this sermon the
Rev. Frank De Witt Talmage paints
picture which will be recognized as IA
miliar in many homes throughout the
land. His text was Luke XIV, 10, 1.-THE
younger son gathered all together and
took his journey into a far country"
The old homestead is turned upside
down. One of the two boys. the young
er. is aboutAsto leave the parental roof.
The eaglet is tired of being warmed by
the protecting breasts of the old birds.
With ruffled feathers he stands upon
the edge of the eyrie ready to fly off.
Sad is the disruption of a home. When
the children say "Goodby." the fami-
lies talk and laugh and joke. But they
are only laughing to sustain their cour-
age. The wedding bells weep as well as
sing. AT the marriage the guests may
congratulate the parents of the bride
upon having gained a son. But the
daughter is never the same after the
wedding. On that day the bride goes
forth to make her own home, build her
own nest, rear her own young and live
her own life Instead of belonging to
the parents she becomes another's In
stead of the mother being first now she
Is second.
Some years ago I attended the we'd
ding of a very dear friend The slipper
had been thrown. the rice tossed. the
farewells shouted. I followed the old
gray haired father down to the garden
gate. While we stood there in the moon
light he turned to me and said: FRANK
1 know she has married good man.
do hope she will be happy. But it Is hard
awfully hard. to give her up. She was
my baby girl She is my youngest. 1t
breaks the heart 1t breaks the heart
children are born. They pass boyhood
and girlhood days under the parental
roof They grow up into MANHOOD ana
womanhood. They begin to scatter
Death knocks at the front door and sum-
mons some. Love hovers among the
spring flowers and brcaths through the
orange blossoms and wooes others. Bust
ness and professional duties beckcn to
Others At last the old nursery Is va
cant Father and mother sit again alone
at the dining table as they once did when
they themselves were bride and groom.
The old homestead is deserted save by
the old folks The next is a tragedy.
The mother did not sleep much last
night. Though she tries to look cheerful.
her eyes are red from weeping. Every lit
tie while she disappears into the pantry
or goes up stairs. She makes an ex-
cuse as though she was looking for some
thing. We know she leaves the room for
one purpose. She wants to have a good
cry
Into a Far Country.
The father is giving his last instruc-
tions He is handing the young trav-
eler some letters of introduction to
prominent merchant with whom the son
will lodge in the next town. A noise is
at the gate. Servants are bringing out
the horses and strappng the baggage
upon the pack mules. They talk in sub
dued whispers. Even they feel sorry.
The young master" was a happy, jolly
go lucky boy. He always had a kind
word for the hostlers. The only happy
creature this morning is the dog. He
frisks and hanks about expecting to fol-
low the sportsmen for a weeks hunt. His
hilarity is stopped. Some one SHES a
stone at the brute and shouts, go back
to the barn" Slowly the dog turns. His
lowered head and tail are the canine
signs of abject woe. He stops now and
then, expecting to hear the familiar
huntsman's halloo Perhaps he realizes
for the first time he is taking a last look
of farewell l always did think that a
bright dog was smarter than a stupid
man.
The farewell words are now being said.
The father gives his benediction. We
must turn our heads away. The mother
is having her last convulsive clasp. These
are the swapping OF the heartstrngs. A
mother rarely realizes that the baby she
once rocked in a cradle can grow into a
man. He is always her boy. Suddenly
the young man breaks away. He leaps in
n tha saddle no ptit
ents and friends shout their farewell to
the cavalcade. Then they wave and
throw kisses. The old father wipes his
face vigorously with a handkerchief He
scolds the servants. He bids them to be
off. He does not want them to see him
cry. The mother has no such pride. AS
the horses disappear over the last hill
the aged wife buries her head upon her
husbands breast. She sobs as though
her heart would break. The husband ten
derby puts his arm about the sad heart
He draws her toward the house.
Slowly they walk up the tree arched
path. They stop a moment on the porch
to glance down the road. Slowly the
signing father opens the front door The
men go back to the fields, the female
servants to the kitchen. The domestic
machinery is started. The neighbors re-
turning to their homes, say, rs it not too
pad that the younger son should gather
all together and take his journey into
a far country.?''
The Land of Sin.
The far country of my text is the land
of sim Where 1t is we do not geograph-
ically know The far country may be in
the rural regions, among the farmhouses.
People make great mistake in supposing
that the only place in which sin thrves
is a large city. Sin loves to smell the
wild flowers and lie down in the haymow
as well as to tramp the streets of
busy metropolis l have preached in the
country and l know of what l speak.
There is loathsome drunkenness In a
crossroad tavern as well as in a corner
saloon. Many a young country girl has
disgraced the family. Farmers boys and
girls do not attend the country revivals
in order to hear the preaching The far
country of sin can be located in the
city. Sin is not proportionally more pre-
valent in the city than In the village,
but 1t is better able to conceal it's tracks
in a wilderness of rock than In a coun-
try town. Many letter have l received
which went thus II am farmers wife
l have a boy In the great, wicked city Of