The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-18
NIGHT LIFE" WAS DR. EVANS THEME Talks to Young Men en How
 to Improve Time At,otr urrz-n
NIGHT IS BREEDER OF CRIME
And Night Offers Rich Opportunities to Improve Himelf Intellectually. Night of Amusement Now
 and Then.

The Rev. Dr. w. F.. Evans, rector of the Church of the Advent, delivered last night the third of a series of sermons to young men, his subject being, "The Young Mans Night Life" Dr. Evans took as his text the following words from the scriptures:
 That night Belshazzar, King of the
 Chaldeans, was slain"
 The rector opened his sermon with
 description of the night of terror in ancient Babylon. He then went into
 general discussion of the night life in the
 city. He made strong points of the deeds
 of darkness and the allurements of the
 night, the night and its possibilities and
 the crimes of night, night and misery
 and night and peace.
 "The young mans night life is very
 often the index to his character" said
 the preacher, "and it forms an important
 part of his destiny. If we know where
 he spends his nights and when he returns
 to his home we can point to his charac-
 ter. and iwhen such is known his parents
 will know whether to weep or rejoice.
 'Sln and vice are planned in the night,
 and very often the young mans integ-
 rity is lost, his manhood destroyed and
 remorse is suffered. The character of
 many young man is slain in the dark shadows of the night,
 "rhe young mans night life in his
 business. We live in an age of unpar- alleled activity in business. When we
 see the young man who touches the pen
 with nervous fingers, indicative of the preceding nights dissipation, the future
 years of his life are being undermined.
 Slow down the engine of life, for he is 8
 man digging his own grave. He is wear ing out his life with the miserable ex- cltement of the night.
 But what about the night life in ln-
 greater demand for brains than there is at the present. Brains pay. Under the ordinary conditions men receive about
 s1.50 for their labors. But we see skilled
 men making from $5 to $S and even $l0 a day, and why this? They are men who
 have put their brains to use.
 well, you may say, they had the ad-
 vantages of a prstical training. That ia
 partly true, but every man has rich op- portunites at night to enrich himself Intellectually. It is not every man who has college education who builds the promise of years Literature is cheap, and the best works have been laid at the | young mans door.
 Great mems candles have burned dur
 ing the night; they progressed and finally 1 the world recognized their great intellect | m Of pleasure, the change of the labors of the day to the hard study of the night. Let me say here that every boy should | have his own library. He can build 1t i slowly and as it grows he grows more
 interested, and his books more attractive, ! and they grow to be dear friends to him. 1 And how much better it is to put your friendship in them than in the silly hllar- | ity of the night.
 l Now, the young mans night life in ref erence to his soul. A mans first care is i to keep his soul clean, and his heart right
 with God. The hilarious revelry of the night is not the only enjoyment and recre- | ation, but pleasure may be found in the 1 Christian life, in literature, society with | the character of refined young men, and l the friendship of young women whose in- 1 nucnce cannot be other than beneficial.
 But, the finer points. Is 1t wrong | for a young man to go to the theatre? | Yes and no. There are some players who | are Christians, but you will always find l them playing clean dramas Wholesale l denunciation is unwise and wrong. The occasion to attend a pure drama would not be wrong for many people, but even | this, against's one conscience, would be l wrong Some churches require certain | vows, and with these vows of the church
 resting on the heart, if they are there l as people enter the theatre it is not hon l est.
 | But the shameless drama can be of- | fered no plea of defense We need no | play to make the baser side of human | life known to us. No matter if the great
 est player in the world should appear in | a vile, indecent drama, no decent person l should see it. A night might be now and l then given to amusement, but this amuse- ment should not be used as an end but | as a means for enlightenment. l Dr. Evans closed his sermon with an ap- ! l. 41 T -fI1 I1rr