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About The Rockdale banner. (Conyers, Ga.) 1888-1900 | View Entire Issue (April 2, 1896)
REV. DR. TALI AGE. THE NOTED DIVINE’S SUNDAY DISCOURSE. Subject: “Our Social Recreations.” Texts: “They that use this world as not abusing it.”—I Corinthians vii., 31. “Andit came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said; call for Samson, that he may make us sport.”—Judges xvi., 25. There wore 3000 people assembled in the temple of I)agon. They had come ro make sport of eyeless Samson. They wore ail ready for the entertaiament. They began to clap and pound, impatient for the amusement to begin, and they cried, “Fetch him out, fetch him out!” Yonder I see the blind old giant coming, led by the hand of a child into the very midst of the temple. At his first appear¬ ance there goes up a shout of laughter and derision. The blind old giant pretends he is pillars tired, and wants to rest himself against the of the house. So he says to the lad who leads him, “Show me where the main pillars are!” The lad does so. Then the strong man puts his right hand on one pillar, nnd his left hand on another pillar, and with the mightiest push that mortal ever made, throws himself forward until the whole bouse comes down in thunderous crash, grinding the audience like grapes in a winepress. “And so it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house, aud he made them sport.” In other words, there are amusements that are death destructive, the and heads bring down disaster and upon of those who practice them. While they laugh nnd cheer, they die. The 8000 who perished that day in Gaza are as.nothing compared to the tens of thou¬ sands who have been destroyed by sinful amusements. But my first text implies that there is a lawful use of the world, as well as an unlaw¬ ful abuse of it, aud the difference between the man Christian and the man un-Christian is that in the former case the man masters the world, while in the latter case the world masters him. For whom did God make this grand and beautiful world? For whom this wonderful expenditure of color, this grace¬ fulness of line, this mosaic of the ground, this fresco of the sky, this glowing fruitage of orchard and vineyard, this full orchestra of the tempest, in which the tree branches dors flute, and the winds trumpet, and the thun drum, and all the splendor of earth aud sky come clashing their cymbals? For whom did God spring the arched bridge of colors resting upon buttresses of broken storm cloud? For whom did Ho gather the uphol¬ stery of tire around the window of the set¬ ting sun? For all men, but more especially for His own dear children. If you build a large mansion and spread a great feast after It to celebrate the comple¬ tion of the structure, do you allow strangers to come in and occupy the place, while you thrust your own children in the kitchen, or the barn, or the fields? Oh, no! You say, “I am very glad to see strangers in my man¬ sion, but my own sons and daughters shall have the first right there,” Now, God has built this grand mansion of a world, and He has spread a glorious feast in (it, and while those who are strangers to His grace may come iu, I think that God especially intends to give the advantage to His own children— those who are the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty, those who through grace can look up and say, “Abba Father.” You cannot make me believe that God gives more advantages to the world than He gives to tho ohuroh bought by His own blood. If. there¬ fore, people of the world have looked with dolorous sympathy upon those who make profession of religion and have said: “Those now and converts aro going Why down into privation into hardship. did they not tarry a little longer in the world and have some of its enjoyments and amusements and reorea tions?” I say to such men of the world, “You are greatly mistaken,” and before I get through I will show that those people who stay out of tho kingdom of God have tho hardships and self denials, while those who come in have the joys and satisfactions. In the name of tho King of heaven and earth I serve a writ of ejectment upon all tho sinful and polluted who have squatted on tho domain of earthly pleasure as though it belonged to them, while I claim in behalf of the good and the poor and the true, the eternal inheritance which God has given them. Hitherto, Christian philanthropists, clerical and lay, have busied thomselves chiefly I feel in denouncing sinful recreations, but we have no right to stand before men and women in whose hearts there Is a desire for recreation amounting to positive neces¬ sity, denouncing this and that nnd the other thing, when we do not propose to give thorn something better. God helping me and with reference to my last account, I shall enter upon subject a sphere not usual in sermonizing, but a which I think ought to be presented at this timo. I propose now to lay before you some of fho recreations which are not only Innocent, but positively helpful and ad¬ vantageous. In the first place I commend, among in¬ door recreations, music—vocal and instru¬ mental. Among the first things created was the bird, so that the earth might have tnusio at the start. This world, which began with so sweet a serenade, is finally to be demol¬ ished amid the ringing blast of the archan¬ gel’s trumpet, so that as there was music at the start, there shall be music at the close. While this heavenly art has often been dragged into the uses of superstition and dissipation, of high moral we all know it may be the means culture. Oh, it is a grand thing to have our children brought up amid the sound of cultured voices and amid the melody of musical instruments. There is in this art an indescribable fascination for the household. Let all thoso families who havo the means to afford it have flute or harp or piano or organ. As soon as the hand is large enough to compass the keys teaoh it how to pick out the melody. Let all our young men try this heavenly art upon their nature. Those who have gone into it fully have found in it illimitable recreation and amusement. Dark days, stormy nights, seasons of sickness, business disasters, the will do little toward depressing soul which can gallop off over musical keys or soar in jubilant lay. It will cure pain It will rest fatigue. ' It will quell passion. It will revive health. It will re¬ claim dissipation. It will strengthen the immortal soul. In the battle of Waterloo, Wellington falling saw that the Highlanders were back. He said: “What is the matter there? He was told that the band of mnsio bad ceased playing, and he called up the pipers and ordered them to strike up an in splntmg the air, and no sooner did thev strike air than the Highlanders were‘ rallied and helped to win the day. Oh, ye who have been routed iu the conflicts of life trv by the force of music to rally your scattered battalions. ■ 1 glad to know that in our great cities there is hardly a night in which there are not concerts, where, with the best musical instruments and the sweetest voices, people may find entertainment. Patronise such en¬ tertainments when they are afforded you. Buy season tickets, if you can, for the Phil¬ harmonic and the Handel and Haydn socie¬ ties. Feel that the $1.50 or $2 that vou spend for the purpose of hearing an artist play or sing is a profitable investment. Let your Academies of Mu3io roar with the ac¬ clamation of appreciative audiences assem¬ bled at the concert or the oratorio. Htili further, I commend, as worthy of their support, the gymnasium. This institu¬ tion is gaining in favor every year, and 1 know of nothing more free from dissipation or more calculated to recuperate the physi¬ cal and mental energies. While there are a good many people who have employed this institution there is a vast number who are ignorant of its excellencies. There are men with cramped chesta and weak sides and despondent spirits who through the gymnasium might be roused up to the exuberance and exhilaration of life. There are many Christian people despondent from in¬ year to year who might through spiritual such an rela¬ stitution bo benefited in their tions. There are Christian people who seem to think ttrnt It is a good sign to be poorly, and because Richard Baxter and Robert Hall were invalids they think that by the same sickliness they may come to the same grandeur of character. I want to tell the Christian people of my congregation that God will hold you responsible for your in¬ validism if it is your fault and when, through right exercise aud prudence, you might be athletic and well. The effect of the holy upon the soul you acknowledge. Put a man of mild disposition upon the animal diet of which the Indian partakes, and in a little while^his blood will change its chemical pro¬ portion". It will becomelilceunto the blood of the lion or the tiger or the bear, while his disposition will change and be -ome fierce and unrelenting. The body ha3 a powerful effect upon the soul. There are good people whose ideas of heaven are all shut out with clouds of to¬ bacco smoke. There are people who dare to shatter the physical vase in which God has put the jewel of eternity. There are men wi f h great hearts and intellects in bodies worn out by their own neglects— magnificent ma¬ chinery, capable of propelling a Majestic across the Atlantic, yet fastened in a rickety North River propeller. Martin Luther was so noble mighty for God. first, because he had a soul, and. secondly, because he had a muscular development which would have enabled him to thrash any five of his perse¬ cutors if it had been Christian so to do. Physical development which merely shows itself in fabulous lifting, or in perilous rope walking, or in pugilistic encounter, excites only our contempt, but we confess to great admiration for the man who has a great soul in an athletic body, every nerve, muscle and bone of which is consecrated to right uses. Oh, it seems to me outrageous that men, through neglect, should allow their physical health to go down beyond repair—a ship which ought, with all sail set and every man at his post, to be carrying a rich cargo for eternity, employing When all its men through in stopping up leakages. you may, the gymnasium, work off your spleen and your querulousness and one-half of your physical and mental ailments, do not turn your back upon such a grand medicament. Still further, I commend to you a large class of parlor games and recreations. There is a way of making our homes a hundred¬ fold more attractive than they are now. Those parents cannot expect to keep their children away from outside dissipations'un less they make the domestic cjrcle brighter than anything then, they can find outside of it. Do not, sit in your home surly and un sympatnetic ana with a half condemnatory look because of the sportfulness of your children, You were young once be yourself; let your children young. Because your eyes are dim and your ankles are stiff do not de¬ nounce sportfulness in those upon whose eyes there is tho first luster and in whose foot there is the bounding joy of robust hoalth. I thank God that in our drawing rooms and in our parlors there are innumer¬ able games and sports which have not upon them the least taint of iniquity. Light up all your homes with innocent hilarities. Do not sit down with the rhetuna-. tism, ltather wondering how chtldron can go on so, thank God that thoir hearts are so light, and their laughter Is so free, and their cheeks are so ruddy, and that their expecta¬ tions are so radiant, The night will'come soon and enough, the and the heartbreak and the pang for the desoiatipn-dt will come soon enough dear children. But when the storm actually clouds the sky it will be time enough for you to haul out your reef tackles. Carry, then, into your homes not only the innocent sports and games which are the in¬ ventions of our own day, but the games which come down with the sportfulness of all the past ages—chess and charades aud tableaux and battledoor and calisthenics and lawn tennis aud all those amusements which the how young people of Then our homes know so well to contrive. there will be the bled parlor in socialities—groups of people assem¬ and jPviality, vour homes, filling with wit and mimicry the room with joy from door to mantel and from the carpet to the celling. Oh, is there any exhilaration like a score of genial souls in one room, each one adding merriment a contribution of his own individual to the aggregation of general hilarity? Suppose you want to go abroad in the city; then you wtll find the panorama and the art gallery and the exquisite collections of pic¬ tures. You will And the museum and rhe historical society rooms full of rare ouriosi ties, and scores of places which can stand plainly the test of what is right and wrong in amusements. You will find the lecturing hall, which has been honored by the names of Agassiz In natural history, Boremus in chemistry, Boynton in geology, Mitchell In astronomy, John B. Gough in moral reform and scores and hundreds of men who have poured their wit and genius and inganuify through that particular channel upon the hearts and consciences and imaginations of man, setting this country fifty years farther in advance than it would have been without the lecture platform. popularization I rejoice in the of outdoor sports. I hail the croquet ground and the fisherman’s rod and the sportsman’s gun. In that our cities when life the is so unhealthy taker and unnatural city census represents a ns having 400,000 inhabitants there are only 200,000, sinoe it takes at least two men to amount to one exhausting man, so depleting and un nervtag and is this metropolitan life. We want more fresh air, more sunlight, more of thd abandon of field sports. I cry out for it iu behalf of the church of God as well as In behalf of secular interests. I wish that our ponds and our rivers and our Capi¬ tolina ground might be all aquake with the heel and the shout of the swift skater. I wish that when the warm weather comes the graceful oar might dip the stream and the evening tide be resonant with boat¬ man’s song. tho bright prow splitting the crystalline billow. We shall have the smooth and grassv lawns and we will call out people of all occupations and professions and ask them to join in the ball player’s sport. Yon will come back from these outdoor exercises and recreations with strength in your arm aud color in your cheek aud a flash in your eye and courage in vour heart. In this great battle that is open¬ ing against the kingdom of darkness we want not only a consecrated soul, but a strong arm and stout lungs and mighty mus¬ cle. I bless God that there are so many rec¬ reations that have not on them the taint of iniquity, recreation in which we may engage for the strengthening of the body, for the clearing of the intellect, for the illumination of the soul. There is still another form oi recreation which I commend to you, and that is the pleasure oi doing good. I have seen young ff&ffSWsrslTSfSSSR touch h«v, warned .»atoom. We^ w h and buoyant, the ground heads breaking forth and the sky over their into music. “Oh,” says some young man in the house to-day, “I should like that recrea¬ tion above all ’others but I have not the means.” My dear brother, let us take an account of stock. You have a large estate if you only realize it. Two hands, two feet. You will have perhaps during Ihe next year at least Islli for charitable contribution. You will have 2500 cheerful looks if you want to employ them. You will have 5000 pleasant words if you want to speak them. Now, what an amount that is to start with. You go out to-morrow morning, and you see a ease of real destitution by the wayside. You give him two cents. The blind man hears the pennies rattle in his hat, and he says, “Thank you. sir; God bless you!” You pass down the street, trying to look in¬ different, but you feel from the very depth of your soul a profound satisfaction that you made that man happy. You go on still farther and find a poor hoy with a wheel¬ barrow, trying to get it up on the curbstone. He fails in the attempt. You say. “Stand back, my lad; let me try.” You push it up on the curbstone for him and pass on. He wonders who that well dressed man was that helped him. You did a kindness to the boy, but you did a great joy to your own soul. You will not get over it all the week. On the street to-morrow morning you will see a sick man passing along. “Ah.” you say, “what can I do to make tliys man happy? He certainly does not want money, he is not poor, but ho is sick.” Give him one of those 2500 cheerful looks that you have garnered un for the whole year, Look joy and hopefulness toto his soul, It will thrill him through, aud there will be a reaction upon your own soul! Going on a little farther, you will come to thestore of a friend who is embarrassed in business matters. You will go in and say: “What a fine store you have! T think business will brighten up, and you will have more custom after awhile. I think there is coming a great prosperity to all the country. Good morning.” You pass out. You h-ive helped that young man, and you have helped yourself. his elbow Golonel Gardiner, who sat with on a table, spread with all extravagant viands, looking off at a dog on tho rag. say¬ ing, “How I would like to change places with him. I be the dog aud he be Colonel Gardiner,” or those two Moravian mission¬ aries who wanted to go into the lazaretto for the sake of attending the sick, and they were told: “If you go in there, you will never come out. We never allow any one to come out, for he would bring the contagion,” Then they made their wills and went in, first to help the sick and then to die. Which was the happier—Colonel Gardiner or the Mora¬ vian missionaries dying for others? Was it all sacrifice when the missionaries wanted to bring the gospel to the negroes at the Bar¬ bados, and, being denied the privilege, sold themselves into slavery, standing side by side and lying side by side down in the vary ditch of suffering, in order that they might bring those men up to life and God and heaven? Oh, there is a thrill in the joy of doing good! It is the most magnificent re¬ creation to which a man ever puts his hand or his head or his heart. But before closing I want to impress upon you that mere secular entertai aments are not a fit foundation for your soul to build ou. I was reading of a woman who had gone all the rounds of sinful amusement, and she came to die. She said, “I will die to-night at 6 o’clock.” “Oh,” they sick.” said, “I “I guess shall not; you don’t seem to be die at 6 o'clock, and my soul will be lost. I know it will be lost. I have sinned away my day of grace.” The noon came. They desired her to seek religious counsel. "Oh,” she said. “It is of no use. My day is gone. I have been all the rounds of worldly pleas¬ ure, and it is too late. I shall die to-night at 6 o’clock.” The day wore away, and it came to 4 o’clock and to 5 o’clock, aud she cried out at 5 o’clook: “Destroying spirits, ye shall not have me yet; it is not 6, it is not 6!” The moments went by, and the shadows began to gather, and the clock struck 6, and while it was striking her soul went. What hour God will call for us I do not know— whether 6 o’clock to-night, or 3 o’clock this afternoon, or at 1 o’clock, or at this moment. Sitting where you are, falling forward, or drooping down, where will you go to? The last hour of our life will soon be here, and from that hour we will review this day’s If proceedings. It will be a solemn hour. from our death pillow we have to look back and see a life spent in sinful amusement, there will be a dart that will strike through our soul sharper than the dagger with which Virginius slew his child. The memory of the past will make us quake like Macbeth. The iniquities and rioting through which we have jiassed will come upon ns, weird and skeleton as Meg Merrilies. Death, the old Shylock, will demand and take the remain¬ ing pound of flesh and the remaining drop of blood, and upon our last opportunity for re¬ pentance and our last chance for heaven the curtain will forever drop. EX-GOV. SEAY DEAD. The Distinguished Alabamian Passed Away. Ex-Governor Thomas Seay, who has been ill at his home in Greensboro, Ala., for two weeks with la grippe, died at 1:35 o’clock Monday after¬ noon. Few men in Alabama were more loved than Governor Seay. He was prominent in public life for over a quarter of a century and was always a mover in anything looking to the wel¬ fare or advancement of his state or country. It was thought on Saturday that the attack of lagrippe, which has been severe from the first, would pass off without a fatal result, but at a late hour Sunday he changed for the worse, and when the end came Monday after¬ noon he was surrounded by the mem¬ bers of his family, who had been by his side for ten hours watching him as he quietly passed into eternity. SINGLE STANDARD IN TEXAS. A Meeting of Sound Money Men in Dallas. A meeting of sound money demo¬ crats was held at Dallas, Texas, Fri¬ day, in which about 200 prominent politicians took part. They practical¬ ly determined to bolt the party if a free silver platform is adopted by the state convention. The meeting passed resolutions favoring the calling of a state convention of sound money demo¬ crats to consider the situation. Reso¬ lutions declaring in favor of the gold standard were adopted. Utah’s juries now consist of eight men instead of twelve. GEORGIA RAILROAD SCHPiSrr 1 ^ OFFICE GENERAL MA^AQgB Commencing Jau. 5th, 1896, the following schedul lit trains run by 90th Meridian Time. The schedules without notice to the public. READ DOWN. _BEADrp _ Train No. 3. No. 1. Train Train No. 11 x’tExpjoay m’1 No. 27 STATIONS. No. 28 Day M’jU if, 4 OOp 10 30p 12 lOp 7 15a Lv Augusta Ar 8 lOp 1 S 5 lS| 4 24p 10 58p 12 36p...... Beiair S p : ; w 4 37p 11 09p 12 46p 7 42a Grovetown 7 44p S 2 £ 4 51p 11 21p 12 58p...... Berzelia 1 4 5 OOp 11 29p 1 05p 7 57a Harlem ► 7 25p “ u * 7 10p 1 12 n 09 4 e d U P 5 lOp 11 38p 1 14p 8 03a Dearing 7 03p 12 m 4 5 28p 11 58p 1 30p 8 19a Thomson 6 50p „ }} „ 44a m 5 42p 12 08a 1 42p Mesena 3 50.' a 5 50p 12 16a 1 50p ...... 8 35a Camak 6 34p 11 1 26a 3a : ! 3 3 38 28 a . i is 5 58p 12 25a 1 57p 8 40a Norwood 6 27p JJ 19a 3 2(j a j 6 14p 12 42a 2 12p 8 53a Barnett 6 14p H 05a 3 04a a 6 26p 12 56a 2 24p 9 04a Crawfordville 6 04p 10 54a 2 48 6 45p 1 22a 2 45p 9 25a Ar. Union Point 5 45p 10 j jV 34a 2 2l» 1 38a 3 04p 9 38a Greensboro 5 52p 10 21a 2 04a 2 05a 3 30p 10 00a Buckhead 5 09p 10 00a 1 37 2 22a 3 46p 10 12a Madison 4 55p 9 a 2 41a 4 05p 10 28a Rutledge 40a 1 20a 4 88 p 9 20a ! 1 Ola, 2 56a 4 25p 10 40a Social Circle 4 25p 9 05a 12 45a. I 3 19a 4 44p 10 58a Covington 4 06p 8 43a 12 22a 3 41a 5 04p 11 15a Conyers 3 48p 8 22all200nt 3 54a 5 15p 11 26a Lithonia 3 37p 8 10a 1145p, j 4 15a 5 31p 11 42a Stone Mountain 3 22p 7 53a 11 24p j ;e 4 4 28a 39a 5 5 41p 49p 12 11 51a Clarkston Decatur 3 O 13p CJD 7 7 43a 11 Up . J m 34a 11 OOp J 5 00a 6 lOp12 15p Ar Atlanta Lv Or AO 7 15a 10 45p Sim. a Only Oi 1 15a 50p 8 40a Lv Camak Ar 6 SOp ll 25alTl!pH 1 2 31a 06a 8 9 47a 02a Warrenton Mayfield 6 5 20p OOp 11 11 17a 01a 11 32p'{ 11 03p;jji 2 2 30a 50a 9 22a Culverton Sparta 4 4 34p 55p 10 10 49a 40a 10 10 44p| 5! 3 22a 9 36a Devereux 4 OOp 10 2Ga'10 27p 3 3 37a 9 43a Carrs 3 44pl O 18a 07p 3 9 48p 5 4 16a 10 00a Miliedgeville 3 06p 1 O 00a 1 ; 9 16p 5 4 48a Browns 1 52p O 46a; 8 50p 4 5 07a 10 24a Haddocks 1 38p O 37a! 8 34p j 5 6 30a 28a 11 00a Ar Macon James Lv 12 1 24p 40p O CD 28a 00a 8 7 30p 18p lj ij 6 15p 11 08a 2 15p Lv Barnett Ar 1 5 Op GO 50a! 5 54pl„ 6 23p 11 21a 2 27p Sharon 1 40p OO 6 30p 11 31a 2 35p Hillman 1 31p GO 27a 5 31p 6 55p 12 03p 3 Q4p Ar Washington Lv 1 05p —q 55a 1 4 59pj„| 6 05p 2 45p Lv U nion Point Ar 9 20ip 5 45pn ..] 6 15p 2 55p Woodville 9 08a 5 35p 6 19p 2 59p Bairdstown Maxeys 9 8 Ola 51a! 5 5 3b|J Mpl.J 6 32p 3 Mp 8 6 38p 3 17p Stephens 44a 5 13p ... 6 50p 3 29p Crawford 8 30a 5 Olp 7 06p 3 45p Dunlap 8 12a 4 45p 7 lOp 3 49p Winters 8 07ft 4 41p 7 25p 4 05p Ar Athens Lv 7 50a 4 2ap 10 50a Lv Union Point Ar 2 05p 11 30a Biloam 1 42 p 11 50a Ar White Plains Lv 1 20 p All above trains ruu daily, except 11 and 12 on mam line, and 34 ani 55 ou Micoa tea which do not run on Sundav. No. 28 supper at Harlem. Sleeping Cars between Miami Charleston. Augusta and Atlanta. Augusta and Macon, on night express. Sleeping between Atlanta and New York on train 27, and train leaving Atlanta at 7:15 o’clock, a. m. THOS. K. SCOTT, JOE W. WHITE, A. 0. JACKSON General Manager. Traveling Passenger Agent. General Freight aud PissAgd Augusta, Ga, W. HARDWICK, J. W. KIRKLAND, w. Pass. Agt., Atlanta, Ga. Pass. Agt., Macon, T m: I i K. #4; I N SEND US YOU JOB WORK! Nice Work --AND Cheao Price 8 v
