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NIGHT SIDES OF CITY LIFE. 
 
 BY 
 
 T. DE WITT TALMAGE, D. D., 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 " Crimhs Swept Up;'' ''Around the Tea Table;" '' Every Day 
 Religion;" ''Sports that Kill." 
 
 ST. JOHN, N. B.: 
 
 J. & A. McMillan. 
 
 98 PRINCE WILLIAM STREET, ST. jDHN, N. B. 
 1878. 
 
 V 
 
 % 
 
■-"sr*;' 
 
THE 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF CITY LITE. 
 
 ^!-:-ift'^!^^piJ: 
 
 BY 
 
 
 T. DE WITT TALMAGE, D. D., 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 " Crumbs Swept Up ; " " Around the Tea Table ; " " Every Day 
 Religion ; " " Sports that Kill." 
 
 \ 
 
 ST. JOHN, N. B.: 
 
 J. & A. McMillan. 
 
 98 PEINCE WILLIAM STREET, ST. JOHN, N. B. 
 
 1878. 
 
 
Entered «=cording to Ae. of P«Uan,ent of Can^., in the year 1878, b, 
 
 J. & A. McMillan, 
 
 * In the Office of the Minister of Agriculture. , 
 

 PUBLISHERS' ANN0UNCEMB:NT. 
 
 Ill issuing Night Sides of City Life from our press, we do 
 it in the profound conviction that the Christian community 
 and the great American public in general will appreciate 
 the soul-stirring discourses on the temptations and vices of 
 City Life, written in Dr. Tal mage's strongest descriptive 
 powers, terrible in his earnestness, uncompromising in his 
 denunciation of sin and wickedness, sparing none. This 
 work is the ONLY keviskd and authokizkd publication of 
 Dr. Talmage's sermons. * 
 
 We shall issue, at an early aay, " Hearty Words for al! 
 People," containing Dr. Talmage's adavesses to the Profes- 
 sions and Occupations, uniform with this editioi;. 
 
 ThK PUBLlSHKlWri. 
 
CONTKNTS. 
 
 T'AOB. 
 
 11 
 
 OHAITMK. 
 
 2. 
 3. 
 
 Vi«K - ' " 
 TiiK Ga'iks ok HbiI' 
 
 "' S^. vNo Whom 1 Misskp 
 
 4, Whom 1 SA^^, a>' 
 
 5 Traps koh Mkn 
 
 e' STHANracus Warned 
 
 « TllK WOKSlur OK THE (xOU>^^ 
 
 .,' Ouv Goods Reugios - ' ^ 
 
 10 'PuKKESERVonis Salted 
 
 11 TukBaitU'EOR Bread 
 lo' The Hornet's MiHsicH - 
 
 
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 'iT 
 
 41 
 
 so 
 
 111*. 
 1-r; 
 
 l5•^ 
 
T. dp: WITT TALMAGE, d. d. 
 
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 so 
 1 ():> 
 
 1 lf» 
 
 l5•^ 
 
 Thomas DcWitt Talmage was horn iii 1832, in Bound Br(K)k, 
 Somerset County, N. J. His father was a farmer of much vigor and 
 consistency of character ; his mother a woman of noted energy, hope- 
 fulness and equanimity. Both parents were in marked respects char- 
 acteristic. Diflerences of disposition and metliods blended in tliem 
 into a harmonious, consecrated, benignant and cheer}' life. The father 
 won all the confidence and the best of the honors a hard-sensed truly 
 American commui»ity had to yield. The mother was that counseling 
 and quietly provident force which made her a helpmeet indeed and 
 her home the center and sanctuary of the sweetest influences that 
 have iWlen on the path of a large number of children, of whom 
 four scms are all ministers of the Word. Prom a period ante-dating 
 the Revolution, the ancestors of our subject were members of the Re- 
 formed Dutch Church, in which Dr. Talmage's father was the lead- 
 ing lay office bearer through a life extended beyond fourscore years. 
 The youngest of the children, it seemed doubtful at first whether 
 DeWitl would follow his brothers into the ministry. His earliest 
 preference was the law, the studies of which he pursued for a year 
 after his graduation with honors frcmi the University of the City of New 
 York. The faculties which would have made him the greatest Jury 
 advocats of the age were, however, preserved for and directed to- 
 ward tlie pulpit by an unrest which took the very sound of a cry 
 within ,!iim for months, " Woe is me if I preach not the gospel.'' 
 ^Vlien ho submitted to it the always ardent but never urged hopes of 
 his honored parents were realized. He entered the ministry from the 
 New Branswich Seminary of Theology. As his destiny and powers 
 came to manifestation in Brooklyn, his pastoral life prior to that was 
 but a preparation for it. It can, therefore, be indicated as an inci- 
 dental stage in his career rather than treated at length as a principal 
 part of it. His first settlement was at Belleville, on the beautiful 
 Passaic, in New Jersey. For three years there he underwent an ex- 
 cellent prnotical education in the conventional ministry. His congre- 
 gation was about the most cultivated and exacting in the rural 
 
6 
 
 BIOOBAPUIOAL. 
 
 regions of the sterling little state. Historically, it was known to bo 
 alx>ut the oldest society of Protestantism in New Jersey. Its records, 
 as preserved, run back over 200 years, but it is Icnown to liavo had a 
 strong life the better part of a century more. Its structure i.s regarded 
 as one of the finest of any country congregation in the United States. 
 No wonder: it stand.s within rifle-shot of the quarry from which Ohl 
 Trinity, ia New Yorli, was liown. The value (and tac limits) of 
 stereotyped preaching and what ho did not know came as an instruc- 
 tive and disillusionizing force to the theological tyro at Belleville. 
 There also came and remained strong friendships, inspiring revivals, 
 and sacred counsels. 
 
 By nalunil promotion three years at Syracuse succeeded three at 
 Belleville. That cultivated, critical city furnished Mr. Talmago the 
 value of an audience in which professional men were predominant 
 in influence. His preaching there grew tonic and free. As Mr. Pitt 
 advised a young friend, he "risked himself" The church grew from 
 few to many— from a state of coma to athletic life. The preacher 
 learned to go to school to humanity and his own heart. The lessons 
 they taught him agreed with what was boldest and most compelling 
 in the spirit of the revealed Word. Those whose claims were sacred 
 to him found the saline climate of Syracuse a cause of unhealth. 
 Otherwise it is likely that that most delightful region in the United 
 States— Central New York — for men of letters who equally love 
 nature and culiure, would have been the home of Mr. Talmage for 
 life. 
 
 The next seven years of Mr. Talmage's life were spent in Phila- 
 delphia. There his powers jgot " set." He learned what it was he 
 could best do. He had the courage of his consciousness and ho did 
 it. Previously he might have felt it incumbent on him to give to 
 pulpit traditions the homage of compliance — though at Syracuse 
 "the more excellent way," any man's ow/i way, so that he have the 
 divining gift of genius and the nature atune to all high sympa- 
 thies and purposes —had in glimpses come to him. He realized that 
 it was his duty and mission in the world to make it hear the gospel. 
 The church was not to him in numbers a select few, in organization 
 a monopoly. It was meant to be the conqueror and transformer of 
 the world. For seven yearb he wrought with much success on this 
 theory, all the time realizing that his plans could come to fullness 
 only under conditions that enabled him to build from the bottom up 
 an organization which could get nearer to the masses and which 
 would have no precedents to be afraid of as ghosts in its path. Hence 
 he ceased from being the leading preacher in Philadelphia to become 
 in Brooklyn Die leading preacher in the world. - ^i. ,-..-^.i__ 
 
BlOORAPHrOAL. 
 
 n 
 
 His work for nine years liore, know all our readers. It began In a 
 crampw! brick rcctauglu, capable of liolding 1,200, and lie came to It 
 on "the call " of nineteen. In leas than two years that was exchangtHi 
 for an iron structure, with raised scats, the interior curved like a 
 horse shoe, the pulpit li platform bridging the ends. That held 3,(KX) 
 persons. It lusted just long enough to revolutionize church archi- 
 tecture in c'tics into harmony with common sense. Smaller ilupU 
 cates of it started in every quarter, three in Brooklyn, two in Nt'w 
 Yoi'k.onein Montreal, one in Louisville, any number in Chicago^ 
 two in San Francisco, like numbers abroad. Then it burnt up, thnt 
 from its aahes the present stately and most sensible structure migiit 
 rise. Gotliic, of brick and stone, cuthedral-like above, amphitluiiitre- 
 like below, it holds 5,000 as easily as one person, and all can liear and 
 sec equally well. In a largo sense the people built these cdiflcos. 
 Their architects were Leonard Vaux and Jolin Welch respectively. 
 It is suffloiently indicative to say in general of Dr. Talmago's work 
 In the Tabernacle, that his audiences are always as mr.ny Jis the plact; 
 will hold; that twenty-three papers in Christendom statedly publish 
 his entire sermons and Friday night discourses, exclusive of the 
 dailies of the United States; that the papers girdle the globe, 
 being published in London, Liverpool, Mtyichesier, Glasgow, Belfast, 
 Toronto, Montxeal, St. John's, Sidney, Mtsl bourne, San Francisco, 
 Chicago, Boston, Raleigh, New York, and many others. To pulpit 
 labors of this responsibility should be added considerable pastoral 
 work, the conduct of the Ij«y College, and constantly recurring lec- 
 turing and literary work, to fill out the jjublic life of a very busy 
 man. 
 
 The multiplicity, large results and striking progress of the labors" 
 of J)r. Talmage have made the foregoing more of »:, orief narrative 
 of the epochs of his career than an accouiii of the career itself. It 
 has had to be so. Lack of space requires if. His work has had 
 rather to be intimated in generalities than told in details. The filling 
 in must come either from the knowledge of the reader or from intel- 
 ligent inferences and conclusions, d' -vn from the few principal facts 
 stated, and stated with care. Tl's remains to be said: No 
 other preacher addresses so many constantly. The words of no other 
 preacher were ever before carried by so many types or carried so 
 far Types give him three continents for a church, and the English- 
 speaking world for a congregation. The judgment of his generation, 
 will of course be divided upon him just as that of the next will not 
 That he is a topic in every new.spaper is much more signiflcjuit 
 than the fact of what treatment it gives him. Only men of g.nius 
 
 \V..': 
 
10 
 
 BIOGEAFHIOAL. 
 
 1 I 
 
 1 
 
 are universally commented on. The universality of the comment 
 makes friends and foes alike prove the fact of the genius. That is 
 what is impressive — as for the quality of the comment, it will, in 
 nine cases out of ten, be much more a revelation of the character be- 
 hind the pen which writes it than a true view or review of the 
 man. This is necessarily so. The press and .he pulpit in 
 the main aro defective judges of one another. The former rarely 
 enters the inside of the latter's work. There is acquaintanceship, but 
 not intimacy between them. Journals find out tlmfact of a preaclier's 
 power in time. Then they go looking for the causes. Long before, 
 however, the masses have felt the causes and have realized.not merely 
 discovered, the fact. The pena'ty of being the leaders of great masses 
 has, from Whitcield and Wesley to Spurgeon and Talmage, been 
 lo servo, as the target for rimall wits. A constant source of attack on 
 men of such magnitude always has been and will be the presses 
 which, by the common consent of mankind, are described and dis- 
 pensed from all consideration, when they are rated Satanic. Their 
 attacks confirm a man's right to respect and reputation, and are a 
 proof of his influence and greatness. It can be truly said that while 
 secular criticism In f le United States favorably regards our subject 
 in proportion to its intelligence and uprightness, the judgment ol 
 foreigners on him has long been an index to the judgment of pos- 
 terity here. No other American is read so much and so constantly 
 abroad. His extraordinary imagination, earnestness, descriptive 
 powers and humor, his great art in grouping and arrangement, his 
 wonderful mastery of words to illumine and alleviate human condi- 
 tions and to interpret and inspire the harmonics of the better nature, 
 are appreciated by all who can put themselves in sympathy with his 
 originality of xiiethods and his high consecration of purpose. His man- 
 ner mates with his nature, it is each oermon in action. He presses the 
 eyes, hands, his entire body, into the service of the illustrative 
 truth. Gestures are the accompaniment of what he says. As he 
 stands out before the immense throng, without a scrap of notos or 
 manuscript before him,the effect produced can not l)e un -Brstood by 
 those who have never seen it. The solemnity, the tears, the awful 
 hush, as though the audience could not breathe again, are ofttimes 
 painful. 
 
 His voice is p«culiar,not musical, but prmlactive of startiing,8trong 
 ejects, such as characterize no preacher on either side of t lie Atlantic. 
 His power to grapple an audience and master it from text to perora- 
 tion has no equal. No man .vas ever less self-conscious in his work. 
 He feels a mission of evangelization on him as by the imposition of 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 11 
 
 the Supreme. That mission lie responds to by doing tho duty that is 
 nearest to liim witlj all liis miglit— as confident tliat lie is under the 
 care and order of a Divine Master as those who hear him are that they 
 are under tlie spell of the greatest prose-poet tliat ever made tlie gos- 
 pel his oong and the redemption of the race the passion of his heart 
 The following discourses were taken down by stenographic re- 
 porters aijd revised by the author. On tlie occasion of their delivery 
 the church tm;s thronged beyond description, the streets around 
 blockaded with people so that carriages could not pass, Mr. Talmage 
 himself gaijiug a^lmission only by the help of the police. 
 
■*:^ ^ 
 
 CHAPTER T. 
 
 A PERSONAL EXPLORATION IN HAUNTS OF VICE. 
 
 " When said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in tlie wall ; ant! 
 when 1 had digged in the wall, behold a door. And he said unto 
 me, Go in and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. So I 
 went in and saw ; and behold every form of creeping thing.) and 
 abominable beiist.s."— E^ekiel, viii: b, 9, 10. 
 
 m 
 '4 
 
 IL 
 
 So this minister of religion, Ezekiel, was commanded 
 to tlie exploration of the sin of his day. He was not to 
 stand outside the door guessing what it was, but was to 
 go in and see for himself. He did not in vision say: 
 "' O Lord, I don't wan't to go in ; I dare not go in ; if I 
 go in 1 might be criticised ; O Lord, please let me of^V* 
 When God told Ezekiel to go in he went in, " and saw, 
 and behold all manner of creeping things and abomin- 
 able beasts." I, as a minister of religion, felt I had a 
 Divine commission to explore the iniquities of our 
 cities. I did not ask counsel of my session, or my Pres- 
 bytery, or of the newspapers, but asking the companion- 
 sliip of three prominent police officials and two of the 
 elders of my church, I unrolled my commission, and 
 it said : " Son of man, dig into the wall ; and when I 
 had digged into the wall, behold a door ; and he said, 
 Go in and see the wicked abominations that are done 
 iiere ; and I went in, and saw, and behold !" Brought 
 up in the country and surrounded by much parental 
 care, I had not until this autumn seen the haunts of 
 iniquity. By the grace of God defended, I had never 
 
 t 
 
14 
 
 NIGHT 8IDK8 OF OITY LIFK. 
 
 I il 
 
 ! II 
 
 sowed any " wild oats." I had somehow been able to 
 tell from various sources something about the iniquities 
 of the great cities, and to preach against them ; but I 
 saw, in the destruction of a great multitude of the peo- 
 ])le, that there must be an infatuation and a temptation 
 that had never been spoken about, and I said, " I 'vill 
 explore." I saw tens of thousands of men going down, 
 and if there had been a spiritual percussion answering to 
 the physical percussion, the whole air would have been 
 lull of the rumble, and roar, and crack, and thunder of 
 the demolition, and this moment, if we should pause in 
 our service, we should hear the crash, crash ! Just as in 
 the sickly season you sometimes hear the bell at the gate 
 of the cemetery ringing almost incessantly, so 1 found 
 that the bell at the gate of the cemetery where lost souls 
 are buried was tolling by day and tolling by night. 1 
 said, " I will explore." I went as a physician goes into 
 a small-pox hospital, or a fever lazzaretto, to see what 
 practical and useful information 1 might get. That 
 would be a foolish doctor who would stand outside the 
 door of an invalid writing a Latin prescription. When 
 the lecturer in a medical college is done with his lecture 
 he takes the F^tudents into the dissecting room, and he 
 shows them the reality. I am here this morning to report 
 a plague, and to tell you how sin dissects the body, and 
 dissects the mind, and dissects the soul. " Oli !" say 
 you, " are you no.t afraid that in consequence of your 
 exploration of the inquities of the city other persons 
 may make exploration, and do themselves damage ?" I 
 reply: "If, in company with the Commissioner of 
 Police, and the Captain of Police, and the Inspector of 
 Police, and the company of two Christian gentlemen, 
 and not with the spirit of curiosity, but that you may 
 see sin in order the better to cx)mbat it, then, in the name 
 
A PKR80NAL EXPLORATION IN IIA-UNTS OF YICK. 16 
 
 of the eternal God, go ? But, if not, then stay away. 
 "Wellington, standing in the battle of Waterloo when 
 the bullets were buzzing around his head, saw a civilian 
 on the field. He said to him, " Sir, what are you 
 doing here 'i Be off ?" " Why," replied the civilian, 
 *' there is no more danger here for me than there is for 
 you." Then Wellington flushed np and said, " God and 
 my country demand that I be liere, but you have no 
 errand here." Now I, as an officer in the army of Jesus 
 Christ, went on this exploration, and on to this battle- 
 field. If you bear a like commission, go ; if not, 
 stay away. But you say, " DonH you think that some- 
 how your description of these places will induce people 
 to go and see for themselves ?" I answer, yes, just as 
 much as the description of the yellow fever at Grenada 
 would induce people to go down there and get the pesti- 
 lence. It was told us there were hardly enough people 
 alive to bury the dead, and I am going to tell yon a 
 story in these Sabbath morning sermons of places wher> 
 they are all dead or dying. And I shall not gild iniqui 
 ties. I shall play a dirge and not an anthem, and while 
 I shall not put faintest blusii on fairest cheek, I will 
 kindle the cheeks of many a man into a conflagration, 
 and I will make his eiu-s tingle. But you say, '^ Don't 
 you know that the papers are criticising you for the 
 position you take?" I say, yes ; and do you know how 
 I feel about it ! There is no man who is more indebted 
 to the newspaper press than I am. My business is Uy 
 preach the truth, and the wider the audience the news- 
 paper press gives me, tl:e wider my field is. As the 
 secular and religious press of the United States and the 
 Canadas, and of England and Ireland and Scotland and 
 Australia and New Zealand, are giving me every week 
 nearly three million souls for an audience, I say I am 
 
 
 ,1.' ■■. 
 
 
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 I ■ I 
 
 
 HI! 
 
 M-l 
 
 ill!; 
 I ii • 
 
 if.! 
 
 11 
 
 ! i i!!i 
 
 16 
 
 NIGHT 8IDK8 OF CITY LTFB. 
 
 indebted to the press, anyhow. Go on I To the day of 
 my death I cannot pay them what I owe them. So slash 
 away, gentlemen. The more the merrier. If there is 
 anything I despise, it is a dull time. Brisk criticism is 
 a coarse Turkish towel, with which every public man 
 needs every day to be rubbed down, in order to keep 
 healthful circulation. Give my love to all the secular 
 and religious editors, and full permission to run their 
 steel pens clear through my sermons, from introduction 
 to application. 
 
 It was ten o'clock of a calm, clear, star-lighted night 
 when the carriage rolled with us from the bright part of 
 the city down into the region where gambling and crime 
 and death hold high carnival. When I speak of houses 
 of dissipation, I do not refer to one sin, or five sins, but 
 to all sins. As the horses halted, and, escorted by the 
 officers of the law, we went in, we moved into a world 
 of which we were as practically ignorant as though it 
 had swung as far oiF from us as Mercury is from Saturn. 
 No shout of revelry, no guffaw of laughter, but compar- 
 ative silence. Not many signs of death, but the dead 
 were there. As I moved through this place 1 baid, 
 ''This is the home of lost souls." It was a Dante's 
 Inferno; nothing to stir the mirth, but many things to 
 fill the eyes with tears of pity. Ah 1 there were moral 
 corpses. There were corpses on the stairway, 
 corpses in the gallery, corpses in the gardens. Leper 
 met leper, but no bandaged mouth kept back the 
 breath. I felt that I was sitting on the iron coast against 
 v;hich Euroclydon had driven a luindred dismasted 
 hulks — every moment more blackened hulks rolling in. 
 And while I stood and waited for the goin^ down of the 
 storm and the lull of the sea, I bethouglit myself, this 
 is an everlasting storm, and these billows always rage, 
 
 iiil 
 
A PK380NAL EXPLOKATION IN HAUNTS OF VIOK. 11 
 
 and on each carcass that strowcd the beach already had 
 alighted a vulture — the lon<^-beaked, filthy vulture of 
 unending dispair — now picking into the corruption, and 
 now on the black wing wiping the blood of a soul I No 
 lark, no robin, no cliafiinch, but vultures, vultures, vul- 
 tures. I was reading of an incident that occurred in 
 Pennsylvania a few weeks ago, where a naturalist had 
 presented to him a deadly serpent, and he put it in a 
 bottle and stood it in his studio, and one evening, 
 while in the studio with Iris daughter, a bat flew in the 
 window, extinguished the light, struck the bottle con- 
 taining the deadly serpent, and in a few moments there 
 was a shriek from the daughter, and in a few hours she 
 was dead. She had been bitten of the serpent. Amid 
 these haunts of death, in that midnight exploration I 
 saw that there were lions and eagles and doves for in- 
 signia; but I thought to myself how inappropriate, 
 Bette the insignia of an adder and a bat. ' 
 
 First of all, I have to report as a result of this mid- 
 night exploration that all the sacred rhetoric about the 
 costly magnificence of the haunts of iniquity is apocry- 
 phal. We were shown what was called the costliest and 
 most magnificent specimen. I had often heard that the 
 walls were adorned with masterpieces; that the fountains 
 were bewitching in the gaslight; that the music was like 
 the touch of a Thalbergor a Grottschalk; that the uphol- 
 stery was imperial; that the furniture in some places 
 was like the throne-room of the Tulleries. It is all false. 
 Masterpieces! There was not a painting worth $5, leav- 
 ing aside the frame. Great daubs of color that no 
 intelligent mechanic would put oi\ his wall. A cross- 
 breed between a chromo and a splash of poor paint! 
 MusicI Some of the homeliect creatures I ever uaw 
 squawked discord, accompanied by pianos out of tune I 
 
18 
 
 NIGUT 8IDE8 OF OITY LIFE. 
 
 ii 
 
 !,*|- 
 
 1 
 
 t ■ ■ 1 i 
 
 Upholstery? Two characteriatics; red and cheap. You 
 have heard so much about the wonderful lights — blue 
 and green and yellow and orange flashing across the 
 dancers and the gay groups. Seventy-five cents' worth 
 of chemicals would produce all that in one night. Tinsel 
 gewgaws, tawdriness frippery, seemingly much of it 
 bought at a second-hand furniture store and never yjaid 
 for! For the most part^ the inhabitants were repulsive. 
 Here and there a soul on whom God had put the crown 
 of beauty, but nothing comparable with the Christian 
 loveliness and purity which you may see any pleasant 
 afternoon on any of the thoroughfares of our great cities. 
 Young man, you are a stark fool if you go to places of 
 dissipation to see pictures, and hear music, and admire 
 beautiful and gracious countenances. From Thomas's, or 
 Dodworth's, or Gilmore's Band, in ten minutes you will 
 hear more harmony than in a whole year of the racket 
 and bang of the cheap orchestras of the dissolute. Oome 
 to me, and I will give you a letter of introduction to 
 any one of five hundred homes in Brooklyn and New 
 York, where you will see finer pictures and hear more 
 beautiful music— music and pictures compared with which 
 there is nothing worth speaking of in houses of dissi- 
 pation. Sin, however pretentious, is almost always poor. 
 Mirrors, divans, Chickering grand she cannot keep. The 
 sheriff is after it with uplifted mallet, ready for the ven- 
 due. "Going! going! gone! .- ^^ 
 But, my friends, I noticed in all the haunts of dissi- 
 pation that there was an attempt at music, however poor. 
 The door swung open and shut to music; they stepped to 
 music; they danced to music; they attempted nothing 
 without music, and I said to myself, " If such inferior 
 music has such power, and drum, and fife, and orchestra 
 are enlisted in the service of the devil, what multipotent 
 
A PEKSONAL EXPLORATION IN IIAUNT8 OP VICI-:. 19 
 
 You 
 
 blue 
 
 the 
 rorth 
 'insel 
 3f it 
 
 paid 
 ilsive. 
 jrown 
 istian 
 easant 
 cities. 
 ,ce8 of 
 idmire 
 as' 8, or 
 ou will 
 
 racket 
 
 Oome 
 
 jtion to 
 
 id New 
 
 ir more 
 
 which 
 
 dissi- 
 
 y& poor. 
 
 3p. The 
 
 he ven- 
 
 of dissi- 
 er poor, 
 epped to 
 nothing 
 
 inferior 
 rchestra 
 
 tipotent 
 
 power there must bo in music ! and is it not high time 
 that in all our churches and reform associations we 
 tested how much ciiarm there is in it to bring men 
 off the wrong road to tlie rigiit road?" Fifty times tliat 
 night I said within myself, " If poor music is so power- 
 ful in a bad direction, why cannot good music be ahnost 
 omnij)otent in a good direction?" Oh! my friends, we 
 want to drive men into tlic kingdom of God with a mus- 
 ical staff. We want to shut off the path of death witli 
 a musical bar. We want to snatch all the musical instru- 
 ments from the service of the devil, and with organ, and 
 cornet, and base viol, anu piano and orchestra praise the 
 Lord. Good Ricliard Cecil when seated in the pulpit, 
 said that when Doctor Wargan was at the organ, he, Mr. 
 Cecil, was so overpowered with the music that he found 
 himself looking for the first chapter of Isaiah in the 
 prayer book, wondering he could not find it. Oh I holy 
 bewilderment. Let us send such men as Phillip Phillips, 
 the Christian vocalist, all around the world, and 
 Arbuckle, the cornest, with his " Robin Adair '* set to 
 Christian melody, and George Morgan with his Ilallelu- 
 ah Chorus, and ten thousand Christian men with up- 
 lifted hosannas to capture this whole earth for God. Oh! 
 my fi lends, we have had enough minor strains in the 
 church; give us major strains. We have had enough 
 dead marches in the church; play us those tunes which 
 are played when an army is on a dead run to overtake an 
 enemy. Give us the double-quick. We are in full 
 gallop of cavalry charge. Forward, the whole line! 
 Many a man who is unmoved by Christian argument 
 surrenders to a Christian song. 
 
 Many a man under the power of Christian music has 
 had a change take place in his soul and in his life equal 
 to that which took place in the life of a man in Scot- 
 
 er 
 
 til 
 
 II 
 
 u 
 
 ! 
 
20 
 
 NIGHT 8II)K8 OF CITY LIFK. 
 
 ' V' 
 ij 
 
 H 
 
 i! 
 
 i; i 
 
 ii ■!■ 
 
 t . '; ' 
 
 Mill 
 
 VJ'" 
 
 il i 
 
 land, who -for fifteen vears had been a drunkard. Com- 
 ing homo late at ni^ht, as he touched the doorsill, his 
 wife trembled at liis coming. Telling the story after- 
 ward, she said, "I didn't dare go to bed lest he violently 
 drag me forth. When he came home there was only 
 about the half inch of the candle left in the socket. 
 When he entered, he said: 'Where are the children?* 
 and I said, *They are up stairs. in bed.' He said, 'Go 
 and fetch them,' and I went up and I knelt down and I 
 prayed God to defend me and my children from their 
 cruel father. And then I brought them down. He 
 took up the eldest in his arms and kissed her and said, 
 'My dear lass, the Lord hath sent thee a father home to- 
 night.' And so he did with the second, and then he 
 took up the third of the children and said, 'My dear boy, 
 the Lord hath sent thee home a father to-night.' And 
 
 then he took up the babe and said, 'My darling babe, the 
 Lord hath sent thee home a father to-night.' And then 
 he put his arm around me and kissed me, and said, 'My 
 dear lass, the Lord hath sent thee home a husband 
 to-night.' Why, sir, I had na' heard anything like that 
 for fourteen years. And he prayed and he was com- 
 forted, and my soul was restored, for 1 didn't live as I 
 ought to have lived, close to God. My trouble had 
 broken me down." Oh! for such a transformation in 
 some of the homes of Brooklyn to-day. By holy con- 
 spiracy, in the last song of the morning, let us sweep 
 every prodigal into the kingdom of our God. Oh I ye 
 chanters above Bethlehem, come and hover this morning 
 and give us a snatch of the old tune about "good will to 
 men." 
 
 But I have, also to report of that midnight ex- 
 ploration, that I saw something that amazed me more 
 than I can tell. I do not want to tell it, for it will 
 
A PEE80NAL KXl'LOKATION IN UAUNT8 OK VICE. 21 
 
 lom- 
 , his 
 fter- 
 jntly 
 only 
 cket. 
 ren?* 
 , 'Go 
 and 1 
 their 
 , He 
 I said, 
 ne to- 
 en he 
 ir boy, 
 And 
 
 be, the 
 d then 
 d, ^My 
 usband 
 ke that 
 8 com- 
 7Q as I 
 )le had 
 tion in 
 ly con- 
 j sweep 
 Oh! ye 
 lorningj 
 will to 
 
 |ght ex- 
 \Q more 
 it will 
 
 <m 
 
 take pain to many hearts fur away, and I cannot cotntbrt 
 them. Bnt I must tell it. In all these haunts of 
 iniquity I found young men with the ruddy color of 
 country health on their cheek, evidently juat come to 
 town for business, entering stores, and shops, and offices. 
 They had helped gather the summer grain. There they 
 were in haunts of iniquity, the look on their cheek which 
 is never on the cheek except when there has been hard 
 work on the farm and in the open air. Here were these 
 young men who had heard how gayly a boat dances on 
 tlie edge of a maehtrom, and they were venturing. O 
 God! will a few weeks do such an awful work for a 
 young man? O Lord I hast thou forgotten what trans- 
 pired when they knelt at the family altar that morning 
 wheri he came away, and how father's voice trembled in 
 the prayer, and mother and sister sobbed as they lay on 
 the floor? 1 saw that young man when lie first con- 
 fronted evil. I saw it was the first night there. I saw 
 on him a defiant look, as much as to say, " I am mightier 
 than sin.'* Then I saw him consult with iniquity. 
 Then I saw him waver and doubt. Then I saw going 
 over his countenance the shadow of sad reflections, and 
 I knew from his looks there was a powerful memory 
 stirring his soul. 1 think there was a whisper going 
 out from the gaudy uph'^lsterj, saying, "My son, go 
 home." I think there was a hand stretched out from 
 under the curtains — a hand tremulous with anxiety, a 
 hand that had been worn with work, a hand partly 
 wrinkled with age, that seemed to beckon him away, 
 and so goodness and sin seemed to struggle in that 
 young man's soul; but sin triumphed, and he surren- 
 dered to darkness and to death — an ox to the slaughter. 
 Oh! my soul, is this the end of all the good advice? Is 
 this the end of all the prayers that have been made? 
 
 4 
 
NIGHT 8IDB8 OF CITY LIFE. 
 
 II' 
 
 liUl' 
 
 Have the clnsters of the country vineyard been thrown 
 into this great wine-press where Despair and Anguish 
 end Death trample, and the vintage is a vintage of blood? 
 I do not feel so sorry for that young man who brought 
 up in city life, knows beforehand what are all the sur- 
 rounding temptations; but God pity the country lad 
 unsuspecting and easily betrayed. Oh! young man 
 from the farmhouse among the hills, what have your 
 parents done that you should do this against them? 
 Why are you bent on killing with trouble her who gave 
 you birth ? Look at her fingers — what makes them so 
 distort? Working for you. Do you prefer to that hon- 
 est old face the berouged- cheek of sin? Write home 
 to-morrow morning by the first mail, cursing your 
 mother's v/hite hair, cursing her stooped shoulder, curs- 
 ing her old arm-chair, cursing the cradle in which she 
 rocked you. "Oh!" you say, "I- can't, I can't." You 
 are doing it already. There is-something on your hands, 
 on your forehead, on your feet. It is red. What is it? 
 The blood of a mother's broken heart! When you were 
 threshing the harvest apples from that tree at the corner 
 of the field lasc summer, did yon think you would 
 ever come to this? Did jon think that the sharp 
 sickle of death would cut you down so soon? If I 
 thought I could break the infatuation I would come 
 down from ohe pulpit and throw my arms around you 
 and beg you to stop. Perhrps I am a little more sym- 
 pathetic with such because I was a country lad. It was 
 not until fifteen years of age that I saw a great city. I 
 remember how stupendous New York looked as I arrived 
 at Oortlandt Ferry. And now that I look back and 
 remember that I had a nature all awake to hilarities and 
 amusements, it is a wonder that I escaped. I was say- 
 ing this to a gentleman in New York a few days ago, 
 
 
 ■w 
 
 .iiii; 
 
A PERSONAL KXPLORATION IN HAUNTS OF VICK. 
 
 28 
 
 irown 
 guish 
 aloodl 
 ought 
 ,e Bur- 
 ry lad 
 r man 
 your 
 them? 
 10 gave 
 liem 80 
 lat hon- 
 e home 
 ig your 
 Br, curs- 
 liich Bhe 
 .» You 
 ir hands, 
 hat is it? 
 you were 
 le corner 
 u would 
 le sharp 
 n? If I 
 aid come 
 ound you 
 lore sym- 
 i. It was 
 tvt city. I 
 s I arrived 
 back and 
 arities and 
 I was say- 
 days ago, 
 
 and he paid, '* Ah! sir, 1 guess there wore some prayers 
 hovering about." When I see a young man coming 
 I'rom the tamo life of the country and going down in the 
 city ruin, I am not surprised. My only surprise is that 
 any escape, considering the allurements. I waw a few 
 days ago on the St. Lawrence river, and I said to the 
 captain, "What a swift stream this is." '"Oh!" he 
 replied, " seventy-five miles from here it is ten times 
 swifter. Why, we have to employ an Indian pilot, and 
 we give him $1,000 for his summer's work, just to con- 
 duct our boats through between the rocks and the islands, 
 so swift are the rapids." Well, my friends, every man that 
 comes into New York and Brooklyn life comes into the 
 rapids, and the only question is whether he shall have 
 safe or unsafe pilotage. Young man, your bad habits 
 will be reported at the homestead. You cannot hide 
 them. There are people who love to carry bad news, 
 and there will be some accursed old gossip who will wend 
 her infernal step toward the old homestead, and she will 
 sit down, and, after she has a while wriggled in the 
 chair, she will say to your old parents, "Do you know 
 your son drinks?" Then your parents will get white 
 about the lips, and your mother will ask to have the 
 door set a little open for the fresh air, and before that 
 old gossip leaves the place she will have told your parents 
 all about the places where you are accustomed to go. 
 Then your mother will come out, and she will sit down 
 on the step where you used to play, and she will cry and 
 cry. Then she will be sick, and the gig of the country 
 doctor will come up the country lane, and the horse will 
 be tied at the swing-gate, and the prescription will fail, 
 and she will get worse and worse, and in her delirium 
 she will talk about nothing but you. Then the farmers 
 will come to the funeral, and tie the horses at the rail 
 
24 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF CITY LIFE. 
 
 ! 
 
 1 HI 
 1 1 
 
 X4 
 
 \M 
 
 ti!l 
 
 fence aoout the house, and they will talk about what 
 ailed the one that iied, and one will say it was inter- 
 mittent, and another will say it was congestion, and 
 another will say it was premature old age; but it will be 
 neither intermittent, nor congestion, nor old age. In tin 
 ponderous book of Almighty God it will be recorded for 
 everlasting ages to *ead that you killed her. Our lan- 
 guage is very fertile in describing different kinds of 
 crime. Slaying a man is homicide. Slaying a brother 
 is fratricide. Slaying a father is patricide. Slaying a 
 mother is matricide. It takes two words to describe 
 your crime — patricide and matricide. - 
 
 I must leave to other Sabbath mornings the unrolling 
 of the scroll which I have this morning only laid on 
 your table. We have come only to the vestibule of the 
 subject. I have been treating of generals. I shall come 
 to specitics. I have not told you of all the styles of peo- 
 ple I saw in the haunts of iniquity. Before I get 
 through with these sermons and next Sabbath morning 
 I will answer the question everywhere* f^kcd me, why 
 does municipal authority allow these haunts of iniquity? 
 
 I will show all the obstacles in the way. Sirs, before 
 I get through with this course of Sabbath morning ser- 
 mons, by the help of the eternal God, I will save ten 
 thousand men! And in the execution of this mission I 
 defy all earth and hell. 
 
 But I was going to tell you of an incident. I said to 
 the officer, " Well, let us go; I am tired of this scene;'' 
 and as we passed out of the haunts of iniquity into the 
 fresh air, a soul passed *n. What a face that was! Sor- 
 row only half covered up with an assumed joy. It was 
 a woman's face. I saw as plainly as on the page of a 
 book the tragedy. You know that there is such a thing 
 as somnambu-ism. or walking in one*s sleep. Well, in 
 
 i ! 
 
 Ill 
 
A PERSONAL EXPLORATION IN HAUNTS OF VIOB. 
 
 25 
 
 a fatal somnambulism, a soul started off from her father*8 
 house. It was very dark, and her feet were cut of the 
 rocks; but on she went until she came to the verge of a 
 chasm, and she began to descend from bowlder to 
 bowlder down over the rattling slielving — for you know 
 while walking in sleep people will go where they would 
 not go when awake. Further on down, and further, 
 where no owl of the night or hawk of the day would 
 venture. On down until she touched the depth of the 
 chaSi. . Then, in walking sleep, she began to ascend 
 the other side of the chasm, rock above rock, as the roe 
 boundeth. Without having her head to swim with the 
 awful steep, she scaled the height. No eye but the 
 sleepless eye of God watched her^as she went down one 
 side the chasm and came up the other side the chasm. 
 It was an August night, and a storm was gathering, and 
 a loud burst of thunder awoke her from her somnambu- 
 lism, and she said, " Whither shall I fly?" and with an 
 affrighted eye she looked back upon the chasm she had 
 crossed, and she looked in front, and there was a deeper 
 chasm before her. She said, **What shall I do? Must 
 I die here?" And as she bent over the one chasm, she 
 heard the sighing of the past; and as she bent over the 
 other chasm, she heard the portents of the future. Then 
 she sat down on the granite crag, and cried: "O! for my 
 father's house! O! for the cottage, where I might die 
 amid embowering honeysuckle! OI the past! O! the 
 future' 01 father! O! mother! O! God!" But the 
 storm that had been gathering culminated, and wrote 
 with finger of lightning on the sky just above the hori- 
 zon, " The way of the transgressor is hard." And then 
 thunder-peal after thunder-peal uttered it: "Which for- 
 saketh the guide of her youth and forgetteth the cove- 
 nant of her God. Destroyed without remedy I" And 
 
m^^^mKmmmmm 
 
 i Hi lis 
 
 26 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF CITY LIFE. 
 
 Hi 
 
 the cavern behind echoed it, "Destroyed without rem- 
 edy!" And the chasm before echoed it, "Destroyed 
 without remedy!" There she perished, lier cut and 
 bleeding feet on the edge of one chasm, her long locks 
 washed of the storm dripping over the other chasm. 
 
 But by this time our carriage had reached the curb- 
 stone of my dwelling, and I awoke, and behold it was a 
 di'eam! ^ ■-■:-'^- '.--:--.- •■.-■-v-- --^^ 
 
 - Hill 
 
 1 I 11 II 
 
 1! 
 
 iiin 
 
 i 
 
 ii! 
 
 Ill 
 
 
 I fi!!!ii ! 
 
 i ill" ■ 
 
 '■' - ' . ' ',• 
 
 a/ .'•'■";.. 
 
 :-n ■: 
 
 ■''"By-. ■.' - :J^ , ■■.'\^--':-:'y''-^'^ 
 
THE LEPERS OF HIOU LIFE. 
 
 37 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE LEPERS OF HIGH LIFE. 
 
 "Policeman, what of the night '"—Isaiah xxi: 11. 
 
 The original of the text may be translated either 
 " watchman " or *' policeman." I have chosen the latter 
 word. The olden- time cities were all thus guarded. 
 There were roughs, and thugs, and desperadoes in Jeru- 
 salem, as well as there are in New York and Brooklyn. 
 The police headquarters of olden time was on top of the 
 city wall. King Solomon, walking incognito through 
 the streets, reports in one of his songs that he met these 
 officials. King Solomon must have had a large posse of 
 police to look after his royal grounds, for he had twelve 
 thousand blooded horses in his stables, and he had mil- 
 lions of dollars in his palace, and he had six hundred 
 wives, and, though the palace was large, no house was 
 ever large enough to hold two women married to the 
 same man; much less could six hundred keep the peace. 
 Well, the night was divided into three watches, the first 
 watch reaching from sundown to 10 o'clock; the second 
 watch from 10 o'clock to two in the morning; ♦'he third 
 watch from two in the morning to sunrise. An Idumean, 
 •anxious about the prosperity of the city, and in regard 
 to any danger that might threaten it, accosts an officer 
 just as you might any night upon our streets, saying, 
 "Policeman, what of the night?" Policemen, more 
 than any other people, understand a city. Upon them 
 
Ill 
 
 28 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF OITY LIFE. 
 
 'Hi 
 
 ml! 
 
 i illll! 
 
 i 
 
 11 1 
 
 il 
 
 i j 
 
 ; ij 
 
 1 1 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 1 11 
 
 ij 
 
 i 
 
 t 
 1 
 
 j 
 i 
 
 ; j 
 
 i i 
 
 
 are vast responsibilities for small paj. The police officer 
 of your city gets $1,100 salary, bat he may spend only 
 one night of an entire month in his family. The detect- 
 ive of yonr city gets $1,500 salary, but from January to 
 January there is not an hour that he may call his own 
 Amid cold and heat and tempest, and amid the perils of 
 the bludgeon of the midnight assassin, he does his work. 
 The moon looks down upon nine-tenths of the iniquity 
 of our great cities. What wonder, then, that a few 
 weeks ago, in the interest of morality and religion, I 
 asked the question of the text, " Policeman, what of the 
 night?" In addition to this powerful escortage, I asked 
 two elders of the church to accompany me; not because 
 they were any better than the other elders of the church, 
 but because they were more muscular, and I was resolved 
 that in any case where anything more than spiritual 
 defense was necessary, to refer the whole matter to their 
 hands! I believe in muscular Christianity. I wish that 
 our theological seminaries, instead of sending out so 
 many men with dyspepsia and liver complaint and aU 
 out of breath by the time they have climbed to the top 
 of the pulpit stairs, would, through gymnasiums and 
 other means, send into the pulpit physical giants as well 
 as spiritual athletes. I do wish I could consecrate to the 
 Lord two hundred and fifty pounds avoirdupois weight? 
 But, borrowing the strength of others, I started out on 
 the midnight exploration. I was preceded in this work 
 by Thomas Chalmers, who opened every door of iniquity 
 in Edinburgh before he established systematic ameliora- 
 tion, and preceded by Thomas Guthrie, who explored all 
 the squalor of the city before he established the ragged 
 schools, and by every man who has done anything to 
 balk crime, and help the tempted and the destroyed. 
 Above all, I followed in the footsteps of Him who was 
 
THE LEPERS OF HIGH LIFE. 
 
 29 
 
 derided by the hypocrities and the sanhedrims of hia 
 day, because he persisted in exploring the deepest raora\ 
 slush of his time, going down among demoniacs and 
 paupers and adulteresses, never so happy as when he 
 had ten lepers to cure. Some of you may have beeu 
 surprised that there was a great hue and cry raised be- 
 fore these sermons were begun, and sometimes the hue 
 cry was Tnade by professors of "'^ligion. I was not sur- 
 prised. Tlie simple fact is that in all our churches there 
 are lepers who do not want their scabs touched, and they 
 foresaw that before I got through with this series of ser- 
 mons I would show up some of the wickedness and 
 rottenness of what is called the upper class. The devil 
 howled because he knew I was going to hit him hard I 
 Now, I say to all such men, whether in the church or 
 out of it, *' Ye hypocrites, ye generation of vipers, how 
 can ye escape the damnation of hell?" 
 
 I noticed in my midnight exploration with these high 
 oflBcials that the haunts of sin are chiefly supported by 
 men of means and men of wealth. The young men 
 recently come from the country, of whom I spoke last 
 Sabbath morning, are on small salary, snd they have 
 but little money to spend in sin, and if they go into lux- 
 uriant iniquity the employer finals it out by the inflamed 
 eye and the marks of dissipation, and they are discharged. 
 The luxuriant places of iniquity are supported by men 
 who come down from the fashionable avenues of New York* 
 and cross over from some of the finest mansions of Brook- 
 lyn. Prominent business men from Boston, Philadelphia, 
 and Chicago, and Cincinnati patronize these places of 
 crime. I could call the names of prominent men in 
 our cluster of cities who patronize these places of in- 
 iquity, and I mar call their names before I get through 
 this course of sermons, though the fabric of New York 
 
'I' 
 
 
 ) ! 
 
 11 i 
 
 iiPii'i 
 'llii 
 
 m 
 
 Hi 
 
 il I 
 
 !-if 
 
 Hi 
 
 30 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OP CITY LIFE. 
 
 and Brooklyn society tumble into wreck. Judges of 
 courts, distinguished lawyers, officers of the church, 
 political orators standing on Republican and Democratic 
 and Greenback platforms talking about God and good 
 morals until you might suppose them to be evangelists 
 expecting a thousand converts in one night. Gall the 
 roll of dissipation in the haunts of iniquity any night, 
 and if the inmates will answer, you will find there stock- 
 brokers from Wall street, large importers from Broad- 
 way, iron merchants, leather merchants, cotton mer- 
 chants, hardware merchants, wholesale grocers, repre- 
 sentatives from all the commercial and wealthy classes. 
 Talk about the heathenism below Canal street! There 
 is a worse heathenism above Canal street. I prefer 
 that kind of heathenism which wallows in filth and dis- 
 gusts the beholder rather than that heathenism which 
 covers up its walking putrefaction with camel's-hair 
 shawl and point lace, and rides in turnouts worth $3,000» 
 liveried driver ahead and resetted flunky behind. We 
 have been talking so much about the gospel for the 
 masses; now let us talk a little about the gospel for the 
 lepers of society, for the millionaire sots, for the portable 
 lazzarettos of upper-tendom. It is the iniquity that 
 comes down from the higher circles of society that sup- 
 ports the haunts of crime, and it is gradually turning 
 our cities into Sodoms and Gomorrahs waiting for the 
 fire and brimstone tempest of the Lord God who 
 whelmed the cities of the plain. We want about five 
 hundred Anthony Comstocks to go forth and explore 
 and expose the abominations of high life. For eight or 
 ten years there stood within sight of the most fashionable 
 New York drive a Moloch temple, a brown -stone hell on 
 earth, which neither the Mayor, nor the judges, nor the 
 police dared touch, when Anthony Comstock, a Christian 
 
THff IBPBRS OF HIGH hJWK, 
 
 m 
 
 jeB of 
 lurch, 
 cratic * 
 good 
 yelists 
 ill the 
 night, 
 stock- 
 Broad- 
 mer- 
 repre- 
 jlasses. 
 There 
 prefer 
 ,nd dis- 
 L which 
 I's-hair 
 $3,000i 
 a. We 
 for the 
 for the 
 )ortable 
 ity that 
 lat Bup- 
 taming 
 for the 
 od who 
 out five 
 explore 
 eight or 
 lionable 
 hell on 
 nor the 
 hristian 
 
 man of less than average physical stature, and with 
 cheek scarred by the knife of a desperado whom he had 
 arrested, walked into that palace of the damned on Fifth 
 avenue, and in the name of God put an end to 
 to it, the priestess presiding at tlie orgies retreating by 
 suicide into the lost v-arld, her bleeding corpso found in 
 her own bath-tub. May the eternal God have mercy on 
 our cities. Gilded sin comes down from these high 
 places into the upper circles of iniquity, and then on 
 gradually down, until in five years it makes the whole 
 pilgrimage, from the marble pillar on the brilliant 
 avenue clear down to the cellars of Water street. The 
 ofiicer on that midnight exploration said to me: " Look 
 at them now, and look at them three years from now 
 when all this glory has departed; they'll be a heap of 
 rags in the station-house." Another of the oflScers said 
 tome: " That is the daughter of one of the wealthiest 
 families on Madison square." 
 
 But I have something more amazing to tell you than 
 that the men of means and wealth support these haunts 
 of iniquity, and that is that they are chiefly supported 
 by heads of families — fathers and husbands, with the 
 awful perjury of broken marriage vows upon them, with 
 a niggardly stipend left at home for the support of their 
 families, going forth with their thousands for the dia- 
 monds and wardrobe and equipage of iniquity. In the 
 name of heaven, I denounce this public iniquity. Let 
 such men be hurled out of decent circles. Let them be 
 hurled out from business circles. If they will not 
 repent, overboard with them I I lift one-half the bur- 
 den of malediction from the unpitied head of offending 
 woman, and hurl it on the blasted pate of offending man I 
 Society needs a new division of its anathema. Uy what 
 law of justice does burning excoriation pursue offending 
 
8S 
 
 NIOUT SIDES OF CITY UFK. 
 
 111.;! 
 
 woman down off the precipices of destruction, while 
 offending man, . kid-gloved, walks in refined circles, 
 invited up if he have money, advanced into political 
 recognition, while all the doors of high life open at the 
 first rap of his gold-headed cane? I say, if you let one 
 come back, let them both come back. If one must go 
 down, let both go down. 1 give you as my opinion that 
 the eternal perdition of all other sinners will be a heaven 
 compared with the punishment everlasting of that man 
 who, turning his back upon her whom he swore to pro- 
 tect and defend until death, and upon his children, whose 
 destiny may be decided by his example, goes forth to 
 seek affectional alliances elsewhere. For such a man the 
 portion will be fire, and hail, and tempest, and darkness, 
 and blood, and anguish, and despair forever, forever, for- 
 ever! My friends, there has got to be a reform in this 
 matter, or American society will go to pieces. Under 
 the head of "incompatibility of temper," nine-tenths of 
 the abomination goes on. What did you get married 
 for if your dispositions are incompatible? "Oh!" you 
 say, "I rushed into it without thought " Then you 
 ought to be willing to suffer the punishment for making 
 a fool of yourself I Incompatibility of temper! You 
 are responsible for at least a half of the incompatibility 
 Why are you not honest and willing to admit either that 
 you did not control your temper, or that you had already 
 broken your marriage oath ? In nine hundred and ninety- 
 nine cases out of the thousand, incompatibility is p 
 phrase to cover up wickedness already enacted. I declare 
 in the presence of this city and in the presence of the 
 world that heads of families are supporting these haunts 
 of iniquity. I wish there might be y. police raid lasting 
 a great while, that they would just go down through all 
 these places of sin and gather up all the prominent busi- 
 
 
 III! 
 
THE LEPERS OF HlOn LIFB. 
 
 88 
 
 while 
 
 ircles, 
 
 ►litical 
 
 at the 
 
 let one 
 
 list go 
 
 on that 
 
 heaven 
 
 at man 
 
 to pro- 
 
 i, whose 
 
 forth to 
 
 tnan the 
 
 arkness, 
 
 ver, tbr- 
 
 in this 
 
 Under 
 
 lenths of 
 niarried 
 
 111!" you 
 hen yon 
 making 
 rl You 
 atibility 
 ther that 
 ,d already 
 d ninety- 
 
 |lity is P 
 I declare 
 ce of the 
 se haunts 
 id lasting 
 irough all 
 lent busi- 
 
 ness men of t^«j city, and march them down through tho 
 street followed by about twenty reporters to take their 
 names and put them in full capitals in the next day^s 
 paper! Let such a course be undertaken in our cities, 
 and in six months there would be eighty per cent, oflf 
 your public crime. It is not now the young men and 
 the boys that need bo much looking after; it is their 
 fathers and mothers. Let heads of families cease to pat- 
 ronize places of iniquity, and in a sliort time they would 
 crumble to ruin. 
 
 But you meet me with the question, "Why don't the 
 city authorities put an end to such places of iniquity?" 
 I answer in regard to Brooklyn, the work has already 
 been done. Six years ago there were in the radius of 
 your City Hall thirty-eight gambling saloons. They 
 are all broken up. The ivory and wooden "chips" 
 that came from the gambling-hells into the Police Head- 
 quarters came in by the peck. How many inducements 
 were offered to our oflScials, such as: "This will be worth 
 a thousand dollars to you if you will let it go on." "This 
 will be worth five thousand if you will only let it go on." 
 But our commissioners of police, mightier than any 
 bribe, pursued their work until, while beyond the city 
 limits there may be exceptions, within the city limits of 
 Brooklyn there is not a gambling-hell, or policy-shop, 
 or a house of death so pronounced. There are under- 
 ground iniquities and hidden scenes, but none so pro- 
 nounced. Every Monday morning all the captains of 
 the police make reports in regard to their respective pre- 
 cincts. When the work began, the police in authority 
 at that time said; "Oh! it can't be done; we can't get 
 into these places of iniquity to see them, and hence we 
 can't break them up." "Then," said the commissioners 
 )f police, "break in the doors;" and it is astonishing how 
 
 -■■;^ 
 
84 
 
 NIOHT 8IDK8 OF OITY LIFB. 
 
 ' ! 
 
 ! 
 
 iili, 
 Mllllll 
 
 i| I 
 
 Mil ; 
 
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 H 
 
 soon after the shoulders uf a stout policeman ^oes against 
 the door, it gets off its hinges. Some of the captains of 
 police said: "This thing has been going on so long, it 
 cannot be crushed." "Then," said the commissioners 
 of police, "we'll get other captains of police." The 
 work went on until new, if a reformer wants the com- 
 missioners of police to show him the haunts of iniquity 
 in Brooklyn, there «*re none to show him. If you know 
 a single case that is an exception to what I say, report 
 it to me at the close of this service at the foot of this 
 platform, and I will warrant that within two hours after 
 you report the case Commissioner Jourdan, Superin- 
 tendent Campbell, Inspector Waddy,and as many of the 
 twenty-live detectives and of the five hundred and fifty 
 policemen as are necessary will come down on it like an 
 Alpine avalanche. If you do not report it, it is because 
 you are a coward, or else because you are in the sin your- 
 self, and you do not want it shown up. You shall bear 
 the whole responsibility, and it shall not be thrown on 
 the hard-working and heroic detective and police force. 
 But you say: "How has this general clearing out of 
 gambling-hells and places of iniquity been accom- 
 plished?" Our authorities have been backed up by a 
 high public sentiment. In a city which has on its judi- 
 cial bench such magnificent men as Neilson, and 
 Keynolds, and McCue, and Moore, and Pratt, and others 
 whom I am not fortunate enough to kiiow, there must 
 be a mighty impulse upward toward God and good mor- 
 als. We have in the high places of this city men not 
 only with great heads, but with great hearts. A young 
 man disappeared from his father's house about the time 
 the Brooklyn Theater burned, and it was supposed that 
 he had been destroyed in that ruin. The father, broken- 
 hearted, sold his property in Brooklyn, and in desolation 
 
 Il 1 ;. 
 
THK LKI'KKS OF UIOH LIFE. 
 
 85 
 
 left the city. Recently the wandering son came back. 
 He could not find Lis father, who, in departing, had 
 given no idea of his destination. The case was reported 
 to a man high in official position, and he sat down and 
 wrote a letter to all the chiefs of police in the United 
 States, in order that he might deliver that prodigal eon 
 into the arms of hi^ broken-hearted father. A few days 
 ago it was found that the father was in California. I 
 understand that son is now on the way to meet him, and 
 it will bo the parable of the prodigal son over again 
 when they embrace each other, and the father says: 
 *'Rejoice with me, for this my son was dead and is alive 
 again, was lost and is found." I have forgotten the 
 name of the father, I have forgotten the name of his son ; 
 but I have not forgotten the name of the officer whose 
 sympathetic heart beats so loud under his badge of office. 
 It was Patrick Campbell, Superintendent of the Brook- 
 lyn police. I do not mention these things as a matter of 
 city pride, nor as a matter of exultation, but of gratitude 
 to God that Brooklyn to-day stands foremost among 
 American cities in its freedom from places of iniquity. 
 But Brooklyn has a large share of sin. Where do the 
 people of Brooklyn go when they propose to commit 
 abomination ? To New York. I was told in the mid- 
 night exploration in New York with the police that 
 there are some places almost entirely supported by men 
 and women from Brooklyn. We are one city after all — 
 one now before the bridge is completed, to be more 
 thoroughly one when the bridge is done. 
 
 Well, then, you press me with another question : "Why 
 [don't the public authorities of New York extirpate these 
 launts of iniquity?" Before I give you a definite answer 
 
 want to say that the obstacles in that city are greater 
 than in any city on this continent. It is so vast. It is 
 
 ' 5 
 
 
ac 
 
 MIOllT 8IDJ£8 OK CITT UklL 
 
 .: \ 
 
 I!! 
 
 the landing-place of European immigration. Its wealth 
 is mighty to establish and defend places of iniquity. 
 Twice a year there are incursions of people from all 
 parte of the land coming on the spring and the fall trade. 
 It requires twenty times the municipal energy to keep 
 order in New York that it does in any city from Port- 
 land to 6an Francisco. But still you pursue me with 
 the question, and I am to answer it by telling you that 
 there is infinite fault and immensity of blame to be 
 divided between three parties. First, the police of New 
 York city. So far as I know them, they are courteous 
 gentlemen. They have had great discouragement, they 
 tell me, in the fact that when they arrest crime and 
 bring it before the courts the witnesses will not appear 
 lest they criminate themselves. They tell me also that 
 they have been discouraged by the fact that so many 
 suits have been brought against them for damages. But 
 after all, my friends, they must take their share of blame. 
 I have come to the conclusion, after much research and 
 investigation, that there are captains of police in New 
 York who are in complicity with crime — men who 
 make thousands of dollars a year for the simple 
 fact that they will not tell and will permit places of 
 iniquity to stand month after month and year after year. 
 I am told that there are captains of police in New York 
 who get a percentage on every bottle of wine sold in the 
 hat Jits of death, and that they get a revenue from all the 
 bharnbles of sin. What a state of things this is I In the 
 Twenty-ninth precinct of New York there are one hun. 
 dred and twenty-one dens of death. Night after nighty 
 month after month, year after year, untouched. In West 
 Twenty- sixth street and West Twenty-seventh street and 
 West Thirty-first street there are whole blocks that are 
 a pandemonium. There are between five and six huu- 
 
THE LErSBS OF HIGH LIFB, 
 
 87 
 
 8 wealth 
 iniquity, 
 from all 
 all trade, 
 y to keep 
 am Port- 
 rae with 
 r you that 
 ,rae to be 
 ce of New 
 courteous 
 uent, they 
 crime and 
 not appear 
 le also that , 
 it BO many 
 lages. But 
 re of blame, 
 esearch and 
 ice in New 
 — nien who 
 the simple 
 >it places of 
 ir after year, 
 n New York 
 ,e sold in the 
 from all the 
 .8 is I In the 
 are one hun. 
 t after nigbt, 
 led. In West 
 Lth street and 
 locks that are 
 and six hun- 
 
 dred dens of darkness in the city of Now York, where 
 there are 2,500 police^nen. Not long ago there was a 
 masquerade bull in which the masculine and femini.^e 
 offenders of society were the participants, and some of 
 the police danced in the masquerade and distributed the 
 prizes! There is the grandest opportunity that has ever 
 opened for any American open now. It is for that man 
 in high official position who shall get into his stirrups 
 and say, " Men, follow?" and who shall in one night 
 sweep around and take all of these leaders of iniqu? y, 
 whether on suspicion or on positive proof, saying, " 1*11 
 take the responsibility, come on! I put my private 
 property and my political aspirations and my life into 
 this crusade against the powers of darkness." That man 
 would be Mayor of the city of New York. That man 
 would be lit to be President of the United States. 
 
 But the second part of the blame I must put at the 
 door of the District Attorney of New York. I under- 
 stand he is an honorable gentleman, but he has not time 
 to attend to all these cases. Literally, there are thousands 
 of cases unpursued for lack of time. Now, I say, it is 
 the bueiiiess of New York to give assistants, and clerks, 
 and help to the District Attorney until all these places 
 shall go down in quick retribution. ' ;; ' Hit-vjH *"' 
 But the third part of the blame, and the heaviest part 
 of it, I pnt on the moral and Christian people of our 
 cities, who are guilty of most culpable indifference on 
 this whole subject. When Tweed stole his millions 
 large audiences were assembled in indignation, Charles 
 O'Conor was retained, committees of safety and investi- 
 gation were appointed, and a great stir made; but night 
 
 ^y night there is a theft and a burglary of city morals 
 fts much worse than Tweed's robberies as his were worse 
 
 ~than common shop-lifting, and it has very little opposi- 
 
'Illjli 
 
 38 
 
 WIGHT SIDES OF CITY LIFB. 
 
 1 
 
 
 liii 
 
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 Hi:: 
 
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 : p. 
 
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 tion. I tell you what New York wants ; it wants indig- 
 nation meetings in Cooper Institute and Academy of 
 Music and Chickering and Irving Halls to compel the 
 public authorities to do their work and to send the police, 
 with clubs and lanterns and revolvers, to turn off the 
 colored lights of the dance-houses, and to mark for con- 
 fiscation the trunks and wardrobes and furniture and 
 scenery, and to gather up all the keepers, and all the in- 
 mates, and all the patrons, and march them out to the 
 Tombs, fife and drum sounding the Rogue's March, 
 r While there are men smoking their cigarettes, with 
 their feet on Turkish divans, shocked that a minister of 
 religion should explore and expose the iniquity of city 
 life, there are raging underneath our great cities a Coto- 
 paxi, a Stromboli, a Vesuvius, ready to bury us in ashes 
 and scoria deeper than that which whelmed Pompeii and 
 Herculaneum. Oh ! I wish the time would come for the 
 plowshare of public indignation to push through and 
 rip up and turn under those parts of iNew York which 
 are the plague of the nation. Now is the time to hitch 
 up the team to this plowshare. In this time, when Mr. 
 Cooper is Mayor, and Mr. Kelly is Comptroller, and Mr. 
 Nichols is Police Commissioner, and Superintendent 
 Walling wears the badge of oflSce, and there is on the 
 judicJial benches of New York an array of the befit men 
 that have ever occupied those positions since the founda- 
 tion of the city — Recorder Hackett, Police Magistrates 
 Kilbreth, Wandell, Morgan and Dufi^y ; such men as 
 Gildersleeve, and Sutherland, and Davis, and Curtis ; 
 and on the United States Court bench in New York 
 •uch men as Benedict, and Blatchford, and Choate — now 
 ifl the time to make an extirpation of iniquity. Now is 
 the time for a great crusade, and for the people of our cities 
 in great public assemblages to say to police authority: 
 
 
THE LBPEB8 OF HIQH LIFE. 
 
 39 
 
 " Go ahead, and we will back you with our lives, our for- 
 tunes, and our sacred honor," 
 
 I must adjourn until next Sabbath morning much of 
 what [I wanted to say about certain forms of iniquity 
 which I saw rampant in the night of my exploration 
 with the city officials. But before I stop this morning 
 1 want to have one word with a class of men with whom 
 people have so little patience that they never get a kind 
 word of invitation. I mean the men who have forsaken 
 their homes. Oh! my brother, return. You say; "1 
 can't ; I have no home ; my home is broken up." Re- 
 establish your home. It has been done in other cases, 
 why may it not be done in your case? " Oh,*' you say, 
 -' we parted for life ; we have divided our property ; we 
 have divided our effects." I ask you, did you divide the 
 marriage ring of that bright day when you Etarted life 
 together ? Did you divide your family Bible? If so, 
 where did you divide it? Across the Old Testament, 
 where the Ten Commandments denounce your sin, or 
 across the New Testament, where Christ says : " Blessed 
 are the pure in heart?" Or did you divide it between 
 the Old and the New Testaments, right across the family 
 record of weddings and births and deaths ? Did you 
 divide the cradle in which you rocked your first bo^-n? 
 Did you divide the little grave in the cemetery, over 
 which you stood with linked arms, looking down in awful 
 bereavement? Above all, I ask you, did you divide your 
 hope for heaven, so that there is no full hope left for 
 either of you? Go back! There maybe a great gulf 
 between you and once happy domesticity; but Ciirist 
 will bridge that gulf. It may be a bridge of sighs. Turn 
 toward it. Put your foot on the over-arching span. 
 Hear it ! It is a voice unrolling from the throne: " He 
 that overcometh shall inherit all thing's, and I will be 
 
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 111 
 
 11 III) 
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 11 
 
 40 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF CITY LIFB. 
 
 unto him a God, and he shall be my son ; but the un- 
 believing, and the sorcerers, and the whoremongers, and 
 the adulterers, and the idolators, and all liars shall have 
 their part in the lake which burnetii with fire and brim- 
 stone — which is the second death 1 '* 
 
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THV GATES OF HBLL. 
 
 41 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE GATES OF HELL. 
 
 r 
 
 *'The gates of hell shall not prevail against it."-St. Matthew xvi : 18. 
 
 " It is only 10 o'clock," said the officer of the law, as 
 we got into the carriage for the midnight exploration — 
 " it is only 10 o'clock, and it is too early to see the places 
 that we wish to see, for the theaters have not yet let out.^* 
 I said, " What do you mean by that ?" " Well," he said, 
 " the places of iniquity are not in full blast until the 
 people have time to arrive from the theaters." So we 
 loitered on, and the officer told the driver to stop on a 
 street where is one of the costliest and most brilliant 
 gambling-houses in the city of New York. As we came 
 up in front all seemed dark. The blinds were down ; 
 the door was guarded ; but after a whispering of the 
 officer with the guard at the door, we were admitted into 
 the hall, and thence into the parlors, around one table 
 finding eight or ten men in mid-life, well-dressed — all 
 the work going on in silence, save the noise of the 
 rattling " chips " on the gaming-table in one parlor, and 
 the revolving ball of the roulette table in the other par- 
 lor. Some of these men, we were told, had served terms 
 in prison; some were ship- wrecked bankers and brokers 
 and money-dealers, and some were going their first 
 rounds of vice — but all intent upon the table, as large or 
 small fortunes moved up and down before taem. Oh I 
 there was something awfully solemn in the silence — the 
 intense gaze, the suppressed emotion of the players. No 
 
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 4St 
 
 NUiHi: blDES OF CITY LIFE. 
 
 .11 
 
 '111 
 
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 I 
 
 one looked up. They all had money in the rapids, and 
 I have no doubt some saw, as they sat there, horses and 
 carriages, and houses and lands, and home and family 
 rushing down into the vortex. A man's life would not 
 have been worth a tarthing in that presence had he not 
 been accompanied by the police, if he liad been supposed 
 to be on a Christian errand of observation. Some of 
 these men went by private key, some went in by careful 
 introduction, some were taken in by the patrons of the 
 establishment. The officer of the law told me: " None 
 get in here except by police mandate, or by some letter 
 of a patron." While we were there a young man came 
 in, put his money down on the roulette-table, and lost ; 
 p TY\ore money down on the roulette- table, and lost; 
 put e money down on the roulette- table, and lost; 
 then feeling in his pockets for more money, finding none, 
 in severe silence he turned his back upon the scene and 
 passed out. All the literature about the costly maguili- 
 cence of such places is untrue. Men kept their hats on 
 and smoked, and there was nothing in the upholstery or 
 the furniture ;o forbid. While we stood there men lost 
 their property and lost their souls. Oh! merciless place. 
 Not once in all the history of that gaming-house has 
 there b«en one word of sympathy uttered for the losers 
 at the game. Sir Horace Walpole said that a man 
 dropped dead in front of one of the club-houses of Lou- 
 don; his body was carried into the club-house, and the 
 members of the club began immediately to bet as to 
 whether he were dead or alive, and when it was proposed 
 to test the matter by bleeding him, it was only hindered 
 by the suggestion that it would be unfair to some of the 
 players! In these gaming-houses ofour cities, men have 
 their property wrung away from them, and then they 
 go out, some of them to drown their grief in strong 
 
THE GATES OF HELL, 
 
 48 
 
 is, and 
 ie& and 
 family 
 lid uot 
 he not 
 pposed 
 3 me of 
 careful 
 
 of the 
 " None 
 B letter 
 u came 
 d lost; 
 d lost; 
 d lost; 
 g none, 
 3ne and 
 aaguiti- 
 hats on 
 iterj or 
 len lost 
 s place, 
 use has 
 e losers 
 
 a man 
 )f Lon- 
 lud the 
 b as to 
 roposed 
 indered 
 t3 of the 
 \n have 
 
 n they 
 
 strong 
 
 drink, some to ply the counterfeiter's pen, and so restore 
 their fortunes, some resort to the suicide's revolver, but 
 all going down, and that work proceeds day by day, and 
 night by night, until it is estimated that every day in 
 Christendom eighty million dollars pass from hand to 
 hand through gambling practices, and every year in 
 Christendom one hundred and twenty-three billion, one 
 hundred million dollars change hands in that way. 
 
 " But," I said, " it is 11 o'clock, and we must be off." 
 We passed out into the hallway and so into the street, 
 the burly guard slamming the door of the house after us, 
 and we got into the carriage and rolled on toward the 
 gates of hell. You know about the gates of heaven. 
 You have often l.eard them preached about. There are 
 three to each point of the compass. On the north, three 
 gates; on the south, three gates; on the east, three 
 gates; on the west, three gates; and each gate is of solid 
 pearl. Oh ! gateof heaven ; may we all get into it. But 
 who shall describe the gates of hell spoken of in my text? 
 These gates are burnished until they sparkle and glisten 
 in the gas-light. They are mighty, and set in sockets 
 of deep and dreadful masonry. They are high, so that 
 those who are in may not clamber over and get out. 
 They are heavy, but they swing easily in to let those go 
 in who are to be destroyed. Well, my friends, it is 
 always safe to go where God tells you to go, and God 
 had told me to go through these gates of hell, and ex- 
 plore and report, and, taking three of the high police 
 authorities and two of the elders of my church, I went 
 in, and I am here this morning to sketch the gates of 
 hell. I remember, when the Franco-German war was 
 going on, that I stood one day in Paris looking at the 
 gates of the Tuileries, and I was so absorbed in the sculp- 
 turing at the top of the gates — the masonry and the 
 
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 44 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF CITY LIFE. 
 
 bronze — that I forgot myself, and after awhile, looking 
 down, I saw that there were officers of the law scrutinizing 
 rae, supposing, no doubt, I was a German, and looking 
 ut those gates for adverse purposes. But, my friends, 
 we shall not stand looking at the outside of the gates of 
 hell. Througli this midnight exploration I shall tell 
 you of both sides, and I shall tell you what those gates 
 are made of. With the hammer of God's truth I shall 
 pound on the brazen panels, and with the lantern of 
 God's truth I shall flash a light upon the shining 
 
 hinges. :i-n;:.vv.r ; '■ , , v^ _- ,,.,■..;■ ,5- •- ; ..- ^;;' -' 
 
 Gate the first: Impure literature. Anthony Com- 
 Btock seized twenty tons of bad books, plates, and letter- 
 press, and when our Professor Cochran, of the Poly- 
 technic Institute, poured the destructive acids on those 
 plates, they smoked in '>e righteous annihilation. And 
 yet a great deal of the bad literature of the day is not 
 gripped of the law. It is strewn in your parlors; it is 
 n your libraries. Some of your children read it at night 
 after they have retired, the gas-burner swung as near as 
 possible to their pillow. Much of this literature is un- 
 der the title of scientific information. A book agent 
 with one of these infernal books, glossed over with scien- 
 tific nomenclature, went into a hotel and sold in one day 
 a hundred copies, and sold them all to women! It is 
 appalling that men and women who can get through 
 their family physician all the useful information they 
 may need, and without any contamination, should wade 
 chin deep through such accnrsed literature under the 
 plea of getting useful knowledge, and that printing- 
 presses, hoping to be called decent, lend themselves to 
 this infamy. Fathers and mothers, be not deceived by 
 the title, "medical works." Nino-tenths of those books 
 come hot from the lost world, though they may have on 
 
TIIK GATES OF HBLL. 
 
 45 
 
 them the names of the publishing-houses of New York 
 and Philadelphia. Then there is all the novelette litera- 
 ture of the day flung over the land by the million. As 
 there are good novels that are long, so I suppose there 
 may be ^ood novels that are short, and so there may be 
 a good novelette, but it is the exception. No one — mark 
 this — no one systematically reads tlio average novelette 
 of this day and keeps either integrity or virtue. The 
 most of these novelettes are written bv broken-down 
 literary men for small compensation, on the principle 
 that, having failed in literature elevated and pure, they 
 hope to succeed in the tainted and the nasty. Ohl this 
 is a wide gate of hell. Every panel is made out of a bad 
 book or newspaper. Every hinge is theinterjoined type 
 of a corrupt printing-press. Every bolt or lock of that 
 gate is made out of the piate of an unclean pictorial. In 
 other words, there are a million men and women in the 
 United States to-day reading themselves into hell ! When 
 in your own beautiful city a prosperous family fell into 
 ruins through the misdeeds of one of its members, the 
 amazed mother said to the oflicer of the law: *' Why, I 
 never supposed there was anything wrong. I never 
 thought there could be anything wrong." Then she sat 
 weeping in silence for some time, ''ud said: "Oh! I 
 have got it now! I know, I know! I found in her 
 bureau after she went away a bad book. That's what 
 slew her." These leprous booksellers have gathered up 
 the catalogues of all the male and female seminaries in 
 the United States, catalogues containing the names and 
 the residences of all the students, and circulars of death 
 are sent to every one, without any exception. Can you 
 imagine anything more deathful? There Vi not a young 
 person, male or female, or an old person, who has not 
 had offered to him or her a bad book or a bad picture. 
 
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 46 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF ^ITY LIFE. 
 
 Scour your house to find out whether there are any of 
 these adders coiled on your parlor center- table, or coiled 
 amid the toilet set on the dressing-case. I adjure you 
 before the sun goes down to explore your family libraries 
 with an inexorable scrutiny. Remember that one bad 
 book or bad picture may do the work for eternity. I 
 want to arouse all your suspicions about novelettes. I 
 want to put you on the watch against everything that 
 may seem like surreptitious correspondence through the 
 postofRce. I want you to understand that impure litera- 
 ture is one of the broadest, highest, mightiest gates of 
 the lost. 
 
 Gate the second : The dissolute dance. You shall not 
 divert me to the general subject of dancing. Whatever 
 you may think of the parlor dance, or the methodic mo- 
 tion of the body to sounds of music in the family or 
 the social circle, I am not now discussing that question. 
 I want you to ;inite with me this morning in recogniz- 
 ing the fact that there is a dissolute dance. You know 
 of what I speak. It is seen not only in the low haunts 
 of death, but in elegant mansions. It is the first step to 
 eternal ruin for a great multitude of both sexes. You 
 know, my friends, what postures, and attitudes, and fig- 
 ures are suggested of the devil. They who glide into 
 the dissolute dance glide over an inclined plane, and the 
 dance is swifter and swifter, wilder and wilder, until 
 with the speed of lightning they whirl off the edges of 
 a decent life into a fiery future. This gate of hell swings 
 across the Ax minster of many a fine parlor, and across 
 the ball-room of the sun \ner watering-place. You have 
 no right, my brother, my sister — you have no right to 
 take an attitude to the sound of music which would be 
 unbecoming in the absence of music. No Chickering 
 grand of city parlor or fiddle of mountain picnic can 
 consecrate that which God hath cursed. 
 
THE GATES OF HBLL. 
 
 47 
 
 >iled 
 you 
 
 Gate the third: Indi8creet apparel. The attire of 
 
 woman for the last four or live years has been beautiful 
 
 and graceful beyond anything I have known ; but there 
 
 are those who will always carry that which is right into 
 
 the extraordinary and indiscreet. I am told that there 
 
 is a fashion about to come in upon us that is shocking 
 
 to all righteousness. I charge Christian women, neither 
 
 by style of dress nor adjustment of apparel, to become 
 
 administrative of evil. Perhaps none else will dare to 
 
 tell you, 8(» I will tell you that there are multitudes of 
 
 men who owe their eternal damnation to the boldness 
 
 of womanly attir|. Show me the fashion-plates of any 
 
 age between this and the time of Louis XVI., of France, 
 
 and Henry VIII., of England, and I will tell you the 
 
 type of morals or immorals of that age or that year. 
 
 No exception to it. Modest apparel means a righteous 
 
 people. Immodest apparel always means a contaminated 
 
 and depraved society. You wonder that the city of Tyre 
 
 was destroyed with such a terrible destruction. Have 
 
 you ever seen the fashion-plate of the city of Tyre? I 
 
 will show it to you: 
 
 "Moreover, the Lord aaith, because the daughters of Zion are 
 haughty and walk with stretchcd-forth necks and wanton eyes, walk- 
 ing aud mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet, 
 in that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling 
 ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like 
 the moon, the rings and nose jewels, the changeable suits of apparel, 
 and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisp ing-pins." 
 
 That is the fashion-plate of ancient Tyre. And do 
 you wonder that the Lord God in His indignation 
 blotted out the city, so that fishermen to-day spread their 
 nets where that city once stood? 
 
 Gate the fourth: Alcoholic beverage. In our mid- 
 night exploration we saw that all the scenes of wicked- 
 ness were under the enchantment of the wine-cup. That 
 
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 NIGHT 8IDKS OF CITY LIFB. 
 
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 was what the waitresses carried on tiie platter. That 
 was what glowed on the table. That was what shone in 
 illuminated gardens. That was what flushed the cheeks 
 of the patrons who came in. That was what staggered 
 the step of the patrons as they went out. Oh! the wine- 
 cup is the patron of impurity. The offi^-srs of the law 
 that night told us that nearly all the men who go into 
 the shambles of death go in intoxicated, the meutal and 
 the spiritual abolished that the brute may triumph. 
 Tell me that a young man drinks, and I know the whole 
 story. If he become a captive of the wine-cup, he will 
 become a captive of all other vices; ogly give him time. 
 No one ever runs drunkenness alone. That is a car- 
 rion-crow that goes in a flock, and when you see that 
 beak ahead, you may know^ the other beaks are coming. 
 In other words, the wine-cup unbalances and dethrones 
 one's better judgment, and leaves one the prey of all evil 
 appetites that may choose to alight upon his soul. 
 There is not a place of any kind of sin in the United 
 States to-day that does not find its chief abettor in the 
 chalice of inebriacy. There is either w drinking-bar 
 before, or one behind, or one above, or one underneath. 
 The officers of the law said to me that night: "These 
 people escape legal penalty because they are all licensed 
 to sell liquor." Then I said within myself, " The courts 
 that license the sale of strong drink license gambling- 
 houses, license libertinism, license disease, license death, 
 license all sufferings, all crimes, all despoliations, all 
 disasters, all murders, all woe. It is the courts and the 
 Legislature that are swinging wide open this grinding, 
 creaky, stupendous gate of the lost." 
 
 But you say, "You have described these gates of hell 
 and shown us how they swing in to allow the entrance 
 of the doomed. Will you not, please, before you get 
 
 3k. 
 
TIIK GATES OF HKLL. 
 
 4» 
 
 That 
 one in 
 cheeks 
 ggered 
 B wine- 
 le law 
 20 into 
 tal and 
 iuinph. 
 B whole 
 he will 
 m. time. 
 J a car- 
 ^ee that 
 coming. 
 Bthrones 
 f all evil 
 lis soul. 
 United 
 )!• in the 
 king-bar 
 erneath. 
 "These 
 licensed 
 e courts 
 mbling- 
 le death, 
 [ions, all 
 and the 
 rinding, 
 
 through tlie sermon, tell us how these gates of hell may 
 r^'ing out to allow the escape of the penitent?" I reply,, 
 but very few escape. Of the thousand that go in nine 
 hundred and ninety-nine perish. Suppose one of these 
 wanderers should knock at your door, would you admit 
 her? Suppose you knew where she came from, would 
 you ask her to sit down at your dining- table? "Would 
 you ask her to become the governess of your children? 
 Would you introduce her among your acquaintanceships? 
 Would you take the responsibility of pulling on the out- 
 side of the gate of hell while she pushed on the inside of 
 that gate trying to get out? You would not, not one of^ 
 a thousand of you that would dare to do it. You write 
 beautiful poetry over her sorrows and weep over her 
 misfortunes, but give her practical help you never will. 
 There is not one person out of a "-housand that will — 
 there is not one out of five thousand that has — come so 
 near the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ as to dare to 
 help one of these fallen souls. But you say, "Are there 
 no ways by which the wanderer may escape?" Oh, yes; 
 three or four. The one way is the sfewing-girl's garret, 
 dingy, cold, hunger-blasted. But you say, "Is there no 
 other way for her to escape?" Oh, yes. Another way 
 is the street that leads to the East river, at midnight, the 
 end of the city dock, the moon shining down on the 
 water making it look so smooth she wonders if it is deep 
 enough. It is. No boatman near enough to hear the 
 plunge. No watchman near enough to pick her out 
 before she sinks the third time. No other way? Yes. 
 By the curve of the Hudson River Railroad at the point 
 where the engineer of the lightning express train cannot 
 see a hundred yards ahead to the form that lies across 
 the track. He may whistle "down brakes," but not soon 
 to disappoint the one who seeks her death. But 
 
 enoni 
 
50 
 
 MIGHT SIDES OF CITY LIFE. 
 
 Pi' 
 
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 ■'Will: 
 
 you say, "Isn't God good, and won't lie tbrg ' Yes; 
 but man will not, woman will not, society will not. The 
 church of God says it will, but it will not. Our work, 
 then, must be prevention rather than cure. Stamping here 
 telling this story to-day, it is not so much in the hope that 
 I will persuade one who has dashed down a thousand 
 feet over the rocks to crawl up again into life and light, 
 but it is to alarm those who are coming too near the 
 edges. Have you ever listened to hear the lamentation 
 that rings up from those far depths? 
 
 "Once I was pure as the snow, but I fell, 
 '; Fell like a suowflake, from heaven to hell; 
 
 Fell, to be trampled as filth of the street; 
 • Fell, to be scoflfed at, be spit on, and beat. 
 Pleading, cursing, begging to die, 
 Selling my soul to whoever would buy ; i 
 
 Dealing in shame for a morsel of bread, 
 Hating the living and fearing the dead." _ ,. 
 
 Bat you say. "What can be the practical use of this 
 course of sermons?" I say, much everywhere. I am 
 greatly obliged to those gentlem^ f the press who have 
 fairly reported what I have said ... these occasions, and 
 the press of this city and New York, and of the other 
 prominent cities. I thank you for the almost universal 
 fairness with which you have presented what I have had 
 to say. Of course, among the educated and refined 
 journalists who sit at these tables, and have been sitting 
 here for four or five years, there will be a fool or two 
 that does not understand his business, but that ought 
 not to discredit the grand newspaper printing-press. I 
 thank also, those who have by letters cheered me in this 
 work — letters coming from all parts of the land, from 
 Christian reformers telling me to go on in the work 
 which I have undertaken. Never so many letters in my 
 life have 1 received. Perhaps one out of the hundred 
 
THE OATUS OF HKLL. 
 
 01 
 
 conaeraiiatory, aa one I got yesterday from a man who 
 said he thouglit my sermons would do great damage iu 
 the fact that they would arouse the suspicion of domestic 
 circles as to where the head of tie family was spending 
 his evenings! I was sorry it was an anonymous letter^ 
 for I should have written to that man's wife telling her 
 to put a detective on her husband's track, for I knew 
 right away he was going to bad places! My friends, 
 you say, " It is not possible to do anything with these 
 stalwart iniquities; you cannot wrestle them down." 
 Stupid man, read my text: *'The gates of hell shall not 
 prevail against the church." Those gates of hell are to 
 be prostrated just as certainly as God and the Bible are 
 true, but it will not be done until Christian men and 
 women, quitting their pruaery and squeamishness in 
 this matter, rally the whole Christian sentiment of the 
 church and assail theoe great evils of society. The Bible 
 utters its denunciation in this direction again and again, 
 and yet the pi y of the day is such a namby-pamby, 
 emetic bort of a thing that you cannot even quote Scrip- 
 ture without making somebody restless. As long as 
 this holy imbecility reigns in the church of God, sin will 
 laugh you to scorn. I do not know but that before tlie 
 church wakes up matters will get worse and worse, and 
 that there will have to be one lamb sacrificed from each 
 of the most carefully-guarded folds, and the wave of 
 uncleanness dash to the spire of the village church and 
 the top of the cathedral pillar. Prophets and patriarchs^ 
 and apostles and evangeli8ts,and Christ himself have thun- 
 dered against these sins as against no other, and yet there 
 are those who think we ought to take, when we speak of 
 these subjects, a tone apologetic. I put my foot on all 
 the conventional rhetoric on this subject, and I tell you 
 plainly that unless you give up that sin your doom is 
 
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 52 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF OITY LIFE. 
 
 sealed, and world without end you will be chased by the 
 anathemas of an incensed God. I rally you under the 
 cheerful prophecy of the text; I rally you to a besiege- 
 ment of the gates of hell. "We want in this besieg- 
 ir^ct host no soft sentimentalists, but men who are willing 
 to give and take hard knocks. The gates of Gaza were 
 carried off, the gates of Thebes \^ ere battered down, the 
 gates of Babylon were destroyed, and the gates of hell 
 are going to be prostrated. The Christianized printing- 
 press will be rolled up as the chief battering-ram. Then 
 there will be a long list of aroused pulpits, which shall 
 be assailing fortresses, and God's red-hot truth shall be 
 the fiying ammunition of the contest; and the sappers 
 and the miners will lay the train under these foundations 
 of sin, and at just the right time God, who leads on the 
 fray, will cry, " Down with the gates!" and the explo- 
 sion beneath will be answered by all the trumpets of God 
 on high celebrating universal victory. But there may be 
 in this house one wanderer that would like to have a 
 kind word calling homeward, and I cannot sit down until 
 I have uttered that word. I have told you that society 
 has no mercy. Did I hint, at an earlier point in this 
 subject, that God will have mercy upon any wanderer 
 who would like to corae back to the heait of Infinite 
 love? 
 
 A cold Christmas night in a farm-house. Father 
 comes in from the barn, knocks the snow from his shoes, 
 and sits down by the fire. The mother sits at the stand 
 knitting. She says to him : " Do you remember it is 
 anniversary to-night?" The father is sngered. He never 
 wants any allusion to the fact that one had gone away, 
 and the mere suggestion that it was the anniversary of 
 that sad event made him quite rough, although the tears 
 ran down his cheeks. The old house-dog, that had played 
 
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THE GATES OF HELL. 
 
 53 
 
 by tKe 
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 besiege- 
 
 besieg- 
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 own, the 
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 printing- 
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 undations 
 ids on the 
 he explo- 
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 jre may be 
 
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 iown until 
 lat society 
 int in this 
 r wanderer 
 
 of infinite 
 
 e. Father 
 his shoes, 
 the stand 
 
 ember it is 
 He never 
 
 gone away, 
 
 liversary of 
 h the tears 
 
 had played 
 
 \?ith the wanderer when she was a child, came up and 
 put his head on the old man's knee, but he roughly 
 repulsed the dog. He wants nothing to remind him of 
 the anniversary day. 
 
 A cold winter night in a city church. It is Christmas 
 night. They have been decorating the sanctuary. A lost 
 wanderer of the street, with thin shawl about her, at- 
 tracted by the warmth and light, comes in and sirs near 
 the door. The minister of religion is preaching of Him 
 who was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for 
 our iniquities, and the poor soul by the door said: ^'Why, 
 that must mean me ; ' mercy for the chief rf sinners ; 
 bruised for our iniquities ; wounded for our transgres- 
 sions.' " The music that night in the sanctuary brought 
 back *he old hymn which she used to sing when with 
 father and mother she worshiped God in the village 
 church. The service over, the minister went dc A'n the 
 aisJe. She said to him: " Were those words for me? 
 *Wcunded for our transgressioDb.' Was that for me?" 
 The man of God understood her not. He knew not 
 how to iomfort a shipwrecked soul, and he passed on and 
 he passed out. The poor wanderer followed into tiie 
 street. "What are you doing here, Meg?" said the 
 police. "What are you doing he.e to-night?" "Ohl'* 
 she replied, *' I was in to warm myself;" and then the 
 rattling cough came, and she held to the railing until 
 the paroxysm was over. She passed on down the street, 
 falling from exhaustion; recovering herself again, until 
 after a while she reached the outskirts of the citv and 
 passed on into the country road. It seemed so fi\miliar, 
 she kept on the road, and she saw in the distance a light 
 jn the window. Ah I that light had been gleaming there 
 every night since she went away. On that country 
 ^oad she passed until she came to the garden gate. She 
 
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 54 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OP CITY LIFE. 
 
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 opened it and passed up the path where she played in 
 childhood. She came to the steps and looked in at the 
 fire on the hearth. Then she put her fingers to the latch. 
 Oh I 'if that door had been locked she would have per- 
 ished on the threshold, for she was near to death. But 
 that door had not been locked since the time she went 
 away. She pushed open the door. She went in and laid 
 down on the hearth by the tire. The old house-dog 
 growled as he saw her enter, but there was something in 
 the voice he recognized, and he frisked about her urtil 
 he almost pushed her down in his joy. In the morning 
 the mother came down, and she saw a bundle of rags on 
 the hearth ; but when the face was uplifted, she knew it, 
 and it was no more old Meg of the street. Throwing 
 her arms around the returned prodigal, she cried, "Oh! 
 Maggie." The child threw her arms around her mother's 
 neck, and said: ''Oh! Mother," and while they were 
 embraced a rugged form towered above them. It was 
 the father. The severity all goiie out of his face, he 
 stooped and took her up tenderly and carried her to 
 mother's room, and laid her down on mother's bed, for 
 she was dying. Then the lost one, looking up into her 
 mother's face, said : " 'Wounded for our transgressions 
 and bruised for our iniquities I" Mother, do you think 
 that means me ?" " Oh, yes, my darling," said the 
 mother, " if mother is so glad to get you back, don't you 
 think God is glad to get ycu back?" And there she 
 lay dying, and all her dreams and all her prayers were 
 filled with the words, ** Wounded for our transgressions, 
 bruised for our iniquities," until just before the moment 
 of her departure, her face lighted up, showing the pardon 
 of God had dropped upon her soul. And there she slept 
 away on the bosom of a pardoning Jesus. So the Lord 
 took back one whom the world rejected. 
 
WHOM I SAW, AND WHOM I MISSED. 
 
 55 
 
 CHAPTER lY. 
 
 WHOM I SAW AND WHOM I MISSED. 
 
 ..-r- 
 
 "And the vale of Slddiin was full of slirae-pits."— Genesis xiv: 10. 
 
 About six months a^o, a gentleman in Augusta, Geor- 
 gia, wrote me asking me to preach from this text, and 
 the time has come for the subj><jt. The neck of an army 
 had been broken by falling into these half-hidden slime- 
 pits. How deep they were, or how vile, or how hard to 
 get out of, we are not told; but the whole scene is so far 
 distant in the past that we have not half as much inter- 
 est in this statement of the text as we have in the 
 announcement that our American cities are full of slime- 
 pits, and tens of thousands of people are falling in them 
 night by night. Recently, in the name of God, I ex- 
 plored some of these slime-pits. Why did I do so? In 
 April last, seated in the editorial rooms of one of the 
 chief daily newspapers of. ]S Cw York, the editor said to 
 me: '*Mr. Talraage, you clergymen are at great disad- 
 vantage when you con to battle iniquity, for yon don't 
 know what you are talking ib , md we la\ uen are 
 aware of the fact that you don l know of what you are 
 talking; now, if you would like to inake a ptirsonal inves- 
 tigation, I will see that you shall get tho hight t official 
 escort." I thanked him, accepted thr rivitation, and 
 told him that this autumn I would begin the tour. The 
 fact was that I had for a long time wanted < say some 
 words of warning and invitation to the v ^g men of 
 this country, and I felt if my course oi sermons was 
 preceded by a tour of this sort I should not only be bet- 
 
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 66 
 
 NlOH'l Sli>K8 OF CITY LIFE. 
 
 ter acquainted with the subject, but I should have the 
 whole country for an audience; and it has been a delib- 
 erate plan of ray ministry, whenever I am going to try 
 to do anything especial for God, or humanity, or the 
 church, to do it in such a way that the devil will always 
 advertise it frfee gratis for nothing! That was the reason 
 I gave two weeks' previous notice of my pulpit inten- 
 tions. The result has been satisfactory. 
 
 Standing within those purlieus of death, under the 
 command of the police and in their company, I was as 
 much surprised .^t the people whom I missed as at the 
 people whom I saw. I saw bankers there, and brokers 
 there, and merchants there, and men of all classes and 
 occupations who have leisure, there; but there was one 
 class of persons that T missed. I looked for them all 
 up and down the galleries, and amid the illumined 
 gardens, and all up and down the staircases of death. 
 I saw not one of them. I mean the hard-working classes, 
 the laboring classes, of our great cities. You tell me 
 they could not afford to go there. They could. Entrance, 
 twenty-five cents. They could have gone there if they 
 had a mind to; but the simple fact is that hard work is 
 a friend to good morals. The men who toil from early 
 morn until late at night when they go home are tired 
 out, and want to sit down and rest, or to saunter out with 
 their families along the street, or to pass into some quiet 
 place of amusement where they will not be ashamed- to 
 take wife or di ighter. The busy populations of these 
 cities are the noi*al populations. I observed on the 
 night of our exploration that the places of dissipation 
 are chiefly supported by the men who go to business at 
 9 and 10 o'ciock in he morning and get through at 3 
 and 4 in the aftern* )n. They have plenty of time to go 
 to destruction in 9 A plenty of money to buy a through 
 

 WHOM I SAW, AND WHOM 1 MISSEH. 
 
 6f 
 
 lave the 
 a delib- 
 g to try 
 , or the 
 I always 
 le reason 
 it inteii- 
 
 nder the 
 I was as 
 as at the 
 i brokers 
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 3 was one 
 
 them all 
 illumined 
 , of death, 
 ng classes, 
 :ni tell me 
 
 Entrance, 
 
 irA 
 
 if they 
 rd work is 
 Vom early 
 are tired 
 out with 
 some quiet 
 shamed" to 
 [IB of these 
 ^ed on the 
 dissipation 
 business at 
 ough at 3 
 time to go 
 y a through 
 
 ticket on the Grand Trunk Kaiiroad to perdition, Etop- 
 ping at no depot until they get to the eternal smash-up I 
 Those are the fortunate and divinely-blessed young men 
 who have to breakfast early and take supper late, and 
 have the entire interregnum tilled up with work that blis- 
 ters the hands, and makes the legs ache and the brain 
 weary. There is no chance for the morals of that young 
 man who has plenty of money and no occupation. You 
 may go from Central Park to the Battery, or you may 
 go from Fulton Street Ferry, Brooklyn, out to South , 
 Bushwick, or out to Hunter's Point, or out to Gowanus, ' 
 and you will not find one young man of that kind who ' 
 h -8 not already achieved his ruin, or who is not on the 
 way thereto at the rate of sixty miles the hour. Those are 
 not the favored and divinely-blessed youn^ men who 
 come and go as they will, aud who have their pocket- 
 case full of the best cigars, and who dine at Delmonico's, 
 and who dress in the tip- top of fashion, their garments 
 a little tighter or looser or broader striped than others, 
 their mustaches twisted with stiffer cosmetic, and their 
 hair redolent with costly pomatum, and have their hat 
 set farthest over on the right ear, and who have boots 
 fitting the foot with exquisite torture, and who have 
 handkerchief soaked with musk, and patchouli, and white 
 rose, and new-mown hay, and "balm of a thousand flow- 
 ers;" but those are the fortunate young men who have 
 to work hard for a living. Give a young man plenty of 
 wines, and plenty of cigars, aud plenty of fine horses, 
 and Satan has no anxiety about that man's coming out 
 at his place. He ceases to watch him, only giving direc- 
 tions about his reception when he shall arrive at the end 
 of the journey. If, on the night of our exploration, I 
 had called the roll of all the laboring men of these cities, 
 I would have received no answer, for the simple reason 
 
68 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF CITY UFE. 
 
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 they were not there to answer. I was not more surprised 
 at the people whom I saw there than I was surprised at 
 the people whom I missed. Oh! man, if you have an 
 occupation by which you are wearied every night of your 
 life, thank God, for it is the mightiest preservative 
 against evil. f , .. ' ;---■.:.;■::,/.•- v ;;•-■-. ^r^■^-v,;::■^v--■ 
 , But by that time the clock of old Trinity Church was 
 striking one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 
 ten, eleven, twelve — midnight! And with the police and 
 two elders of my church we sat down at the table in the 
 galleries and looked oif upon the vortex of death. The 
 music in full blast; the dance in wildest whirl; the wine 
 foaming to the lip of the glass. Midnight on earth is 
 midnoon in hell. All the demons of the pit were at 
 that moment holding high carnival. The blue calcium 
 light suggested the burning brimstone of the pit. Seated 
 there, at that hour, in that awful place, you ask me, as I 
 have frequently been asked, "What were the emotions 
 that went through your heart?" And I shall give the 
 rest of my morning's sermon to telling you how I felt. 
 First of all, as at no death-bed or railroad disaster did 
 I feel an overwhelming sense of pity. Why were we 
 there as Christian explorers, while those lost souls were 
 there as participators? If they had enjoyed the same 
 healthful and Christian surroundings \^ inch we have had 
 all our days, and we had been thrown amid the contamin- 
 ations which have destroyed them, the case would ha^e 
 been the reverse, and they would have been the specta- 
 tors and we the actors in that awful tragedy of the 
 damned. As' I sat there I could not keep back the 
 tears — tears of gratitude to God for his protecting 
 grace — tears of compassion for those who had fallen so 
 low. The difference in moral navigation had been the 
 difference in the way the wind blew. The wind of temp- 
 
WHOM J 
 
 ■^«V, AND WHOM I MISSED. 
 
 59 
 
 surprised 
 'prised at 
 1 have an 
 ht of your 
 eservative 
 
 hurch was 
 sight, nine, 
 ! police and 
 able in the 
 eath. The 
 [; the wine 
 >n earth is 
 Dit were at 
 iue calcium 
 pit. Seated 
 isk me, as I 
 lie emotions 
 all give the 
 L how I felt, 
 disaster did 
 hy were we 
 X souls were 
 ed the same 
 
 we have had 
 lc contamin- 
 
 would ha^e 
 n the specta- 
 agedy of the 
 ^ep back the 
 protecting 
 
 had fallen so 
 
 ad been the 
 ^ind of temp- 
 
 tation drove them on the rocks. The wind of God's 
 mercy drove us out on a fair sea. There are men and 
 women so merciless in their criticism of the fallen that 
 you might think that God had made them in an especial 
 mold, and that they have no capacity for evil, and yet if 
 they had been subjected to the same allure!nents, instead 
 of stopping at the up-towu haunts of iniquity, they 
 would at this hour have been wallowing amid the hor- 
 rors of Arch Block, or shrieking with delirium tremens 
 in the cell of a police station. Instead of boasting over 
 your purity and your integrity and your sobriety, you 
 had better be thanking God for his grace, lest some time 
 the Lord should let you loose and you find out how 
 much better you are than others naturally. I will take 
 the best-tempered man in this house, the most honest 
 man in this city, and I will venture the opinion in regard 
 to him that, surround him with all the adequate circum- 
 stances of temptation, and the Lord let him loose, he 
 would become a thief, a gambler, a sot, a rake, a wharf- 
 rat. Instead of boasting over our superiority, and over 
 the fact that there is no capacity in us of ovil, I would 
 rather have for my epitaph that one word which Duncan 
 Matthewson, the Scotch evangelist, ordered chiseled on 
 his tombstone, the name, and the one word, "Kept." 
 
 Again: Seated in that gallery of death, and looking 
 out on that maelstrom of iniquity, I thought to myself, 
 "There! that young man was once the pride of the city 
 home. Paternal care watched him; maternal love bent 
 over him; sisterly affection surrounded him. He was 
 once taken to the altar and consecrated in the name 
 of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost; but he went away. This very moment," 
 J thought to myself, " there are hearts aching for that 
 young man's return. Father and mother are sitting up 
 
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 60 
 
 .NIttHT SIDES OF CITY LIFE. 
 
 for li'.m." You say, "He has a night-key, and he c^n 
 get in without their help. Why do not those pare'>t8 
 go sound to sleep?" What I Is there any sleep for 
 parents who suspect a son is drifting up and down amid 
 the dissipations of a great city? They may weep, they 
 may pray, they may wring their hands, but sleep they 
 cannot. Ah' they have done and suffered too much for 
 that boy to give him up now. They turn up the light 
 and look at the photograph of him when he was young 
 and uniempted. They stand at the window to see if he 
 is coming up the street. They hear the watchman's 
 rattle, but no sound of returning boy. 1 felt that night 
 as if I could put my hand on the shoulder of that young 
 man, and, with, a voice that would sound all through 
 those temples of sin, say to him, *'Go home, young man; 
 your father is waiting for you. Your mother is waiting 
 for you God is waiting for you. All heaven is wait- 
 ing for you. Go home! By the tears wept over your 
 waywardness, by the prayers offered for your salvation, 
 by the midnight watching over you when you had scarlet 
 fever and diphtheria, by the blood of the Son of God, by 
 the judgment day when you must give answer for what 
 you have been doing here to-night, go homei" But I did 
 not say this, lest it interfere with my work, and I waited 
 to get on this platform, where, perhaps, instead of saving 
 one young man, God helping me, I might save a thousand 
 young men; and the cry of alarm which I suppressed 
 that night, I let loose to-day in the hearing of this 
 people. -"::. ., :*.^-' ■ ; yi- •■■■■.^r-: ■'"^- 
 
 : Seated in that gallery of death, and looking off upon 
 the destruction, T bethought myself also, "These are 
 the fragments of broken homes." A home is a com- 
 plete thing, and if one member of it wander off, then the 
 home is broken. And sitting there, I said: " Here they 
 
 m 
 
 II 
 
 :iiiii 
 
WHOM I SAW, AND WITOM I MISSED. 
 
 61 
 
 d he CAU 
 
 sleep for 
 >wn amid 
 reep, they 
 ileep they 
 much for 
 
 I the light 
 vas young 
 ) see if he 
 atchman's 
 that night 
 that young 
 
 II through 
 5ung man; 
 
 is waiting 
 en is wait- 
 over your 
 r salvation, 
 liad scarlet 
 of God, hy 
 er for what 
 But 1 did 
 id I waited 
 id of saving 
 a thousand 
 suppressed 
 •mg of this 
 
 ng off" upon 
 "These are 
 e is a com- 
 off, then the 
 " Here they 
 
 are, broken family altars, broken wedding-rings, broken 
 vows, broken anticipations, broken hearts." And, as I 
 looked off, the dance became wilder and more unre- 
 strained, until it seemed as if the floor broke through 
 and the revelers wero plunged into a depth from which 
 they may never rise, and all these broken families came 
 around the brink and seemed to cry out: " Come back, 
 father! Come back, mother! Come back, my son! Come / 
 back, my daughter ! Come back, my sister !" But no voices 
 returned, and the sound of the feet of the dancers grew 
 fainter and fainter, and stopped, and there was thick 
 darkness. And I said, "What does lAl this mean?" 
 And there came up a great hiss of whispering voices, 
 saying, " This is the second death!" 
 
 But seated there that night, looking cS upon that 
 scene of death, I bethought myself also, '* This is only a 
 miserable copy of European dissipations." In London 
 they have what they call the Argyle, the Cremorne, the 
 Strand, the beer-gardens, and a thousand places of 
 infamy, and it seems to be the ambition of bad people *;. 
 in this country to copy those foreign dissipations. Toady- < 
 ism when it bows to foreign pretense and to foreign • 
 equipage and to foreign title is despicable; but toadyism 
 is more despicable when it bows to foreign vice. Why, 
 you might as well steal the pillow-case of a small-pox 
 hospital, or the shovels of a scavenger's cart, or the 
 coffin of a leper, aajto make theft of these foreign plagues. 
 If you want to destroy the people, have some originality 
 of destruction ; have an American trap to catch the 
 bodies and souls of men, instead of infringing on the 
 patented inventions of European iniquity. 
 
 Seated there that night, I also felt that if the good 
 people of our cities knew what was going on in these 
 haunts of iniquity, the^v would endure it no longer. 
 
62 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF CITY LIFE. 
 
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 The foundations of city life are rotten with iniquity, 
 and if the foundations give way the wliole structure 
 must crumble. If iniquity progresses in the next one 
 hundred years in the same ratio that it has pro- 
 gressed in the century now closed, there will not be 
 a vestige of moral or religious influence left. It is only 
 a question of subtraction and addition. If tlie people 
 knew liow tlie virus is spreading they would stop it. I 
 think the time has come for action. I wisli that the next 
 Mayor of New York whether he be Augustus Schell or 
 Edward Cooper, may rise up to the height of this posi- 
 tion. Revolution is what we want, and that revolution 
 would begm to-morrow if the moral and Christian peo- 
 ple of our cities knew of the firee that slumher beneath 
 them. Once in a while a glorious city missionary or 
 reformer like Mr. Brace or Mr. Yan Meter tells to a 
 well-dressed audience in church the troubles that lie 
 under our roaring metropolis, and the conventional 
 church-goer gives his five dollars for bread, or gives his 
 fifty dollars to help support a ragged school, and then 
 goes home feeling that the work is done. Oh! my 
 friends, the work will not be accomplished until by the 
 force of public opinion the officers of the law shall be 
 compelled to execute the law. We are told that the 
 twenty-five hundred police of New York cannot put 
 down the five or six hundred dens of infamy, to say 
 nothing of the gambling-houses and the unlicensed grog- 
 shops. I reply, swear me in as a special police and give 
 me two hundred police for two .nights, and I would 
 break up all the leading haunts of iniquity in these two 
 cities, and arrest all their leaders and send such conster- 
 nation in the smaller places that they would shut up of 
 themselves! I do not think I should be afraid of law- 
 suits for damages for false imprisonment. What we 
 
 ■■■i T, ;'v ■■-;^- 
 
WDOM I SAW, AND WHOM ! MIBBKD 
 
 6B 
 
 iniquity, 
 structure 
 next one 
 has pro- 
 11 not be 
 It is only 
 lie people 
 stop it. I 
 tt the next 
 J SchcUor 
 : this posi- 
 revolution 
 ristian peo- 
 jer beneath 
 issionary or 
 • tells to a 
 es that lie 
 onventional 
 or gives his 
 ol, and then 
 3. Oh! my 
 antil by the 
 law shall be 
 )ld that the 
 
 cannot put 
 famy, to say 
 censed grog- 
 lice and give 
 ,nd I would 
 
 in these two 
 such conster- 
 id shut up of 
 kfraid of law- 
 What we 
 
 want in these cities is a Stonewall Jackson's raid through 
 all the places of iniquity T was persuaded by what I 
 paw on that night of my exploration that the keepers of 
 ail these hauntp of iniquity are as afraid aa they are of 
 death of the police star, and the police club, and the 
 police revolver. Hence, i declare that the existence of 
 these alKJiniuations are to be charged either to police 
 cowardice or to poiice complicity. 
 
 i^ ♦ the close of our journey that night, we got in the 
 carriage, and we came out on Broadway, and a.« we came 
 down the street everything seemed silent save the clatter 
 ing hoofs'and the wheels of our own conveyance Look- 
 ing dowr the long line of gaslights, the pavement seemed 
 very solitary The great sea of metropolitan life had 
 ebbed, leaving a dry beach! New York asleep! No! no! 
 Burglary wide awake. Libertinism wide awake. Mur 
 der wide awake. Ten thousand city iniquities wide 
 awake. The click of the decanters in the worst hours of 
 the debauch. The harvest of death full. Eternal woe 
 the reaper. 
 
 What is tliat ? Trinity clock striking, one — two. 
 
 "Goodnight," said the officers of the law, and I re 
 
 leponded ''good night," for they had been very kind, and 
 
 [very generous and very helpful to us. "Good night." 
 
 [And yet, was there ever an adjective more misapplied? 
 
 rood night! Why, there was no expletive enough 
 
 irred and blasted to describe that night. Black night 
 
 i'orsaken night. Night of man's wickedness and woman's 
 
 ?vertl)rcw Night of awful neglect on the part of those 
 
 tho might help but do not. For many of those whom 
 
 I'e had been watching, everlasting night. No hope. 
 
 lo rescue. No God. Black niglit of darkness forever, 
 
 LS fai off as hell is from heaven was that night distant 
 
 )m being a good night. Oh, my friends, what are you 
 
64 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF CITY LIFE. 
 
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 going to do in this matter ? Punisli the people ? That 
 is not my theory. Prevent the people, warn the people, 
 hinder the people before they go down. The first phi- 
 lanthropist this country ever knew was Edward Living- 
 ston, and he wrote these remarkable words in 1833: 
 
 " As prevention in the diseases of tlic body is les3 painful, less ex- 
 pensive, and more efficacious than tlie most skillful cure, so in the 
 moral maladies of society, to arrest the vicious before the profligacy 
 assumes the shape of crime, to take away from the poor the cause or 
 pretense of relieving themselves by fraud or theft, to reform them by 
 education, and make their own industry contribute to their support, 
 although difficult and expensive, will be found more ertectual intho 
 suppression of offenses, and more economical, than the best organized 
 system of punishment." . 
 
 Next Sabbath morning I shall tell you of my second 
 night of exploration. I have only opened the door of 
 this great subject with which I hope to stir the cities. 
 I have begun, and, God helping me, I will go through. 
 Whoever else may be crowded or kept standing, or kept 
 outside the doors, I charge the trustees and the ushers 
 of this church that they give full elbow-room to all these 
 journalists, since each one is another church five times, 
 or ten times, or twenty times larger than this august 
 assemblage, and it is by the printing-press that the Gos- 
 pel of the Son of God is to be yet preached to all the 
 world. May the blessing of the Lord God come down 
 upon all the editors, and all the reporters, and all the 
 compositors, and all the proof-readers, and all the type- 
 setters! " ' ■- ■ - ■ -'^ ■ - "■--•-' ''■ 
 
 But, my friends, before the iniquities of our cities 
 are closed, my tongue may be silent in death, and 
 many who are here this morning may have gone so far 
 in sin they cannot get back. You have sometimes been 
 walking on the banks of a river, and you have seen a 
 man struggling in the water, and you have thrown off 
 
WHOM I SAW, AND WHOM I M188>a). 
 
 66 
 
 yonr coat and leaped in for tlie rescue. So this morning 
 I throw off the robe of pulpit conventions ty, and I 
 plunge in for yonr drowning soul. I have no cross 
 words for you. I havo only croas words for those who 
 would destroy you. I am glad God lias not put in ray 
 hand any one of tlio thunderbolts of His power, lest I 
 might be tempted to hurl it at those who are plotting 
 your ruin. I do not give you the tip end of the long 
 lingers of the left hand, but I take your hand, hot with 
 the fever of indulgences and trembling with last night's 
 debauch, into both my hands, and give the heartiest 
 grip of invitation and welcome. " Oil," you say, " you 
 would not shake hands with me if yon met me." I 
 would. Try mo at the foot of this platform and see if I 
 will nOt. I have sometimes said that I would like to die 
 with my hand in the hand of my family and my kin- 
 dred; but I revoke that wish this morning and say I 
 would like to die with my hand in the hand of a return- 
 ing sinner, when, with God's help, I am trying to pull 
 him up into the glorious liberty of the Gospel. I would 
 like that to be my last work on earth. Oh! my brother, 
 come back! Do you know that God made Richard Bax- 
 ters and John Bunyans and Robert Newtonsout of such 
 as you are? Come back! and wash in the deep fountain 
 of a Savior's mercy. I do not give you a cup, or a chal- 
 ice, or a pitcher vnih a limited supply to elfect j'^our ab- 
 lutions. I point you to the five oceans of God's mercy. 
 Oh I that the Atlantic and Pacific surges of divine for- 
 giveness might roll over your soul. I do not say to you, 
 as we said to the oflicers of the law when we left them 
 on Broadway, "Good night." Oh, no. But, as the 
 glorious sun of God's forgiveness rides on toward the 
 mid heavens, ready to submerge you in warmtli and 
 light and love, I bid you good morning! Morning of 
 
 VI 
 
66 
 
 KIOHT BTDE8 OF OITr LITE. 
 
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 peace for all your troubles. Morning of liberation for 
 all your incarcerations. Adorning oi resurrection for 
 your soul buried in sin. Good morning! Morning for 
 the resuscitated household that has been waiting for 
 your return. Morning for the cradle and the crib 
 already disgraced with being that of a drunkard's child. 
 Morning for the daughter that has trudged off to hard 
 work because you did not take care of home. Morning 
 for the wife who at forty or fifty years has the wrinkled 
 face, and the stooped shoulder, and tlie white hair. Morn- 
 ing for one. Morning for all. Good morning I In 
 God's name, good morning. 
 
 In our last dreadful war the Federals and the Con- 
 federates were encamped on opposite sides of the Rappc.- 
 hannock, and one morning vlie brass band of the Kcrth- 
 ern troops played the national air, and all the Korthern 
 troops cheered and cheered. Then on the opposite side 
 of the Rappahannock the brass band of the Confederates 
 played " My Maryland" and *' Dixie," and then all the 
 Southern troops cheered and cheered. But after awhile 
 one of the bands struck up " Home, Sweet Home," and 
 the band on the opposite side of the river took up the 
 strain, and when the tune was done the Confederates 
 and the Federals a'^ together united, as the tears rolled 
 down their cheeks, in one great huzza! huzza! Well, 
 my friends, heaven comes very near to-day. It is ouiy 
 a stream that divides us — tha narrow stream of death — 
 and the voices there and the voices here seem to com- 
 mingJe, lud we join trumpets, and hosannahs, and halle- 
 lujahs, t,vA Jit, chorus of the united song of earth and 
 heaven is, ^ Home, Sweet Home." Home of bright 
 domestic circle on earth. Home of forgiveness in the 
 groat heart of God. Home of eternal rest in heaven. 
 Home! Home! Home! 
 
TRAPS FOB MBH. 
 
 67 
 
 ition for 
 jtion for 
 ning for 
 ting for 
 the crib 
 d's cliild. 
 f toliard 
 Morning 
 wrinkled 
 ir. Morn- 
 ing I In 
 
 the Oon- 
 he Rapp-- 
 ;he Ncrth- 
 5 Northerii 
 »posite Bide 
 pnfederates 
 hen all the 
 fter awhile 
 ome," and 
 book up the 
 onfederates 
 tears rolled 
 zza! Well, 
 It is only 
 of death— 
 lern to com- 
 8, and halle- 
 ,f earth and 
 of bright 
 eness in the 
 «t in heaven. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 TRAPS FOR MEN. 
 
 " Surely in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird." — 
 Proverbs vi : 9. 
 
 Early in the morning I went out with a fowler to 
 catch wild pigeons. We hastened through tlie mountaim 
 gorge and into the forest. We spread out the net, and 
 coverod up the edges of it as well as we could. We 
 arranged the call-bird, its feet fast, and its wings flap- 
 ping in invitation to all fowls of heaven to settle dov7n 
 there. We retired into a booth of branches and leaves 
 and waited. After a while, looking out of the door of 
 the booth, we saw a flock of birds in the sky. They 
 came nearer and nearer, and ai'ter a while were about to 
 swoop into the net, when suddenly they darted away. 
 Again we waited. After awhile we saw another flock of 
 birds. They came nearer and nearer until jusl at the 
 moment when thej were about to swoop they darted 
 away. The fowler was very much disappointed as well 
 as myself. We said to each other, '' What is the matter?" 
 and " Why were not these birds caught?" We went out 
 and examined the net, and by a flutter of a branch of a 
 tree part of the net had been conspicuously exposed, 
 and the birds coming very near had seen their peril and 
 darted away. When I saw that, I said to the old fowler, 
 **That reminds me of a passage of Scripture: * Surely iu 
 vain is the net spread ir^ the sight of any bird.* " Now 
 the net in my text stands for temptation. 
 
1 
 
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 68 
 
 NIGHT fIDES OF CITY LIFE. 
 
 The call-bird of sin tempts men on from point to point 
 and from branch to branch until they are aboat to drop 
 into the net. If a man iinds out in time that it is the 
 temptation of the devil, or that evil men are attempting 
 to capture his soul for time and for eternity, the man 
 steps back. He says, " I am not to be caught in that 
 way: I see what you are about: surely in vain is tlie 
 net spread in the sight of any bird." 
 
 There are two classes of temptations — the superficial 
 and the subterraneous — those above ground, those under 
 ground. If a man could see sin as it is, he would no 
 more embrace it thaii he would embrace a leper. Sin is 
 8 daughter of hell, yet she is garlanded and robed and 
 trinketed. Her voice is a warble. Her cheek is the 
 setting sun. Her forehead is an aurora. She says to 
 men: " Come, walk this path with me; it is thymed and 
 primrosed, and the air is bewitiiUed with the odors of 
 the hanging gardens of heaven ; the rivers are rivers of 
 wine, and all you have to do is to drink them up in 
 chalices that sparkl.e with diamond and amethyst and 
 crysoprasus. See ! It is all bloom and roseate cloud 
 and heaven." Oh! my friends, if for one moment the 
 choiring of all these concerted voices of sin could be 
 hushed, wo should see the orchestra of the pit with hot 
 breath blowing through fiery flute, and the skeleton arms 
 on drums of thunder and darkness beating tlie chorus: 
 *' The end thereof is death." 
 
 I want this morning to i^oint out the insidious temp- 
 tations that are assailing more especially our youu^ men. 
 The only kind of nature comparatively free from tempta- 
 tion, so far as I can judge, is the cold, hard, stingy, mean 
 temperament. What would Satan do with such a man 
 if lie got him? Satan is not anxious to get a man who, 
 after a while, may dispute with liim the realm of ever- 
 

 TFAP8 FOE MBN. 
 
 69 
 
 to point 
 to drop 
 it is the 
 Bmpting 
 the man. 
 , in that 
 in is the 
 
 Liperficial 
 )se under 
 vould no 
 r. Sin is 
 obed and 
 ek is the 
 le says to 
 ymed and 
 J odors of 
 rivers of 
 icm up in 
 thyst and 
 eate cloud 
 oment the 
 could be 
 with hot 
 eton arms 
 lie chorus: 
 
 iuus tcmp- 
 oxiw^ men. 
 (in cempta- 
 iiigy, mean 
 uch a man 
 man who, 
 Im of ever- 
 
 lasting meanness. It is the generous young man, the 
 ardent young man, the warm-hearted youvg man, the 
 social young man, that is in especial peril. A pirate goes 
 out on the sea, and one bright morning he puts the glass 
 to his eye and looks off, and sees an empty vessel floating 
 from port to port. He says: "Never mind; that's no 
 prize for us." But the same morning he puts the glass 
 to his eye, and he sees a vessel coming from'Australia laden 
 with gold, or a vessel from the Indies laden with spices. 
 He says: "That's our prize; bear down on it!" Across 
 that unfortunate ship the grappling-hooks are thrown. 
 The crew are blindfolded and are compelled to walk the 
 plank. It is not the empty vessel, but the laden merchant- 
 man that is the temptation to the pirate, Anr^ a young 
 man empty of head, empty of heart, empty of life — you 
 want no Young Men's Christian Association to keep him 
 safe; he is safe. He will not gamble unless it is with some- 
 body else's stakes. He will not break the Sabbath unless 
 somebody else pays the horse hire. He will not drink 
 unless some one else treats him. He will hang around 
 the bar hour after hour, waiting for some generous yoang 
 man to come iv. The generous young man comes in 
 and accosts hiL' ys: " Well, will you have a drink 
 
 with me to-day T lie man, as though it were a sudden 
 thing for him, says: "Well, well, if you insist on it I 
 will- 1 will." 
 
 Too mean to go to perdition unless somebody else 
 )ays his expenses! For such young men we will not 
 iight. We would no more contend for them than Tai'tary 
 and Ethiopia would fight as to who should have the great 
 Sahara Desert; but for those young men wlio are 
 buoyant and enthusiastic, those who are determined to 
 do something for time and for eternity — for them we 
 Vf'iW fight, and we now declare everlasting war again^ 
 
 
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 NIOUT 8IDE8 OF OITY LIFE. 
 
 all the influences that assail them, and we ask all good 
 men and philanthropists to wheel into line, and all the 
 armies of Heaven to bear down upon the foe, and we pray 
 Almighty God that with the thunderbolts of his wrath 
 he will strike down and consume all these influences that 
 are attempting to destroy the young men for whom 
 Christ died. » 
 
 The first class of temptations that assaults a young man 
 is led on by the skeptic. He will not admit he is an 
 infidel or atheist. Oh, no! he is a "freethinker;" he is 
 one of your "liberal" men; he is free and easy in 
 religion. O! how liberal he is; he so " liberal " that he 
 will give away his Bible; he is so " libpral " that he will 
 give a\\ay the throne of eternal justice; he is so "liberal" 
 that he would be willing to give God out of the universe; 
 he is so "liberal " that he would give up his own soul 
 and the souls of all his friends. Now, what more could 
 you ask in the way of liberality? The victim of this 
 skeptic has probably just come from the country. 
 Through the intervention of friends he has been placed 
 in a shop. On Saturday the skeptic says to him, "Well, 
 what are you going to do to-morrow?" He says, " I am 
 going to church." "Is it possible?" says the skeptic. 
 " Well, I used to do those things; I was brought up, I 
 suppose, as you were, in a religious family, and I be- 
 lieved all those things, but I got over it; the fact is, since 
 I came to town I have read a great deal, and I have 
 found that there are a great many things in the Bible 
 that are ridiculous. Kow, for instance, all that about 
 the serpent being cursed to crawl in the garden of Eden 
 because it had tempted our first parents; why you see 
 how absurd it is ; you crm tell from the very organiza- 
 tion of the serpent that h had to crawl; it crawled before 
 it was cursed just as well as it crawled afterwards; you 
 
 ,r,-!frtlM1'.fli1rt*F/ 
 
 ^■k^'-',' !tgi.>i£.^4'.'j.' ^-.'; 
 
TBI PS FOR MEN. 
 
 71 
 
 all good 
 L(l all the 
 i we pray 
 his wrath 
 ences that 
 ■or whom 
 
 ouiig man 
 i he is an 
 er;" he is 
 d easy in 
 ,1 " that he 
 ;hat he will 
 10 "liberal" 
 le universe; 
 is own soul 
 more could 
 tim of this 
 le country, 
 jeen placed 
 liim, "Well, 
 
 savs, 
 
 a 
 
 X am 
 
 the skeptic, 
 rought up, I 
 ^, and 1 be- 
 tact is, since 
 and I have 
 11 the Bible 
 that about 
 den of Eden 
 why you see 
 gry organiza- 
 awled before 
 r wards; you 
 
 can tell from its organization that it crawled. Then all 
 that story about the whale swallowing Jonah, or Jonah 
 swallowing the whale, which was it? It don't make any 
 difference, the thing is absurd; it is ridiculous to sup- 
 pose that a man could have gone down through the jaws 
 of a sea monster and yet kept his life; why, his respira- 
 tion would have been hindered; he would have been 
 digested; the gastric juice would have dissolved the 
 fibrine and coagulated albumen, and Jonah would have 
 been changed from prophet into chyle. Then all that 
 story about the iniraculous conception — why, it is per- 
 fectly disgraceful. O! sir, I believe in the light of 
 nature. This is the nineteenth cen«tury. Progress, sir, 
 progress. I don't blame you, but after you ha^.^e been in 
 town as long as I have, you will think just as I do." 
 
 Thousands of young men are going down under that 
 process day by day, and there is only here and there a 
 young man who can endure this artillery of scorn. They 
 are giving up their Bibles. The light of nature! They 
 have the light of nature in China; they have it in Hin- 
 dostan; they have it in Ceylon. Flowers there, stars 
 there, waters there, winds there; but no civilization, no 
 homes, no happiness. Lancets to cut, and Juggernauts 
 to fall under, and hooks to swing on; but no happiness. 
 I tell you, my young brother, we have to take a religion 
 of some kind. We have to choose between four or five. 
 Shall it be the Koran of the Mohammedan, or the 
 Shaster of the Hindoo, or the Zendavesta of the Persian, 
 or the Confucius writings of the Chinese, or the Holy 
 Scriptures? Take what you will; God helping me, I will 
 take the Bible. Light for all darkness; rock for all 
 ^foundation; balm for all wounds. A glory thnt lifts its 
 nllars of fire over the wilderness march. Do not give 
 Inp your Bibles. If these people secitf at you as though 
 
mm 
 til !ii!^;r:'W 
 
 i! 'i'l'iiiliiii 
 
 II! 
 
 
 tH!i||i||i^-.:ii 
 
 ;i;n i,.|,!'i, .'.,ii,i 
 
 HI: 
 
 IS 
 
 iiiii.!!!ii;;;:ii 
 
 i|iSili , 
 
 
 \'': '; ;:l!!!; 
 
 i 
 
 72 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF CITY LIKK. 
 
 religion and the Bible were fit only for weak-minded 
 people, you just tell them you are not ashamed to be in 
 the company of Burke the statesman, and llaphael the 
 painter, and Thorwaldsen the sculptor, and Mozart the 
 musician, and Blackstone the lawyer, and Bacon the 
 philosopher, and Harvey the physician, and Jolm 
 Milton the poet. A3k them what infidelity has ever 
 done to lift the fourteen hundred millions of the race 
 out of barbarism. Ask them when infidelity ever insti- 
 tuted a sanitary commission; and, before you leavi; their 
 society once and for ever, tell them that they luive in- 
 sulted the memory of your Christian father, and spit 
 upon the death-bed of your mother, and with swine's 
 snout rooted up tlie grave of your sister who died believ- 
 ing in the Lord Jesus. 
 
 Young man, hold on to your Bible? It is the best 
 book you ever owned. It will tell you how to dress, how 
 to bargain, how to walk, how to act, how to live, how to 
 die. Glorious Bible! whether on parchment or paper, 
 in octavo or duodecimo, on the center table of Uie draw- 
 ing-room or in the counting-room of the banker. Glo- 
 rious Bible! Light to our feet and lamp to our path. 
 Hold on to it! 
 
 The second class of insidious temptations that comes 
 upon our young men is led on by the dishonest employer. 
 Every commercial establishment is a school. In nine 
 cases out of ten, the principlcis of the employer become 
 the principles of the employe. I ask the older mer- 
 chants to bear me out in these statements. If, when you 
 were just starting in life, in commercial life, you were 
 told that honesty was not marketable, that though you 
 might sell all the goods in the shop, you must not sell 
 your conscience, t.liat while you were to exercise all 
 industry and tact, you were not to sell your conscience — 
 
 ^ ii 
 
:!r:/ 
 
 [-minded 
 to be in 
 phael the 
 ozart the 
 aeon the 
 id John 
 has ever 
 the race 
 ver iufiti- 
 ;av<^ their 
 have in- 
 and spit 
 ;h swine's 
 ed believ- 
 
 the best 
 3re88, how 
 ^e, how to 
 or paper, 
 the draw- 
 Br. Glo- 
 onr path. 
 
 hat comes 
 employer. 
 In nine 
 er become 
 der mer- 
 when you 
 you were 
 ough you 
 it not sell 
 erciee all 
 iscience — 
 
 K vt TRAPS FOR MEN. • 
 
 if you were taught that gains gotten by sin were com- 
 bustible, and atjtht moment of ignition would be blown 
 on by the breath of God until all the splendic^ estate 
 would vanish into white ashes scattered in the whirl- 
 wind — then that instruction has been to you a precaution 
 and a help ever since. There are hundreds of commer- 
 cial establishments in our great cities which are edu- 
 cating a class of young men who will be the honor of 
 the land, and there are other establishments which are 
 educating young men tu be nothing but 8h{irj)er8. What 
 chance is there for a young man who was taught in an 
 establishment that it is right to lie, if it is smart, and 
 that a French label is all that is necessary to make a thing 
 French, and that you ought always to be honest when it 
 pays, and that it is wrong to steal unless you do it well? 
 Suj^*)Ose, now, a young man just starting in life enters a 
 place jf that kind where there are ten young men, all 
 drilled in the infamous practices of the establishment. 
 He is ready to be taught. The young man has no theory 
 of commercial ethics. Where is he to get his theory? 
 He will get the theory from his employers. One day he 
 puslies his wit a little beyond what the establishment 
 demands of him, and he fleeces a customer until tha 
 clerk is on the verge of being seized by the law. What 
 is done in the establishment? He is not arraigned. 
 The head man of the establishment says to him: "Now, 
 be careful; be careful, young man, you might be caught; 
 but really that was splendidly done; you will get along 
 in the world, I warrant you." Then that young man 
 goes up until he becomes head clerk. He has found 
 there is a premium on iniquity. 
 
 One morning the employer comes to the establishment. 
 He goes into his counting-room and throws up hip, hands 
 and shouts: "Why, the safe has been robbed I'"' What 
 
 

 74 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF CITY LIFE. 
 
 
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 1 i 
 
 mm 
 
 mi 
 
 liiilif' 
 
 l! 
 
 iiiiiiii:!; 
 
 jiiiiPililll 
 
 
 iiii 
 
 38 the matter? Nothing, nothing; only the clerk who 
 had been practicing a good while on customers is prac- 
 ticing a little on the employer. No new principle intro- 
 duced into that establishment. It is a poor rule that 
 will not work botli ways. You must never steal unless 
 you can do it well. He did it well. I em not talking 
 an abstraction ; I atn talking a terrible and a crushing 
 fact. 
 
 Now here is a young man. Look at him to- day. 
 Look at him five yetirs f?om now, after he has been 
 under trial in such an establishment Here he stands 
 in the shop to-duy, his cheeks ruddy with the breath of 
 the hills. He unrolls the ^oods on the counter in gen- 
 tlemanly style. He commends them to the purchaser. 
 He points out all the good points in the fabric. He 
 effects the sale. The goods are wrapped up, and he dis- 
 misses the customer with a cheerful "good morning," 
 and the country merchant departs so impressed with the 
 straightforwardness of that young man that he will come 
 again and again, every spring and every autumn unless 
 interfered with The young man has been now in that 
 establishment five years. He unrolls the goods on the 
 counter. He says to the customer, "Now those are the 
 best goods we have in our establishment;" they have bet- 
 ter on the next shelf. He says! *'We are selling these 
 goods less than co«t;" they are making twenty percent. 
 He* says. 'There is nothing like them in all the city;" 
 there are fifty shops that want to sell the same thing. 
 He says: 'Now, that is a durable article, it will wash;" 
 yes it will wash out. The sale is made, the goods are 
 wrapped up, the country merchant goes off feeling that 
 he has an equivalent for his money,, and the sharp clerk 
 goes into the private room of the counting-house, and 
 he says* "Well, I got rid of those goods at last; I really 
 
TBAFi roB xm. 
 
 m 
 
 lerk who 
 3 Is prac- 
 pleintro- 
 rule that 
 3al unless 
 )t talking 
 crushing 
 
 n to- day. 
 has been 
 he stands 
 breath of 
 er in gen- 
 purchaser, 
 ibric. He 
 md he dis- 
 morning," 
 ^d with the 
 will come 
 imn unless 
 3W in that 
 3ds on the 
 3se aie the 
 sy liavc bet- 
 jUing these 
 ,y percent. 
 L the city," 
 iarne thing. 
 ffWl wash;" 
 goods are 
 eeling that 
 sharp clerk 
 -house, and 
 _8t; I leally 
 
 tbonght we never would sell them; I told him we were 
 selling them less than cost, and he thought he was 
 getting a good bargain; got rid of them at last." And 
 the head of the firm says: "That's well done, splendidly 
 done; let's go over to Delmonico's.'* Meanwhile, God 
 had recorded eight lies — four lies against the young man, 
 four lies against his employer, for I undertake to say that 
 the employer is responsible for all the iniquities of hifi 
 clerks, and all the iniquities of those who are clerks of 
 these clerks, down to the tenth generation, if those eni- 
 ployers inculcated iniquitous and damning principles. I 
 stand before young men this morning who are under this 
 pressure. 1 say, come out of it. "Oh I'* you say, "I 
 can't; I have my widowed mother to support, and if a 
 man loses a situation now he can't get anotlier one.'' 1 
 say, come out of it. Go home to your mother and say 
 to her, "Mother, I can't stay in tliat shop and be upright; 
 what shall I do?" and if she is worthy of you she will 
 say, "Come out of it, my son — we will just throw our- 
 selves on him who hath promised to be the God of the 
 widow and the fatherless; he will take care of us," And 
 I tell you no young man ever permanently suffered by 
 such a course of conduct. In Pliiladelphia, in a drug 
 shop, a young man said to his employer: "I want to 
 please you, really, and I am willing to sell medicines on 
 Sunday; but I can't sell this patent shoe-blacking on 
 Sunday." "Well," said the head man, "yau will have 
 to do it, or else you will have to go away." The young 
 man said: "I can't do it; I am willing to sell medicines, 
 but not shoe-blacking." "Well, then, gol Go now." 
 The young man went away. The Lord looked after him. 
 The hundreds of thousands of dollars lie won in this 
 world were the smallest part of his fortune. God hon- 
 ored him. Bv the course he took he saved his soul as 
 
■ -i, ... 
 
 76 
 
 l^IQHT BIDES OF CITY LIFK. 
 
 i ' ?! 
 
 '!iiP|li!il||V'ii||,.!|ii,; 
 
 llifji'V 
 
 "111,1 
 
 well OB his fortnncB in the future. A man said to his 
 
 employer: "I can't wash the wagon on Sunday morning; 
 
 I am willing to wash it on Saturday afternoon; but, sir, 
 
 you will please excuse me, I can't wash the wagon on 
 
 Sunday morning." His employer said: "You must 
 
 wash it; my carriage comes in every Saturday night, and 
 
 you have got to wash it on Sunday morning." "I can't 
 
 do it," the man said. They parted. Tiie Lord looked 
 
 after him, grandly looked after him. He is worth to-duy 
 
 a hundred-fold more than his employer ever was or ever 
 
 will be, and he saved his soul. Young man, it is pafe to 
 
 do right. There are young men in this house to-day 
 
 who, nnder this storm of temptation, are striking deeper 
 
 and dwper their roots, and spreading out broader their 
 
 branches. Tliey are Daniels in Babylon, they are Josephs 
 
 in the Egyptian court, they are Pauls amid the wild 
 
 beasts at Ephesus. I preach to encourage them. Lay 
 
 hold of O d and be faithful. 
 
 There i t. mistake we make about young men. Wo 
 put them in two classes: the one class is moral, the other 
 is dissolute. The moral are safe The dissolute cannot 
 be reclaimed. I deny both propositions. The moral are 
 not safe unless they have laid hold of God, and the dis- 
 solute may be reclaimed. I suppose there are self- 
 righteous men in this house who feel no need of God, 
 and will not seek after him, and they will go out in the 
 world and they will be tempted, and they will be flung 
 down by misfortune, and they will go down, down, down, 
 until some night you will see them going home hooting, 
 raving, shouting blasphemy— g^oing home to their mother, 
 going home to their sister, going home to the young 
 companion to whom, only a little while ago, in the pres- 
 ence of a brilliant assemblage, flashing lights and orange 
 blossoms, and censers swinging in the air, they promi8e<l 
 
TRAPS FOB HEN. 
 
 77 
 
 said to his 
 (rmornin|]^: 
 II ; but, sir, 
 wagon on 
 You must 
 ' night, and 
 ' "I can't 
 jord looked 
 'orth to-d;iy 
 was or ev(M- 
 it is Fafe to 
 ouse to-day 
 king deeper 
 'oader their 
 are Josephs 
 lid the wild 
 them. Lay 
 
 men. We 
 ■al, the other 
 )hite cannot 
 le moral are 
 and the dis- 
 re are self- 
 eed of God, 
 o out in the 
 
 ill be flung 
 
 down, down, 
 
 nie hootin*;, 
 
 heir mother, 
 
 the young 
 
 in the pres- 
 8 and orange 
 
 ey promise*! 
 
 .i| 
 
 fidelity and purity, and kindness perpetual. As ihat 
 man reaches the door, she will open it, not with an out- 
 cry, but she will stagger back from the door as ho comes 
 in, and in her look there will be the prophecy of woes 
 that are coming: want that will shiver in need of a tire, 
 hunger that will cry in vain for bread, cruelties that will 
 not leave the heart when they have crushed it, but pinch 
 it again, and stab it again, until some night she will open 
 the door of the place where her companion was ruined, 
 and she will tling out her arm from under her ragged 
 shawl and say, with almost omnipotent eloquence, "Give 
 me back my Jiusbandl Give me back my protectorl 
 Give me back my all! Him of the kind heart arid gentle 
 words, and the manly brow — give him back to mel" 
 And then the wretches, obese and filthy, will push back 
 their matted locks, and they will say, "Put her outT 
 Put her out!" Oh I self-righteous man, without God 
 you are in peril. Seek after him to-day. Amid the ten 
 thousand temptations of life there is no safety for a man 
 without God. 
 
 But I may be addressing some who have gone astray, 
 and so I assault that other pioposition that the dissolute 
 cannot be reclaijned. Perhaps you have only gone a 
 little astray. While I speak are yoii troubled? Is there 
 a voice within you saying, " Wiiat did you do that for? 
 Why did you go there ? What did you mean by that ?'* 
 Is there a memory in your soul that tnakes you tremble 
 this morning ? God only knows all our hearts. Yea, 
 if you have gone so far as to commit iniquities, and have 
 gone through the whole catalogue, I invite you back 
 this morning. The Lord waits for you. " Kejoice! 
 O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer 
 thee in the days of thy youth ; but know thou that for 
 all these thin ^ God wUl bring thee into judgment.'' 
 

 iif 
 
 iliil 
 
 iili 
 
 ifii 
 
 
 
 iiiiiiiiili 
 
 ! i!' 
 
 ■lii 
 
 78 
 
 HIOHt 8IDE8 OF OITY LIFi«. 
 
 Come home, young man, to your father's God. Oomo 
 home, young man, to your mother's God. 01 I wish 
 that all the batteries of the Gosj)el could to-day bo un- 
 limbered asjainst all those influences wliicli are taking 
 down 80 many of our young men. I would like to blow 
 a trumpet of warning, and recruit until this whole 
 audience would march out on a crusade against the evils 
 of society. But let none of us be disheartened. O! 
 Christian workers, my heart is high with hope. The 
 dark horizon is blooming into the morning of which 
 prophets spoke, and of which poets have dreamed, and 
 of which painters have sketched. The world's bridal 
 hour advances. The mountains will kiss the morning 
 radiant and effulgent, and all the waves of the sea will 
 become the crystal keys of a great organ, on which the 
 fingers of everlasting joy shall play the grand march of 
 a world redeemed. Instead of the thorn there shall come 
 up the fir tree, and instead of the briar there shall come 
 up the myrtle tree, and the mountains and the hills shall 
 break forth into singing, and all the trees of the wood 
 shall clap their hands! 
 
 I 
 
STBAKORRB WA&NKD. 
 
 d. Oomo 
 )1 I wish 
 lay be un^ 
 ,re taking 
 ke to blow 
 his whole 
 it the evils 
 Lened. Ol 
 lOpe. The 
 of which 
 samed, and 
 Id's bridal 
 e morning 
 ;he sea will 
 I which the 
 d march of 
 I shall come 
 shall come 
 hills shall 
 the wood 
 
 ilr-t.^ t- 1. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 STRANGERS WARNED. 
 
 **And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of 
 iBTael."— 2Chron.il: 17. 
 
 If, in the time when people traveled afoot or on camel- 
 back, and vacillation from city to city was seldom, it was 
 important that Solomon recognize the presence of stran- 
 gers, how much more important, now in these days, when 
 by railroad and steamboat the population of the earth 
 are always in motion, and from one year's end to the 
 other, our cities are crowded with visitors. Every morn- 
 ing, on the Hudson River railroad track, there come in, 
 I think, about six trains, and on the New Jersey railroad 
 track some thirteen passenger trains ; so that all the 
 depots and the w^harves are a-rumble and a-clang with 
 the coming in of a great immigration of strangers. 
 Some of them come for purposes of barter, some for 
 mechanism, some for artistic gratification, some for sight- 
 seeing. A great many of them go out on the evening 
 trains, and consequently the city makes but little im- 
 pression upon tliem; but there are multitudes who, in 
 the hotels and boarding-houses, make temporary resi- 
 [dence. They tarry here for three or four days, or as 
 jmany weeks. They spend the days in the stores and the 
 evenings in sight-seeing. Their temporary stay will 
 make or break them, not only financially but morally, 
 for this world and the world that is to come. Multitudes 
 of them come into our morning and evening services. 
 I am conscious that I stand in the presence of many 
 
1^ II li 
 
 
 80 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF CITY LIFK. 
 
 " lisp 
 
 1:1'. i ")--':\- 
 
 ''*''■' '■ 111' ' ■' Ml 
 
 ;ii!||ifli 
 
 !|,'!i:' 
 
 / !!!|j!|iiil''i'i'h'Hii'';. 
 
 lj|!ii|;'i;';;i!'ilr'^' 
 
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 mil,..!?': -:;. 
 
 
 1 
 
 § 
 
 'i'i' • A- 
 
 
 lil! H 
 
 of them now. I desire more especially to speak to 
 them. May God give me the right word and help me to 
 utter it in the right way. 
 
 There have glided into this house those unknown to 
 others^ whose history, if told, would be more thrilling 
 than the deepest tragedy, more exciting tlian Nilsson's 
 song, more bright than a spring morning, more awful 
 tl'.an a wintry midnight. If they could stand up here 
 and tell the story of their escapes, and their temptations, 
 and their bereavements, and their disasters, and their 
 victories, and their defeats, there would be in this house ^ 
 such a commingling of groans and acclamations as would 
 make the place unendurable. 
 
 There is^a man who, in infancy, lay in a cradle satin- 
 Lwod. There is a man who was picked up, a foundling, 
 on Boston Common. Here is a man who is coolly ob- 
 serving this day's service, expecting no advantage, an.l 
 caring for no advantage for himself ; while yonder 
 is a man who has been for tea years in an awful confla- 
 gration of evil habits, and he 4 a mere cinder of a 
 destroyed nature, and he is wo dering if there shall be 
 in this service any escape or iielp for his immortal soul. 
 Meeting you only once, perhaps, face jto face, I strike 
 hands with you in an earnest talk about your presern- 
 condition, and your eternal v/eu-being. St. Paul's siiip 
 at Melita wert to pieces where two seas meet ; but we 
 stand to-day at a point where a tliousand seas converge, 
 and eternity alone can tell the issue of the hour. 
 
 The hotels of this country, for beauty and elegance, 
 are not surpassed by the hotels in any otlier land ; but 
 those that are most celebrated for brilliancy of tapestry 
 and mirror cannot give t<- the guest any costly apart- 
 ment, unless he can afford a parlor in addition to liis 
 lodging. The stranger, therefore, will generally find as- 
 
 iiiiM. 
 
STRANGERS WiBMED. 
 
 81 
 
 signed to him a room without any pictures, and perhaps 
 any rocking chair! He will find a box ot* matches o\\ A 
 bureau .and an old newspaper left by the previous occu- 
 pant, and that will be about all the ornamentation. At 
 seven o'clock in the evening, after having taken his re- 
 past, he will look over his men;orandum book of the 
 day's work ; he will write a letter to his home, and then 
 a desperation will seize u^un him to get out. You hear 
 the great city thundering under your windows, and you 
 say: " I must join that procession," and in ten minutes 
 you have joined it. Where are you going? *' Oh," you 
 fiay, "I haven't made up my mind yet." Better make 
 up your mind before your start. Perhaps the very way 
 you go now you wi. always go. Twenty years ago there 
 were young men who came down the Astor flouse steps, 
 and started out in a wrong direction, where they have 
 been going ever since. 
 
 " Well, where are you going ?" says one man. " I 
 am. going to the Academy to hear some music." Good. 
 I would like to join you at the door. At the tap of the 
 orchestral baton, all the gates of harmony and beauty 
 will open before your soul. I congratulate you. Where 
 are you going ? " Well,'' you say, " I am going up to 
 see some advertised pictures." Good. 1 should like to 
 go along with yo'.i and look over the same catalogue, aud 
 study with you Kensett, and Bierstadt, and Church, and 
 Moran. Nothing more elevating than good pictures. 
 Where are yoti going ? " Well," you say, ** I am going 
 up to the Young Men's Christian AssociaLion rooms." 
 Good. You will find there gymnastics to strengthen 
 the muscles, and books to improve the mind, and Chris- 
 tian influence to save the soul. I wish every city in the 
 LTnit^id States had as tine a palace for its Young Men's 
 
 Christian Association as New York has. Where are 
 6 
 
llii^iM- 
 
 82 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF OITY LIFK 
 
 /,j;ii||j|,|:l^'!|!|;r^^: 
 ^ !!ill'!i:i!!ii;im 
 
 lijiiS'S:, , • 
 11; :■■:;:::: 
 
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 iliii,:?' 
 
 I ,!i)iii' ;'t'ti '• 
 
 j^(9w going ? •' Well," you say, " I am going to take a 
 long walk up Broadway, and so turn around into the 
 Bowery. I am going to stody human life." Good. A 
 walk through Broadway at eight o'clock at night is inter- 
 esting, educating, fascinating, appalling, exhilarating to 
 the last degree. Stop in front of tliat theater, and see 
 who goes in. Stop at that saloon, and see who comes 
 out. See the great tides of life surging backward and 
 forward, and heating against the marble of the curbstone, 
 and eddying down into the saloons. What is that mark 
 on the face of that debauchee? It is the hectic flush of 
 eternal death. Wi\at is that Woman's laughter ? It is 
 the shriek of a lost soul. Who is that Christian man 
 going along with a phial of anodyne to the dying pauper 
 on Elm street? Who is that belated man on the way to 
 a. prayer- meeting ? Wiio is that city missionary going 
 to take a box in which to bury a child '^ Who are all 
 these clusters of briglit and beautiful faces? They are 
 going to some interesting place of amusement. Who i? 
 thkt man going into the drug-store? That h the man 
 who yesterday lost all Ids fortune on Wall street. He 
 h going in for a dose of belladonna, and before morning 
 it wilf. make no difference to him vhether stocks are up 
 or down. 1 tell you that Broadway, between seven and 
 twelve o'clock at nioht, between the Battery and Uniori- 
 square, is an Austeriitz, a Gettysburg, a Waterloo, when) 
 kingdoms are lost or won, and three worlds mingle in the 
 strife. 
 
 I meet another coming down off tiie hotel steps, and 1 
 say: "'Where are you going?" You say: "I am 
 going with a mercliant of New York who has promised 
 to-night to snow me tl^. underground life of the city. 1 
 am his customer, aim he is going to oblige me verj 
 much." Stop! A business house that tries to get or 
 
'^>^; 
 
 STKANGEKS WARNED. 
 
 98 
 
 J to take a 
 d into the 
 Good. A 
 lit is inter- 
 larating U) 
 er, and see 
 who comes 
 kward and 
 3 curbstone, 
 i that mark 
 itic flusli of 
 iter ? It is 
 •istian man 
 ring pauper 
 I the way to 
 [>nary going 
 \lio are all 
 ? They are 
 it. Who is 
 IB the man 
 street. He 
 .re morning 
 tocka are up 
 n seven and 
 and Uniovi- 
 berloo, whero. 
 iiingle in the 
 
 steps, and 1 
 Ly: *' I am 
 las promised 
 
 the city. T 
 ige me very 
 ip8 to get or 
 
 keep your custom through such a process as that, is not 
 worthy of you. There are business establishments in 
 our cities which have for years been sending to eternal 
 destruction hundreds and thousand;? of mercliants. They 
 have a secret c rawer in the counter, where money is kept, 
 and the clerk goes and get-^ it when he wants to take 
 these visitors to the city through the low slums of the 
 place. Shall I mention the names of some of these great 
 cominorcial establishments? I have them on my lip- 
 Bhail I ? Perhaps I had better leave it to the young 
 men who, in tliat process, have been destroyed themselves 
 while they have been destroying others. I care not how 
 high-sounding the name of a commercial establishment 
 if it proposes to get customers or to keep them by such 
 a process as that; drop their acquaintance. They will 
 cheat you before you get througii. They will send to 
 you a style of goods diflerent from that which you bought 
 by sample. They will give you under-weight. There 
 will be in the packnge half-a-dozen less pairs of sus- 
 penders than you paid for. They will rob you. Oh, you 
 feel in your pockets and say: "Is my money gone ?" 
 They have robbed you of something for which pounds 
 and shillings can never give you compensation. When 
 one of thece Western merchants has been dragged by one 
 of these commercial agents through the slums of the 
 city, he is not fit to go home. The mere memory of 
 what he has seen will be moral pollution, unless he go 
 on positive Christian errand. I think you had better 
 let the city missionary and the police ani the Christian 
 Jyeformer attend to the exploration of New York and 
 derground life. You do not go to a small -pox hospital 
 pr the purpose of exploration. You do not go thsre, 
 cause you are afraid of the contagion. And yet, you 
 into the presence of a moral leprosy that is as much 
 
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 11 ' 
 
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 at NIGHT SIDES OF CITY LIFE. 
 
 more dangerous to you as the death of the soul is worse 
 than the death of the body. I will undertake to say that 
 nine-tenths of the men who have been ruined in our cities 
 have been ruined by simply going to observe without 
 any idea of participating. The fact is that underground 
 city life is a filthy, fuming, reeking, pestiferous depth 
 which may blast the eye that looks at it. In the Keign 
 of Terror, in 1792, in Paris, people, escaping from the 
 officers of the law, got into the sewers of the city, and 
 crawled and walked through miles of that awful labyrinth, 
 stifled with the atmosphere and almost dead, some of 
 them, when they came out to the river Seine, where they 
 washed thtrmselves and again breathed the fresh air. 
 But I iiave to tell yon that a great many of the men who 
 go on the work of exploration through the underground 
 guttopi of New York life never come out at any Seine 
 river where they can wash off the pollution of the moral 
 sewerage. Stranger, if one of the "drummers" of the 
 olty, as lliey are called — if one of the "drummers " pro- 
 pose to take you and show you the " sights " of the town 
 and underground New York, say to him: "Please, sir, 
 what part do you propose to show me?" 
 
 Sabbath morning conies. You wake up in the hotel. 
 You have had a longer sleep than usual. You say: 
 "Where am I ? a thousand miles from home 1 I have no 
 fainily to take to church to-day. My pastor will not expect 
 my presence. I think I shall look over my accounts and 
 study my memorandum-book. Then I will write a few 
 business letters, and talk to that merchant who came in 
 on the same train with me." Stop I you cannot afford to 
 do it. 
 
 "But," you say, "I am wortli five b>»ndT^ thousand 
 dollars." You cannot afford to do it You say: "I am 
 worth a million dollars. " Yon caimot afford to do it. All 
 
STRANGERS WARNHD. 
 
 Ml 
 
 [ is worse 
 
 say that 
 our cities 
 
 1 without 
 ierground 
 )U8 depili 
 the Reign 
 
 from the 
 ! city, and 
 labyrinth, 
 d, some of 
 vhere they 
 fresh air. 
 B men who 
 ierground 
 any Seine 
 the moral 
 •8" of the 
 lers" pro- 
 f the town 
 Mease, sir, 
 
 he hotel. 
 You say. 
 I have no 
 not expect 
 ounts and 
 rite a few 
 
 came in 
 t afford to 
 
 1 thcmsand 
 y: "lam 
 doit. All 
 
 you gain by breaking the Sabbath yon will lose. You 
 will lose one of three things: your intellect, your morals, 
 or your property, and you cannot point in the whole earth 
 to a single exception to this rule. Grod gives us six days 
 and kecpt one for himself Now if we try to get the 
 seventh, he will upset the work of all the otiier six. 
 
 I remember going up Mount Washington, before the 
 railroad had been built, to the Tip-Top House, and the 
 guide would come around to our horse? and stop us when 
 we were crossing a very steep and dangerous place, and 
 he would tighten the girdle of the horse, and straighten 
 the saddle. And 1 have to tell you that this road of life 
 is so eteep and full of peril we must, at least one day in 
 seven, stop and have the harness of life readjusted, and 
 our souls re-equipped. The seven days of the week are 
 like seven business ])artner8, and you must give to each 
 one his share, or the business will be broken up. God is 
 80 generous with us ; he has given you six days to his 
 one. Now, liere is a father who has seven apples, and he 
 gives six to Iuh grnrwiy boy, proposing to keep one for 
 himself. TIm^ g''eedy boy gt for the other ane and loses 
 all the six. 
 
 How few men there are w! > know how to keep the 
 Lord's day away from home. A great many who are con- 
 sistent on the banks of the St. Lawrence, or the Alabama, 
 or the Mi8si:?sippi, are not consistent when they get o 
 far off as the Kast River. I repeat — though it is putting 
 it on .a low ground — you cannot financially afford to break 
 the Le>rd's day. It is only another way of tearing up 
 yoar government securities, and putting down the price 
 •of goods, and blowing uj) your store. I have friends who 
 •re all the time slicing off ])iece8 of the Sabbath. They cut 
 a little of the Sabbath off that end, and a little dI the Sab- 
 bath off this end. They do not keep the twenty-four hours. 
 
 ^11 
 
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 1 1 II 
 
 86 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF CITY LIFK. 
 
 11 
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 The Bible says: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it 
 holy." I have good friends who are quite accustomed to 
 leaving Albany by the midnight train on Saturday night, 
 and getting home before church. Now, there may be 
 occasions when it is right, but generally it is wrong. 
 How if the train should run off the track into the North 
 River? I hope your friends will not send for me to preach 
 your funeral sermon. It would be an awkward thing for 
 me to stand up by your side and preach — you a Christian 
 man killed on a rail-train traveling on a Sunday morn- 
 ing. ** Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. " 
 What does that mean? It means twenty-four hours. 
 A man owes you a dollar. You don't want him to pay 
 you ninety cents; you want the dollar. If God demands 
 of us twenty-four hours out of the week, he means twenty- 
 four hours and not nineteen. Oh, we want to keep vig- 
 ilantly in this country the American Sabbath, and not 
 have transplanted here the German or the French Sab- 
 bath. If any of you have been in Paris you know that 
 on Sabbath morning the vast population rush out toward 
 the country with baskets and bundles, and toward night, 
 they come back fagged out, cross, and intoxicated. May 
 God preserve to us our glorious, quiet American Sab- 
 baths. 
 
 And so men come to the verge of city life and say : 
 " Now we'll look off. Gome, young man, don't be afraid. 
 Come near, let's look off." He looks and looks, until, 
 after a while, ^atan comes and puts a hand on each of his 
 shoulders and pushes him off. Society says it is evil 
 proclivity on the part of that young man. Oh, no, he 
 was simply an exploror, and sacrificed his life in dis- 
 covery. A young man comes in from the country brag- 
 ging that nothing can do him any harm. He knows 
 about all the tricks of city life. "Why," he says, 
 
 «r 
 
to keep it 
 ttstomed to 
 rday night, 
 re may be 
 
 is wrong. 
 ) the North 
 le to preach 
 rd thing for 
 a Christian 
 iday raorn- 
 p it holy. " 
 four hours, 
 him to pay 
 od demands 
 jans twenty- 
 to keep vig- 
 ith, and not 
 French Sab- 
 u know that 
 li out toward 
 oward night, 
 
 cated. May 
 Qerican Sab- 
 
 fe and say : 
 n't be afraid, 
 looks, until, 
 >n each of his 
 ,ys it is evil 
 Oh, no, he 
 life in dis- 
 ;onntry brag- 
 He knows 
 says, "didn't 
 
 STRANGERS WARNED. 
 
 87 
 
 I receive a circular in the country telling me that some- 
 how they found out I was a sharp business man, and if I 
 would only send a certain amount of money by mail or 
 express, charges prepaid, they would send a package with 
 which I could make a fortune in two months; but I didn't 
 believe it. My neighborti did, but I didn't. Why, no 
 man could take ray money. I carry it in a pocket inside 
 my vest. No man could take it. No man could cheat 
 me at the faro table. Don't I know all about the * cue- 
 box,' and the 'dealer's-box,* and the cards stuck together 
 as though they were one, and when to hand in my 
 cheques? Oh, they can't cheat me. I know what I am 
 about." While, at the same time, that very moment, 
 such men are succumbing to the worst Satanic influences, 
 in the simple fact that they are going to observe. Now, 
 if a man or woman shall go down into a haunt of iniquity 
 for the purpose of reforming men and women — if, as did 
 John Howard, or Elizabeth Fry, or Van Meter, they go 
 down among the abandoned for the sake of saving souls — 
 or as did Chalme/s and Guthrie to see sin, that they 
 might better combat it, then they shall be God-protected, 
 and they will come out better than when they went in. 
 But if you go on this work of exploration merely for 
 the purpose of satisfying a morbid curiosity, I will take 
 twenty per cent, off your moral character. O strangers, 
 welcome to the great city. May you find Christ here, 
 and not any physical or mo^-al damage. Men coming 
 from inland, from distant cities, have here found God and 
 found him in our service. May that be your case 
 now. You thought you were brought to this place merely 
 for the purpose of sight-seeing. Perhaps God brought 
 'ou to this roaring city for the purpose of working out 
 our eternal salvation. Go back to your homes and tell 
 lem how you met Christ here — the loving, patient, par- 
 
 
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 NIGHT SIDES OF OITY LIFK. 
 
 doning, and sympathetic Christ. Who knows but the 
 city which has been the destruction of so many may be 
 your eternal redemption? 
 
 A good many years ago, Edward Stanley, the English 
 commander, with his regiment, took a fort. The fort was 
 manned by some three hundred Spaniards. Edward 
 Stanley came close up to the fort, leading his men, when 
 a Spaniard thrust at him with a spear, intending to k 
 destroy his life; but Stanley caught hold of the spear, " 
 and the Spaniard in attempting to jerk the spear away 
 from Stanley, lifted him up into the battlements. No 
 sooner had Stanley taken his position on the battlements, $ 
 than he swung his sword and his whole regiment leaped ■ 
 up after him and the fort was taken. So may it be with ; 
 you, O stranger. The city influences which have destroyed v 
 so many and dashed them down for ever, shall be the 
 means of lifting you up into the tower of God's mercy 
 and strength, your soul more than conqueror through the 
 grace of Him who hath promised an especial benediction 
 to those who shall treat you well, saying : " I was a 
 stranger and ye took me in." 
 
 M 
 
rs but the 
 ly may be 
 
 le Englisli 
 iie fort was 
 Edward 
 men, when 
 tending to 
 : the spear, 
 spear away 
 nents. No 
 ►attlements, 
 lent leaped 
 f it be with 
 ra destroyed 
 shall be the 
 ■od's mercy 
 through the 
 3enediction 
 " T was a 
 
 PKDPLH TO BK FKAUHIK 
 
 89 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PEOPLE TO BE FEARED. 
 
 « 
 
 " Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they 
 which pass by the way do plack her? The boar out of the wood 
 doth waste it, and the wild bevist of the field doth devour it" — Psalms 
 Izxx: 12,13. 
 
 By this lioinely but expressive figure, the text sets 
 forth the bad influcncos which in olden time broke in 
 upon God's heritage, sm with swine's foot trampling, and 
 as with swine's snout uprooting he vineyards ot pros- 
 perity. Wliat was true then is true now. There have 
 been enough trees of righteousness planted to overshadow 
 the whole earth, had it not been for the axe- men who 
 hewed them down. The temple of truth would long 
 ago have been completed, liad it not been for the icono- 
 clasts who defaced the walls and battered down the pil- 
 lars. The whole earth would have been an Eshcol of 
 ripened clusters, had it not been that " the boar has 
 wasted it and the vrild beast of the field devoured it." 
 
 I propose to point out to you those whom I conidder 
 to be the uprooting and devouring classes of society. 
 First, thepuhlio criminals. You ought not to be surprised 
 that these ])eople make up a large portion in many com- 
 munities. The vast majority of the crimiuals who take 
 ship from Europe come into our own i)ort. In 1869, of 
 the forty-nine thousand people who were incarcerated in 
 the prisons of tl,e country, thirty-two thousand were of 
 foreign birth. Many of them were the very desperadoes 
 of society, ooziiig int^^ the slums of our cities, waiting 
 
mw' . I 
 
 90 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF OnT LIFE. 
 
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 for an opportunity to riot and steal and debaucl), joining 
 the large gang of American thugs and cut-throats. There 
 are in this cluster of cities — Now York, Jersey City, 
 and Brooklyn — four thousand people whose entire busi- 
 ness in life is to commit crime. That is as much their 
 business as jurisprudence or medicine or merchandise is 
 your business. To it they bring all their energies of 
 body, mind, and soul, and they look upon the interreg- 
 nums which they spend in prison as so much unfortunate 
 loss of time, just as you look upon an attack of influenza 
 or rheumatism which fastens you in the house for a few 
 days. It is their lifetime business to pick pockets, and 
 blow up safes, and shoplift, and ply the panel game, and 
 they have as much pride of skill in their business as you 
 have in yours when you upset the argument of an 
 opposing council, or cure a gunshot fracture which other 
 surgeons have given up, or foresee a turn in the market 
 80 you buy goods just before they go up twenty per cent. 
 It is their business to commit crime, and I do not sup- 
 pose that once in a year the thought of the immorality 
 strikes them. Added to these professional criminals, 
 American and foreign, there is a large class of men who 
 are more or less industrious in crime. In one year the 
 police in this cluster of cities arrested ten thousand 
 people for theft, and ten thousand for assault and battery, 
 and fifty thousand for intoxication. Drunkenness is 
 responsible for much of the theft, since it confuses a 
 man's ideas of property, and he gets his hands on things 
 that do not belong to him. E-um is responsible for 
 much of the assault and battery, inspiring men to sudden 
 bravery, which they must demonstrate though it be on 
 the face of the next gentleman. 
 
 Seven million dollars' worth of property stolen in 
 this cluster of cities in one year. You cannot, as good 
 
PEOl'LB TO BE FEARED. 
 
 91 
 
 , joining 
 ,8. There 
 iey City, 
 :ire busi- 
 uch their 
 andise is 
 lergies of 
 interreg- 
 tbrtunate 
 influenza 
 for a few 
 jkets, and 
 rume, and 
 388 as you 
 !nt of an 
 [lich other 
 lie market 
 r per cent. 
 ) not Bup- 
 mmorality 
 criminals, 
 men who 
 B year the 
 thousand 
 id battery, 
 ceniiess is 
 jon fuses a 
 on things 
 nsible for 
 to sudden 
 ■li it be on 
 
 stolen m 
 >t, as good 
 
 citizens, be independent of that fact. It will touch your 
 pocket, since I have to give you the fact that these three 
 cities pay seven million dollars' worth of taxes a year to 
 arraign, try. and support the criminal population. You 
 help to pay the board of every criminal, from the sneak- 
 thief that snatches a spool of cotton, up to some man 
 who enacts a " Black Friday." More than that, it 
 touches your heart in the moral depression of the com- 
 munity. You might as well think to stand in a closely 
 confined room where there are fifty people and yet not 
 breathe the vitiated air, as to stand in a community where 
 there is such a great multitude of the depraved without 
 somewhat being contaminated. What is the fire that 
 burns your store down compared with the conflagration 
 which consumes your morals? What is the theft of the 
 gold and silver from your money safe compared with the 
 theft of your children's virtue? 
 
 We are all ready to arraign criminals. We shout at 
 the top of our voice, " Stop thief!" and when the police 
 get on the track .'ecome out, hatless and in our slippers, 
 and assist in the arrest. We come around the bawling 
 ruffian and hustle him ofi"to justice, and when he gets in 
 prison, what do we do for him? With great gusto we 
 put on the handcuffs and the hopples; but what prepara- 
 tion are we making for the day when the handcuff's and 
 the hopples come off? Society seems to say to these 
 criminals, " Villain, go in there and rot," when it ought 
 to say, "You are an offender against the law, but we 
 mean to give you an opportunity to repent; we mean to 
 help you. Here are Bibles and tracts and Christian in- 
 fluences. Clin'^t died for you. Look, and live." 
 
 Vast improvements have been made by introducing 
 industries into the prison; but we want something more 
 than hammers and shoe lasts to reclaim these people. 
 
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 KIOMT 8IDF.8 OF CITY LIFE. 
 
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 Aye, we want more than sermons on the Sabbath day, 
 Society must impress these men with the fact that it 
 does not enjoy their suffering, and that it is attempt- 
 ing to 'reform and elevate them. The majority of 
 criminals suppose that society has a grudge against 
 them, and they in turn have a grudge against society. 
 
 They are harder in heart and more infuriate when tiiey 
 come out of jail than when they went in. Many of the 
 people who go to prison go again and again and again. 
 Some years ago, of fifteen hundred prisoners who during 
 the year had been in Sing Sing, four hundred had been 
 there before. In a house of correction in the country, 
 where during a certain reach of time there had been five 
 thousand people, more than three thousand had been there 
 before. So, in one case the prison, and in the other case 
 the house of correction, left them just as bad as they were 
 before. The secretary of one of the benevolent societies 
 of New York saw a lad fifteen j-ears of age who had 
 spent three years of his life in prison, and he said to the 
 lad, " What have they done for you to make you better?" 
 " Well," replied the lad, " the first time I was brought 
 up before the judge he said, ' You ought to be ashamed 
 of yourself.' And then I committed a ciinie again, and 
 I was brought up before the same judge, and he said, 
 'You rascal!' And after a while I committed some 
 other crime, and I was brought before the same judge, 
 and he said, * You ought to be hanged.' " That is all they 
 had done for him in the wav of reformation and salva- 
 tion. "Oh," you say, '* these people are incorrigible." I 
 suppose there are hundreds of persons this day lying in 
 the prison bunks who would leap up at the prospect of 
 reformation, if society would only allow them a way into 
 decency and respectability. "Oh," you say, " I have no 
 ]>atience with these rogues." I ask you in reply, How 
 
PEOPLE TO BE FEABED. 
 
 98 
 
 much better would you have been under the same circum- 
 stances? Suppose your mother had been a blasphemer 
 and your father a sot, and you had started life with a 
 body stuffed with evil proclivities, and you had spent 
 much of your time in a cellar amid obscenities and curs- 
 ing, and if at ten years of age you had been compelled 
 to go out and steal, battered and banged at night if you 
 came in without any spoils, and suppose your early man- 
 hood and womanhood had been covered with rags and 
 filth, and decent society had turned its back upon you, 
 and left you to consort with vagabonds and wharf-rats — 
 how much better vrould you have been? I have no sym» 
 patliy with that executive clemency which would let 
 crime run loose, or which would sit in the gallery of a 
 court-room weeping because some hard-hearted wretch 
 is brought to justice; but I do say that the safety and 
 life of the community demand more potential influences 
 in behalf of public offenders. 
 
 Within five minutes* walk of where I now stand, there 
 is a prison, enough to bringdown the wrath of Almighty 
 God on this city of Brooklyn. It is the Raymond Street 
 Jail. It would not be strange if the jail fever should 
 start in that horrible hole, like that which raged in Eng- 
 land dui "ng the session of the Black Assize, when three 
 hundred perished — judges, jurors, constables, and law- 
 yers. Alas, that our fair city should have such a pest- 
 house. I understand the sheriff and the jail-keeper do 
 all they can, under the circumstances, for the comfort of 
 these people; but five and six people are crowded into a 
 place where there ought to be but one or two. The air 
 is like that of the Black Hole of Calcutta. As the air 
 swept through the wicket, it almost knocked me down. ' 
 No sunlight. Young men who had committed their 
 first crime crowded in among old offenders. I saw there 
 

 
 
 
 11 „ 
 
 
 li,;'-''-- 
 
 94 NIGHT SIDES OF OITV LIFE. 
 
 one woman, with a child almost blind, who had been 
 arrested for the crime of poverty, who was waiting until 
 the slow law could take her to the almshouse, where she 
 hghtfullj' belonged; but she was thrust in there with her 
 child amid the most abandoned wretches of the town- 
 Many of the offenders in that prison sleeping on the 
 floor, with nothing but a vermin-covered blanket over 
 them Those people crowded and wan and wasted and 
 half suffocated and infuriated. I said to the men, "How 
 do you stand it here?" "God knows,'* said one man, 
 *-we have to stand it." Oh, they will pay you when they 
 get out. Where they burned down one house they will 
 burn three. They will strike deeper the assassin's knife. 
 They are this minute plotting worse burglaries. Ray- 
 mond Street Jail is the best place I know of to manu- 
 facture foot- pads, vagabonds, and cut- throats. Yale 
 College is not so well calculated to make scholars, nor 
 Harvard so well calculated to make scientists, nor Prince 
 ton so well calculated to make theologians, as Raymond 
 Street Jail is calculated to make criminals. All that 
 those men do not know of crime after they have been in 
 that dungeon for some time, Satanic machination cannot 
 teach, them. Every hour that jail stands, it challenges 
 the Lord Almighty to smite this city. I ci*ll upon the 
 ])eople to rise in their wrath and demand a reformation 
 I call upon the judges of our courts to expose that 
 infamy. I call upon the Legislature of the State of New 
 York, now in session, to examine and appease that out- 
 rage on God and human society. 1 demand, in behalf 
 of those incarcerated prisoners, Iresh air and clear sun. 
 light., and, in the name of him who had not where to lay 
 his head, a couch to rest on at night. In the insuffer- 
 able stench and sickening surroundings of that Raymond 
 Street Jail there is nothing but disease for the body, 
 
PBOPLB TO BB FEARED. 
 
 95 
 
 idiocy for the mind, and death for the soul. Stifled air 
 and darkness and vermin never turned a thief into an 
 honest man. 
 
 We want men like John Howard and Sir William 
 Blackstone, and women like Elizabeth Fry, to do for the 
 prisons of the United States what those people did in 
 other days for the prisons of England. I thank God for 
 what Isaac T. Hopper and Dr. Wines and Mr. Harris 
 and scores of others have done in the way of prison 
 reform; but we want something more radical before 
 upon this city will come the blessing of him who said : 
 " I was in prison, and re came unto me." 
 
 Again, in this clabs '>f uprooting and devouring popu- 
 lation are untrustworthy officials. " Woe unto thee, O 
 land, when thy kings and child, and thy princes drink 
 in the morning." It is a great calamity to a city when 
 bad men get into public authority. Why was it 
 that in New York there was such unparalleled crime 
 between 1866 and 1871 ? It was because the judges of 
 police in that city, for the most part, were as corrupt as 
 the vagabonds that came before them for trial. Thos'^ 
 were the days of high carniv.al for election frauds, assas- 
 sination and forgery. We had the " Whisky Ring," and 
 the "Tammany Ring," and the "Erie Ring." There 
 was one man during those years that got one hundred 
 and twenty-eight thousand dollars in one year for serving 
 the public. In a few years it was estimated that there 
 were fifty millions of \ ^'blic treasure squandered. In 
 those times the criminal had only to wink to the judge, 
 or his lawyer would wink for him, and the question was 
 decided for the defendant. Of the eight thousand people 
 arrested in that city in one year, only tliree thousand 
 were punished. These little matters were " fixed up," 
 while the interests of society were "fixed c'.own." You 
 
 H 5. 
 
 **!r 
 
96 
 
 mOHT SIDES OF CITY LIFK. 
 
 
 KM 
 
 J- 
 
 know as weJl as I that a criminal who escapes only opens 
 the door for other criminalities. When the two pick- 
 pockets snatched the diamond pin from the Brooklyn 
 gentleman in a Broadway stage, and the villains were 
 arrested, and the trial was set down for the General Ses- 
 sions, and then the trial never came, and never anything 
 more was heard of the case, the public officials were only 
 bidding higher for more crime. It is no compliment to 
 public authority when we have In all ihe cities of the 
 country, walking abroad, men and women notorions for 
 criminality, unwhipped of justice. They are pointed 
 out to you in the street day by day. There you find 
 what are called the "fences," the men who stand between 
 the thief and the honest man, sheltering the thief and 
 at a great price handing over the goods to the owner to 
 whom they belong. There you will find those who are 
 called the "skinners," the men who hover around Wall 
 street, with great sleight of hand in bonds and stocks. 
 There you find the funeral thieves, the people who go 
 and sit down and mourn with families and pick their 
 pockets. And there you find the "confidence men,'* 
 who borrow money of you because they have a dead 
 child in the house and want to bury it, when they never 
 had a house nor a family; or they want to go to England 
 and get a large property there, and they want you lo pay 
 their way, and they will send the money back by the 
 very next mail. There are th^ "harbor thieves," the 
 "shoplifters," the "pickpockets," famous all over the 
 cities. Hundreds of them with their faces in the 
 '^Rogues' Gallery," yet doing nothing for the last five 
 or ton years but defraud society and escape justice. 
 When these people go unarrested and unpunished, it is 
 putting a high premium upon vice, and saying to the 
 young criminals of this country, "What a safe thing it is 
 
PEOPLE TO BE PEABBD. 
 
 n 
 
 to be agTPat criminal," Let the law swoop upon them. 
 Let it bo known in this country that crime will have no 
 quarter, that the detectives are after it, that the police 
 club is being brandished, that the iron door of the prison 
 is bein^ opened, that the judge is ready to call on the 
 case. Too great leniency to criminals is too great 
 severity to society. When the President pardoned the 
 wholesale dealer in obscene books he hindered the cru- 
 sade against licentiousness; but when Governor Dix 
 refused to let go Foster, the assassin, who was condemned 
 to the gallows, he grandly vindicated the laws of God 
 and the dignity of the State of New York. 
 
 Again: among the uprooting and devouring classes in 
 our midst are the idle. Of course, I do not refer to peo- 
 ple who are getting old, or to the sick, or to those who 
 cannot get work ; but I tell you to look out for those ath- 
 letic men and women who will not work. When the 
 French nobleman was asked why he kept busy when he 
 had so large a property, he said, " I keep on engraving 
 so I may not hang myself." I do not care who the man 
 is, you cannot afford to be idle. It is from the idle classes 
 that the criminal classes are made up. Character, like 
 water, gets putrid if it stands still too long. Who can 
 wonder that in this world, where there is so much to do, 
 and all the hosts of earth and heaven and hell are plung- 
 ing into the conflict, and angels are flying, and God 
 is at work, and the universe is a-quakf -vith the march- 
 ing and counter-marching, that God le his indignation 
 fall upon a man who chooses idleness ? I have watched 
 these do-nothings who spend their time stroking their 
 beard, and retouching their toilette^ and criticising 
 industrious people, and pass their days and nights in bar- 
 rooms and club houses, lounging and smoking and chew- 
 ing and card-paying. They are not only useless, bnt they 
 7 
 
 
98 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF CITY LIFE. 
 
 are dangerous. How hard it is for them to while awaj 
 the hours? 
 
 Alas ! for them. If they do not know how to while away 
 an hour, what will they do when they have all eternity 
 on their hands ? These men for a while smoke the best 
 cigars, and wear the best broadcloth, and move in the 
 highest spheres; but I have noticed that very soon they 
 come down to the prison, the almshouse, or stop at the 
 gallows. 
 
 The police stations of this cluster of cities furnisli 
 annually two hundred thousand lodgings. For the most 
 part, these two hundred thousand lodgings are furnished 
 to able-bodied men and women — people as able to work 
 as you and I are. When they are received no longer at 
 one police station, because they are "repeaters,'^ they go 
 to some other station, and so they keep moving around. 
 They get their food at house doors, stealing what they 
 can lay their hands on in the front basement while the 
 servant is spreading the bread in the back basement. 
 They will not work. Time and again, in the country 
 districts, they have wanted hundreds and thousands of 
 laborers. These men will not go. They do not want to 
 work. I have tried them. I have set them to sawing 
 wood in my cellar, to see whether they wanted to work. 
 I offered to pay them well for it. I have heard the saw 
 going for about three minutes, and then I went down, 
 and lo, the wood, but no saw ! They are the pest of so- 
 ciety, and they stand in the way of the Lord's poor, who 
 ought to be helped, and must be helped, and will be 
 helped. While there are thousands of industrious men 
 who cannot get any work, these men who do not want 
 any work come in and make that plea. I am in favor of 
 the restoration of the old-fashioned whipping-post for 
 just this one class of men who will not work; sleeping at 
 
PEOrLE T(3 BB FEARED. 
 
 99 
 
 1 away 
 
 e away 
 ternity 
 le best 
 in the 
 u they 
 at the 
 
 furnish 
 tie most 
 rnished 
 bo work 
 nger at 
 they go 
 around, 
 lat they 
 hile the 
 isement. 
 country 
 lands of 
 want to 
 sawing 
 ;o work, 
 the saw 
 t down, 
 lat of so- 
 lor, who 
 will be 
 >U8 men 
 lot want 
 favor of 
 post for 
 seping at 
 
 night at public expense in the station house; during the 
 day, getting their food jit your door-siep. Imprison- 
 ment does not scare them. They would like it. Blaok- 
 welPs Island or Sing Sing would be a comfortablehome 
 for them. They would have no objection to the alniH- 
 liouse, for they like thin soup, if they cannot get mock- 
 turtle. I propose this for them: on one side of them put 
 some healthy work; on tlie other side put a raw-hide, and 
 let them take their choice. I like for that class of peo- 
 ple the scant bill of fare that Paul wrote out for the 
 Thessalonian loafers: *'If any work not, neither should 
 he eat." By what law of God or man is it right that 
 you and I should toil day in and day out, until our hands 
 are blistered and our arms ache and our brain gets num))? 
 and tlien be called upon to support what in the United 
 States are about two million loafers'^ They are a very 
 dangerous class. Let the public authorities keep their 
 eves on them. 
 
 Again: among the uprooting classes I place the op- 
 pi'essed poor. Poverty to a certain extent is chastening; 
 but after that, when it drives a man to the wall, and he 
 hears his children cry in vain for bread, it sometimes^ 
 makes him desperate. I think that there are thousands of 
 honest men lacerated into vagabondism. There are men 
 crushed under burdens for which they are not half paid. 
 While there is no excuse for criminality, even in oppres- 
 sion, T state it as a simple fact that much of the ecoun- 
 drelism of the community is consequent upon ill-treat- 
 ment. There are many men and women battered and 
 bruised and stung until the hour of despair has come, and 
 they stand with the ferocity of a wild beast which, pur- 
 sued until it can run no longer, turns round, foaming 
 and bleeding, to fight the hounds. 
 
 There is a vast underground New York ana Brooklyn 
 
100 
 
 NIOUT 8IDK8 OF CITY LIFK. 
 
 life that is appalling and shameful. It wallows and 
 
 steams with putrefaction. You go down the stairs, 
 
 which are wet and decayed with filth, and at the bottom you 
 
 find the poor victims on the floor, cold, sick, three-fourths 
 
 dead, slinking into a fetill darker corner under the gleam 
 
 of the lantern of the police. There has not been a breath 
 
 of fresh air in that room for five years, literally. The 
 
 broken sewer empties its contents upon them, and they 
 
 lie at night in the swimming filth. There they are, men, 
 
 women, children; blacks, whites; Mary Magdalen with- 
 out her repentance, and Lazarus without his God ! 
 
 These are " the dives " into which the pick-pockets and 
 the thieves go, as well as a great many who would like a 
 different life but cannot get it. These places are the sores 
 of the city, which bleed perpetual corruption. They are 
 the underlying volcano that threatens us with aCaraccas 
 earthquake. It rolls and roars and surges and heaves 
 and rocks and blasphemes and dies. And there are only 
 two outlets for it: the police court and the Potter's Field, 
 m other words, they must either go to prison or to hell. 
 Oh, you never saw it yoa say. You never will see it until 
 on the day when those staggering wretches shall come 
 up in the light of the judgment throne, and while all 
 hearts are being revealed God will ask you what you did 
 to help them. 
 
 There is another layer of poverty and destitution, no- 
 so squalid, but almost as helpless. You hear the inces- 
 sant wailing for bread and clothes and fire. Their eyes 
 are sunken. Their cheek-bones stand out. Thei** hands 
 are damp with slow consumption. Their flesh is puffed 
 up with dropsies. Their breath is like that of the char- 
 nel-house. They hear the roar of the wheels of fashion 
 over head, and the gay laughter of men and maidens, and 
 wonder why God gave to others so much and to them so 
 
 -r 
 
 <,. 
 
PEOPLE TO BE FBARKD. 
 
 101 
 
 ve, and 
 stairs, 
 oin you 
 fourths 
 3 gleam 
 I breath 
 7. The 
 id they 
 •e, men, 
 n with- 
 i God I 
 
 :et8 and 
 id like a 
 lie sores 
 rhey are 
 [yaraccas 
 [ heaves 
 are only 
 •'s Field. 
 • to hell. 
 3 it until 
 ill come 
 7hile all 
 , you did 
 
 pion, no- 
 lle inces- 
 leir eyes 
 li»* hands 
 Is puifed 
 Ihe char- 
 fashion 
 ^ens, and 
 them so 
 
 little. Some of them thrust into an infidelity like that of 
 the poor German girl who, when told in the midst of her 
 wretchedness that God was good, said; "No, no good 
 God. Just look at me. No good God." 
 
 In this cluster of cities, whose cry of want I this day 
 interpret, there are said to be, as far as I can figure it uj) 
 from the reports, about two hundred and ninety thous. 
 and honest poor who are dependent upon individual, city, 
 and state charities. If all their voices could come up at 
 once, it would be a groan that would shake the founda- 
 tions of the city, and brins: ^-^ earth and heaven to the 
 rescue. But, for the most part, it suffers unexpressed. 
 It sits in silence, gnasljing its teeth, and sucking the 
 blood of its own arteries, waiting for the judgment day. 
 Oh, I should not wonder if on that day it would be found 
 out that some of us had some things that belonged to 
 them; some extra garment which might have made them 
 comfortable in these cold days; some bread thrust into 
 the ash-barrel that might have appeased their hunger 
 for a little while; some wasted candle or gas-jet that 
 might have kindled up their darkness; some fresco on 
 the ceiling that would have given them a roof; some 
 jewel which, brought to that orphan girl in time, might 
 have kept her from being crowded off the precipices of 
 an unclean life; some New Testament that would have 
 told them of him who " 3ame to seek and save that 
 which was lost." Oh, this wave of vagrancy and hunger 
 and nakedness that dashes against our front door step; 
 I wonder if you hear it and see it as much as I hear it 
 and see it. " This last week I liave been almost frenzied 
 with the perpetual cry for help from all classes and from 
 all nations, knocking, knocking, ringing, ringing, until 
 I dare not have more than one decent pair of shoes, nor 
 more than one decent coat, nor more than one decent 
 

 1 
 
 ■fyr 
 
 102 
 
 NIGHT 8IDK8 OF CITY LIFE, 
 
 hat, lest in the last day it be found that T have some- 
 thing that belongs to them, and Christ shall turn to me 
 and spy: " Inasmuch as ye did it7i6>^to theee, ye did it 
 not to me." If the roofs of all the houses of destitution 
 could be lifted so we could look down into them just as 
 God looks, whose nerves would be strong enough to 
 stand it? And yet there thoy are. The forty-five thous- 
 and sewing- women in these three cities, some of them in 
 hunger and cold, working night after night, until some- 
 times the blood spurts from nostril and lip. How well 
 their grief was voiced by that despairing woman who 
 Btood by her invalid husband and invalid child, and said 
 to the city missionary: ^'I am down-hearted. Every- 
 thing's against us ; and then there are other things.'* 
 *' What other things?" said the city missionary. '• Oh," 
 she replied, " my sin." '* What do you mean by that?" 
 " Well," she said, " I never hear or see anything good. 
 It's work from Monday morning to Saturday night, and 
 then when Sunday comes I can't go out, and I walk the 
 floor, and it makes me tremble to think that I have got to 
 meet God. O sir, it's so hard for us. We have to work 
 80, and then we have so much trouble, and then we are 
 getting along so poorly; and see this wee little thing- 
 growing weaker and weaker; and then to think we arc 
 not getting nearer to God, but floating away from him. 
 O sir, I do wish I was ready to die." 
 
 I should not wonder if they had a good deal better 
 time than we in the future, to make up for the fact tha^ 
 they had such a bad time here. It would be just like 
 Jesus to say: "Come up and take the highest seats. 
 You suffered with me on earth ; now be glorified with 
 me in heaven." O thou weeping One of Bethany! O 
 thou dying One of the cross! Have mercy on the starv- 
 ing, freezing, homeless poor of these great cities! ^ ;; 
 
EH" 
 
 PEOl'LE TO BK FKARED. 
 
 J 03 
 
 I have T^reaclied tliis Bermon for four or five practical 
 reasons: Because I want yoii to know who are the up- 
 rooting classes of society. Because I want you to be 
 juoro discriminating in your charities. Because I want 
 your hearts open with generosity, and your Ijands open 
 with charity. Because I want you to be made tlie sworn 
 friends of all city evangelization, and all new8bo3'8' 
 lodging houses, and all Howard Mitsions, and Children's 
 Aid Societies. Aye, I have preached it because I want 
 you this week to send to the Dorcas Society all the cast- 
 off clothing, that under the skillful manipulation of our 
 wives and mothers and sisters and daughters, these gar- 
 ments may be fitted on the cold, bare feet, and on the 
 shivering limbs of tlie destitute. I should not wonder if 
 that liat that you give should corne back a jeweled coronet, 
 of if that garment that you this week hand out from 
 your wardrobe should mysteriously be whitened, and 
 somehow wrought into the Savior's own robe, so in the 
 last day he would run his hand over it, and say: " I was 
 naked, and ye clothed me." That would be putting your 
 garments to glorious uses. 
 
 But more than that, I have preached the sermon be- 
 cause I thought in the contrast you would see how very 
 kindly God had dealt with you, and I thought that 
 thousands of you would go to-day to your comfortable 
 homes, and sit at your well-filled tables, and at the warm 
 registers, and look at the round faces v " your children, 
 and that then you would burst into teai^ at the review 
 of God's goodness to you, and that you would go to your 
 room this afternoon and lock the door, and kneel down, 
 and say: ''O Lord, I have been an ingrate; make me 
 thy child. O Lord, there are so many hungry and un- 
 clad and unsheltered to-day, I thank thee that all my life 
 thou hast taken such good care of me. O Lord, there 
 
104 
 
 NTGHT 8IDBS OF CITY LIFE. 
 
 are so many sick and crippled children to-day, I thank 
 thee mine are well, some of them on earth, some of them 
 in heaven. ' Thy goodness, Lord, breaks rae down. 
 Take mo once, and forever. Sprinkled as I was many 
 years ago at the altar, while my mother held me, now I 
 consecrate my soul to thee in a holier baptism of repent- 
 ing tears. 
 
 " For sinners, Lord, Thou cam'st to bleed, 
 And I'm a sinner vile iudecd ; 
 Lord, 1 believe Ttiy grace is free, 
 O megnify that grace in lae. " - 
 
 ,-t 
 
THE WORSHIP OF THE GOLDEN CALF. 
 
 106 
 
 Sj:'\'}y^t'c:-':, ■■•':[ :?;.•';< 'v.'%.;';t 
 
 ■'iH, -;',:;'^(!: 
 
 ff 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ; , ; THE WORSHIP OF THE GOLDEN CALF. 
 
 " And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the 
 fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and 
 made the children of Israel drink of it."— Exodus xxxli: 20. 
 
 People will have a god of some kind, and they prefer 
 one of their own making. Here come the Is^'aelites, 
 breaking off their golden earrings, the men as well as 
 the women, for in those times there were masculine as 
 well as feminine decorations. Where did they get these 
 beautiful gold earrings, coming up as they did from the 
 desert? Oh, they "borrowed" them of the Egyptians 
 when they left Egypt. These earrings are piled up into 
 a pyramid of glittering beauty. " Any more earrings 
 to bring ?" says Aaron. None. Fire is kindled ; the 
 earrings are melted and poured into a mold, not of an 
 eagle or a war charger, but of a calf ; the gold cools off; 
 the mold is taken away, and the idol is set up on its 
 four legs. An altar is built in front of the shining calf. 
 Then the people throw up their arms, and gyrate, and 
 shriek, and dance mightily, and worship. Moses has 
 been six weeks on Mount Sinai, and he comes back and 
 hears the howling and sees the dancing of these golden- 
 calf fanatics, and he loses his patience, and he takes the 
 two plates of stone on which were written the Ten Com- 
 mandments and ilings them so hard against a rock that 
 they split all to pieces. When a man gets mad he is 
 very apt to break all the Ten Commandments! Moses 
 rushes in and he takes this calf-god ar.d throws it into a 
 
 iki 
 
 r 
 
 .- ^ 
 
 §m f| 
 
 ,:< -I' 
 
 m: 
 
it 
 
 loe 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF CITY LIFE. 
 
 hot tire, until it is melted all out of shape, and then 
 pulverizes it — not by the modern appliance of nitro- 
 iruiriatic acid, but by the ancient appliance of nitre, or 
 by the old-fashioned file. He makes for the people a 
 most nauseating draught. He takes this pulverized 
 golden calf and throws it in the only brook which is ac- 
 cessible, and the people are compelled to drink of that 
 brook or not drink at all. But they did not drink all the 
 glittering stuff thrown on the surface. Some of it flows 
 on down the surface of the brook to the river, and then 
 flows on down the river to the sea, and the sea takes it 
 up and bears it to the mouth of all the rivers, and when 
 the tides setback, the remains of this golden calf are car- 
 ried up into the Hudson, and the East river, and the 
 Thames, and the^ Clyde, and the Tiber, and men go out 
 and they skim the glittering surface, and they bring it 
 ashore and they make another golden CLif, and California 
 and Australia break off their golden earrings to augment 
 the pile, and in the fires of financial excitement and 
 struggle all these things are melted together, and while 
 we stand looking and wondering what will come of it, 
 lo! we find that the golden calf of Israelitish worship 
 jias become the golden calf of European and American 
 worship. 
 
 I shall describe to you the god spoken of in the text, 
 his temple, his altar of sacrifice, the music that is made 
 in his temple, and then the final breaking up of the whole 
 congregation of idolaters, r ; ^ r:^; i ;. ?- ,.- , 
 
 Put aside this curtain and you see the golden calf of 
 modern idolatry. It is not like other idols, made out of 
 stocks or stone, but it h^ an ear so sensitive that it can 
 hear the whispers on Wall street and Third street and 
 State street, and the footfalls in the Bank of England, 
 and the flutter of a Frenchman's heart on the Bourse. 
 
'*^^*^^****^^^'^"' '" " ^ 
 
 THE WORSillP OF THE GOLDEN CALF. 
 
 107 
 
 It has an eye so keen that it can see the rust on the farm 
 of Michigan wheat and the insect in the Maryland 
 peach-orchard, and the trampled grain under the hoof of 
 the Kussiar war charger. It is so mighty that it swings 
 any way it will the world's shipping. It lias its foot on 
 all the merchantmen and the steamers. It started the 
 American Civil War, and under God stopped it, and it 
 will decide the Turko-Russian contest. One broker in 
 September, 1869, in New York, shouted, "One hundred 
 and sixty for a million!" and the whole continent shiv- 
 ered. This golden calf of the text has its right front 
 foot in New York, its left front foot in Chicago, its right 
 back foot in Charleston, its left back foot in New Orleans, 
 and when it shakes itself it shakes the world. Oh! this 
 is a mighty god — the golden calf of the world's worship. 
 
 But every god must have its temple, and this golden 
 calf of the text is no exception. Its temple is vaster 
 than St. Paul's of the English, and St. Peter's of the 
 Italians, and the Alhambra of the Spaniards, and the 
 Parthenon of the Greeks, and the Mahal Taj of the 
 Hindoos, and all the other cathedrals put together. Its 
 pillars are grooved and fluted with gold, and its ribbed 
 arches are hovering gold, and its chandeliers are descend- 
 ing gold, and its floors are tesselated gold, and its vaults 
 are crowded heaps of gold, and its spires and domes are 
 soaring gold, and its organ pipes are resounding gold, 
 and its pedals are tramping gold, and its stops pulled 
 out are flashing gold, while standing at the head of the 
 temple, as the presiding deity, are the hoofs and shoul- 
 ders and eyes and ears and nostrils of the calf of gold.' 
 
 Further: every god must have not only its temple, br.t 
 its altar of sacrifice, and this golden calf of the text is 
 no exception. Its altar is not made out ef stone as other 
 altars, but out of countiug-roora desks and fire-proof 
 
 Vn 
 
 
108 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF CITY LIFK. 
 
 safes, and it is a broad, a long, a high altar. The vic- 
 tims sacrificed on it are the Swartouts, and the Ketchanis, 
 and the Fisks, and the Tweeds, and the Mortons, and ten ; 
 thousand other people who are slain before thh golden 
 calf What does this god care about the groans and 
 struggles of tlie victims before it? With cold, metallic 
 eye it looks on and yet lets them suffer. Oh! heaven 
 and earth, what an altar! what a sacrifice of body, mind, 
 and soul! The physical health of a great multitude is 
 flung on this sacrificial altar. They cannot sleep, and 
 they take chloral and morphine and intoxicants. Some 
 of them struggle in a nightmare of stocks, and at one 
 o'clock in the morning suddenly rise up shouting: "A 
 thousand shares of New York Central— one hundred 
 and eight and a-half ! take it!" until the whole family is 
 affrighted, and the speculators fall back on their pillows 
 and sleep until they are awakened again b}- a " corner " 
 in the Pacific Mail, or a sudden ^'rise" of Rock Island. 
 Their nerves gone, tlieir digestion gone, their brain 
 gone, they die. The clergyman comes in and reads the 
 funeral service: "Blessed are the dead who die in the 
 Lord." Mistake. They did not "" die in the Lord;" the 
 golden calf kicked them! : , 
 
 The trouble is, when men sacrifice themselves on this 
 altar suggested in the text, they not only sacrifice them- 
 selves, but they sacrifice their families. If a man by an 
 ill course is determined to go to perdition, I suppose 
 you will have to let him go; but he puts his wife and 
 children in an equipage that is the amazement of the 
 avenues, and the driver lashes the horses into two whirl- 
 winds, and the spokes flash in the sun, and the golden -, 
 headgear of the harness gleams, until Biack Calamity 
 takes the bits of the horses and stops them, and shouts 
 to the luxuriant occupants of the equipage: "Get out!" 
 
THK WOKSilir OF TUK GULDEN OALF. 
 
 10f> 
 
 »» 
 
 They get oat. They get down. That husband and 
 father flung his family so hard they never got up again. 
 There was the mark on them for life — the mark of a 
 split hoof— the death-dealing hoof of the golden calf. ' 
 
 Solomon offered in one sacrifice, on one occasion, 
 twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred and twenty 
 thousand sheep; but that was a tame sacrifice compared 
 with the multitude of men who are sacrificing them- 
 selves on this altar of the golden calf, and sacrificing 
 their families with them. The soldiers of General 
 Kavelock, in India, walked literally ankle deep in the 
 blood of the " house of massacre," where two hun- 
 dred women and children had been slain by the Sepoys; 
 but the blood around about this altar of the golden calf 
 flows up to the knee, flows to the girdle, flows to the 
 shoulder, flows to the lip. Great God of heaven and 
 earth, have mercy I The golden calf has none. 
 
 Still the degrading worship goes on, and the devotees 
 kneel and kiss the dust, and count their golden beads, 
 and cross themselves with the blood of their own sacri- 
 fice. The music rolls on under the arches; it is made 
 of clinking sUver and clinking gold, and the rattling 
 specie of the banks and brokers' shops, and the voices 
 of all the exchanges. The soprano of the worship is 
 carried by the timid voices of men who have just begun 
 to speculate; while the deep bass rolls out from those 
 who for ten years of iniquity have been doubly damned. 
 Chorus of voices rejoicing over what they have made. 
 Chorus of voices wailing over what they have lost. 
 This temple of which I speak stands open day and 
 night, and there is the glittering god with his four feet 
 on broken hearts, and there i-s tlie smoking altar of sac- 
 rifice, new victims every moment on it, and there are 
 the kneeling devotees; and the doxology of the worship 
 
. i 
 
 110 *i NIGHT HIDK8 OB' CITY LIFE. 
 
 rolls on, while Death stands with mould v and skeleton 
 arm beating time for the chorus — "More! more! more!" 
 
 Some people are very much surprised at the actions 
 of folk in the Stock Exchange, New York. Indeed, it 
 is a scene sometimes that paralyzes description, and is 
 beyond the imagination of any one who has never looked 
 in. What snapping of finger and thumb and wild ges- 
 ticulation, and raving like hyenas, and stamping like 
 buffaloes, and swaying to and fro, and jostling and run- 
 ning one upon another, and deafening uproar, until tlie 
 president of the Exchange strikes with his mallet four 
 or five times, crying, "Order! order!" and the aston- 
 ished spectator goes out into the fresh air feeling that he 
 has escaped from pandemonium. What does it all 
 mean? I will tell you what it means. The devotees of 
 every heathen temple cut themselves to pieces, and yell 
 and gyrate. This vociferation and gyration of the Stock 
 Exchange is all appropriate. This is the worship of the 
 golden calf. • 
 
 But my text suggests that this worship must be broken 
 up, as the behavior of Moses in my text indicated. 
 There are those who say that this golden calf spoken of 
 in my text was hollow, and merely plated with gold; 
 otherwise, they say, Moses could not have carried it. I 
 do not know that; but somehow, perhaps by the assist- 
 ance of his friends, he takes up this golden calf, which 
 is an open insult to God and man, and throws it into the 
 fire, and it is melted, and then it comes out and is cooled 
 off, and by some chemical appliance, or by an old-fash- 
 ioned file, it is pulverized, and it is thrown into the 
 brook, and, as a punishment, the people are compelled 
 to drink the nauseating stuff. So, my hearers, you may 
 depend upon it that God will bum and he will grind to 
 pieces the golden calf of modern idolatry, and he will 
 
THK WORSHIP OF THIS GOLPEN CALF. 
 
 ill 
 
 compel the people in their agony to drinic it. It* not 
 before, it will be so on the last day. I know not where 
 the fire will begin, whether at the " Battery " or Central 
 Park, whether at Fulton Ferry or at Bushwick, whether 
 it Shoreditch, London, or West End ; but it will be a very 
 hot blaze. All the Gove'*nment securities of the United 
 States and Great Britain will curl up in the first blast. 
 All the money safes and depositing vaults will melt 
 under the first touch. The sea will burn like tinder, 
 and the shipping will be abandoned forever. The melt- 
 ing gold in the broker's window will burst through the 
 melted window-glass and info the street; but the fiying 
 population will not stop to scoop it up. The cry of 
 "Fire" from the mountain will be answered by the cry 
 of " Fire " in the plain. The confla.gration will burn 
 out from the continent toward the sea, and then biirn in 
 from the sea toward the land. New York and London 
 with one cat of the red scythe of destriictioi» will go 
 down. Twenty-five thousand miles of conflagration! 
 The earth will wrap itself round and round in shroud of 
 flame, and lie down to perish. What then will become 
 of your golden calf? Who then so poor as to worship 
 it? Melted, or between the upper and the nether mill- 
 stone of falling mountains ground to powder. Dagori 
 down. Moloch down. Juggernaut down. Golden calf 
 
 down. -■■■-■■^-- ':-' " :M..' ..V -.-■;■■;•■-'■ :. '.■'^',. 
 
 But, my friends, every day is a day of judgment, and 
 God is all the time grinding to pieces the golden calf. 
 Merchants of New York and London, what is the char- 
 acteristic of this time in which we live ? "Bad," you 
 say. Professional men, what is the chiaracteristic of the 
 times in which we live ? " Bad," you say. Though I 
 should be in a minority of one, I venture the opinion 
 that tliese are the best times we have had in fifteen 
 
 ■I 
 
 #;■ 
 
 
 ■ > 
 
 ■< It' 
 
 Piii 
 
 
112 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF CITY LIFE. 
 
 years, for the reason that God is teach v.ig the world, aa 
 never before, that old-fashioned honesty is the only thing 
 that will stand. In the past few months we have learned 
 as never before that forgeries will not pay; that the 
 watering of stock will not pay; that the spending of ufipr 
 thousand dollars on country seats and a palatial city resi- 
 dence, when there are only thirty thousand dollars income, 
 will not pay; that the appropriation of trust funds to our 
 own private speculation will not pay. We had a great na- 
 tional tumor, in the shape of fictitious prosperity. We 
 called it national enlargement; instead of calling it en- 
 largement, we might better have called it a swelling. It 
 has been a tumor, and God is cutting it out — has cut it 
 out, and the nation will get well and will come back to the 
 principles of our fathers and grandfathers when twice 
 three made six instead of sixty, and when the apples at 
 the bottom of the barrel were just as good as the apples 
 on the top of the barrel, and a silk handkerchief was not 
 half cotton, and a man who wore a five-dollar coat paid 
 for wtis more honored than a man who wore a fifty-dollar 
 coat not paid for. 
 
 The golden calf of our day, like the one of the text, is 
 very apt to be made out of borrowed gold. These 
 Israelites of the text borrowed the earrings of the Egyp- 
 tians, and then melted them into a god. That is the 
 way the golden calf is made nowadays. A great many 
 housekeepers, not paying for the articles they get, bor- 
 row of the grocer and the baker and the butcher and the 
 dry-goods seller. Then the retailer borrows of the whole- 
 sale dealer. Then the wholesale dealer borrows of the 
 capitalist, and we borrow, and borrow, and borrow, until 
 the community is divided into two classes, those who ' 
 borrow and those who are borrowed of; and after a" 
 while the capitalist wants his money and he rushes upon 
 
THE W0E8UIP OF THE GOLDEN CALF. 
 
 113 
 
 the wholesale dealer, and the wholesale dealer wants his 
 money and he rushes upon the retailer, and the retailer 
 wants his money and he rushes upon the consumer, and 
 we all go down together. There is many a man in this 
 day who rides in a carriage and owes the blacksmith for 
 the tire, and the wheelwright for the wheel, and the 
 trimmer for the curtain, and the driver for unpaid wages, 
 and the harness- maker for the bridle, and the furrier for 
 the robe, while from the tip of the carriage tongue clear 
 back to the tip of the camel's-hair shawl fluttering out 
 of the back of the vehicle, e: eryt' 'n^ is paid for by noteft 
 that have been three times renewed. <• '■'^'^ ^ '-n 
 
 I tell you, sirs, that in this country we will never get 
 things right until we stop borrowing, and pay as we go. 
 It is this temptation to borrow, and borrow, and borrow, 
 that keeps the people everlastingly praying to the golden 
 calf for help, and just at the minute they expect the help 
 the golden calf treads on them. The judgments of God, 
 like Moses in -the text, will rush in and break up this 
 worship; and I say, let the work go on until every man 
 shall learn to speak truth with his neighbor, and those 
 who make engagements shall feel themselves bound to 
 keep them, and when a man who will not repent of his 
 business iniquity, but goes on wishing to satiate his can- 
 nibal appetite by devouring widows' houses, shall, by 
 the law of the land, be compelled to exchange the brown 
 stone front on Madison Avenue or Beacon Hill for New- 
 gate or Sing Sing. Let the golden calf perish ! ^ - ^- --^ 
 
 But, my friends, if we have made this world our god, 
 when we come to die we will see our idol demolished. 
 How much of this world are you going to take with you 
 into the next ? Will you have two pockets — one in each 
 side of your shroud? Will you cushion your coffin with 
 bonds and mortgages and certificates of stock? Ah I no 
 8 
 
 . i 
 
 « > 
 
114 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF OITT LIFE. 
 
 The ferry- at that crosses this Jordan takes no baggage 
 — nothing heavier than a spirit. You may, perhaps, 
 take five hundred dollars with you two or three miles, 
 in the shape of funeral trappings, to Greenwood, but you 
 will have to leave them there. It would not be safe for 
 you to lie down there with a gold watch or a diamond 
 ring; it would be a temptation to the pillagers. Ah, 
 my friends I if we have made this world our god, when 
 we die we will see our idol ground to pieces by our 
 pillow, and we will have to drink it in bitter regrets for 
 the wasted opportunities of a lifetime. Soon we will be 
 gone. 01 this is a fleeting world, it is a dying world. 
 A man who had worshiped it all his days in his dying 
 moment described himself when he said: ** Fool I fool I 
 fooU" 
 
 I want you to change temples, and to give up the wor- 
 ship of this unsatisfying and cruel god for the service of 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. Here is the gold that will never 
 crumble. Here are securities that will never fail. Here 
 are banks that will never break. Here is an altar on 
 which there has been one sacrifise once for all. Here is 
 a God who will comfort you when you are in trouble, 
 and soothe you when you are sick, and save you when 
 you die. When your parents have breathed their last, 
 and the old, wrinkled, and trembling hands can no more 
 be put upon your head for a blessing, he will be to you 
 father and mother both, giving you the defense of the one 
 and the comfort of the other ; and when your children 
 go away from you, the sweet darlings, you will not kiss 
 them good-by for ever. He only wants to hold them for 
 you a little while. He will give them back to you again, 
 and he will have them all waiting for you at the gates 
 of eternal welcome. Oh! what a God he is! He will 
 allow you to come so close this morning that you can 
 
THE WOIWHIF OF THE GOLDEN CALF. 
 
 116 
 
 put your arms around his neck, while he in response 
 will put his arms around your neck, and all the windows 
 of heaven will be hoisted to let the redeemed look out 
 and see the spectacle of a rejoicing Father and a returned 
 prodigal locked in glorious embrace. Quit worshiping 
 the golden calf, and bow this day before him in whose 
 presence we must all appear when the world has turned 
 to ashes and the scorched parchment of the sky shall be 
 rolled together like an historic scroll. 
 
 1.' \"^'. ;, 
 
 .; •- . -H 
 
 fi > 
 
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 • r. 
 
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 116 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF OITY LIFE. 
 
 
 
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 ., ; CHAPTER IX. 
 
 "?■•■ y ',■■ 
 
 ' DRY.GOODS RELIGION. 
 
 "Wh08e adorning, lot it not be putting on of apparel." — 
 
 lPeteriil:8. 
 
 My subject is dry-goods religion. That we should all 
 be clad, is proved by the opening of the first ^wardrobe in 
 Paradise, with its apparel of dark green. That we should 
 all, as far as our means allow us, be beautifully and grace- 
 fully appareled, is proved by the fact that God never 
 made a wave but he gilded it with golden sunbeams, or 
 a tree but he garlanded it with blossoms, or a sky but 
 he studded it with stars, or allowed even the smoke of a 
 furnace to ascend but he columned and turreted and 
 domed and scrolled it into outlines of indescribable 
 gracefulness. When I see the apple-orchards of the 
 spring and the pageantry of the autumnal forests, I come 
 to the conclusion that if nature ever does join the Church, 
 while she may be a Quaker in the silence of her worship, 
 she never will be a Quaker in the style of her dress- 
 Why the notches of a fern leaf, or the stamen of a water 
 lily? Why, when the day departs, does it let the folding- 
 doors of heaven stay open so long, when it might go in 
 so quickly? One summer morning I saw an army of a 
 million spears, each one adorned with a diamond of the 
 first water — I mean the grass with the dew on it. When 
 the prodigal came home his father not only put a coat 
 on his back, but jewelry on his hand. Christ wore a 
 beard. Paul, the bachelor apostle, not afflicted with any 
 sentimentality, admired the arrangement of a woman's 
 
DRY-OOOD8 RELIGION. 
 
 m 
 
 hair when he said, in his opistie, " if a woman have long 
 hair, it is a glory unto her." There will be fashion in 
 heaven as on earth, but it will be a different kind of 
 fashion. It will decide the color of the dress ; and the 
 population of that country, by a beautiful law, will wear 
 white. I say these things as a background to my ser- 
 mon, to show you that I have no prim, precise, prudish, 
 or cast-iron theories on the subject of human apparel. 
 But the goddess of fashion has set up her throne in this 
 couiitvy, and at the sound of the timbrels we are all ex- 
 pected to fall down and worship. The old^ and new tes- 
 tament ol her bible are Madame DemoresVs Magazine 
 and Harper^ s Bazar. Her altars smoke with the sac- 
 rifice of tho bodies, minds, and souls of ten thousand vic- 
 tims. In her temple four people stand in the organ-loft, 
 and from them there comes down a cold drizzle of music, 
 freezing on the ears oi her vvorshipers. This goddess 
 of fashion has become a rival of the Lord of heaven and 
 earth, and it is high time that we unlimbered our bat- 
 teries against this idolatry. When I come to cqunt the 
 victims of fashion I find as many masculine as feminine. 
 Men make an easy tirade against woman, as though she 
 were the chief worshiper at this idolatrous shrine, and 
 no doubt some men in the more conspicuous part of the 
 pew have already cast glances at the more retired part 
 of the pew, their look a prophecy of a generous distribu- 
 tion to others of the more cogent parts of my discourse. 
 My sermon shall be as appropriate for one end of the 
 pew as for the other. 
 
 Men are as much the idolaters of fashion as women, 
 but they sacrifice on a different part of the altar. With 
 men, the fashion goes to cigars and club-rooms and yacht- 
 ing parties and wine suppers. In the United States the 
 men chew up and smoke one hundred millions of dol- 
 
 
 .!■:< 
 

 118 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF CITY LIFifi. 
 
 lars' worth of tobacco every year. That is their fashion. 
 In London, not long ago, a man died who started in life 
 with seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, but he ate 
 it all up in gluttonies, sending his agents to all parts of 
 the earth for some rare delicacy for the palate, some- 
 times one plate of food costing him three or four liun- 
 dred dollars. He ate up his whole fortune, and had only 
 one guinea left; with that he bought a woodcock, and 
 had it dressed in the very best style, ate it, gave two 
 hours for digestion, then walked out on Westminster 
 Bridge and threw himself into the Thames, and died, 
 doing on a large scale what you and I have often seen 
 done on a small scale. But men do not abstain from 
 millinery and elaboration of skirt through any superi- 
 ority of humility. It is only because such appendages 
 would be a blockade to business. What would sashes 
 and trains three and a half yards long do in a stock mar- 
 ket? And yet man are the disciples of fashion just as 
 much as women. Some of them wear boots so tight they 
 can hardly walk in the paths of righteousneas And 
 there are men who buj expensive suits of clothes and 
 never pay for them, and who go through the streets in 
 great stripes of color like ani mated checker-boards. Then 
 there are multitudes of men who, not satisfied with the 
 bodies the Lord gave them, are padded so that their 
 shoulders shall be square, carrying around a small cot- 
 ton plar.tation. And I understand a great many of them 
 now paint their eyebrows and their lips, and I have heard 
 from ^ood authority that there are multitudes of men in 
 Brooklyn and ]^ew York — men— things have got to such 
 an awful pass — multitudes of men wearing corsets! I 
 say these things because I want to show you that I am 
 impartial in my discourse, and that both sexes, in the 
 language of the Surrogrte's oflfice, shall "share and share 
 
DRY- GOODS RELIGION. 
 
 119 
 
 alike." As God may help me, I shall show you what 
 are the destroying and deathfiil influences of inordinate 
 fashion. 
 
 The first baleful influence I notice is in fraud, ill- 
 imitable and ghastly. Do yen know that zVrnold of 
 the Revolution proposed to sell his country in order to 
 get money to support his wife's wardrobe? I declare 
 here before God and this people that the effort to keep 
 up expensive establishments in this country is sending 
 more business men to temporal perdition than all other 
 causes combined. What was it that sent Gilman to the 
 penitentiary, and Philadelphia Morton to the watering 
 of stocks, and the life insurance presidents to perjured 
 statements about their assets, and has completely upset 
 our American finances? What was it that overthrew 
 Belknap, the United States Secretary at Washington, the 
 crash of whose fall shook the continent? But why should 
 I go to these famous defaultings to show what men will 
 do in order to keep up great home style and expensive 
 wardrobe, when you and I know scores of men who are 
 put to their wit's end, and are lashed from January to 
 December in the attempt. Our Washington politicians 
 may theorize until the expiration of their terms of oflBce 
 as to the best way of improving our monetary condition 
 in this country; it will be of no use, and things will be 
 no better until we learn to put on our heads, and backs, 
 and feet, and hands no more than we can ]->ay for. 
 
 There are clerks in stores and banks on limited sal- 
 aries, who, in the vain attempt to keep the wardrobe of 
 their family as showy as other folk's wardrobes, are 
 dying of muffs, and diamonds, and camel's hair shawls, 
 and high ^hats, and they have nothing left except what 
 they give to cigars and w.ne 8U]»pers. and they die before 
 their time and they will expect us ministers to preach 
 
 •'1 
 
 ii 
 
120 
 
 NIGHT BIDES OF CITY LIFE. 
 
 9t%> mi 
 
 
 about them as though they were the victims oi early 
 piety, and after a high-class funeral, with silver handles 
 at the side of their coffin, of extraordinary brightness, it 
 will be found out that the undertaker is cheated out of 
 his legitimate expenses ! Do not send to me to preach 
 the funeral sermon of a man who dies like that. I will 
 blurt out the whole truth, and tell that he was strangled 
 to death by his wife's ribbons 1 The country is dressed 
 to death. You are not surprised to find that the put- 
 ting up of one public building in New York cost mil- 
 lions of dollars more than it ought to have cost, when 
 you find that the man who gave out the contracts paid 
 more than five thousand dollars for his daughter's wed- 
 ding dress. Cashmeres of a thousand dollars each are 
 not rare on Broadway. It is estimated that there are 
 five thousand women in these two cities who have ex- 
 pended on their personal array two thousand dollars a 
 
 year. '.,;;.• ■.;■•. vV.v„i./- -v;Vr::'-:''^-v-*'^r'>-' ".;■■ .,'"■ ^' ^'--^-t- ■'■'. 
 
 What are men to do in order to keep up such home 
 wardrobes? Steal — that is the only respectable thing 
 they can do! During the last fifteen years theru have 
 been innumerable fine businesses shipwrecked on the 
 wardrobe. The temptation comes in this way: A man 
 thinks more of his family than of all the world outside, 
 and if they spend the evening in describing to him the 
 superior wardrobe of the family across the street, that 
 they cannot bear the sight of, the man is thrown on his 
 gallantry and his pride of famil^^ and, without translat- 
 ing his feelings into plain language, he goco into extor- 
 tion and issuing of false stock, and skillful penmanship 
 in writing somebody else's name at the foot of a prom- 
 issory note; and they all go down together — tlije husband 
 to the prison, the wife to the sewing machine, the chil- 
 dren to be taken care of by those who wore called poor 
 
DRY-GOODS KELIGION. 
 
 121 
 
 relations. 01 for some new Shakespeare to arise and 
 write the tragedy of human clothes. 
 
 Act the first of the tragedy. — A plain but beautiful 
 home. Enter, the newly-married pair. Enter, sim- 
 plicity of manner and behavior. Enter, as much hap- 
 piness as is ever found in one home. 
 
 Act the second. — Discontent with the humble home. 
 Enter, envy. Enter, jealousy. Enter, desire of display. 
 
 Act the third. — Enlargement of expenses. Erter, all 
 the queenly dressmakers. Enter, the French milliners. 
 
 Act the fourth. — The tip-top of society. Enter, princes 
 and princesses of New York life. Enter, magnificent 
 plate and equipage. Enter, everything splendid. 
 
 Act the fifth, and last. — Winding up of the scene. 
 Enter, the assignee. Enter, the sheriff. Enter, the 
 creditors. Enter, humiliation. Enter,, the wrath of God- 
 Enter, the contempt of society. Enter, death. Now, 
 let the silk curtain drop on the stage. The farce is 
 ended, and the lights are out. 
 
 Will you forgive me if I say in tersest shape possible 
 that some of the men in this country have to forge and 
 to perjure and to swindle to pay for their wives' dresses? 
 I will say it, whether you forgive me or not! 
 
 Again, inordinate fashion is the foe of all Christian 
 alms-giving. Men and women put so much in personal 
 display that they often have nothing for God and the 
 cause of suffering humanity. A Christian man cracking 
 his Palais Royal glove across the back by shutting up 
 his hand to hide the one cent he puts into the poor-box! 
 A Christian woman, at the story of the Hottentots, cry- 
 ing copious tears into a twenty-five dollar handkerchief, 
 and then giving a two-cent piece to the collection, 
 thrusting it down under the bills so people will not 
 know but it was a ten-dollar gold ])iece! One hundrc^d 
 
 «»•■<. 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
122 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF CITY LIFE. 
 
 dollars for incense to fashion. Two cents for God. God 
 gives us ninety cents out of every dollar. The other ten 
 centd by command of His Bible belong to Him. Is not 
 God liberal according to this tithing system laid down 
 in the Old Testament — is not God liberal in giving us 
 ninety cents out of a dollar, when he takes but ten? "We 
 do not like that. We want to have ninety-nino cents for 
 ourselves and one for God. 
 
 Now, I would a great deal rather steal ten cents from 
 you than God. I think one reason why a great many 
 people do not get along in worldly accumulation faster 
 is because they do not observe this divine rule. God 
 says: "Well, if that man is not satisfied with ninety 
 cents of a dollar, then I will take the whole dollar, and I 
 will give it to the man or woman who is honest with 
 me." The greate.st obstacle to charity in the Christian 
 clinrch to-day is the fact that men expend so much 
 money on their table, and women so much on their 
 dress, they have got nothing leftfcr the work of God atd 
 the world's betterment. In my first settlement at E'^lle- 
 ville, Kew Jersey, the cause of missions was being pre- 
 sented one Sabbath, and a plea for the charity of the 
 people was being made, when an old Christian man in 
 the audience lost his balance, and said right out in the 
 midst of the sermon : " Mr. Talmage, how are we to 
 give liberally to these grand and glorious causes when 
 our families dress as they do?" I did not answer that 
 question. It was the only time in my life when I had 
 nothing to say! 
 
 Again, inordinate fashion is distraction to public wor- 
 ship. You know very well there are a good many peo- 
 ple who come to church just as they go to the races, to 
 see who will come out first. What a flutter it makes in 
 church when some woman witli extraordinary display of 
 
DRY-OOODS BKTJGION. 
 
 128 
 
 
 , \ 'i 
 
 fashion comes in. "What a love of a bonnet I" says 
 someone. "What a perfect fright 1" say five hundred. 
 For the most merciless critics in the world are fashion 
 critics. Men and women with souls to be saved passing 
 the hour in wondering where that man got his cravat, or 
 what store that woman patronizes. In many of our 
 churches the preliminary exercises are taken up with the 
 discussion of wardrobes. It is pitifuie. Is it not won- 
 derful that the Lord does not strike the meeting-houses 
 with lightning! What distraction of public worship! 
 Dying men and women, whose bodies are soon to be 
 turned into dust, yet before three worlds strutting like 
 peacocks, the awful question of the soul's destiny sub- 
 merged by the question of Creed more polonaise, and 
 navy blue velvet and long fan train skirt, long enough 
 to drag up the church aisle, the husband's store, office, 
 shop, factory, fortune, and the admiration of half the 
 people in the building. Men and women come late to 
 church to show their clothes. People sitting down in a 
 pew or taking up a hymn book, all absorbed ut the same 
 time in personal array, to sing: 
 
 '* Rise, my bouI, and stx^tch thy wings. 
 '.'. -J ;. ' V Thy better portion trace ; 
 ;, , - Rise from transitory things, 
 
 Toward heaven, tiiy native place I" 
 
 I adopt the Episcopalian prayer and say: " Good Lord 
 deliver us!" 
 
 Insatiate fashion also belittles the intellect. Our 
 minds are enlarged or they dwindle just in proportion 
 to the importance of the subject on which we constantly 
 dwell. Can you imagine anything more dwarfing to 
 tlie human intellect than the study of fashion? I see 
 men on the street who, judging from their elaboration, 
 I tliink must h.*^e taken two hours to arrange their 
 
124 
 
 NIGHT 8IDK8 OF CITY LIFB. 
 
 lipl j 
 
 apparel. After a few years of that kind of absorption, 
 which one ox McAllister's magnifying glasses will be 
 powerful enough to make the man's character visible? 
 What will be left of a woman's intellect after giving 
 years and years to the discussion of such questions as 
 the compcifison between knife-pleats and box-pleats, and 
 borderings of grey fox fur or black martin, or the com- 
 parative excellence of circulars of repped Antwerp silk 
 lined with blue fox fur or with Hudson Bay sable? They 
 all land in idiocy. I have seen men at the summer water- 
 ing-places, through fashion the mere wreck of wha^ they 
 once were. Sallow of cheek. Meagre of limb. Hollow 
 at the chest. Showing no animation save in rushing 
 across a room to pick up a lady's fan. Simpering along 
 the corridors, the same compliments they simpered 
 twenty years ago. A New York lawyer last summer 
 at United States Hotel, Saratoga, within our hearing, 
 . rushed across a room to say to a sensible woman, " You 
 are as sweet as peaches!" The fools of fashion are 
 myriad. Fashion not only destroys the body, but it 
 makes idiotic the intellect. v>. f; ^ .-', 
 
 Yet, my friends, I have given you only the milder 
 phase of this evil. It shuts a great multitude out of 
 heaven. The first peal of thunder that shook Sinai 
 declared: '* Thou shalt have no other God before me," 
 and you will have to choose between the goddess of 
 fashion and the Christian God. There are a great many 
 seats in heaven, and they are all easy seats, but not one 
 seat for the devotee of fashion. Heaven is for meek and 
 quiet spirits. Heaven is for those who think more of 
 their souls than of their bodies. Heaven is for those 
 who have more joy in Christian charity than in dry- 
 goods religion. Why, if you with your idolatry of 
 fashion should somehow get into heaven, you would be 
 
wm 
 
 i llHlHHH >i m»ii i n i nmmiH | 
 
 DRY-GOODB RELIGION. 
 
 126 
 
 for putting a Freuch roof on the " house of many man- 
 sions," and making plaits and Hamburg embroidery 
 and flounces in the robes, and you would be for intro- 
 ducing the patterns of Butterick's Quarterly Delineator. 
 Give up this idolatry of fashion, or give up heaven. 
 What would you do standing beside the Countess of 
 Huntington, whose joy it was to build chapels for the 
 poor, or with that Christian woman of Boston, who fed 
 fifteen hundred children of the street at Faneuil Hall on 
 New Year's Day, giving out as a sort of doxology at the 
 end of the meeting a pair of shoes to each one of them; 
 or those Dorcases of modern society who have conse- 
 crated their needles to the Lord, and who will get eternal 
 reward for every stitch they take. O! men and women, 
 give up the idolatry of fashion. The rivalries and the 
 competitions of such a life are a stupendous wretched- 
 ness. You will always find some one with brighter array 
 and with more palatial residence, and with lavender kid 
 gloves that make a tighter fit. And if you buy this 
 thing and wear it you will wish you had bought some- 
 thing eleo and worn it. And the frets of such a life will 
 bring the crows' feet to your temples before they are due, 
 and when you come to die you will have a miserable 
 time. I have seen men and women of fashion die, and 
 I never saw one of them die well. The trappings off, 
 there they lay on the tumbled pillow, and there were just 
 two things that bothered them — a wasted life and a com- 
 ing eternity. I could not pacify them, for their body» 
 mind, and soul, had been exhausted in the worship of 
 fashion, and they could not appreciate the gospel. When 
 I knelt by their bedside they were mumbling out their 
 regrets and saying, " O God I O GodI" Their garments 
 hung up in the wardrobe, never again to be seen by them. 
 Without any exception, so far as my memory serves mo, 
 
 1 » 
 
 :-•:>, 
 
 ,._,:,. ^, 
 
 ;Ki 
 
126 
 
 NIOHT SIDES OF CITY LIFE. 
 
 they died without hope, and went into eternity unpre- 
 pared. The two most ghastly death-beds on earth are 
 the one where a man dies of delirium tremens, and the 
 other where a woman dies after having sacrificed all 
 her faculties of body, mind, and soul in the worship of 
 fashion. My friends, we must appear in judgment to 
 answer for what we have worn on our bodies as well ais 
 for what repentances we have exercised witli our souls. 
 On that day I see coming in Beau Brummel of the last 
 century, without his cloak, like which all England got a 
 cloak; and without his cane, like which all England got 
 a cane; without his snuif-box, like which all England 
 got a snuff-box — he, the fop of the ages, particular about 
 everything but his morals; and Aaron Burr, without 
 the letters that down to old age he showed in pride, to 
 prove his early wicked gallantries; and Absalom without 
 his hair; and Marchioness Pompadour without her titles; 
 and Mrs. Arnold, the belle of Wall street, when that 
 was the center of fashion, without her fripperies of 
 
 vesture. :;;^J4^'?--':,rv. •■ .v^ ■ ..:■': ^-.r ' 'rr- j-i,,^ -i, :^.:>er;- 1--.;-*;.- ■ 
 
 And in great haggardness they shall go away into 
 eternal expatriation ; while among the queens of heaven- 
 ly society will be found Yashti, who 'wore the modest 
 veil before the palatial bacchanalians; and Hannah, who 
 annually made a little coat for Samuel at the temple; and 
 Grandmother Lois, the ancestress of Timothy, who imi- 
 tated her virtue ; and Mary, who gave Jesus Christ to 
 the world; and many of you, the wives and mothers and 
 sisters and daughters of the present Christian Church, 
 who through great tribulation are entering into the 
 kingdom of God. Christ announced who would make 
 up the royal family of heaven when he said, " Whoso- 
 ever doeth the will of God, the same is my brother, my 
 sister, my mother." 
 
THE KlilSEBVOIKS BALTED. 
 
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 my 
 
 " And the men of the city said unto Elislia, Behold, I pray thee, the 
 situation of this city is pleasant, as mv Lord sceth ; but the water is 
 naught, and the ground barren And he said, Bring me a new cruse, 
 and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. And he went 
 forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said. 
 Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters ; there shall not be 
 from thence any more death or barren laud. So the waters were 
 healed unto this day."— 2 Kings ii : 19-32. 
 
 It is difficult to estimate how mncli of the prosperity 
 and health of a city are dependent upon good water. 
 The day when, through well-laid pipes and from safe 
 reservoir, an abundance of water, from Croton or Eidge- 
 wood, is brought into the city, is appropriately celebrated 
 with oration and pyrotechnic display. Thank God every 
 day for clear, bright, beautiful, sparkling water, as it 
 drops in the shower, or tosses up in the fountain, or 
 rushes out at the hydrant. 
 
 The city of Jericho, notwithstanding all its physical 
 and commercial advantages, was lacking in this impor- 
 tant element. There was enough water, but it was dis- 
 '^«^8ed, and the people were crying out by reason thereof. 
 Elisha the prophet comes to the rescue. He says: " Get 
 me a new cruse; fill it with salt and bring it to me." 
 So the cruse of salt was brought to the prophet, and I 
 see him walking out to the general reservoir, and he 
 takes that salt and throws it into the reservoir, and lot 
 all the impurities depart, through a supernatural and 
 
 , f 
 
m \. 
 
 I 
 
 128 
 
 NIOIIT SIDES OF CITV I-IKK. 
 
 •III!" 
 
 divine influence, and the waters are good and fresh and 
 clear, and all the people clap their hands and lift up 
 their faces in their gladness. Water for Jericho — clear, 
 bright, beautiful, God-given water I 
 
 For several Sabbath mornings I have pointed out to 
 you the fountains of municipal corruption, and this 
 morning I propose to show you w^^«t are the means for 
 the rectification of those fountaiub. There are four or 
 five kinds of salt that have a cleansing tendency. So far 
 as God may help me this morning, 1 shall bring a cruse 
 of salt to the work, and empty it into the great reservoir 
 of municipal crime, sin, shame, ignorance, and abomina- 
 tion. 
 
 In this work of cleansing our cities, I have first to re- 
 mark that the7'e is a work for the broom and the shovel 
 that nothing else can do. There always has been an inti - 
 mate connection between iniquity and dirt. The filthy 
 parts of the great cities are always the most iniquitous 
 parts. The gutters and the pavements of the Fourth 
 Ward, New York, illustrate and symbolize the character 
 of the people in the Fourth Ward. 
 ;- The first thing that a bad man does when he is con- 
 verted is thoroughly to wash himself. There were, this 
 morning, on the way to the different churches, thousands 
 of men in proper apparel who, before their conversion, 
 were unfit in their Sabbath dress. When on the Sab- 
 bath I see a man uncleanly in his dress, my suspicions 
 in regard to his moral character are aroused, and the}^ 
 are always well founded. So as to allow no excuse for 
 lack of ablution, God has cleft the continents with rivers 
 and lakes, and has sunk five great oceans, and all the 
 world ought to be clean. Away, then, with the dirt from 
 onr cities, not only because the physical health needs an 
 ablution, but because all the great moral and religions 
 
TUK KKSKUVUlKS SALTEU. 
 
 129 
 
 %' 
 
 interests of the cities demand it as a positive necessity. 
 A filthy city always has been and always will be a wicked 
 city. 
 
 Another corrective influence that we would bring to 
 bear upon the evils of our great cities is a CM'isiian 
 printing -p7'e88. The newspapers of any place are the 
 test of its morality or immorality. The newsboy who 
 runs along the street with a roll of papers under his arm 
 is a tremendous force that cannot be turned aside nor 
 resisted, and at his every step the city is elevated or de- 
 graded. This hungry, all-devouring American mind 
 must have something to read, and upon editors and 
 authors and book-publishers and parents and teachers 
 rest the responsibility of what they shall read. Almost 
 every man you meet has a book in his hand or a news- 
 paper in his pocket. What book is it you have in your 
 hand? What newspaper is it you have in your pocket f 
 Ministers may preach, reformers may plan, philan- 
 thropists may toil for the elevation of the suffering and 
 the criminal, but until all the newspapers of the land 
 and all the booksellers of the land set themselves against 
 an iniquitous literature — until then we will be fighting 
 against fearful odds. Every time the cylinders of Har- 
 per or Appleton or Ticknor or Peterson or Lippincott 
 turn, they make the earth quake. From them goes forth 
 a thought like an angel of light to feed and bless the 
 world, or like an angel of darkness to smite it with cor- 
 ruption and sin and shame and death. May God by His 
 omnipotent Spirit purify and elevate the American 
 printing-press I i-'.m&kL 
 
 I go on further and gay that we must depend upon the 
 school for a great deal of correcting influence. Com- 
 munity can no more afford to have ignorant men in its 
 midst than it can afford to have uncaged hyenas. Tgnpr- 
 9 
 
180 
 
 NIGHT BIDE8 OF OITT LIFE. 
 
 ance is the mother of hydra-headed crime. Thirty-one 
 per cent, of all the criminals of New York State can 
 neither read nor write. Intellectual darkness is generally 
 the precursor of moral darkness. 1 know there are edu- 
 cated outlaws — men who, through their sharpness of in- 
 tellect, are made more dangerous. They use their fine 
 penmanship in signing other people's names, and their 
 science in ingenious burglaries, and their fine manners 
 in adroit libertinism. They go their round of sin with 
 well-cut apparel, and dangling jewelry, and watches of 
 eighteen karats, and kid gloves. They are refined, edu- 
 cated, magnificent villains. But that is the exception- 
 It is generally the case that the criminal classes are as 
 ignorant as they are wicked. For the pi<>of of what I 
 Bay, go into the prisons and the penitentiaries, and look 
 upon the men and women incarcerated. The dishonesty 
 in the eye, the low passion in the lip, are not more con- 
 spicuous than the ignorance in the forehead. The igno- 
 rant classes are always the dangerous classes. Dema- 
 gogues marshal them. They arc helmless, and are driven 
 before the gale. 
 
 It is high time that all city and State authority, as well 
 as the Federal Government, appreciated the awful sta- 
 tistic that while years ago in this country there was set 
 apart forty-eight millions of acres of land for school pur- 
 poses, there are now in New England one hundred and 
 ninety-one thousand people who can neither read nor 
 write, and in the Statv^ of Pennsylvania two hundred and 
 twenty-two thousam^ who can neither read nor write, 
 and in the State of New York two hundred and forty- 
 one thousand who can neither read nor write, while in 
 the United States there are nearly six millions who can 
 neither read nor write. A statistic enough to stagger 
 and confound any man who loves his God and his country. 
 
THE KESEBVOIBS 8ALTBD. 
 
 131 
 
 intry. 
 
 Now, in view of thi« fact, I am in fjivor of oompntsory 
 education. The Eleventh ward, in New York, has five 
 thousand children who are not in school. When parents 
 are so bestial as to neglect this duty to the child, I say 
 the law, with a strong hand, at the same time with a 
 gentle hand, ought to lead these little ones into the light 
 of intelligence and good morals. It was a beautiful tab- 
 leau when in our city a few weeks ago, a swarthy police- 
 man having picked up a lost child in the street, was 
 found appeasing its cries by a stick of candy he had 
 bought at the apple-stand. That was well done, and 
 beautifully done. But, ohi these thousands of little ones 
 through our streets, who are crying for the bread of 
 knowledge and intelligence. Shall we not give it to them ? 
 The officers of the law ought to go down into the cellars, 
 and up into the garrets, and bring out these benighted lit- 
 tle ones, and put them under educational infijences; after 
 they have passed through the bath and under the comb, 
 putting before them the spelling-book, and teaching them 
 to read the Lord's Prayer and the sermon on the Mount : 
 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom 
 of heaven." Cur city ought to be father 2.vA mother 
 both to these outcast little ones. As a recipe for the cure 
 of much of the woe and want and crime of our city, I 
 give the words which Thorwaldsen had chiseled on the 
 open scroll in the hand of the statue of John Gutenberg, 
 the inventor of the art of printing: " Let there be light I" 
 Still further: reformatory societies are an important 
 element in the reotifioation of tJi^ public fountains. 
 "Without calling any of them by name, I refer more 
 especially to. those which recognize the physical as well 
 as the moral woes of the world. There was pathos and 
 a great deal of common sense in what the poor woman 
 said to Dr. Guthrie when he was telling her what a very 
 
 wm 
 
133 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF CITY LIFB. 
 
 good woman she ought to be. " Oh," she said, " if you 
 were as hungry and cold as I am, you could think of 
 nothing else." I believe the great want of our city is 
 the Gospel and something to eat I Faith and repentance 
 are of infinite importance; but they cannot satisfy an 
 empty stomach I You have to go forth in this work with 
 the bread of eternal life in your right hand, and the bread 
 of this life in your left hand, and then you can touch 
 ^hem, imitating the Lord Jesus Christ, who first broke 
 the bread and fed the multitude in the wilderness, and 
 then began to preach, recognizing the fact that while 
 people are hungry they will not listen, and they will not 
 repent. "We want more common sense in the distribu- 
 tion of our charities; fewer magnificent theories, and 
 more hard work. In the last war, a few hours after the 
 battle of Antietam, I had a friend who was moving over 
 the field, and who saw a good Christian man distributing 
 tracts. My friend said to him: " This is no time to dis- 
 tribute tracts. There are three thousand men around 
 here who are bleeding to death, who have not had ban- 
 dages put on. Take care of their bodies, then give them 
 tracts." That was well said. Look after the woes of 
 the body, and then you will have some success in look- 
 ing after the woes of the soul. -^ / 
 
 Still further: the great remedial inflitence is the Gos- 
 pel of Christ. Take that down through the lanes of 
 suffering. Take that down amid the hovels of sin. Take 
 that up amid the mansions ana palaces of your city. That 
 is the salt that can cure all the poisoned fountains of pub- 
 lic iniquity. Do you know that in this cluster of three 
 cities, New York, Jersey City, and Brooklyn, there are 
 a great multitude of homeless children ? You see I speak 
 more in reajard to the youth and the cliildren of the 
 country, because old villains are seldom reformed, and 
 
TER RESERVOIRS SALTED. 
 
 133 
 
 therefore I talk more about the little ones. They sleep 
 under the stoops, in the burned-out safe, in the wagons 
 in the streets, on the barges, wherever thej can get a 
 board to cover them. And in the summer thej sleep all 
 night long in the parks. Their destitution is well set 
 forth by an incident. A city missionary asked one of 
 them: "Where is your home?" Said he: "1 don't have 
 no home, sir." "Well, where are your father and 
 mother?" "They are dead, sir." "Did you ever hear 
 of Jesus Christ?" "No, I don't think I ever heard of 
 him." "Did you ever hear of God. Yes, I've heard of 
 God. Some of the poor people think it kind of lucky 
 at nisfht to say something over about that before they 
 go to sleep. Yes, sir, I've heard of him." Think of a 
 conversation like that in a Christian city. 
 
 How many are waiting for you to come out in the 
 spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ and rescue them from 
 the wretchedness here ! A man was trying to talk with 
 a group of these outcasf.s, and read the Bible, and trying 
 to confort them, and lie said : "My dear boys, when your 
 father and your mother forsake you, who will take you 
 up?" They shouted "The perlice, sir; the perlice?" Oh 
 that the Church of God had arms long enough and hearts 
 warm enough to take them up. How many of them 
 there are! As I was thinking of the subject this morning, 
 it seemed to me as though there was a great brink, and 
 that these little ones with cut and torn feet were coming 
 on toward it. And here is a group of orphans. O fathers 
 and mothers, what do you think of these fatherless and 
 motherless little ones ? No hand at home to take care 
 of their apparel, no heart to pity them. Said one little 
 one, when the mother died: "Who will take care of my 
 clothes now ? " The little ones are thrown out in this 
 great, cold world. They are shivering on tho brink like 
 
 ■«* 
 
 
134 
 
 NIGHT SIDBS OF CITY LIFE. 
 
 e4>W'!» 
 
 lambs on the verge of a precipice. Does not yourjblood 
 run ccld as they go over it 1 
 
 And here is another group that come on toward the 
 precipice. They are the children of besotted parents. 
 They are worse off than orphans. Look at that pale 
 cheek: woe bleached it. Lock at that gash across the 
 forehead; the father struck it. Hear that heart-piercing 
 cry: a drunken mother's blasphemy compelled it. And we 
 come out and we say: "O ye suffering, peeled and 
 blistered ones, we come to help you." " Too late!" cry 
 thousands of voices. " The path we travel is steep down, 
 and we can't stop. Too late I" and we catch our breath 
 and we make a terrific ou*:«jry. " Too late!" is echoed 
 from the garret to the <iellar, from the gin-shop and 
 from the brothet. " Too late!" It is too late, and they 
 go over. .^^ ■'•".,''-: v;.-. ■ ■•. ^-:vr .., . . , ,....'^>..,' 
 
 ■ Here is another group, an army of neglected children. 
 Tliey come on toward th^ brink, and every time they 
 step ten thousand hearts break. The ground is red with 
 the blood of their feet. The .air is heavv with their 
 groans. Their ranks are being filled up from all the 
 houses of iniquity and shame. Skeleton Despair pushes 
 them on toward the brink. The death-knell has already 
 begun to toll, and the angels of God hover like birds 
 over the plunge of a cataract. While these children 
 are on the brink they halt, and throw out their hands, 
 and cry: "Help! help!" O church of God, will you 
 help? Men and women bought by the blood of the Son 
 of God, will you help? while Christ cries from the 
 heavens: " Save them from going down; I am the 
 r«nsom." :; :V7 
 
 '^ I stopped the other day on the street and just looked 
 at the face of one of those little ones. Have you ever 
 examined the faces of the neglected children of the 
 
THE BBSEBVOIBS SALTED. 
 
 i36 
 
 poor? Other children hive gladness in their faces. 
 When a group of them rush across the road, it seems as 
 though a spring gust had unloosened an orchard of apple 
 blossoms. But these children of the poor. There is but 
 little ring in their laughter, and it stops quick, as though 
 some bitter memory tripped it. They have an old walk. 
 They do not skip or run up on the lumber just for the 
 pleasure of leaping down. They never bathed in the 
 mountain stream. They never waded in the brook for 
 pebbles. They never chased the butterfly across the 
 lawn, putting their hat right' down where it was. 
 Childhood has been dashed out of them. Want waved 
 its wizard wand above the manger of their birth, and 
 withered leaves are lying where God intended a budding 
 giant of battle. Once in a while one of these children 
 gets out. Here is one, for instance. At ten years of age 
 he is sent out by his parents, who say to him; "Here 
 is a basket — new go off and beg and steal." The boy 
 saysr " I can't steal.'' They kick him into a corner. 
 That night he puts his swollen head into the straw; but 
 a voice comes from heaven, saying, " Courage, poor boy, 
 courage." Covering up his head from the bestiality, 
 and stopping his ears from the cursing, he gets on up 
 better and better. He washes his face clean at the public 
 hydrant. With a few pennies got at running errands, 
 he gets a better coat. Rough men, knowing that he 
 comes from the Five Points, say: " Back with you, you 
 little villain, to the place where you came from." But 
 that night the boy says: "God help me, I can't go 
 back;" and quicker than ever mother flew at the cry of 
 a child's pain, the Lord responds from the heavens, 
 "Courage, poor boy, courage." His bright: face gets 
 him a position. After a while he is second clerk. Years 
 pass on, and he is first clerk. Yea ^ pass on. The 
 
136 
 
 NIOHT SIDES OP CITY LIFK. 
 
 J^T 
 
 glory of young manhood is on hitn. He comes into the 
 firm. He goes on from one business success to another. 
 He has achieved great fortune. He is the friend of the 
 church of God, the friend of all good institutions, and 
 one day he stands talking to the Board of Trade or to 
 the Chamber of Commerce. People say: " Do you know 
 who that is? Why, that is a merchant prince, and he 
 was born in the Five Points. " But God says in regard to 
 him something better than that: " These are they 
 which came out of great tribulation, and had their 
 robes washed and made white in the blood of the 
 Lamb." Oh, for some one to write the history of boy 
 heroes anr" rr[r\ heroines who have triumphed over want 
 and starvLv .nd filth and rags. Yea, the record has 
 already been ade — made by the hand of God; and 
 when these shall come at last with songs and rejoicing, 
 it will take a very broad banner to hold the names of all 
 the battle-fields on which they got the victory. '^ ^ ' 
 '■"' Some years ago, a roughly-clad, ragged boy came into 
 my brother's office in Xew York, and said: " Mr. Tal- 
 mage, lend me five dollars." My brother said: " Who 
 are you?" The boy replied: " I am nobody. Lend me 
 five dollars." "What do you want to do with five 
 dollars?" " Well," the boy replied, " my mother is sick 
 and poor, and I want to go into the newspaper business, 
 and I shall get a home for her, and I will pay you back." 
 My brother gave him the five dollars, of course never 
 expecting to see it again ; but he said : " When will you 
 pay it?" The boy said: "I will pay it in six months, 
 sir." Time went by, and one day a lad came into my 
 brother's office, and said: "There's your five dollars." 
 " What do you mean? What five dollars?" inquired my 
 brother. " Don't you remember that a boy came in here 
 six months ago and wanted to borrow five dollars to go 
 
THE RESEBVOIBS SAXTfiD. 
 
 187 
 
 iuto the newspaper business?" "Oh, yes, I remember. 
 Are you the lad?" "Yes," he replied. "I have got 
 along nicely. I have got a nice home for my mother 
 (she is sick yet), and I am as well clothed as you are, and 
 there's your five dollars." Oh, was ho not worth saving? 
 Why, that lad is worth fifty such boys as I have some- 
 times seen moving in elegant circles, never put to any 
 use for God or man. Worth saving! I go farther than 
 that, and tell you they are not only worth saving, but 
 they are being saved. In one reform school, through 
 which two thousand of these little ones passed, one 
 thousand nine hundred and ninety-five turned out well. 
 In other words, onlv five of the two thousand turned out 
 badly. There are thousands of them who , through Chris- 
 tian societies, have been transplanted to beautiful homes 
 all oveir this land, and there are many who, through the 
 rich grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, have already won 
 the c-'own. A little girl was found in the streets of Bal- 
 timore and taken into one of the reform societies, and 
 they said to her, " What is your name?" She said, " My 
 name is Mary." " What is your other name?" She said, 
 " 1 don't know." So they took her into the reform 
 society, and as they did not know her last name they 
 always called her "Mary Lost," since she had been 
 picked up out of the street. But she grew on, and after 
 a while the Holy Spirit came to her heart, and she be- 
 came a Christian child, and she changed her name; and 
 when anybody asked her what her name was, she said, 
 -' It used to be Marv Lost; but now, since I have become 
 a Chrstian, it is Mary Found." 
 
 For this vast multitude, are we willing to go fortu 
 from this morning's service and see what we can do, 
 employing all the agencies I have spoken of for the recti- 
 fication of the poisonetl fountains? We live in a beautiful 
 
 ii i; 
 
 m 
 
138 
 
 NIGHT 8IDES OP OITY LIFE. 
 
 city. The lines have fallen to us in pleasant places, and 
 we liave a goodly heritage ; and any man who does not 
 like a residence in Brooklyn, must be a most uncom- 
 fortable and unreasonable man. But, my friends, the 
 material prosperity of a city is not its chief glory. There 
 may be fine houses and beautiful streets, and that all be 
 tlie garniture of a sepulcher. Some of the most pros- 
 perous cities of the world have gone down, not one stone 
 left upon another. But a city may be in ruins long be- 
 fore a tower has fallen, or a column has crumbled, or a 
 tomb has been defaced. When in a city the churches of 
 God are full of cold formalities and inanimate religion ; 
 when the houses of commerce are the abode of fraud and 
 unholy traffic; when the streets are filled with crime un- 
 arrested and sin unenlightened pnd helplessness unpitied 
 — that city is in ruins, though every church were a St. 
 Peter's, and every moneyed institution were a Bank of 
 England, and every library were a British Museum, and 
 every house had a porch like that of Rheims and a roof 
 like that of Amiens and a tower like that of Antwerp, 
 and traceried windows like those of Freiburg. • 
 i My brethren, our pulses beat rapidly the time away, 
 and soon we will be gone; and what we have to do for 
 the city in which we live we must do right speedily, or 
 never do it at all. In that day, when those who have 
 wrapped themselves in luxuries and despised the poor, 
 shall come to shame and everlasting contempt, I hope it 
 may be said of you and me that we gave bread to the 
 hungry, and wiped away the tear of the orphan, and upon 
 , the wanderer of the street we opened the brightness and 
 benediction of a Christian home; and then, through our 
 instrumentality, it shall be known on earth and in heaven, 
 that Mary Lost became Mary Found! 
 
I BB E wfi! 
 
 THE BATTUt: FOB BBEAJD. 
 
 id» 
 
 ^w- 
 
 f - .-s . 
 
 CHAPTEB XI. 
 
 THE BATTLE FOR BREAD. 
 
 "i- '• 
 
 "And the ravens brought bread and flesh in the moming, and bread 
 and' flesh in the evening."—! Kings xvii : 6. 
 
 The ornithology of the Bible is a very interesting 
 study. The stork which knoweth her appointed time. 
 The common sparrows teaching the lesson of God's 
 providence. The ostriches of the desert, by careless 
 incubation illustrating the recklessness of parents who 
 do not take enough pains with their children. The 
 eagle symbolizing riches which take wings and flv away. 
 The pelican, emblemizing solitude. The bat, a flake of 
 the darkness. The night hawk, the ossifrage, the cuckoo, 
 the lapwing, the osprey, by the command of God in 
 Leviticus, flung out of the world's bill of fare. I would 
 like to have been with Audubon as he went through the 
 woods, with gun and pencil bringing dowr and sketch- 
 ing the fowls of heaven, his unfolded portfolio thrilling 
 all Christendom. What wonderful creatures of God the 
 birds are! Some of them this morning, like the songs 
 of heaven let loose, bursting through the gates of heaven. 
 Consider their feathers, which are clothing and convey- 
 ance at the same time; the nine vertebraj of the neck, 
 the three eyelids to each eye, the third eyelid an extra 
 curtain for graduating the light of the sun. Sc me of 
 these birds scavengers and some of them orchestra* 
 Thank God for quail's whistle, and lark's carol, and the 
 twitter of the wren, called by thf ancients the king of 
 
 I! > 
 
 ■'■fr. 
 
140 
 
 KIOHT SIDES OF CITY LIFE. 
 
 birds, because when the fowls of heavisn went into a con- 
 test as to who could fly the Iiighest, and the eagle swung 
 nearest the sun, a wren on the back of the eagle, after 
 the eagle was exhausted, sprang up raucl\ higher, and so 
 was called by the ancients the king of birds. Consider 
 those of them that have golden crowns and crests, show- 
 ing them to be feathered imperials. And listen to the 
 humming-bird's serenade in the ear of the honeysuckle. 
 Look at the belted kingfisher, striking like a dart from 
 sky to water. Listen to the voice of the owl, giving the 
 key-note to all croakers. And behold the condor, among 
 the Andes, battling with the reindeer. I do not know 
 whether an aquarium or aviary is the best altar from 
 which to worship God. ♦ : « ' ' * ■; 
 
 t; There is an incident in my text that baffles all the 
 ornithological wonders (►f the world. The grain crop 
 had been cut off. Famine was in the land. In a cave 
 by the brook Oherith safe a minister of God, Elijah, 
 waiting for something to eat. Why did he not go to 
 the neighbors? There were no neighbors, it was a wil- 
 derness. Why did he not pick some of the berries? 
 There were none. If there had been, they would have 
 been dried up. Seated, one morning at the mouth of his 
 cave, the prophet looks into the dry and pitiless heavens, 
 and he sees a flock of birds approaching. Oh! if they 
 were only partridges, or if he only had an arrow with 
 which to bring them down. But as they come nearer 
 he flnds they are not comestible, but unclean, and the 
 eating of them would be spiritual «^eath. The strength 
 of their beak, the length of their wings, the blackness of 
 their color, their loud, harsh "cruckl cruck!" prove 
 them to be ravens. They whirr around about the 
 prophet's head, and then they come on fluttering wing 
 and pause on the level of his lips, and one of the ravens 
 
THE BATTLE FOR BBEAJ)*! 
 
 ux 
 
 brings bread, dnd another raven brings meat, and after 
 thej have discharged their tiny cargo they wheel past, 
 and others come, until after a while the prophet has 
 enough, and these black servants of the wilderness table 
 are gone. For six months, and some say a whole year, 
 morning and evening, the breakfast and supper bell 
 sounded as these ravens rang out on the air their "cruckf, 
 crnckl" Guess where they got the food from. The old 
 Rabbins say they got it from the kitchen of King Ahab. 
 Others say that the ravens got the food from pious Oba- 
 diah, who was in the habit of feeding the persecuted. 
 Some say that the ravens brought the food to their 
 young in the trees, and that Elijah had only to climb up 
 and get it. Some say that the whole story is improb- 
 able, for these were carnivorous birds, and the food they 
 carried was the torn flesh of living beasts, and that cere- 
 monially unclean, or it was carrion, and it would not 
 have been fit for the prophet. Some say they were not 
 ravens at all, but that the word translated " ravens " in 
 my text ought to have been translated "Arabs; " so it 
 would have read : "The Arabs brought bread and flesh 
 in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening." 
 Anything but admit the Bible to be true. Hew away at 
 this miracle until all the miracle is gone. Go on with 
 the depleting process; but know, my brother, that you 
 are robbing only one man — and that is yourself — of one 
 of the most comforting, beautiful, pathetic, and tri- 
 umphant lessons in all the ages. I can tell you who 
 these purveyors were: they were ravens. I can tell you 
 who freighted them with provisions. God. I can tell 
 you who launched them. God. I can tell you who 
 taught them .which way to fly. God. I can tell you 
 who told them at what cave to swoop. God. I can tell 
 you who introduced raven to prophet, and prophet to 
 
 
 !i 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
142 
 
 NTOHT SIDES OF OITT LIFE. 
 
 raven. God. There is one passage I will whisper in 
 yonr ear, for I would not want to utter it aloud, lest 
 some one should drop down under its power: "If anj 
 man shall take away from the words of the prophesy of 
 this book, God shall take away his part out of the book 
 of life and out of the holy city." While, then, this 
 morning we watch the ravens feeding Elijah, let the 
 swift dove of God's Spirit sweep down the sky with 
 Divine food, and on outspread wing pause at the lip of 
 every soul hungering for comfort. 
 
 If I should ask you where is the seat of war to-day, 
 you would say on tlie Danube. No. That is compara- 
 tively a small conflict, even if all Europe should plunge 
 into it. The great conflict to-day is on the Thames, on 
 the Hudson, on the Mississippi, on the Rhine, on the 
 Nile, on the Ganges, on the Hoang Ho. It is a battle 
 that has been going on for six thousand years. The 
 troops engaged in it are twelve hundred millions, and 
 those who have fallen are vaster in numbers than those 
 who march. It is a battle for bread. Sentimentalists 
 sit in a cushioned chair, in their pictured stud}', with 
 their slippered feet on a damask ottoman, and say that 
 this world is a great scene of avarice and greed. It does 
 not seem so to me. If it were not for the absolute 
 necessities of the cases, nine-tenths of the stores, facto- 
 ries, shops, banking-houses, of the land would be closed 
 to-morrow. "Who is that man delving in the Black 
 Hills? or toiling in a New England factory? or going 
 through a roll of bills in the bank? or measuring a fab- 
 ric on the counter? He is a champion sent forth in 
 
 behalf of some home circle that has to be cared for — in 
 
 • 
 
 behe'lf of some church of God that has to be supported — 
 in behalf of some asylum of mercy that has to be sus- 
 tained. Who is that woman bending over the sewing 
 
THB BATTLE FOR BKEAD. 
 
 143 
 
 machine? or carrying the bundle? or sweeping the room? 
 or mending the garment? or sweltering at the wash-tub? 
 That is Deborah, one of the Lord's heroines, battling 
 against Amalekitish want, which comes down with iron 
 chariot to crush her and hers. The great question with 
 the vast majority of people to-day is not whether Presi- 
 dent Hayes treated South Carolina and Louisiana as he 
 ought — not whether the Turkish Sultan or the Russian 
 Czar ought to be helped in this conflict — the great ques- 
 tion with the vast majority of people is: "How shall I 
 support my family? How shall I meet my notes? How 
 shall I pay my rent? How shall I give food, clothing, 
 and education to those who are dependent upon me?" 
 Oh! if God would help me to-day to assist you in the 
 solution of that problem, the happiest man in this house 
 would be your preacher. I have gone out on a cold 
 morning with expert sportsmen to hunt for pigeons ; I 
 have gone out on the meadows to hunt for quail; I have 
 gone out on the marsh to hunt for reed birds; but this 
 morning I am out for ravens. 
 
 Notice, in the first place, in the story of ray text, that 
 these winged caterers came to Elijah directly from God. 
 " I have commanded the ravens that they feed thee," we 
 find God saying in an adjoining passage. They did not 
 come out of some other cave. They did not just happen 
 to alight there. God freighted them, God launched 
 them, and God told them by what cave to swoop. That 
 is the same God that is going to supply you. He is 
 your Father. You would have to make an elaborate 
 calculation before you could tell me how many pounds 
 of food and how many yards of clothing would be neces- 
 sary for you and your family; but God knows without 
 any calculation. You have a plate at his table, and you 
 are going to be waited on, unless you act like a naughty 
 
 J/-::r-- 
 
 \i M 
 
144 
 
 NIGHT 8IDE8 OF CITY LIFE. 
 
 ^•':|' 
 
 .•i.*- 
 
 child, and kick, and scramble, and pound saucily the 
 plate, and try to upset things. God has a vast family, 
 and everything is methodized, and you are going to be 
 served, if you will only wait your turn. God has already 
 ordered all the suits of clothes you will ever need down 
 to the last suit in which you shall be laid out. God has 
 already ordered all the food you will ever eat down to 
 the last crumb that will be put in your mouth in the 
 dying sacrament. It may not be just the kind of food 
 or apparel we would prefer. The sensible parent depends 
 on his own judgment as to what ought to be the apparel 
 and the food of the minor in the family. The child 
 would say: "Give me sugars and confections." "Oh I 
 no," says the parent. " You must have something 
 plainer first." The child would say: "Oh I give me 
 these great blotches of color in the garment." " No," 
 says the parent; "that wouldn't be suitable." NowJ 
 God is our Father, and we are minors, and he is going 
 to clothe us and feed us, although he may not ' 'ways 
 yield to our infantile wish for sweets and glitter. ese 
 ravens of the text did not bring pomegranates from the 
 glittering platter of King Ahab. They brought Ivead 
 and meat. God had all the heavens and the earth before 
 him and under him, and yet he sends this plain food 
 because it was best for Elijah to have itl Oh I be strong, 
 my hearer, in the fact that the same God is going to 
 supply you. It is never "hard times " with him. His 
 ships never break on the rocks. His banks never fail. 
 He has the supply for you, and he has the means for 
 sending it. He has not only the cargo, but the ship. If 
 it were necessary he would swing out from the heavens 
 a flock of ravens reaching from his gate to yours, until 
 the food would be flung down the sky from beak to beak 
 and from talon to talon. 
 
THE BATTLE FOR IJREAD. 
 
 U5 
 
 Notice, again, in this story of the text, that tlio ravens 
 did not allow Elijah to lio;ird up a surplus. They did 
 not hring enough on Monday to last all the week. They 
 did not bring enough one morning to last until the next 
 morning. They came twice a day, and brought just 
 er'ough for one time. You know as well as I tliat the 
 grevit fret of the world is that we want a surplus — wo 
 want the ravens to bring enough for fifty years. You 
 have more confidence in the Long Island Bank than you 
 have in the royal bank of heaven. You say: "All that 
 is very poetic, but you may liave the black ravens — give 
 me the gold eagles." "VVe had better be content with 
 just enough. If, in the morning, your family eat up all 
 the food there is in the house, do not sit down, and cry, 
 and say; " I don't know where the next meal is coming 
 from." About five, or six, or «?Cven o'clock in the even- 
 ing just look up, and you will see two black spots on the 
 sky, and you will hear the flapping of wings, and, 
 instead of Edgar A. Poc's insane raven " alighting on 
 the chamber-door, only this, and nothing more," you 
 will find Elijah's two ravens, or the two ravens of the 
 Lord, the one bringing bread and the other bringing 
 meat — plumed butcher and baker. ; ^ • 
 
 God is infinite in resource. "When the city of Rochelle 
 was besieged, and the inhabitants were dying of the fam- 
 ine, the tides washed up on the beach as never before, 
 and as never since, enough shell-fish to feed the whole 
 city. God is good. There is no mistake about that. 
 History tells us that, in 1555, in England, there was a 
 great drought. The crops failed, but in Essex, on the 
 rocks, in a place where they had neither sown nor cul- 
 tured, a great crop of peas grew, until they filled a hun- 
 dred measures; and there were blossoming vines enough 
 promising as much more. But why go so far ? I can 
 10 
 
 ■ ■\ 
 
 ■ 1 
 
 ■■■ 1 
 
 llJ! 
 
146 
 
 NiaUT SIDES OF OIT\r LIFM. 
 
 r^Hss^^i^sii 
 
 ia£ 
 
 . H'i 
 
 give you a family incident. I will tell you a secret that 
 has never been told. Some generations back there was 
 a great drought in Connecticut, New England. The 
 water disappeared from tiie hills and the farmers living 
 on the hills drove their cattle down toward the valleys, 
 and had their, supplied at the wells and fountains of the 
 neighbors. But these after awhile began to ^'ail, and the 
 neighbors said to Mr. Birdseye, of whom I shall speak: 
 " You must not send your flocks and herds down here 
 any more; our wells are giving out." Mr. Birdseye, the 
 old Christian man, gathered his family at the altar, and 
 with his family he gathered the slaves of the household — 
 for bondage was then in vogue in Connecticut— and on 
 their knees before God they cried for water; and the 
 family story is, that there was weeping and great sobbing 
 at that altar, that the family might not perish for lack of 
 water, and that the herds and flocks might not perish. 
 The family rose from the altar, Mr. Birdseye, the old 
 man, took his staff and walked out over the hills, and in 
 a place where he had been scores of times without notic- 
 ing anything particular, he saw the ground was very 
 dark, and he took hip staff> and turned up the ground, 
 and the water started; and he beckoned to his servants 
 and they came, and iliej brought pails and buckets until 
 all the family, and all the flocks and the herds, were 
 cared for, and then they made troughs reaching from 
 that place down to the house and barn, and the water 
 flowed, and it is a living fountain to-day! Now, I call 
 that old grandfather, Elijah, and I call that brook that 
 began to roll then, and. is rolling still, the brook Cherith; 
 and the lesson to me, and to all who hear it, is, when 
 
 stress of circumstances. 
 
 you 
 
 gr( 
 
 pray 
 
 dig, 
 
 ~ dig and pray, and pray and dig. How does that passage 
 ^gol "The mountains shall depart, and the hills be 
 
 
TIIK BATTLE FOK BKEAI). 
 
 ur 
 
 removed, but my loviiig-kindiiess shall not fail." It* 
 your merchandise, if your mechanism, fail, look out for 
 ravens. If you have, in your despondency, put God on 
 trial, and condemned him as guilty of cruelty, I move, 
 this morning for a new trial. If the biojjraphy of your 
 life is ever written, I will tell j'ou what the first chapter, 
 and the middle chapter, and the last chapter will bo 
 about, if it is written accurately. The first about mercy, 
 the middle chapter about mercy, the last chapter about 
 mercy. The mercy that hovered over your cradle. The 
 mercy that will hover over your grave. The mercy tliat 
 will cover all between. 
 
 Again, this story of the text impresses me that relief 
 came to this prophet with the most unexpected, and with 
 seemingly mi possible, conveyance. If it had been a rob- 
 in red-breast, or a musical meadow-lark, or a meek turt'c}- 
 dove, or a sublime albatross that had brouglit the food 
 to Elijah, it would not have been so surprising. But no. 
 It was a bird so fierce and inauspicate that we have fash- 
 ioned one of our most forceful and repulsive words out 
 of it — raven jus. That bird has a passion for picking out 
 the eyes of men and animals. It loves to maul the sick 
 and the dying. It swallows, with vulturous guggle, 
 everything it can put its beak on; and yet all the food 
 Elijah gets for six months or a year is from the ravens. 
 So your supply is going to come from an imexpected 
 source. You think some great-hearted, generous man 
 will come along and give you his name on the back of 
 your note, or he will go security for you in some great 
 enterprise. No, he will not. God will open the heart 
 of some Shylock toward you. Your relief will come 
 from the most unexpected quarter. The Providence 
 that seemed ominous will be to you more than that 
 which seemed auspicious. It will not be a chafiinch with 
 
 •^1 
 
 - i 1 1 
 ill I 
 
 
 11 
 
 ' \ 
 
 ;■;■ 111 
 
148 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF CITY LIFE. 
 
 I'* 
 
 breast and wing dashed with white, and brown,, and 
 chestnnt: it will be a black raven. : ; v . 
 
 , Here is where we all make our mistake, and that is in 
 regard to the color of G-od's providence. A white provi- 
 dence comes to us, and we say: "O! it is mercy." Then 
 a black providence comes toward us, and we say: "O! 
 that is disaster." The white providence comes to you, 
 and you have great business success, and you have fifty 
 thousand dollars, and you get proud, and you get inde- 
 pendent of Grod, and you begin to feel that the prayer 
 "Give me this day my daily bread" is inappropriate for 
 you, for you have made provision for a hundred years. 
 Then a black providence comes, and it sweeps everything 
 away, and then you begin to pray, and you begin to feel 
 your dependence, and begin to be humble before God, 
 and you cry cut for treasures in heaven. The black 
 providence brought you salvation. The white provi- 
 dence brought you ruin. That which seemed to be 
 harsh, and fierce, and dissonant, was your greatest mer- 
 cy. It was a raven. 
 
 There was a child born in your house. All your 
 friends congratulated you. The other children of the 
 family and of the neighborhood stood amazed looking at 
 the new-comer, and asked a great many questions, gene- 
 alogical and chronological. You said — and you said 
 truthfully — that a white angel flew through the room 
 and left the little one there. That little one stood with 
 its two feet in the very center of your sanctuary of affec- 
 tion, and with its two hands it took hold of the altar 
 of your soul. But one day there came one of the three 
 scourges of children — scarlet fever, or croup, or diph- 
 theria—and all that bright scene vanished. The chatter- 
 ing, the strange questions, the pulling at the dresses as 
 you crossed the floor — all ceased. As the great friend of 
 
THE BATTJ^: FOJB liKEAD. 
 
 149 
 
 
 ciiildren stooped down and leaned toward that cradle, 
 and took the little one in His arms, and walked away 
 with it into the bower of eternal summer, your eye be- 
 gan to follow Him, and you followed the treasure He car- 
 ried, and you have been following them ever since; and, 
 instead of thinking of heaven only once a week, as form- 
 erly, you are thinking of it all the time, and you are 
 more pure and tender-hearted than you used to be, and 
 you are patiently waiting for the day-break. It is not 
 self-righteousness in you to acknowledge that you are a 
 better man than you used to be — you are a better woman 
 than you used to be. What was it that brought you the 
 sanctifying blessing'^ O! it was the dark shadow on the 
 nursery; it was the dark shadow on the short grave; it 
 was the dark shadow on your broken heart; it was the 
 brooding of a great black trouble; it was a raven — it was 
 a raven. Dear Lord, teach this people that white provi- 
 dences do not always mean advancement, and that black 
 providences do not always mean retrogression. 
 
 Children of God, get up out of your despondency. 
 The Lord never had so many ravf i^^ as he has this morn- 
 ing. Fling your fret and worry to the winds. Some- 
 times, under the vexations Mfe, you feel like my littlo 
 girl of four years last week, Wiio said, under some ch id- 
 ish vexations: *'0h, I wish I could gu to heaven, and see 
 God, and pick flowers!" He will let ^ou go when the 
 right time comes to pick flowers. Until then, what< /er 
 you want, pray for. I suppose Elijah prayed pretty much 
 all the time. Tremendous work behind him. Tremend- 
 ous work before him. God has no spare ravens f ^v ilers, 
 or for people who are prayerless. I put it in th >olde8t 
 shape possible, and I am willing to risk my eLernity on 
 it: ask God in the right way for what you want, and you 
 shall have it, if it is best for you. Mrs. Jane Pi they, of 
 
 
 - , -1 
 
 f 
 
 fi!" 
 
150 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF ClTr UFR. 
 
 Chicago, a well-known Christian woman, was left by her 
 husband a widow with one half dollar and a cottage. She 
 was palsied, and had a mother, ninety years of age, to sup- 
 port. The widowed son I every day asked God for all that 
 was needed in the household, and the servant even was 
 astonished at the precision with which God answered the 
 prayers of that woman item by item, item by item. One 
 day, rising trom the family altar, the servant said: "You 
 have not asked for coal, and the coal is out." Then they 
 stood and prayed for the coc.' One hour after that, the 
 servant threw open the door and said: "The coal has 
 come." A generous man, whose name I could give you, 
 had sent — as never before and never since — a supply of 
 coal. You cannot understand it. I do. RavcusI Ravens! 
 
 My friend, you have aright to argue from precedent 
 that God is going to take care of you. Has he not done 
 it two or three times every day? That is most marvel- 
 ous. I look back and I wonder that God has given me 
 food three times a day regularly all my life-time, never 
 missing but once, and then I was lost in the mountains; 
 but tliat very morning and that very night I met the 
 ravens.' 
 
 O! the Lord is so good that I wish all this people 
 would trust Him with the two lives — the life you are now 
 living and that which every tick of the watch and every 
 stroke of the clock informs you is approaching. Bread 
 for your immortal soul comes to-day. See! They alight 
 on the platform. They alight on the backs of all the 
 pews. They swing among the arches. Ravens! Ravens! 
 " Blessed are they that hunger after righteousness, for 
 they shall be filled." To all the sinning, and the sor- 
 rowing, and the tempted deliverance comes this hour.' 
 Look down, and you see nothing but spiritual deformi- 
 ties. Look back, and you see nothin ' but wasted oppor- 
 
wm 
 
 THE BATTLE FOK BREAD. 
 
 151 
 
 tanitj. Cast your eye forward, and you have a fearful 
 looking-for of judgment and fiery indignation, which 
 shall devour the adversary. But look up, and you behold 
 the whipped shoulders of an interceding Christ, and the 
 face of a pardoning God, and the irradiation of an open- 
 ing heaven. I hear the whir of their wings. Do you 
 not feel the rush of the air on your cheek? Ravens! 
 Ravens! 
 
 There is only one question I want to ask: how many 
 of this audience are willing to trust God for the supply 
 of their bodies, and trust the Lord Jesus Christ for the 
 redeiir.tion of their immortal souls? Amid the clatter 
 of the hoofs and the clang of the wheels of the judg- 
 ment chariot, the whole matter will be demonstrated. 
 
:'^ 
 
 152 
 
 XflUUT SiWEQ OF OITT LIFE. 
 
 k-- 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE HORNET'S MISSION. 
 
 "And the Lord will send the hornet."— Deut. vii : 20. 
 
 It seems as if the insect world were determined to 
 war against the human race. It is attacking the grain- 
 fields and the orchards and the vineyards. The Colora- 
 do beetle, the Nebraska grasshopper, the New Jersey lo- 
 cust, the universal potato destroyer, seem to carry on the 
 work whicli was begun ages ago when the insects buzzed 
 out of Noah's ark as the door was opened. 
 
 In my text the hornet flies out on its mission. It is a 
 species of wasp, swift in its motion and violent in its 
 sting. Its touch is torture to man or beast. We have 
 all seen the cattle run bellowing from the cut of its lan- 
 cet. In boyhood we used to stand cautiously looking at 
 the globular nest hung from the tree branch, and while 
 we were looking at the wonderful pasteboard coverin|^ 
 we were struck with something that sent us shrieking 
 away. The hornet goes in swarms. It has captains 
 over hundreds, and twenty of them attacking one man 
 will produce certain death. The Persians attempted to 
 conquer a Christian city, but the elephants and thp beasts 
 on which the Persians rode were assaulted by the hornet, 
 80 that the whole army was broken up and the besieged 
 city was rescued. This burning and noxious insect stung 
 out the Ilittites and the Canaanites from their country. 
 What the gleaming sword and chariot of war could not 
 
., n' 
 
 a. HORNET 8 MISSION. 
 
 153 
 
 accomplish was done by the puncture of an insect. The 
 Lord sent the hornet. 
 
 My friends, when we are assaulted by behemoths of 
 trouble — great behemoths of trouble — we become chival- 
 ric, and we assault them; we get on the high-mettled 
 steed of our courage, and we make a cavalry charge at 
 them, and, if God be with us, we come out stronger and 
 better than when we went in. But, alasl for these in- 
 sectile annoyances of life — these foes too small to shoot— 
 these things without any avoirdupois weight — the gnats, 
 and the midges, and the flies, and the wasps, and the 
 hornets. In other words, it is the small stinging annoy- 
 ances of our life which drive us out and use us up. In- 
 to the best conditioned life, for some grand and glorious 
 purpose, God sends the hornet. 
 
 I remark in the first place that these small stinging 
 annoyances may come in the shape of a sensitive nerv- 
 ous organization. People who are prostrated under 
 typhoid fevers or with broken bones get plenty of 
 sympathy, but who pities anybody that is nervous? 
 The doctors say, and the family says, and everybody says, 
 " Oh! she 's only a little nervous; that 's all." The sound 
 of a heavy foot, the harsh clearing of a throat, a discord 
 in music, a want of harmony between the shawl and the 
 glove on the same person, a curt answer, a passing slight, 
 the wind from the east, any one of ten thousand annoy- 
 ances, opens the door for the hornet. The fact is, that 
 the vast majority of the people in this country are over- 
 worked, and their nerves are the first to give up. A 
 great multitude are under the strain of Leyden, who, 
 when he was told by his physician that if he did not stop 
 working while he was in such poor physical health he 
 would die, responded, " Doctor, whether I live or die the 
 wheel must keep going around." These persons of whom 
 
154 
 
 NIGHT 8TT)E8 OF CITY LIFE. 
 
 :i .■ . :' P-..V! 
 
 I speak liave a bleeding sensitiveness. The liies love to 
 light on anything raw, and these people are like the 
 Canaanites spoken of in the text or in the context — they 
 have a very thin covering and are vulnerable at all 
 points. "And the Lord sent the hornet." 
 
 Again, these small insect annoyances may come to us 
 in the shape of friends and acquaintances who are always 
 saying disagreeable things. There are some people you 
 cannot be with for half an hour but you feel cheered and 
 comforted. Then there are other people you cannot be 
 with for live minutes before you feel miserable. They 
 do not mean to disturb you, but they sting yon to the 
 bone. They gather up all the yarn which the gossips 
 spin, and peddle it. They gather up all the adverse crit- 
 icisms about your person, about your business, about 
 your liome, about your church, and they make your ear 
 the funnel into which they]>our it. They laugh heartily 
 when they tell you, as though it were a erood joke, and 
 you laugh too — outside. These people are brought to 
 our attention in the Bible, in the Book of Ruth: Naomi 
 went forth beautiful and with the finest of worldly pros- 
 pects into another land, but after awhile she came back 
 widowed, and sick, and poor. What did her friends do 
 when she came back to the city? They all went out, 
 and, instead of giving her common-sense consolation, 
 what did they do? Read the book of Ruth and find out. 
 They threw up their hands and said, " Is this Naomi?" 
 as much as to say " How very bad you look! " When I 
 entered the ministry I looked very pale for years, afnd 
 every year, for four or five years, a hundred times a year, 
 I was asked if I was not in a consumption! And pass- ; 
 ing through the room I would sometimes hear people 
 sigh and say, " A-ah ! not long for this world !" I resolved 
 in those times that I never, in any conversation, wo^ld 
 
THE hornet's mission 
 
 155 
 
 say anything depressing, and by the help of God I liave 
 kept the resolution. These people of whom I speak reap 
 and bind in the great harvest-field of discouragement. 
 Some days you greet them with a hilarious ''Good 
 morning," and they come bmzing at you with some de- 
 pressing information. "The Lord sent the hornet." It 
 is astonishing how some people prefer to write and to 
 say disagreeable things. That was the case when four 
 or five years ago Henry M. Stanley returned after his 
 magnificent exploit of finding T>> ctor David Livingstone, 
 and when Mr. Stanley stood before the savans ot Europe, 
 and many of the small critics of the day, under pretence 
 of getting geographical information, put to him most in- 
 solent questions, he folded his arms and refused io an- 
 swer. At the very time when you would suppose all de- 
 cent men would have applauded the heroism of the man, 
 there were those to hiss. "The Lord sent the hornet." 
 And now at this time, when that man sits down on the 
 western coast of Africa, sick and worn perhaps in the 
 grandest achievement of the age in the way of geograph- 
 ical discovery, there are small critics all over the world to 
 buzz and buzz, and caricature and deride him, and after a 
 while he will get the London papers, and, as he opens them, 
 out will fly the hornet. When I see that there are so 
 many people in the world who like to say disagreeable 
 things, and write disagreeable things, I come almost in 
 my weaker moments to believe what a man said to me in 
 Philadelphia one Monday morning. I went to get the 
 horse that was at the livery, and the hostler, a plain man, 
 said to me: "Mr. Talmage, I saw that you preached to 
 the young men yesterday." I said, "Yes." He said, 
 "No use, no use; man's a failure." 
 
 The small insect annoyances of life sometimes come in 
 the shape of a local physical trouble, which does not 
 
 .Vll 
 
 1 ..-.■'.' '"■'^ 
 
156 
 
 NIOIIT SIDES OF QITY LIFE. 
 
 -I*" 
 
 amount to a positive prostration, but which bothers you 
 when you want to feel tlie best. Periiaps it is a sick 
 headache which has been the plague of your life, and 
 you appoint some occasion of mirth, or sociality, or use- 
 fulness, and when the clock strikes the hour you cannot 
 make your appearance. Perha])3 the trouble is between 
 the ear and the forehead, in the shape of a neuralgic 
 twinge. Nobody can see it or sympathize with you; but 
 just at the time when you want your intellect clearest, 
 and your disposition brightest, you feel a sliarp, keen, 
 disconcerting thrust. "The Lord sent the hornet." 
 
 Perhaps these small insect annoyances will come in 
 the shape of a domestic irritation. The parlor and the 
 kitchen do not always harmonize. To get good service 
 and to keep it is one of the great questions of the coun- 
 try. Sometimes it may be the arrogancy and inconsid- 
 erateness of employers; but whatever be the fact, we all 
 admit there are these insect annoyances winging tlieir 
 way out from the culinary department. If the grace of 
 God be not in the heart of the housekeeper, she cannot 
 maintain her equilibrium. The men come home at night 
 and hear the story of these annoyances, and say: "Oh! 
 these home troubles are very little things." They are 
 small, small as wasps, but they sting. Martha's nerves 
 were all unstrun": when she rushed in asking Christ to 
 reprove Mary, and there are tens of thousands of women 
 who are dying, stung to death by these pestiferous do- 
 mestic annoyances. " The Lord sent the hornet." ■ 
 
 These small insect disturbances may also come in the 
 shape of business irritations. There are men here who 
 went through 1857 and Sept. 24, 1869, without losing 
 their balance, who are every day unhorsed by little an- 
 noyances — a clerk's ill-manners, or a blot of ink on a bill 
 of lading, or the extravagance of a partner who over- 
 
THE hornet's mission. 
 
 16T 
 
 draws his account, or the underselling by a business 
 rival, or the whispering of business confidences in the 
 street, or the making of some little bad debt which was 
 against your judgment, just to please somebody else. It 
 is not the panics that kill the merchants. Panics come 
 only once in ten or twenty years. It is the constant din 
 of these every-day annoyances which is sending so many 
 of our best merchants into nervous dyspepsia and paraly- 
 sis and the grave. When our national commerce fell flat 
 on its face, these men stood up and felt almost defiant; 
 but their life is giving way now under the swarm of 
 these pestiferous annoyances. "The Lord sent the 
 hornet.", 
 
 I have noticed in the history of some of my congre- 
 gation that their annoyances are multiplying, and that 
 they have a hundred • here they used to have ten. The 
 naturalist tells us that a wasp sometimes has a family of 
 twenty thousand wasps, and it does seem as if every an- 
 noyance of your life bred a million. By the help of 
 God to-day I want to show you the other side. The 
 hornet is of no use? Oh, yes! The naturalists tell us 
 they are very important in the world's economy; they 
 kill spiders and they clear the atmosphere; and I really 
 believe God sends the annoyances of our life upon us 
 to kill the spiders of the soul and to clear the atmos- 
 phere of our skies. These annoyances are sent on us, I 
 think, to wake us up from our lethargy. There is noth- 
 ing that makes a man so lively as a nest of "yellow 
 jackets," and I think that these annoyances are intended 
 to persuade us of the fact that this is not a world for us 
 to stop in. If we had a bed of everything that was at- 
 tractive and soft and easy, what would we want of 
 heaven? You think that the hollow tree sends the hor- 
 
168 
 
 NiailT SIDES OF OITT LIFE. 
 
 net, or you think the devil aends the hornet. I want to 
 correct jour opinion. " The Lord sent the hornet." 
 
 Then I also think these annoyances come upon us to 
 culture our patience. In the gymnasium you find upright 
 parallel bars — bars witli holes over each other for i)eg8 
 to be put in. Then the gymnast takes a peg in each 
 hand and he begins to climb, one inch at a time, or two 
 inches, and getting his strength cultured, reaches after a 
 while the ceiling. And it seems to me that these annoy- 
 ances in life are a moral gymnasium, each worry a peg 
 by which we are to climb higher and higher in Christian 
 attainment. We all love to see patience, but it cannot 
 be cultured in fair weather. It is a cliild of the storm. 
 If you had everything desirable and there was nothing 
 more to get, what would you want with })atience? The 
 only time to culture it is wiien you are slandered and 
 cheated, and sick and half dead. "Oh," you say, " if I 
 only had the circumstances of some well-to-do man I 
 would be patient too." You might as well say, " If it 
 were not for this water I would swim;" or, "I could 
 shoot this gun if it were not for the caps." When you 
 stand chin-deep in annoyances is the time for you to swim 
 out toward the great headlands of Christian attainment, 
 and when your life is loaded to the muzzle with repul- 
 sive annoyances — that is the time to draw the trigger. 
 Nothing but the furnace will ever burn out of us tlie 
 clinker and the slag. I have formed this theory in re- 
 gard to small annoyances and vexations: It takes just so 
 much trouble to fit us for usefulness and for heaven.- 
 The only question is, whether w^e shall take it in the 
 bulk, or pulverized and granulated. Here is one man . 
 who takes it in the bulk. His back is broken, or his 
 eyesight put out, or some other awful calamity befalls 
 him; while the vast majority of people take the thingpiece- 
 
 .-r 
 
TllK IIOUNKTH MISaiON. 
 
 159 
 
 
 meal. Which way would yon rather have iL? Of course ''\ 
 piecemeal. Better liavc live aching teeth than one brokeu 
 jaw. Better ten fly- blistertj than au amputation. Better 
 twenty squalls than one cyclone. There may he a differ- 
 ence of opinion as to allopathy and homoepathy; but in 
 tliis matter of trouble I like lionuBopathic doses — small 
 pellets of annoyanee rather than some knock-down dose 
 of calamity. Instead of the thunderbolt give us the hor- 
 uet. If you liave a bank you would a great deal rather 
 that fifty men should come in with elieques less tlian a 
 hundred dollars than to have two depositors come in the 
 same day each wanting his ten thousand dollars. In 
 this latter case, you cough and look down at the floor 
 and up at the ceiling before you look into the safe. 
 Now, my friends, would you not rather have these small 
 drafts of annoyance on your bank of faith than some all- 
 staggering demand upon your endurance? I want to 
 make you strong, that you will not surrender to small 
 annoyances. In the village of Hamelin, tradition says, 
 there was an invasion of rats, and these small creatures 
 almost devoured the town and threatened the lives of the 
 population, and tlie story is that a piper came out one 
 day and played a very sweet tune, and all the vermin 
 followed him — followed him to the banks of the Weser 
 and then he blew a blast and they dropped in and disap- 
 peared forever. Of course this is a fable, but I wish I 
 could, on the sweet flute of the Gospel, draw forth all the 
 nibbling and burrowing annoyances of your life, and play 
 them down into the depths forever. How many touches 
 did the artist give to his picture of "Cotopaxi," or his 
 "Heart of the Andes?" I suppose about fifty thousand 
 touches. I hear the canvas saving, "Why do you keep 
 mo trembling with that pencil so long? Why don't you 
 put it on in one dash?" " No," says the artist, " I knovs^ 
 
ICO 
 
 NIGHT SIDES OF OHT LIFE. 
 
 ''^^ 
 
 how to make a painting; it will take fifty thoii^-^-id of 
 these touches." And I want you, my friends, to under- 
 stand that it is these ten thousand annoyances which 
 under God, are making up the picture of your life, to be 
 hung at last in the galleries of heaven, fit for angels to 
 look at. God knows how to make a picture. 
 
 If I had my way with you I would have you possess 
 all possible worldly prosperity. I would have you each 
 one a garden — a river running through it, geraniums 
 and shrubs on the sides, and the grass and fiowers as 
 beautiful as though the rainbow had fallen, I would 
 have you a house, a splendid mansion, and the bed 
 should be covered with upholstery dipped in the setting 
 sun. I would have every hall in your ho^se sot with stat- 
 ues and statuettes, and then I would have the four quart- 
 ers of the globe pour in all their luxuries on your table, 
 and you should have forks of silver and knives of gold, 
 inlaid with diamonds and amethysts. Then you should 
 each one of you have the finest horses, and your pick of 
 the equipages rf the world. Then I would liave you 
 live a hundred and fifty years, and you should not have 
 a pain or ache until the last breath. " Not each one of 
 U6?" you say. Yes, each one of you. "Not to 3^our 
 enemies?" Yes; the oniydiflfe: icc I would make with 
 them would be that 1 would put a little extra gilt on 
 their walls and a little extra em^broidery on their slippers. 
 But you say, " Why does not God give us all these 
 things?" Ah! I bethir^kmyself. He is wiser. It would 
 make fools and slugqra.'ds of us if we had our way. No 
 man puts his best picture in the portico or vestibule of 
 his house. God meant thl3 world to be only the vesti- 
 bule of heaven, that great gallery of the universe toward 
 which we are aspiring. We must not have it too good 
 in this world, or we would want no heaven. You are 
 
 t 
 
■ 
 
 i^-^'id of 
 
 Tinder- 
 3 which 
 ife, to be 
 ngels to 
 
 possess 
 ^011 each 
 raniums 
 )wer3 as 
 
 1 would 
 the bed 
 5 setting: 
 ith Btat- 
 r qiiart- 
 ir table, 
 of gold, 
 I should 
 
 ' pick of 
 ave you 
 
 lOt liaY'3 
 
 I one of 
 
 to your 
 
 ke with 
 
 gilt on 
 
 ilippers. 
 
 II these 
 '.t would 
 ly. No 
 ibule of 
 le vesti- 
 
 toward 
 00 good 
 toil are 
 
 XfiE hornkt's mission. 
 
 161 
 
 surprised that aged people are bo willing to go out of 
 this world. I will tell you the reason. It is not onlv 
 because of the bright prospects in heaven, l)ut it is be- 
 cause they feel that seventy years of annoyaiice is 
 enough. They would have lain down in the soft mead- 
 ows of this world forever, but " God sent the hornet." 
 
 My friends, I shall not have preached in vain if I have 
 shown you that the annoyances of life, the small annoy, 
 ances, may be subservient to your present and eternal ad- 
 vantage. Polycarp was condemned to be burned at the 
 stake. The stake was planted. He was fastened to it, 
 the faggots were placed round about the stake, they were 
 kindled, but, by some strange current of the atmosphere, 
 history tells us, the flames bent outward like the sails of 
 a ship under a strong breeze, and then far above they 
 came together, making a canopy; so that instead of being 
 destroyed by the flames, there lie stood in a flame-buoy- 
 ant bower planted by his persecutors. They had to take 
 his life in another way, by the point of the ])oinard. 
 And I have to tell you this inorning that God can make 
 all the flames of your trial a wall of defense and a cano- 
 py for the soul. God is just as willing to fulfill to you as 
 he was to Polycarp the ])romise, " When thou passest 
 through the fire thou shalt not be burned." In heaven 
 you will acknowledge the fact that you never had one 
 annoyance too many, and through all eternity you will 
 be grateful that in this world the Lord did send the hor- 
 net. ''Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometli 
 in the morning." ''All things work together for good to 
 those who love God." The Lord sent the sunshine. 
 "The Lord sent the hornet." 
 11 
 
l; ! 
 
 THE HOME GUIDE. 
 
 AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ALL THINGS OF EVERY DAY LIFE, 
 ELEGANTLY ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 Encyclopedias are works of Great Lahor and Value, often requiring an Au- 
 thor's lil'e time to write and complete. The lara^e outlay necessary to produce 
 such works place them beyond the reach of many. 
 
 The aim oi"TnK IIomk Guide" is to give the very best of all that is to be 
 found in expensive and cumbersome works, in a condensed, compact, cheap and 
 convenient form, dispensing with all unnecessary words which mystily and con- 
 fuse, sifting the wheat from the chaft' of all standard authorities, besides addinj^ 
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 condensed for the practical use of the present. A book every tamih' shoidd 
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 EcoNOiMY IN A Nutshell. It contains Thousands of Important Facts, \'al- 
 uable Mints and Useful Suggestions. It tells 
 
 How to Save in Furniture. 
 How to Save in Fuel. 
 
 How^ to Secure a Home. 
 How to Build a Home. 
 How to Furnish s. Home. 
 How to Decorate a Home. 
 How to Preserve Health. 
 How to Care for the Sick. 
 How to Live Comfortably. 
 How to Live Cheaply. 
 
 How to Save in Cooking:. 
 How to Save in Clothes. 
 How to Preserve Many Thing-s. 
 How to Make Many Thingrs. 
 How to Mend Many Thiag-s. 
 How to Make Home Happy. 
 
 It is a Home Book, a Family Doctor, a Book of Domestic Pharmacy, a Fam- 
 ily Surgeon, a Cook Book, a Book of Household Management, a Book of Con- 
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 A BOOK FOR THE FATHER, MOTHER, BROTHER, SISTER AND 
 LOVER, MINISTER. DOCTOR, LAWYER, MERCHANT, 
 MANUFACTURER MINER, MARINER, FARMER, 
 MECHANIC AND APPRENTICE. 
 
 In fact, a Book lor P2verybody, old or yoxmg, m.^le or female, and sold at a 
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 It is bound in one I^arge Octavo Volume of 522 pages, printed from beauti- 
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 Bound in English Cloth, Back and Side In Black and Gold, 
 Bound in English Cloth, Gilt Edges, Parlor Edition. 
 
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 A copy of this boo'- will be promptly sent, postage prepaid by us, on receipt of price, ^S.OO 
 when an auih^..ixcd agent is unknown to be in the vicinity. ' ,::v 
 
IDE. 
 
 DAY LIFE, 
 
 uiring an Au- 
 rj to prcxhice 
 
 .11 that is to be 
 )act, cheap and 
 ystiiy and con- 
 besides adding 
 After manv 
 ig, collectino, 
 take pleasure 
 ccomplished a 
 ppreciated by 
 A complete 
 :e of the past 
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 est advanced 
 
 .. DOMK.STIC 
 
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 ties. 
 
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 ay Thlng-s. 
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 ook of Fancy 
 
 tTER AND 
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