99,amusement3 ,a ,force in ,christian   
,training99                             
,by ,the                                
,rev4 ,marvin ,r4 ,vincent              
,pastor of the ,first ,presbyterian     
,church1 ,troy1 ,n4,y4                  
,wm4 ,h4 ,young1 #h  #i ,first ,street  
,troy1 ,n4,y4                           
#ahfg            ,,contents             
,preface4  ,religion ,and ,amusement4   
,the ,true ,nonconformist4  ,the ,church
 ,and ,the ,young ,man4  ,thoughts ,for 
,the ,clergy on the ,amusement          
,question4              ,,preface4      
,these discourses are not presented as a
 series4 ,with the exception of the     
last1 which was prepared merely for     
publication1 they were delivered at     
considerable intervals1 and to meet     
certain aspects of the subject as they  
presented themselves4 ,as they all      
develop substantially the same          
principles1 they will probably contain  
some repetitions4 ,the interest         
awakened by the publication of the essay

 before the ,albany ,convention1 and    
the very general desire expressed to see
 the second and third of these          
discourses in print1 have decided the   
author against remoulding the whole     
into one treatise which he at one time  
contemplated4 ,he therefore sends  them 
forth in their original shape1 with     
earnest prayer that the great  ,head of 
the church may use them1 with all their 
imperfections1 to awaken  ,christian    
thought and friendly discussion on a    
subject of vital importance  to the     
welfare of our youth4    ,marvin ,r4    
,vincent4    ,troy1 ,jan4 #ith1 #ahfg4  
,,religion ,,and ,,amusement4           
,an ,essay1 ,delivered at the           
,international ,convention of ,young    
,men's                                  
,christian ,associations1               
,held ,in ,albany1 ,june #a1 #ahff4     
,the religious thought of the age must  
soon face this subject more fairly  than
 it has yet done2 and seek for some more
 satisfactory adjustment of  it4 ,at    

present its status is very indefinite4  
,the church is by no means at  one      
concerning it4 ,the pulpit too often    
evades it4 ,private ,christians  waver  
between the results of independent      
thought and of early education1         
undecided whether to approve or condemn2
 while extremists take advantage  of    
this hesitation to lay down the sternest
 dogmas1 and to thunder  denunciations  
at every head that will not bow to their
 ipse dixit4 ,the  questions at issue   
are not to be dismissed with a sneer at 
fanaticism and  over-scrupulousness on  
the one hand1 and with a protest against
  unwarrantable liberality on the other4
 ,the whole subject must be  rexamined  
with reference to fundamental gospel    
principles by both  parties1 in a spirit
 of ,christian moderation1 and with the 
desire of  ascertaining not only what is
 safe1 but what is right4    ,to        
prosecute thoroughly such an examination
 within the limits assigned me1  is1 of 
course1 impossible4 ,i can only deal    

with a few of the great  principles     
underlying the case1 and urge their     
application to a single  practical      
question which has arisen in the        
experience of our own1 and it  may be1  
of other ,christian associations4       
,the idea of development1 which is      
perhaps the fundamental one of          
,christianity1 has been to a very great 
extent swallowed up in the idea of      
safety4 ,it is not an uncommon error to 
regard ,christianity almost  exclusively
 in a defensive aspect2 the ,christian  
merely as a safe man1  protected by     
,divine safe-guards from temptation1    
rescued by ,divine mercy  from the      
terrors of death and judgment4          
,correspondingly with this mistake1  the
 tendency has grown to strengthen the   
defenses of character1 rather  than to  
foster its growth4 ,to keep it from     
temptation1 rather than to  teach it to 
overcome temptation4 ,to teach it its   
danger from the world1  rather than its 
duty to the world4 ,consequently we have

 heard more about  keeping unspotted    
from the world1 than of going into all  
the world1 and  preaching the gospel to 
every creature4 ,more about coming out  
and being  separate1 than of knowing the
 truth which shall make free4 ,more of  
separating wheat from tares1 than of    
leavening lumps4    ,the false instinct 
of self-preservation1 which sent the    
,romanist into  cloisters and convents1 
and tore him from the sweet sanctities  
of domestic  life1 has perpetuated      
itself more than some of us think in    
,protestant  thought and church         
legislation4 ,and in nothing has this   
tendency revealed  itself more          
distinctly than in the matter of        
amusements4 ,for amusement1  having the 
effect to make men feel kindly toward   
the world1 and1 more  readily than duty1
 falling in with human inclination1 has 
been regarded as  unsafe1 and therefore 
as a thing to be kept at arm's length by
 the church1  and admitted to her folds 
only under the strictest surveillance1  

and in  gyves and handcuffs4    ,the    
developments of this spirit are so      
familiar that ,i need not stop to       
enumerate them4 ,the important thing now
 is to discover the right  stand-point  
for discussion4 ,and here let me say    
what1 until recently1 ,i  had supposed  
there was no need of saying3 that       
amusement is a necessity of  man's      
nature as truly as food1 or drink1 or   
sleep4 ,physiology1 common  sense1      
experience1 philosophy1 are all at one  
on this point4 ,man needs  something    
besides change of employment4 ,he needs 
something pursued with a  view solely to
 enjoyment4 ,those who deny this are    
ignorant of the  simplest fundamental   
laws of mind and matter4 ,men who assert
 publicly that  they need no amusements1
 and 8want to die in the harness10 will 
have the  opportunity of dying in the   
harness some years earlier than would be
  demanded in the ordinary course of    
nature4 ,nature will not suffer even    
zealous ,christian men to violate this  

law with impunity4 ,she forbids man  to 
labor continuously1 and if he persists  
in disregarding her prohibition1  she   
will revenge herself by imbecility1     
uselessness1 or death4    ,this must be 
assumed in all discussions of the       
subject2 and it being a  religious1 no  
less than a physical truth1 it throws   
into new prominence  the question1 how1 
as ,christians1 we are to discharge this
 duty without  being led away by the    
temptation which adjoins it so closely4 
,let it be borne in mind that we are not
 now dealing with individual cases  of  
conscience1 but with general laws4      
,while then there is obviously a        
distinction between amusements--while it
 is granted that some develop  greater  
capabilities of abuse than others1 the  
attempt to adjust this  question on the 
basis of discriminating between         
amusements must result  in failure4 ,it 
always has1 and it always will4 ,this   
basis is secure only  in a question     
between an innocent amusement1 and one  

involving a palpable  violation of the  
law of ,god4 ,the advocate of any       
particular amusement is1  on this       
ground1 shut up to the necessity of     
proving that what he approves  and      
practices is absolutely pure1 and       
incapable of perversion4 ,the  moment it
 is admitted that it can1 by any        
possibility1 be turned to base  uses1   
the lists are thrown open to all        
corners1 and the utterly insoluble      
question arises1 just what degree of    
capacity for perversion entitles an     
amusement to approval or rejection8     
,insoluble1 ,i say1 because1 not to     
speak of any other difficulty1 one is   
obliged to confront the fact that no    
one amusement presents a similar        
temptation to abuse to all alike4 ,that 
in  which the slightest indulgence might
 tend to lead one man to ruinous        
excess1 excites no interest in another4 
,it might possibly be dangerous for  one
 man to play at backgammon1 while to    
another it would prove no  amusement1   

but only a tedious method of killing    
time4 ,on this ground1 in  short1 it is 
utterly impossible to adjust this matter
 satisfactorily or  consistently4 ,the  
only consistent or safe rule in this    
view of the case1  is rigorously to     
exclude all1 because all are partakers  
of the universal  taint of sin4         
8,the trail of the serpent is over them 
all40      ,it is innocent for boys to  
play marbles1 but sinful to play        
dominoes4  ,wherein1 pray8 ,they can    
learn to gamble with one as well as with
 the  other4 ,it is sinful to play      
billiards1 but highly graceful and      
innocent to  play croquet4 ,but why8    
,really1 when it comes to a comparison1 
the first is  infinitely the more       
beautiful and intellectual game4 ,the   
ethical  distinctions are positively    
bewildering between balls of ivory and  
balls  of wood2 between mallets and     
cues2 between green baize and green     
grass4 ,a  ,christian household must not
 sit down and play at whist1 but they   

are  engaged in a ,christian and        
laudable manner if they spend an evening
 over  ,dr4 ,busby1 or ,master ,rodbury 
cards4 ,really1 it is hard to draw the  
moral  line between cards bearing aces  
and spades1 and cards with the          
likenesses  of ,dr4 ,busby's son and    
servant1 ,doll the dairymaid1 and the   
like4 ,when it  comes to a question of  
profit1 one is an amusement involving a 
good deal  of healthy1 mental exertion1 
while the other is about as silly and   
profitless a way of spending an evening 
as can well be imagined4 ,youth  must   
not dance1 but they may march to music  
in company1 and go through  calisthenic 
exercises1 involving a good deal more   
motion than dancing4 ,but  if people may
 march to music and be guiltless1 it is 
very hard to see how  skipping to music 
converts the exercise into sin4 ,it is  
said that the  associations make the    
difference2 but the advocate of this    
theory is  shut up to proving that the  
associations are inseparable from the   

amusements4 ,and here is the place to   
remark that the best amusements are  the
 ones most likely to be abused--the ones
 which experience shows are  most       
abused1 and about which cluster the most
 evil associations4 ,the  children of   
this world are wiser in their generation
 than the children of  light4 ,men do   
not care to counterfeit a coin of       
inferior value2 and the  world is very  
clear-sighted to discern the best and   
richest sources of  worldly pleasure1   
and utterly unscrupulous in             
appropriating them entirely  to itself4 
,the amusements which are most abused1  
are commonly those which1  from their   
intrinsic value1 call most loudly upon  
virtue to rescue them  from their       
abuses4    ,the above method of         
reasoning1 in short1 will not stand the 
test of plain  common sense4 ,it is     
trifling1 ignoring all distinctions     
which rest on  principles1 and          
substituting factitious ones2 and       
,christians who assume  this ground1 lay

 themselves open without defense to the 
logic and ridicule  of any intelligent  
man of the world who may be disposed to 
test the  reasons for their             
scrupulousness4 ,they condemn themselves
 in those things  which they allow4 ,the
 amusements they approve cannot1 in many
 cases1 be  compared with those which   
they deprecate1 either in elegance1     
profit1 or  the amount of intelligence  
they require4    ,what point then shall 
we take for the consideration of this   
subject8 ,we  are confined to one--the  
stand-point of the ,bible4 ,as          
,christian  associations we have but one
 question to ask3 8,what saith the      
,word40    ,in the ,new ,testament we   
find little said about the degrees of   
sin4 ,the  thought which it throughout  
tries to impress is1 that sin is        
everywhere2  and under any form1 or in  
any degree1 is a horrible and fatal     
thing4 ,the  tares are gathered in      
bundles and burned2 no matter if one    
grows a  little shorter1 and another a  

little longer4 ,the lustful glance is   
placed  in the same category with the   
licentious act4 ,the angry thought is of
 the  same piece with the act of murder4
 ,the gospel contemplates the sins of   
the  race very much as a man looks at an
 orange3 the rind is full of little     
protuberances1 and a close scrutiny will
 show that some of these rise  higher   
than others4 ,but nobody pretends to    
notice these variations2 they  all      
spring from one spherical surface1 and  
their variation is not such as  to      
destroy the general effect of roundness4
 ,so all these fearful  developments of 
sin spring from one plane1 and ,god hath
 concluded the  whole sinful world in   
unbelief4    ,the gospel1 therefore1    
wastes no time in making distinctions   
between sins1  but aims straight at     
remedying the great fact of sin as it   
exists  everywhere4 ,nor does it leave  
us in doubt as to its method4 ,it       
assumes its  own power to purify        
anything1 and therefore lays down as its

 great law of  operation1 the law of    
contact4    ,this law it sets forth     
under a parable3 ,the kingdom of heaven 
is like  leaven1 which a woman took and 
hid in three measures of meal till the  
whole was leavened4 ,the great truth    
here illustrated1 is the innate power   
of the gospel to pervade and assimilate 
to its own nature the whole  worldly    
order of things1 just as leaven thus    
pervades and assimilates the  lifeless  
lumps of dough4 ,this then1 is its      
simple lesson3 ,put the gospel  into    
contact with everything sinful--the     
heart of man1 the life of man1 the      
employments of man1 the amusements of   
man--into society1 its customs1 laws1   
institutions1 and it will purge them of 
evil1 and bring them into harmony  with 
the ,divine order4    ,but be sure and  
note1 that the entire success of this   
action depends upon  the contact--upon  
the putting the leaven into the lump4   
,fail in this1 and  the lump remains    
heavy4 ,it matters very little whether  

the salt have lost  his savor or not1 if
 the meat remain in one dish and the    
salt in the  other4    ,how thoroughly  
and beautifully this truth was carried  
out in the life and  teachings of       
,christ1 will appear to us more clearly1
 if we shall recognize  the uniform     
policy of the gospel to work for the    
destruction of evil1  chiefly through   
the lodgment and development of good4   
,both ,christ and his  apostles are     
exhibited in the gospel story as engaged
 chiefly in asserting  and illustrating 
the truth1 and not in combating error4  
,christ comes into  a world lying in    
wickedness--besotted by it1 plagued and 
tormented by it2  full of abominations  
starting boldly out without pretense of 
concealment1  from every phase of       
private1 social and civil life4 ,but he 
does not  approach these as a mechanic  
would an old building1 saying1 8this    
beam is  rotten and must come down2 this
 roof is decayed and must be stripped   
off2  this floor is unsafe and must be  

pulled up40 ,he does not propose to his 
disciples to enter upon a wholesale     
denunciation of profanity and           
licentiousness4 ,he points out and      
condemns many of these things it is     
true2 but the main lever of his teaching
 is the assertion of the great  gospel  
principles4 ,for these he seeks a place 
of lodgment everywhere4 ,the  old tables
 of the law contained but one           
commandment that was not  prohibitory4  
,every line portrayed a crime1 with a   
law standing on guard  beside it1 and   
warning men away with its 8,thou shalt  
not60 ,christ asserts  the authority of 
the law2 but in the new table it is seen
 beckoning toward  the commandment1     
8,thou shalt love the ,lord thy ,god    
with all thy heart40  ,his instructions 
to his disciples do not so much concern 
the things which  they are to avoid1 as 
they tend to fix upon their minds right 
conceptions  of his character and       
mission4 ,so1 ,i repeat1 ,christ's work 
is less a  crusade against evil1 than an

 assertion of good by precept and       
example as  the surest means in the end 
of removing evil4 ,look1 too1 at ,paul  
at  ,athens1 surrounded by heathen      
temples1 statues and altars4 ,he does   
not  proceed to demonstrate to the      
curious multitude that the philosophies 
of  ,zeno or ,epicurus are wrong2 or    
that the worship of ,hermes or ,athene  
is  absurd4 ,he throws out at once1 bold
 and stern as a mountain headland1 the  
assertion of the ,divine unity1 and     
follows it up with the doctrines of     
salvation through ,christ1 the          
resurrection1 and the final judgment4   
,in a  few bold strokes he delineates to
 the astonished skeptics some salient   
points of natural and revealed religion1
 and then leaves the truth to  germinate
 and crowd out the evil in its own way  
and time4    ,there is indeed a         
sublimity in this invincible faith in   
the power of truth  exhibited by the    
,son of ,man4 ,in the calmness with     
which he moves amid the  moral ruin that

 encompasses him1 without that anxious  
haste1 and longing  for immediate       
results1 which characterize so many     
modern reformers4 ,the  world would have
 expected a direct and tremendous       
onslaught upon evil4 ,it  would have    
said that the dropping of a seed of     
positive truth here and  there1 would   
never result in anything4 ,christ knew  
better4 ,he knew the  latent power of   
truth2 its inherent capability of       
growth2 and he knew that  wherever it   
should find a lodgment1 it would grow2  
and wherever it should  grow1 it would  
shake down from its branches1 like the  
mighty tree of the  tropics1 the germs  
of a thousand growths like itself4 ,now 
it is this very  faith in the power of  
gospel truth1 as the most effective     
destroyer of  evil1 prompting to put the
 good boldly into the evil to leaven it1
 which  is sorely needed in the moral   
movements of the age4 ,bring the subject
 of  amusements to this test4 ,compare  
the action of the church upon it1 with  

the principles so evidently regulating  
,christ's dealing with evil1 and see    
whether it gains by the comparison4 ,is 
it not true1 rather1 that the           
,christian world has1 to a very large   
extent1 acted upon an entirely  opposite
 principle8 ,it has spent much time in  
peering into amusements to  see what    
evil they contained1 and has kept       
digging away at this1 instead  of       
putting ,divine grace into them1 in     
simple faith in ,god1 and letting  that 
at once purge and regulate them4 ,it has
 been so absorbed in  ferreting out and 
declaiming against the evil1 as to have 
forgotten  measurably that a            
corresponding duty lay upon it to       
develop the good4  ,overlooking1 or at  
least slighting the great philosophical 
truth1 that  amusement is as necessary  
to man as bread1 and fixing its gaze    
upon the  fact that it is capable of    
perversion1 it has most signally failed 
in the  regulation of popular           
amusements1 and in teaching how to use1 

without  abusing them4 ,it has withdrawn
 utterly from many most innocent sources
 of  pleasure2 crying1 8come out from   
among them20 they are not safe2         
,christians must have nothing to do with
 them4 ,and with its withdrawal1 the    
,devil has come in and taken full       
possession1 and their last state is     
worse  than the first4 ,when the church 
has touched the subject of amusements1  
it  has generally done so1 ,i think1 in 
a censorious spirit4 ,it has selected   
certain amusements as sinful1 and issued
 decretals and resolutions against      
them2 it has prescribed penalties       
against church members who should engage
  in them2 leaving the question in its  
broader relations untouched4 ,it has    
fenced off this and that corner of the  
field of recreation1 and put up  signs3 
8all church members are warned against  
trespassing on these  grounds1 under    
penalty of the law10 instead of trying  
to teach ,christians  how to avail      
themselves1 with profit and safety1 of  

any part of the field4  ,we are cut off 
from ,hamlet1 and ,lear1 and ,othello   
and ,macbeth4 ,we cannot  avail         
ourselves of the interpretation of these
 by the best histrionic  talent1 because
 the theater has been suffered to fall  
so completely into  the ,devil's hands1 
that a ,christian cannot countenance    
what is good in it1  without at the same
 time countenancing much that is        
profane1 licentious  and indecent4 ,but 
if the intelligence and culture of a    
community endeavor  to apply the        
principle ,i have been advocating1 and1 
in the shape of  private theatricals1 to
 furnish a refined1 beautiful1 and      
instructive  dramatic exhibition1 the   
outcry is little less than if they had  
leased  ,wallack's or ,niblo's1 with a  
first class troupe2 and those           
,christians who  witness it1 are        
condemned as inconsistent and           
backsliders4 ,just so with  dancing4    
,the idea of ,christianity having the   
remotest connection with this  amusement

 has been scouted as absurd4 ,a         
procrustean law has been                
enacted--8,thou shalt not dance40 ,and  
surely1 one would think from some       
exhibitions of this amusement1 that     
,christian leaven had been pretty       
thoroughly withdrawn from it4 ,one      
cannot much wonder at the disgust       
excited by those importations from      
,paris brothels1 the round dances1      
which1 with the present style of female 
attire1 really leave modest men at  some
 loss what to do with their eyes4 ,let  
us have as much thundering at  these as 
you will4 ,let us not mince words4 ,let 
ridicule1 and sarcasm1 and  denunciation
 exhaust their armories1 for these are  
abuses2 positive evils4  ,but these     
abuses are not inseparable from the     
amusement1 which1 in proper  forms1 is  
healthy1 graceful1 innocent1 and highly 
commendable4 ,just here  an incident    
occurs to me which so forcibly          
illustrates this last remark  that ,i   
must relate it as the involuntary       

testimony of an enemy4 ,an amiable  and 
most excellent clergyman of this state1 
happened to be present one  evening when
 some young ladies went through a       
quadrille4 ,he looked on with  great    
apparent pleasure4 ,the next morning he 
was rallied by some of his  townsmen on 
having countenanced dancing by his      
presence2 when he roundly  denied the   
charge1 and asserted that no dancing had
 taken place1 but only1  as he expressed
 it1 8a most beautiful exercise40 ,now1 
,i ask1 in the name  of common sense1   
why not devote a little ,christian care 
to separating from  its abuses1 and     
regulating in its conduct an exercise   
which improves the  bearing of our      
youth1 tends to relieve their natural   
awkwardness in  society1 and gives them 
innocent exhilaration8 ,but no6 ,thou   
shalt not  dance4 ,that is ,alpha and   
,omega4 ,dancing is liable to abuse1 and
  therefore1 ,o most astoundingly       
consistent logic1 leave it to become a  
prey  to all manner of abuses and       

abominations4 ,so1 if a ,christian      
household  makes the attempt to leaven  
this unfortunate lump1 and claims that  
it can1  and does introduce graceful and
 modest dancing into its family         
gatherings  and social reunions1 it is  
too often denounced as an enemy of      
,christ and a  corrupter of the young4  
,for one ,i am glad that certain        
,christian families  of high standing in
 the church of all denominations1 have  
at last asserted  their right to act out
 their own convictions in this matter1  
and have  demonstrated that even this   
much berated amusement may be elevated1 
refined1 and made a source of social    
pleasure and profit by the infusion  of 
,christian principle4    ,one more case 
in point4 ,when our ,young ,men's       
,christian ,association of ,troy        
furnished their new rooms1 they did so  
on the principle that prayer  meetings  
and religious periodicals1 though       
important in their place1 would  not1 of
 themselves1 suffice to attract young   

men from without4 ,they had  tried the  
experiment in their forlorn rooms under 
a machine shop1 in an  out-of-the-way   
place1 furnished as a miniature chapel1 
and a very seedy  one at that1 and the  
result was that about six months ago the
 ,association  was in a fair way to die1
 and make no sign4 ,young men would not 
go to that  dismal hole to spend an     
evening when more attractive places     
abounded in  the city2 and ,i would not 
if ,i had been in their place4 ,but the 
,association got a new lease of life4   
,it engaged large1 airy1 pleasant       
rooms1 in a central position4 ,it kept  
its prayer meeting room neatly and      
appropriately furnished1 but it added a 
large social parlor1 its walls  adorned 
with pictures1 a fine piano invitingly  
open1 the best current  periodicals1    
secular and religious1 upon the tables1 
and games of  checkers1 chess1 and      
dominoes distributed about the room4    
,the young men  came in crowds4 ,they   
were thrown at once into contact with   

the ,christian  youth of every church in
 the city2 with the city pastors2 with  
committees1  specially appointed by the 
churches to take strangers in charge1   
with good  music1 religious literature1 
and innocent amusement4 ,for one ,i     
thanked ,god  with all my heart4 ,i     
thought the ,association had done a     
great ,christian  deed4 ,i hailed it as 
a happy omen that the ,christianity of  
our city was  beginning to see that the 
,devil had tools which it might use to  
advantage1 and was going to take them   
away from him4 ,but so did not think    
others who turned their backs on the    
,association1 and denounced it as       
encouraging gambling4    ,this1 in      
short1 is the course pursued to a very  
great extent with this  whole subject of
 amusements3 assuming that the gospel   
has no business with  it except to      
denounce and warn2 taking the leaven    
away from the lump1  instead of putting 
it in4 ,creating a wide separation      
between two things1  which1 of all      

others in the world need to be brought  
into contact--religion  and pleasure4   
,and the practical results of this      
policy are before us4 ,it may be said   
that the tendency now is altogether in  
the direction of excess2 that some      
,christians are becoming much too       
liberal1 and are fast obliterating all  
old landmarks4 ,all ,i have to say to   
this is1 that the more true it is1 the  
better for my position4 ,for1 granting1 
for argument's sake1 all that is        
asserted1 this fact shows that there is 
a reaction from an old and false        
sentiment1 which even if excessive1 is a
 healthy indication4 ,and the one  error
 goes to prove the other2 for excessive 
reactions are pretty sure to  grow out  
of excessive stringency in another      
direction4 ,at any rate1 the  great     
error of the church on this subject is  
clearly exposed1 namely3 her  failure to
 regulate amusements4 ,she ought to have
 been the gospel's  instrument in       
purifying them from abuse2 but she has  

not been4 ,she has  been afraid of them2
 has stood aloof from them2 has been    
almost totally  absorbed in detecting   
their evil tendencies2 and1 on account  
of these1  forbidding ,christians all   
contact with them4 ,and to-day she      
stands  comparatively powerless in this 
matter4 ,church assemblies meet and pass
  strong and elaborate resolutions on   
this or that amusement1 condemning it1  
and those who engage in it2 and a few   
persons are deterred by these4 ,but     
every year the class is increasing that 
utterly disregards these mandates4  ,it 
has been said1 ,i know1 that in         
proportion as the church or individuals 
are engaged in religious efforts1 the   
desire for amusement declines1 the      
implication being that a desire for     
amusement characterizes only a low      
state of religion4 ,this deduction is   
entirely unwarranted1 and the process   
by which it is reached is fallacious4   
,it is true that in a season of deep    
religious interest in a church1 there   

will be less disposition to amusements4 
,but the same is true of other than     
religious interests4 ,under any         
absorbing1 popular excitement1 men do   
not  turn to amusement4 ,a special      
religious interest will draw men's minds
 from  business as well as from         
pleasure2 and the inference to the      
condemnation  of business is just as    
legitimate as to that of amusement4     
,again1 the statement is not borne out  
in the ordinary religious life of       
individuals4 ,many1 very many of the    
best1 most efficient1 and most  steadily
 growing ,christians in the church      
exhibit habitually a keen relish  for   
amusements1 and for some which are most 
sternly condemned1 and  participate in  
them most heartily4    ,and once more3  
while at revival seasons in individual  
churches1 a  temporary decrease of      
amusements may be seen1 the more        
important fact is  that the aggregate of
 ,christian society has been for many   
years past  developing a steadily       

increasing interest in the subject1 and 
a  corresponding liberality of sentiment
 respecting it4 ,scores of ,christian   
men have billiard tables in their       
houses4 ,colleges1 from which in years  
past1 students would have been summarily
 expelled for rolling ten pins1  have   
now bowling alleys of their own4 ,even  
in the corridors of staid old  ,williams
 the sound of the balls may be heard2   
and the revival record of  the college  
does not indicate that even this        
stupendous innovation has  wrought to   
the banishment of the ,spirit of ,god4  
,the assertors of this  inverse ratio   
between piety and amusement must1 in    
short1 dispose as best  they can1 of the
 fact that along with the growth of     
,christian  intelligence1 ,christian    
benevolence1 and ,christian activity1   
there has  been developed in the church 
itself a growing sympathy with many of  
the  very forms of amusement most       
condemned by the religious sentiment of 
an  earlier age4    ,and this too1 not  

on the part of the careless1 and        
pleasure loving1 and  half-hearted      
members of churches1 but of men and     
women high in position in  the church2  
persons of liberal culture and          
unquestionable piety4 ,these  persons1  
as well qualified to understand the     
teachings of ,god's word on  this       
subject as any of the clergy1 are       
asserting their right to act out  their 
own conscientious convictions in their  
amusements3 claiming that  they owe to  
the resolutions of synods1 and          
conventions and conferences1 no  more   
than candid and respectful              
consideration1 maintaining the privilege
  of adopting or rejecting them at      
pleasure2 and accordingly they are      
throwing open their homes to certain    
banned amusements1 very much to the     
enhancement of home attractions2 very   
much to the detriment of the  saloons2  
very much to the increase of their      
children's attachment to home4  ,church 
legislation on this subject has been a  

humiliating failure4 ,it has  not       
compassed its intent4 ,nay1 more1 it has
 over-reached itself4 ,it has  kept     
noble and intelligent youth out of the  
church by insisting on their            
relinquishment of certain amusements1 in
 the proper and moderate use of  which  
they were unable to see evil4 ,it has   
tended by this insistence to  foster    
that too common sentiment which paints  
religion with sombre hues1  and couples 
it with the most forbidding             
associations4 ,it has tended to  drive  
some to seek in the more liberal        
atmosphere of ,unitarianism the  liberty
 of conscience denied them by orthodoxy2
 and all this it might have  avoided by 
a clearer recognition of the gospel     
teaching on this subject3  by being less
 afraid for the purity of the truth1 and
 by throwing  ,christian presence1 and  
,christian participation1 and ,christian
 sentiment  boldly into the midst of the
 people's amusements1 with a view less  
to  exscind than to regulate4    ,i say1

 8less afraid for the purity of the     
truth40 ,for ,christians shrink  from an
 experiment so bold1 especially after so
 large a proportion of  amusements has  
been usurped by the ,devil through their
 neglect to  interfere4 ,the church is  
shy of a faith in the power of good     
which comes  eating and drinking2 which 
sits at the table of publicans and      
sinners4 ,the  conviction grows on me   
that ,christians have too little faith  
in the  gospel4 ,they do not trust it   
enough in popular reforms4 ,they realize
 that  evil is a tremendous power1 alike
 to be feared1 whether it wear the armor
  of ,goliath1 or sing its sweet        
seductions in the form of a siren2 and  
their  instinct of preservation extends 
beyond themselves to the truth itself4  
,they regard truth as a tender          
stripling1 to be rolled up in mufflers1 
and  suffered to walk out only in charge
 of certain staid nurses of theory2 and 
not as a man of war in panoply1 and with
 strength enough to take care not  only 

of itself1 but of them and their trusted
 theories too4 ,they are  afraid the    
evil will overwhelm or corrupt the      
truth2 that the leaven1  instead of     
imparting virtue1 will be spoiled by the
 deadness of the lump4  ,we need have no
 such fear for it4 ,all the developments
 of the age show  that the world needs  
it in closer contact with its evil than 
it has ever  been yet4 ,it is sometimes 
urged that in pursuing this course1     
,christians  will bring upon themselves 
from the world the charge of            
inconsistency1 and  moreover will grieve
 weak ,christian brethren4 ,but surely  
this principle  may be pushed too far4  
,with the very fullest recognition of   
the obligation  upon ,christians not to 
let their good be evil spoken of1 and   
not to wrong  the weak                  
conscience--concessions made for the    
sake of ,christian charity are  surely  
not required to extend to all the       
vagaries of individual prejudice1  nor  
to the abandonment of principle4 ,and   

there is a principle involved in  this  
question of amusements1 a principle of  
far greater importance than  many are   
willing to admit2 and to which1 if the  
,christian thought of this  age do not  
take more pains to define it and act    
upon it1 the eyes of the  church will be
 most painfully opened by and by4 ,there
 is a question here  involving not only 
the enjoyments1 but to a great extent   
the moral welfare  of our youth4 ,the   
young will have amusements1 and the     
question is whether  the devil or the   
church shall furnish them4 ,whether     
home1 or the ball  room1 and drinking   
saloon1 and gambling house shall be the 
more  attractive4 ,whether ,christians  
will resolutely take up good and noble  
amusements1 and give them to youth      
purged of their evil1--or whether they  
shall let them remain girt with all     
their allurements1 yet more widely      
separated from good1 and gathering      
yearly to themselves new elements and   
associations of evil4 ,very probably the

 world1 and much of the church will     
assail the ,christian who1 in this view 
of the subject oversteps the line  of   
received opinion1 with a cry of         
inconsistency4 ,but remember that the   
world judges the church out of its own  
mouth1 independently of the real  merits
 of the case2 and requires that it be   
consistent1 not with their  views1 but  
with its own as publicly expressed4 ,yet
 sometimes it is better  to be right    
than even to be consistent2 and if the  
church has with all  sincerity1 yet with
 mistaken zeal1 fostered a false        
sentiment on any  subject1 do not       
,christians who discern the error owe to
 society the  benefit of their clearer  
light8 ,have they a right to withhold it
 for fear  society should turn on them  
and call them inconsistent8 ,one would  
think  from a sentiment like this that  
the gospel process was to be reversed4  
,that not the ,christian is to leaven   
the world1 but the world the            
,christian4 ,christian sentiment is not 

to wait for popular sentiment4 ,it      
claims to be in advance of it4 ,it is to
 ,christians and not to the world  that 
the promise is given1 8,ye shall know   
the truth20 and ,christian  thought1 so 
far from waiting for the movement of    
these ever shifting  popular tides1 is  
the luminary which ,god has set high in 
the darkness of  this world's sin to    
draw the tides in his appointed         
channels4 ,the  practical value of truth
 like that of money1 consists in its    
circulation4  ,it is worth nothing      
hoarded up or used secretly4 ,if it is  
ever to be worth  anything in correcting
 false impressions which society may    
have formed of  ,christian teaching1 it 
will be by letting it out into society  
to speak for  itself4 ,nor am ,i begging
 the question at issue here4 ,even an   
error is  better outspoken than         
cherished in secret4 ,it comes into the 
field of  discussion1 and is turned over
 and examined and exposed1 and so truth 
is  the gainer after all4 ,but ,i think 

it will be difficult to prove an error  
in this case4 ,the gospel truth is 8put 
the leaven into the lump20 and  why the 
gospel should not be put into our       
amusements1 even into those  which are  
confessedly abused1 ,i cannot see4 ,the 
more liable to abuse they  are1 the more
 they need regulating2 and the practical
 workings of this  principle when men   
have the courage to face prejudice and  
carry it out1  triumphantly vindicate   
it4 ,the man who furnishes his son a    
billiard table  in his own house1 where 
he can practice that beautiful game with
 his  friends without the adjuncts of   
liquor and rowdyism1 does a good deed4  
,he  keeps the youth at home1 he keeps  
his associations under his own eye2 he  
gives him a good1 healthy1 intellectual 
amusement purged of its abuses4  ,the   
college board that erects a bowling     
alley for the students2 that says  to   
young men1 8rolling ten pins is not     
evil1 but rolling ten pins in bar       
rooms1 surrounded by drunkards and      

swearers and indecent pictures is  evil1
 and we therefore give you the amusement
 without these associations1  and bid   
you enjoy it1 and draw health and       
strength from it10--that college  board 
,i say1 has promoted something more than
 muscular ,christianity4 ,it  has given 
the young men a better opinion of       
religion2 has withdrawn them  from the  
influence of temptations to which they  
expose themselves only  because they    
cannot find the amusements freed from   
these vile  associations4 ,it has drawn 
just so much patronage from the grog    
shop4 ,the  parents in whose family     
circle dancing in proper modes and with 
approved  associates and within         
reasonable hours is encouraged1 are     
doing just so  much to keep their       
daughters from the unhealthy hours1 the 
immodest  displays1 and the             
indiscriminate associations of the ball 
room4 ,they  deserve the thanks1 not the
 reprobation of the church4 ,they are   
the  friends1 not the enemies of        

religion4 ,let us not be scared by      
names4 ,let  us not deal1 as the pulpit 
has dealt too much1 in vague            
generalities on  this subject4 ,let us  
see what those terrible words           
8billiards0 and  8dancing10 and others  
of a similar cast mean4 ,let us see if  
they are evil  and evil only4 ,let us   
not assume that our youth are attracted 
to them only  by their native depravity2
 but see if there be not some goodness1 
some  beauty1 some intellectual stimulus
 which renders them so fascinating4 ,if 
they need regulating1 surely ,christian 
wisdom can regulate them if  anything4  
,if any can use them safely1 it is      
,christians who are taught by  ,divine  
grace to use this world as not abusing  
it1 and not those who are  swayed by    
impulse and love of pleasure only4 ,but 
the church does not  regulate them1 and 
she never will or can regulate them on  
the old theory  of separation4 ,never1  
so long as she persists in wholesale    
denunciations  which she can sustain    

neither by scripture nor by logic1 and  
against which  the common sense of the  
educated and thoughtful rebels4 ,a more 
liberal  policy in the past1 a juster   
appreciation of the gospel teachings on 
this  subject1 would not only have done 
much towards separating amusements from 
their abuses1 but would have saved her  
from her present humiliating  attitude  
as the declared enemy of many forms of  
amusement1 from  participation in which 
she has no power to restrain her        
members4    ,this principle has been    
assailed on the ground that the world   
will abuse  it4 ,that they will read in 
words like these the church's           
endorsement and  license for unlimited  
indulgence4 ,but if the world draws     
unwarranted  inferences to suit its own 
depraved wishes1 surely that is no      
reason for  suppressing the truth1 but  
rather calls for the full and most      
careful  statement of it4 ,if the world 
read the gospel wrongly1 and wrest it to
 its  own destruction1 those who set    

forth gospel principles are not         
responsible1 unless1 as has too often   
been the case with reference to this    
subject1 the trumpet give an uncertain  
sound4 ,and the world is too ready  to  
pervert this truth1 and does pervert it4
 ,christians1 if properly  instructed1  
are so far from being disqualified to   
use amusements safely1  the best        
qualified of all others to develop their
 highest uses1 and to  enjoy without    
abusing them4 ,the world regards only   
the permission to  enjoy1 and ignores   
the corresponding rule of restraint4 ,in
 this respect it  is like the prince in 
the ,arabian tale1 who mounted the      
enchanted horse1  and set him in motion 
without having informed himself as to   
the means of  guiding or stopping him4  
,for1 let me be clearly understood1 ,i  
do not lay down this general  principle 
without recognizing the existence of    
practical limitations to  its action1   
though ,i assert that the fixing of     
these limitations belongs  chiefly if   

not entirely to the individual          
,christian conscience4 ,i have  said    
that the tendency of religious teaching 
with reference to this and  kindred     
subjects has been to make the idea of   
safety more prominent than  that of     
development4 ,yet ,i do not overlook1 as
 was implied in the  remarks of one who 
objected to my views1 the defensive     
aspect of the  gospel4 ,i admit both the
 fact and its urgent necessity ,i could 
not do  otherwise1 knowing that the     
heart is deceitful1 and remembering the 
prayer  which ,christ puts into every   
man's mouth1 8,lead us not into         
temptation40 ,i  am pleading for the    
restraints as well as for the privileges
 of the gospel  in the matter of men's  
amusements2 for more and not less care  
and  watchfulness to be brought to bear 
upon their future regulation4    ,but   
withal1 ,i am not bound to abandon the  
general gospel principle of  purging    
amusements by a closer contact of       
religion with them1 because in  certain 

cases this regulation becomes a matter  
of extreme difficulty and  delicacy2    
because ,i cannot precisely say how the 
gospel leaven is to be  conveyed into   
certain forms of amusement4 ,just as    
consistently might ,i  have refused to  
denounce slavery as a crime against ,god
 and humanity  because ,i could not     
prescribe an effectual scheme for       
abolishing it4 ,and  that such          
difficulties do arise in the            
applications of this principle1 ,i      
freely admit4    ,there1 for example1 is
 the theatre4 ,i believe this principle 
applies to  that as well as to any other
 amusement4 ,for myself ,i wish that ,i 
could  occasionally see ,shakespeare    
interpreted by the best histrionic      
talent1  with all adjuncts of scenery   
and costume4 ,to me it would be a rich  
pleasure and a source of intellectual   
improvement4 ,but as the theatre is  now
 conducted and sustained1 ,i am clearly 
of the opinion that no ,christian  ought
 to frequent it4 ,he cannot do so       

without1 ,i think1 in the great         
majority of instances1 committing       
himself to very much that is indecent   
and coarse4 ,and just how this          
difficulty is to be surmounted1 how     
scholarly1 ,christian men who love such 
entertainments and are qualified to     
profit by them1 are to be furnished with
 them freed from their abuses1 ,i  am   
not now prepared to say4 ,i think it    
might be done2 but the theatre1 as  it  
now is1 is no place for a ,christian4   
,this1 however does not1 as before      
observed1 in the least invalidate the   
general principle4 ,it is merely a      
question of means4 ,nor1 as was very    
roundly asserted1 does the principle    
lead to this conclusion that every      
,christian man must have his box at     
theatre or opera4 ,it by no means       
follows that such a course would produce
 the desired effect4 ,it would be  just 
about as pertinent to argue that because
 a sewer in a certain street  needed    
cleansing1 and because a proper array of

 men and buckets and brooms  would      
cleanse it1 therefore every man and     
woman on the streets1 grave  doctors of 
divinity1 stately ,mr4 ,dombey1 ,flora  
,mc,flimsey and ,edmund  ,sparkler1     
should each shoulder broomstick or      
bucket1 and plunge pell mell  into the  
reeking filth4 ,this argument proceeds  
upon the assumption that  ,christians   
can purge amusements only by using them 
in the forms and with  the appliances   
attendant upon the world's abuse of     
them4 ,this is assuming  altogether too 
much4 ,we must get religion into these  
things1 but there are  various ways of  
doing it4 ,you cannot sow broadcast in  
all soils4    ,i do not know whether ,i 
ought notice one other line of reply to 
these  remarks2 but as it seems to be a 
favorite one1 and moreover was adopted  
by  some who ,i was surprised to see    
descending to it1 ,i will add a few     
words  on this4    ,it may be described 
as an attempt to invalidate a principle 
by showing  that its application to     

persons of widely different times and   
circumstances involves an absurdity and 
then from the absurdity inferring  a    
sin4 ,i do not pretend to give the exact
 words used1 but they were in  this     
style3 8,think of ,paul dancing2 or     
,peter playing billiards6 ,do you  think
 we shall have checker-boards in        
heaven80 ,and much more of the same     
kind4    ,now this is not argument4 ,it 
is sheer nonsense2 and most unworthy    
trifling  over a serious subject4 ,the  
reasoning1 if it be worthy the name1 is 
simply  this2 ,certain things appear    
incongruous with our ideas of the       
character  and work of certain men3     
therefore these things are sinful4 ,it  
is the  easiest thing in the world to   
invent situations of this kind4 ,such   
men as  ,paul and ,peter are associated 
in our minds with but one set of        
ideas2--with  one great1 glorious1      
solemn work2 and their association with 
any inferior  matter affects us         
unpleasantly at first4 ,even when we    

think of ,paul making  tents1 there is  
at first view something that clashes in 
our mind with the  speech on ,mars      
,hill1 and the healing of the cripple at
 ,lystra4 ,but who  thinks of disputing 
from this the propriety of ,paul's own  
hands  ministering to his necessities8  
,after all1 if there is no sin in       
rolling  ten pins1 ,i know not why      
,peter should not have participated in  
that very  excellent and healthful      
recreation with as much propriety as any
 of the  numerous ministers of the      
present day who 8roll0 with so much zest
 and  assiduity at our fashionable      
watering places4 ,think of ,paul        
dancing6 ,well1  think of him6 ,think of
 ,paul wearing a blue swallow-tailed    
coat with brass  buttons6 ,how he would 
have looked under the shadow of the     
,acropolis1 the  winds of the gean      
gently swaying his cerulean skirts1 and 
the eager faces  of ,stoic and          
,epicurean reflected in the bright      
buttons6 ,think of ,peter  skating2     

cutting figures of eight1 and performing
 8outer edge backwards60  ,think of     
,john in a white cravat2 or of          
,bartholomew putting up seidlitz        
powders2 or of ,timothy running with a  
fire-engine6 ,how would they have       
looked8 ,therefore hasten ye trim       
gentlemen1 to doff your guilty blue and 
brass1 and don the toga4 ,lay aside your
 skates1 boys4 ,peter would have  looked
 very strangely skating1 therefore it is
 sinful to skate4 ,tear off  your white 
chokers1 ye ,reverends1 and throw away  
your pestles ye  apothecaries1 and be   
like the apostles4 ,shall we have       
checker-boards in  heaven8 ,no1 brother1
 ,i presume not4 ,neither shall we      
marry1 nor be given  in marriage2 but   
pray don't condemn us to celibacy on    
that ground while we  remain upon earth4
 8,would you play chess on your         
death-bed80 ,probably not1  my friend4  
,neither would ,i put on my boots1 or do
 a great many other very  innocent      
things4 ,death stands out in startling  

contrast to all our  employments3 to    
business and study1 as well as to       
recreation2 and you  would find it      
vastly inconvenient to act upon the     
principle that nothing  must be done    
which you would not do on your          
death-bed4    ,but enough of this4 ,i   
come now to the one practical           
application of these  principles out of 
which this whole discussion has grown4  
,when our ,troy ,christian ,association 
adopted the practice of introducing     
games into their rooms1 ,i gave it my   
hearty approval4 ,my opinion on this    
subject has been confirmed by what ,i   
have seen and heard of the results of   
the experiment4 ,it was based on the    
principles ,i have been advocating in   
this paper1 and on the farther          
consideration1 growing out of these1    
that  we must take some of the devil's  
weapons and sanctify them before we     
could  successfully fight him on his own
 ground4 ,as remarked already1          
prayer-meetings will not draw           

irreligious young men into the sphere   
where  we want them4 ,give them first   
well lighted and warmed apartments1     
handsomely furnished1 where they can    
find music and books and newspapers  and
 games1 and you stand some chance then  
of drawing them into the                
prayer-meetings4 ,and indeed the direct 
religious influence of these            
associations1 while highly important1 is
 nevertheless subordinate to their  work
 in bringing young men into contact with
 the various churches of the  community1
 where the religious appliances are of  
course more perfect4 ,the  great point  
is to get them into some position where 
the churches can reach  them4 ,they will
 not come to church1 many of them1 when 
they first enter  the community4 ,the   
church has but limited facilities for   
finding them out  in their stores and   
boarding-houses and schools2 and it may 
find therefore  a powerful auxiliary in 
these associations1 which bring the     
stranger youth  where it can bring its  

influences to bear on them4 ,but for    
this purpose  the place of rendezvous   
must be made attractive4 ,we must have  
head-quarters as pleasant as the        
devil's4 ,i hope all of you have read   
the  article in ,guthrie's ,sunday      
,magazine for ,january1 #ahff1 entitled 
8,the  house that beats the public      
house20 that splendid iron structure in 
,colne1 ,lancashire1 built expressly for
 the irreligious working class4  ,there 
are fountains1 and pictures1 and games1 
cabinets and books and  newspapers4     
,there are quiet reading rooms1 there   
are refreshment rooms1  even smoking    
rooms4 ,there is a school room1 there   
are musical  entertainments on stated   
nights1 there are religious services on 
,sabbath  evenings4 8,on ,christmas eve1
 #ahfc10 says the writer1 8the musicians
 at one  of the public houses piped for 
some time1 but no dancers presented     
themselves1 till at length the players  
themselves adjourned to the meeting  at 
the ,iron ,school4 ,an attempt to open  

the theatre that winter failed  through 
the same influence4 ,the actors1 after  
struggling for a week in the  face of   
empty benches1 left the place in        
despair40    ,here is a clear and       
successful recognition of the truth that
 religion has  not such strong alliance 
with the unregenerate heart that she can
 afford  to dispense with all legitimate
 aids and recommendations4 ,the firemen 
have  their upper parlor in the engine  
house furnished richly and tastefully4  
,the drinking saloons are invested with 
all the attractions that marble1  and   
glass1 and drapery and pictures can give
 them4 ,one man who appeared  last week 
before the excise commissioners1 said he
 had expended ten  thousand dollars in  
fitting up his saloon4 ,he knew it would
 pay2 and we  cannot expect irreligious 
young men to be drawn away from these by
 mere  religious appliances4 ,we must   
employ other attractions4 ,we must make 
our  houses beat the public houses4 ,we 
must sanctify new forces for this end4  

,pictures and cabinets1 carpets and     
draperies1 music and games are not the  
devil's any more than they are ours4    
,young men will have some retreat       
beside their comfortless                
boarding-houses2 some society besides   
their  landlord's family1 and it is a   
match between the devil and the church  
which of us shall furnish these4 ,depend
 upon it1 if the church do not give     
them amusement1 regulated on a liberal  
,christian basis1 the devil will  give  
them abundance that is unregulated4 ,god
 forbid that ,christian  squeamishness  
should suffer them to turn aside to the 
house whose gates  lead to hell1 and to 
habits which shall make mothers curse   
the day they  gave them birth4    ,i    
will give two incidents showing the     
practical working of this new system  in
 the ,troy ,association4 ,a member of my
 church1 walking in the street one      
evening1 saw three young men just before
 him1 and overheard one say to the      
others1 8,come1 let's go and take a     

drink40 ,one of the others replied1     
8,no1  ,i don't care to take a drink4   
,let's go to the ,christian ,association
  ,rooms40 8,pshaw60 said the third1 8,i
 don't want to go there to prayer       
meeting40 8,no1 no10 was the response2  
8they've got a right nice place  there1 
and we can have a good time40 ,he went  
on describing the rooms1 and  then      
added3 8and they're for just such       
fellows as we are40 ,he gained his      
point1 and they followed him to the     
rooms4    ,three clubs of young men1 or 
boys rather1 were broken up soon after  
the  new rooms were opened4 ,i do not   
know their character fully1 but have    
been  told that drinking was practiced  
at their meetings4 ,they now frequent   
the  rooms of the society1 and pay over 
into its treasury their club            
subscriptions4 ,there are many more of  
such cases4 ,they speak with trumpet    
tongues as to the value of this policy4 
,they show that its practical  influence
 is against the groggery and the        

gambling saloon1 and if it work  no     
other result1 that of itself is         
vindication enough4    ,and now ,i leave
 the subject4 ,i do not shrink from the 
application of this  ,bible principle to
 our amusements4 ,the other1 the        
separative policy1 the  keeping of      
leaven and lump apart1 has been tried1  
and has failed1 utterly  failed4        
,will it not be well to try another     
policy8 ,i want for our youth a         
,christianity that shall not relax one  
iota of its obligation to ,god or to    
man4 ,that shall not bate one jot from  
an entire consecration of heart and     
life to ,god2 that shall walk closely   
with ,god1 and feel as deeply as human  
weakness can feel1 the necessity of     
watchfulness and of divine care to  keep
 it from temptation4 ,i challenge any   
man to draw undue license from  the     
principles ,i have asserted4 ,but ,i    
want more joy brought out of the  world 
by ,christians4 ,i want the gospel      
carried boldly into some things  from   

which it has been kept aloof4 ,i want   
,christian life to be in the  spirit    
more than in the letter4 ,i do not plead
 for less but for more  conformity to   
the spirit and teaching of ,christ4 ,not
 for a lower but for a  higher          
,christian life2 for a wider application
 of gospel principles1 a  more implicit 
trust in the leavening power of truth2 a
 more practical  belief in the assertion
 that the weapons of our warfare are    
mighty through  ,god to the pulling down
 of strongholds4 ,i want ,christian     
conscience  clothed with principles and 
not with dogmas4 ,i want the word of    
,god read  and interpreted fairly1 and  
that allowed which it allows4 ,i protest
  against its being twisted and         
perverted into rules for the unnecessary
  abridgment of ,christian liberty1     
where it lays down only general         
principles for the conscience4 ,i want  
less of the religion that is    8,dark  
as a funeral scarf from stem to stern10 
and more of that which is full of       

child-like trust in the love of ,god and
  the power of truth1 and of freedom    
purged by love from license4            
,,the ,,true ,,nonconformist4           
,a ,communion ,sermon1 ,delivered ,sept4
 #af1 #ahff1                    ,in ,the
 ,first ,presbyterian ,church1 ,troy1   
,n4 ,y4          ,rom4 xii1 #b4 8,and be
 not conformed to this world3 but be ye 
transformed by the renewing of your     
mind1 that ye may prove what      is    
that good1 and acceptable1 and perfect  
will of ,god40      ,by itself1 this    
command is ambiguous4 ,common sense     
testifies that1 in very  many things1   
every ,christian must1 more or less1    
conform to the world4  ,many of the     
world's customs are not only harmless1  
but salutary1  beautiful1 ennobling1    
necessary to the very being of society4 
,we need some  test by which to         
interpret this command4    ,let us first
 endeavor1 as a means of discovering it1
 to clear away a  preliminary error1    
viz43 the not uncommon idea that        

difference from the  world is a matter  
of any value or consequence of itself4  
,a great many  persons1 lamenting over  
real or supposed deficiencies of        
,christians1 make  this the staple of   
their complaint2 you cannot distinguish 
them from the  world3 and when urging   
upon them some duty1 or the             
relinquishment of some  practice1       
enforce it by the argument1 ,christians 
should aim to be distinct  from the     
world4    ,there is truth in this1 but  
there is also falsehood4 ,christians1   
real  ,christians1 will always be       
distinct from the world1 and the        
distinction  will be very clearly       
defined4 ,but ,christians should not    
make it their  object to be distinct    
from the world4 ,they should aim to be  
,christians1  and let the distinction   
follow in its natural order and degree4 
,singularity1 in itself1 is no virtue4  
,it is just as likely to be a vice4 ,a  
man is not necessarily better because he
 is unlike the rest of the world4       

,difference from the world1 therefore1  
is not an end of ,christian  discipline1
 but a result and concomitant of it4    
,this distinction is of the  utmost     
importance4 ,if distinctiveness is      
regarded as an object of  ,christian    
effort1 its value is sacrificed4 ,its   
tendency is to formality2  to the       
substitution of a variety of outward    
standards of duty for a  single inward  
regulative principle4 ,to pride and     
self-righteousness on  the ground of    
singularity4 ,such have been its        
developments1 for instance1  in certain 
religious sects who insisted on         
plainness of dress as a duty4           
,undoubtedly the spirit which originally
 prompted the requisition was good1     
,christlike4 ,it was the desire to take 
from the useless adornment of the       
person and bestow upon objects of       
,christian effort and charity4 ,it was  
the  desire to remove temptations to    
vanity and idle display4 ,but in too    
many  cases these things were forgotten4

 ,christians received the precept in the
  letter and not in the spirit4 ,they   
came to insist on plainness of dress as 
a mark of a true ,christian1 and forgot 
that materials of plain or sad  colors  
might be as costly and rich as gayer    
ones4 ,they came to pride  themselves on
 their plainness as a distinction from  
the rest of the world4  ,they said      
bitter and unchristian things against   
the man who should carry a  gold watch  
or the woman who should wear a feather  
or a ribbon4 ,they  perverted scripture 
to uphold this ridiculous whim1 and     
brought scorn upon  themselves and      
reproach upon the cause of ,christ1     
because they turned  their eyes from the
 inward1 regulative power of the gospel 
to one of its  natural developments1 and
 looked at that until it grew out of all
  proportion4    ,how then are we       
rightly to apply this command8    ,the  
apostle1 in giving us an answer1 takes  
up the question at the very  point at   
which most inquirers do1 viz43 at the   

matter of sacrifice4 ,for  this is the  
way in which it presents itself to most 
minds4 ,in order not to  be conformed to
 the world1 ,i must sacrifice much that 
is of the world4  ,what1 now1 may ,i    
retain1 and what must ,i relinquish8    
,and in ,paul's answer1 he strikes      
directly at any such method of putting  
the question4 ,non-conformity to the    
world involves sacrifice1 it is true1   
but not a sacrifice made in any such    
spirit as this--a spirit that ere it    
gives itself to ,christ1 sits down and  
begins to sort its possessions1         
pleasures1 pursuits1 into two piles1    
saying3 8this for ,god1 this for the    
world3 this goes back to my treasure    
house1 this ,i throw away40 ,not so4 ,he
  sweeps the whole into one heap1 and   
says1 8,i beseech you brethren1 by the  
mercies of ,god1 that ye present your   
bodies a living sacrifice1 and be       
transformed by the renewing of your     
mind40 ,he asks that the whole man1     
with all his belongings1 be made an     

offering to ,god1 even as he says in    
another place1 8the very ,god of peace  
sanctify you wholly1 and ,i pray  ,god  
your whole spirit and soul and body be  
preserved blameless unto the  coming of 
our ,lord ,jesus ,christ40 ,he rises    
above details of sacrifice to a         
sacrifice which includes and regulates  
all details2 and in so doing he is  but 
insisting upon the precept of ,christ3  
8,if any man will be my disciple1  let  
him deny himself40 ,and notice          
particularly the meaning of this        
precept which is so generally but half  
understood4 ,it is not1 let him cut     
himself off from this thing or that     
thing1 but let him deny himself2        
literally1 let him say that self is not1
 and that the will of ,christ is        
everything4 ,holding fast this principle
 a man cannot greatly err4 ,the  will of
 ,christ and the will of the world are  
so diametrically opposite1  that he     
cannot go toward the one without going  
away from the other4 ,a man  has no     

business to waste time pondering over   
the details of his  sacrifice for       
,christ's sake1 tormenting himself with 
deciding between what  is right and what
 is wrong2 what is worldly and what is  
heavenly4 ,the will  of ,christ once    
heartily embraced as a rule of life will
 teach him to  decide4 ,christ received 
into the heart will regulate its        
affinities and  repulsions4 ,the law of 
the spirit of life in ,christ ,jesus    
shall make the  soul free from the law  
of sin and death1 so that it shall hate 
the things  it once loved1 and love     
those it once despised4    ,young people
 often come to their pastor saying3 8,if
 ,i become a ,christian1  must ,i give  
up such and such things8 ,must ,i       
discharge such and such  duties80 ,and  
for myself ,i reply to them--8,i have no
 answer to give you4 ,i  will not       
encourage you to come to ,christ in this
 mean1 bargain-making  spirit4 ,if your 
conscience tells you a thing is wrong1  
as it does in many  cases1 you have no  

need to ask me if ,christ will require  
its  relinquishment4 ,you know he will1 
without any compromise4 ,but when it    
comes to any doubtful matter1 waive that
 question4 ,you have nothing  whatever  
to do with it now4 ,christ requires of  
you to be willing to obey  him          
implicitly in all things1 without regard
 to your own feelings or  preferences1  
your own prosperity or safety1 no matter
 what duties or  sacrifices obedience   
involves2 and ,i simply ask you are you 
willing to do  this8 ,if you are not1   
,christ does not want you4 ,a young man 
goes to a  recruiting office to enlist4 
,the sergeant examines him1 and says3   
#8you are  just the kind of man ,i want4
 ,here1 put down your name4 ,your bounty
 is so  much2 your pay will be so much4'
 ,the recruit takes the pen in his hand1
  but stops suddenly in the act of      
writing his name1 and says3 #8,how far  
shall ,i be required to march daily8    
,what kind of a tent shall ,i have8     
,must  ,i do picket duty beyond regular 

hours8 ,to what kind of a climate am ,i 
to  be sent8' ,how long do you suppose  
the officer would keep patience with    
such a man8 ,how many of these questions
 would he pretend to answer1 even  if he
 could8 ,he would simply say to the man3
 #8we make no terms with you1  sir1     
beyond your bounty and pay4 ,if you     
enlist1 you do so with the              
understanding that a soldier has nothing
 to do but obey orders2 to serve  where1
 when1 and how he may be directed4 ,if  
you want to know these things1  enlist1 
and you will find out when you are in   
service4' ,just so ,i say to  one who   
begins inquiring into the details of    
,christ's service3 ,if you want  to find
 out1 enlist4 ,commit your life to      
,christ's keeping4 ,devote yourself  to 
,christ's service1 and #8if any man     
wills to do his will1 he shall know  of 
the doctrine4' ,an inquirer for         
salvation1 tormenting himself about what
  he must do and what relinquish1       
forgets that he is in no condition to   

decide such a question4 ,to decide it he
 wants just that spiritual insight  and 
those new affinities which faith in     
,christ and the consequent renewal  of  
his nature will give him4 ,he wants to  
see these things from a  stand-point    
which he has not yet attained4 ,he had  
far better let them go  for the present1
 and concentrate his resolution on this 
one point3 #8,i give  myself to ,jesus  
without reserve4 ,whatever he tells me  
,i may enjoy ,i will  endeavor to enjoy 
in his love and fear4 ,whatever he bids 
me cast away1  though it be a right     
hand1 ,i will cut it off and cast it    
from me4' 0 ,a  young man once came to  
me saying3 8,there seems to be but one  
thing in the  way of my entire surrender
 to ,christ4 ,if ,i become a ,christian1
 and a  member of the church1 ,i don't  
see how ,i can ever take any public part
 in  the religious meetings4 ,if ,i     
could only decide whether ,god required 
this  of me1 ,i think my way would be   
clear40 ,i said to him1 8,my brother1   

you are  not called on to settle that   
question now4 ,you have no means of     
deciding  it4 ,you had better drop it   
altogether for the present4 ,god has    
promised  that if you will commit your  
ways unto him he will direct you4 ,now  
,i  believe you sincerely want to do    
,god's will1 and that you are ready1    
whenever he shall show it you1 to pledge
 yourself to do your duty4 ,leave  the  
matter there2 and if1 at any time1 this 
duty should be thrust upon  you1 do it  
in ,god's name and strength40 ,he soon  
after joined the church1  and has borne 
himself since with a fidelity and       
devotion which speak well  for the      
thoroughness of the work of grace in    
him4    ,now this is what the apostle   
means by a living sacrifice4 ,this      
spirit of  consecration infused into    
sacrifice fills it with life4 ,the      
sacrifice  becomes 8living0 only when   
self dies2 when the man says    8,here  
,lord1 ,i give myself away3  ',tis all  
that ,i can do40    ,the other method of

 securing nonconformity to the world by 
acting for the  mere sake of difference 
or according to circumstances1          
constitutes a dead  sacrifice4 ,such    
were the sacrifices of the ,pharisees4  
,they thanked ,god  they were not as    
other men2 but the difference was but   
outward4 ,to the  spectator's eye they  
were not conformed to the world4 ,they  
did not dress  like it4 ,their prayers  
were longer and more frequent4 ,they did
 not eat  with publicans and sinners4   
,but these differences had become the   
chief end  of their religious life4     
,their development was like arranging   
the limbs of  a corpse for exhibition4  
,they were not the natural1 spontaneous 
outgrowths  of a living inward          
principle2 and hence the ,pharisees have
 passed into  history as the            
representative hypocrites of all time4  
,the essential character of this        
self-sacrifice will farther appear from 
a  correct understanding of the phrase  
reasonable service4 ,on this1 two       

things must be remarked4 #ast1 that the 
expression does not belong to the  words
 8living sacrifice0 alone1 but to the   
whole exhortation4 ,in other  words1 it 
is not the living sacrifice which is a  
reasonable service1 but  the presenting 
the bodies a living sacrifice1 8holy1   
acceptable unto ,god40  #b;dly1 it is to
 be noted that the expression           
8reasonable  service0 is  very commonly 
misunderstood to mean a service which is
 proper or becoming2  which we have the 
best of all reasons for rendering4 ,this
 is all true2 but  this is not what the 
text means4 ,it signifies a service     
whose main spring  is in the thinking1  
reasoning1 spiritual department of man's
 nature--a  spiritual service rendered  
to a ,god who is a spirit1 and who      
requireth to  be worshiped in spirit and
 in truth4 ,of such ,peter says3 8ye    
also1 as  lively stones1 are built up a 
spiritual house1 a holy priesthood1 to  
offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable
 to ,god by ,jesus ,christ40 ,in        

pursuance of this idea1 the apostle1 in 
our text1 after speaking of the         
presenting of the body as a living      
sacrifice1 and of such a presentation   
as a reasoning service1 gives us the key
 to the whole thought by his  final     
exhortation1 8be ye transformed by the  
renewing of your mind20 so  that it is  
clear that the outward conformity of the
 body to ,god's will1 is  made both a   
living sacrifice and a reasoning service
 by having its  mainspring in a renewed 
mind4 ,only thus will the body be       
offered alive to  ,god4 ,only thus will 
the mind be truly transformed4 ,all the 
outward  developments of the life will  
then bear the stamp of a reasoning      
service4  ,the way of peace will be     
chosen from conviction4 ,the will1      
self-impelled1  will set toward ,god4   
,the conscience will be alive with a    
divinely inspired  sensitiveness4 ,all  
the affections and desires1 of their own
 accord1 will  stretch their hands      
towards ,christ1 and the renewed man    

will daily realize  that the water which
 ,jesus gives is in him1 living water1  
springing up  into everlasting life4    
,it is then clear1 ,i think1 from what  
has been said1 that nonconformity to    
the world is not the aim1 but one of the
 incidents of ,christian life4  ,the    
,christian's aim is distinctly stated   
here to be the proving of the  will of  
,god--that which is good1 acceptable and
 perfect4 ,yet nonconformity  to the    
world will develop itself as a necessary
 incident of ,christian  living4 ,being 
transformed by the renewing of the mind1
 the outward life  will necessarily be  
transformed also1 and will cease to be  
conformed to  the world4 ,the soul which
 desires that which is good1 acceptable1
 perfect1  can no longer find affinity  
with that which is bad1 imperfect1 and  
displeasing to ,god4 ,the differences   
are not incidental1 they are generic4   
,the ,christian and the world belong to 
different orders2 are regulated by      
different laws4 ,the ,christian is1 as  

it were1 grafted upon the new stock1    
and can no more bear the fruit of his   
old sinful life1 than the ingrafted     
branch can bear its former fruit4 ,old  
things have passed away4 ,all things    
have become new4 ,he is a new creature  
in ,christ ,jesus4 ,these differences   
have not to be marked by finely drawn   
lines of casuistry4 ,there are indeed   
points at which the worldly and the     
,christian life run for a little way    
parallel4 ,points where neither party   
can very well act differently from  the 
other4 ,but for all that1 the divergence
 is wide enough at many other  points to
 leave no doubt4 ,i am speaking now of  
true ,christians1  thoroughly renewed in
 the spirit of their mind2 courageous1  
unflinching1  consistent ,christians3   
not of those whifflers and compromisers 
who call  themselves ,christians1 and   
who try to trim between ,god and the    
world1 so  as to relinquish no          
advantages on the side of either4 ,a man
 cannot live  many hours by the rule of 

,christ without coming into direct issue
 with the  world4 ,and now1 as to these 
points of difference1 they are1 of      
course1 too  numerous to be dealt with  
in detail4 ,and ,i can1 therefore1 only 
call your  attention to one or two      
classes of them4    #ast3 ,on which ,i  
need not dwell1 is the class of worldly 
sins4 ,of course  the transformed man   
will not be conformed to the world in   
these4 ,not that  a ,christian never    
errs1 by any means1 but that the general
 current of his  life will set in the   
direction of pleasing ,god1 and away    
from those things  which are plainly    
contrary to his will4    #b;d4 ,a marked
 difference develops itself in the      
region of the motives1 the  tempers1 the
 dispositions1 and the principles of    
action4 ,sometimes it is  difficult to  
pronounce upon these differences with   
certainty1 yet some of  them are easily 
recognizable4 ,two men will often do    
precisely the same  thing from different
 motives4 ,a ,christian and a worldly   

man1 for example1  are foully abused by 
a profane ruffian4 ,both receive the    
abuse in silence1  and go their way     
without bestowing any attention upon    
him4 ,but the two are  commonly actuated
 by very different impulses4 ,the one   
turns away with  anger and loathing1 and
 is silent because it is beneath his    
dignity to  reply1 or to notice the     
aggressor4 ,the other1 though tempted to
 anger1  remembers the example of him   
whom he serves4 ,who1 when he was       
reviled1  reviled not again and leaves  
the railer1 striving to pity his        
ignorance1  and to forget his insult4   
,pride accomplishes1 outwardly1 in the  
one case1  what ,christian humility does
 in the other4 ,so in cases of great    
affliction1 it is sometimes hard to     
decide1 from outward indications1       
whether divine grace or native force of 
will is the stronger4 ,the worldly  man 
will exhibit equal composure with the   
,christian2 will seem1 for the  time1 to
 accept the visitation with no less     

equanimity than the other4 ,but  those  
who are much with men under such        
circumstances1 and come perhaps as      
close to their hearts as it is possible 
for man to do1 recognize a very  decided
 difference4 ,they know that the        
composure which springs from  stoicism1 
iron nerve1 indomitable will1 is a      
different thing from that  which is born
 of submission and resignation to the   
will of ,god4 ,that the  one but crowds 
the sharp grief deeper into the heart1  
and shuts up the  fountain of healing   
tears1 and makes the man hard and sullen
 and defiant1  and chills his           
sympathies1 and disposes him to solitary
 brooding1 and  after all1 gives way at 
last1 and leaves him a broken reed1     
while the  other finds in the breach    
which ,god made in his cherished plans1 
an  opening through which heaven smiles 
on him1 rises on the ruins of his       
wrecked hopes to a purer and more       
unselfish life1 draws sweetness out of  
his sorrow1 and wins a firmer trust in  

,god1 and a deeper and more             
comprehensive sympathy for his sorrowing
 brethren everywhere4 ,these            
differences are endless4 ,they cover    
every variety of experience4 ,the world 
talks of the dignity of man1 asserts his
 knowledge and his unimpaired  judgment4
 ,the ,christian distrusts his deceitful
 heart and fallen nature1  and becomes a
 little child that he may know the      
truth4 ,the world walks by  sight and   
sneers at faith4 ,faith is the          
,christian's atmosphere1 out of  which  
he cannot breathe freely4 ,the world    
talks of law1 the ,christian of         
providence4 ,the world knows ,god1      
either vaguely1 as a deity to be feared 
for his power1 and but dimly apprehended
 by man1 or as a mere aggregate of  laws
 divorced from any real1 apprehensible  
personality4 ,the ,christian  communes  
and walks with him daily as a tender1   
loving1 and wise father4    ,but ,i     
hasten to a third class of differences1 
with which ,i shall deal more  at       

length3 ,i mean those which appear in   
the ,christian's conduct respecting     
those things which he uses in common    
with the world4 ,under this head falls  
that large class of actions1 which1 in  
themselves considered1 have no  moral   
value1 but acquire one from the end they
 are made to serve1 the  manner in which
 they are pursued1 or the motive in     
which they originate4  ,on these arise  
the most perplexing of all moral        
questions1 the most subtle  cases of    
conscience1 and too often1 ,i grieve to 
say1 the most acrimonious  discussions4 
,under this head are included most of   
those vexed questions as  to amusements1
 dress1 meat and drink1 and the like4   
,and this text1 ,i am  sorry to say1 has
 been made the basis for inculcating    
some most false and  pernicious         
doctrines concerning these things4      
,now it seems to me that very many of   
the difficulties which arise on these   
subjects are quite unnecessary1 and     
would be in great part destroyed by     

resting upon the simple1 unequivocal    
testimony of the ,bible4 ,i do not      
think that ,god's ,word is at all       
wanting in explicitness on these points4
  ,here is this text for instance4      
,nothing can be plainer4 ,it tells us   
our  first great duty is to submit our  
wills to ,god's will2 to commit         
ourselves  to his guidance without      
reserve1 a living sacrifice2 to be      
transformed2  and that when this shall  
have been done1 we shall know what the  
will of  ,god is2 we shall practically  
prove what is good and acceptable and   
perfect1 and1 as a matter of course1    
shall not be conformed to the sinful    
principles and practices of the world4  
,now it follows from this that  whatever
 is good and acceptable and perfect1 not
 opposed to the new  principle of life  
in us1 is ours1 given us by ,god to use 
and enjoy2 and  that in the use and     
enjoyment of it within the limits he    
prescribes1 we  are not conformed to the
 world in any bad sense4 ,i say this1   

well aware  that every one of these     
things contains capabilities for abuse1 
and that  the world does most sadly     
abuse them2 and this brings me directly 
to my  point that the difference between
 ,christians and the world as respects  
these things is to be developed in the  
proper use and regulation by            
,christians of what the world abuses4   
,christians are not to be driven from   
every point which the world sees fit to 
occupy by the hue and cry of            
nonconformity4 ,they are to remember    
that in these things there is a duty  to
 be done as well as a pleasure to be    
enjoyed1 and that they are to show      
their nonconformity1 not by abandoning1 
but by refusing to conform to the       
world's excesses1 and by insisting on   
the restraining principles of ,god's    
,word4 ,let us here hold closely by the 
opening thought of our discussion1  that
 conformity to the world in itself is no
 sin1 and nonconformity in  itself no   
virtue4 ,conformity to the world is     

sinful when the world's  practice is    
sinful and not otherwise4    ,now this  
is a very plain rule4 ,it is ,christ's  
rule4 ,paul takes it directly  from     
,christ4 ,but ,i am aware that another  
question enters here1 namely1  that of  
expediency4 ,there may be private       
considerations tending to make  the     
relinquishment of a harmless thing      
expedient for you or for me4 ,there  may
 be considerations growing out of your  
relations to others which may  render   
use inexpedient4 ,in such cases1        
expediency1 of course1 assumes to  you  
the obligation of law4 ,but as regards  
these cases no man can decide  for you4 
,the ,bible throws them on your own     
conscience4 ,let every man be  fully    
persuaded in his own mind4 ,expediency  
is a matter for individuals4  ,no law   
can be laid down for it4 ,the two things
 necessarily exclude each  other4 ,if   
you lay it down that such a course is   
expedient for every one1  you remove the
 matter at once from the region of      

expediency1 and put it on  the ground of
 law2 and this course no man nor body of
 men is ever  justified in pursuing4    
,such a step trenches on the sacred     
enclosure of the  individual moral      
sense1 a holy of holies1 into which man 
and his ,maker  alone enter4 ,at the    
same time1 abundant light will be given 
to every  humble1 faithful child of     
,christ1 to settle these questions of   
expediency4  ,when love to ,god is the  
moving principle of a man's life1 it    
develops in  him an insight which guides
 him unerringly through questions where 
casuistry would become hopelessly       
entangled4 ,you may see the same truth  
illustrated in your own homes4 ,see that
 loving1 obedient child1 whose  highest 
delight is to perform your behest and   
anticipate your wishes4 ,how  very few  
errors that child commits1 even in cases
 where you have laid down  no rule4 ,it 
reaches the knowledge of your wishes    
through a kind of  instinct as reliable 
as it is undefinable4 ,surely faith     

ought to teach us  to expect a clew     
through such mazes from a ,father who   
has promised that he  will direct the   
paths of those who acknowledge him4     
,and here1 ,i insist1 whether the       
question be one of law or of expediency1
  has been a grave error of the church  
in not trusting enough to this inward   
principle of life in the soul1 to this  
insight of love1 to regulate the        
outward developments of the life1 and to
 prevent the obliteration of the  lines 
between the church and the world4 ,she  
has busied herself too much  with       
details1 and not enough with that which 
lies back of them2 too much  with the   
circumference and not enough with the   
centre4 ,christ teaches us  that if the 
fountain be pure1 the streams must be   
pure4 ,but the church1 in  her          
unconscious distrust of the purifying   
power of the fountain1 has  thrown into 
the streams such abundance of mint1     
anise1 and cummin1 that  the taste of   
the original water is sometimes sadly   

impaired4 ,too often1  while she has    
been busy with the streams1 the fountain
 head has been  gathering unsuspected   
poison4 ,while ,i recognize the church's
 duty to watch  carefully over ,christ's
 flock1 to counsel1 rebuke1 restrain1 ,i
 think that  she has encouraged1 in many
 cases1 by her want of faith in the     
power of  the relation between ,christ  
and the believer1 an artificial         
religious  life1 a factitious           
conscience1 a life wanting the freedom  
and naturalness  of movement properly   
engendered by the gospel4 ,i think she  
should have  insisted more on having    
this clearly defined and constantly     
maintained1  more on a full assurance1  
and a lively faith1 and an ever burning 
love1  and less on details which these  
would have regulated of themselves4 ,i  
believe that if she had done this1 and  
moreover had preached the word          
literally and boldly to the people1 had 
told the people their privilege to  use 
,god's gifts1 and pointed them to the   

principle of love to ,god as  competent 
to regulate use1 and not twisted its    
declarations into warrants  for the     
abridgment of ,christian liberty1--there
 would be in the church  to-day more    
simple1 strong1 manly1 intelligent      
piety1 and far less  conformity to the  
world4 ,this distinction between safe   
and unsafe truths  is a ,romish and not 
a ,protestant idea2 and the temporary   
gain secured by  acting upon it is more 
than counterbalanced by the final       
pernicious  result4    ,it is far safer 
for me and for you that ,i preach this  
truth to you boldly  and plainly2 and ,i
 have a special object in bringing it to
 your notice  now1 at this solemn season
 when you are reviewing the past1 and   
making a  new consecration of yourselves
 to the service of ,christ4    ,here1 as
 you renew your original vow to come out
 from the world1 it is  well that you do
 this with no vague idea of what you    
promise4 ,what ,i shall  now say applies
 to most if not all of you1 but         

especially to the younger  members of   
the church4 ,as you enter upon a season 
of special religious  activity1 you also
 enter upon a season which society is   
wont to devote  largely to pleasure4    
,ere another communion season shall have
 come round1  the season for evening    
entertainments and festal gatherings1   
will be at  its height4 ,from the nature
 of circumstances you will be called    
upon to  participate in these more or   
less2 and it is at these points that the
  temptation to conformity to the world 
will be most likely to assail you4      
,most of you are probably aware of the  
ground ,i have recently taken before    
the public on the subject of amusements2
 a position which has excited           
considerable comment1 and some censure4 
,i do not see why it should4 ,there  is 
nothing novel in my views on this       
subject4 ,i have merely stated the      
gospel principle1 the principle which   
,christ propounded1 and by which he     
lived--that the proper and only way to  

preserve our pleasures or anything  else
 from abuse1 is to put ,christian leaven
 into them4 ,that our duty in  such     
matters1 is not to give them over bodily
 to the devil and to the  world1 to be  
abused and perverted at their pleasure2 
but to save them from  such perversion1 
and make them legitimate instruments of 
,christian joy and  growth1 by using    
them in the name and under the law of   
,christ4 ,if these  things are evil1 we 
have no right to have anything to do    
with them4 ,if  they are1 though not    
evil in themselves1 so under the        
dominion of evil1  and so dependent upon
 evil for support1 as the theatre1 for  
example1 is1  that ,christian           
participation cannot separate them from 
their abuses1 we  ought to abandon them4
 ,but as to the general principle1 that 
it is abuse  and not proper use which   
,christ condemns1 and that many of the  
things  which the devil has usurped1 are
 as much yours as his1 there can be no  
doubt4 ,i have not one word to modify or

 retract of what ,i have written on     
this subject4 ,challenged1 ,i would     
reiterate it word for word1 if ,i knew  
,i  should go from this pulpit to my    
grave4 ,and ,i dare any ,christian to   
draw  from what ,i have written1 or from
 what ,i have said to-day1 license for  
improper conformity to the world4 ,if   
you do so1 depend on it1 you and  not ,i
 will be condemned4 ,and ,i rejoice     
especially to-day1 in having  assumed   
this position2 because ,i have never had
 so good ground from which  to counsel  
you as to your intercourse with the     
world of pleasure4 ,if ,i  were to put  
this matter to you on the ground of     
men's rules and decrees1  if ,i were to 
try and show you1 by subtle             
hair-splitting1 that this thing  is one 
degree more capable of abuse than that  
thing2 and that1 therefore1  you may use
 that1 and must abandon this1 ,i should 
expose myself to  merciless logic1 and  
to just ridicule4 ,i leave this ground  
entirely4 ,i put  myself on ,god's word1

 and say to you this morning1 be not    
conformed to  this world4 ,i say to you 
as the first1 the indispensable         
requisite for  deciding in what         
conformity consists1 see that your      
relations to ,christ  are properly      
adjusted4 ,present yourselves living    
sacrifices to him4 ,be  transformed by  
the renewing of your mind4 ,submit your 
will to the will of  ,god without       
reserve4 ,then shall you be able to     
prove what is his will1  what is good   
and acceptable and perfect4 ,then shall 
your judgment be so  enlightened as to  
enable you to render a reasoning1 a     
reasonable1 a  thoughtful and           
discriminating service4 ,this is the    
first thing4    ,for this ,i pray for   
you4 ,for this ,i am anxious for you1   
that you be  vitally united to ,christ2 
that you have a living1 active faith in 
him2 a  clear witness of your acceptance
 with him1 an ever burning love for him4
  ,if you have these1 ,i know that the  
details of your lives1 whether they     

concern your pleasures1 or your         
business1 or your studies1 will take    
care  of themselves4 ,but remember this 
prerequisite4 ,do not go away saying1   
8my  pastor says ,i may lawfully indulge
 in this or that1 and ,i need give      
myself  no further trouble about it40 ,i
 say to you no such thing4 ,i say that  
you  want your whole nature renewed by  
the indwelling of ,christ1 and that     
without this you are not safe in the    
world one moment4 ,that without this    
you are in continual danger of          
conformity to the world4 ,without this  
you  are in no condition to decide in   
what you may engage1 or how far you may 
engage in it without abuse4 ,withal1 you
 will need to trouble yourself  about   
these matters2 to study ,god's law2 to  
watch closely your own heart  and life2 
to avoid needless temptation2 to        
exercise strong resolution when         
pleasure beckons you beyond the bounds  
erected by ,christian duty4 ,i bid  you 
rejoice in your youth4 ,i bid you use   

those amusements which are  innocent in 
themselves1 freely and with gratitude to
 ,god1 but to beware of  their abuse4 ,i
 can safely tell you some things which  
,god's word will teach  you as to this  
matter4 ,it will tell you that where you
 make pleasure the  end and rule of your
 life1 and duty the exception1 you are  
guilty of  abuse4 ,it will tell you that
 when pleasure saps the fountains of    
your  health1 when it steals away your  
hours of sleep1 and tempts you to       
excessive indulgence of appetite at an  
hour which nature prescribes for  the   
rest and recuperation of your organs1   
when it leads you to expose  yourself to
 sickness by inadequate clothing--it is 
a gross abuse for which  ,god will hold 
you accountable4 ,it will tell you that 
when any description  of pleasure       
trenches on the limits of modesty1 it is
 an abuse2 that the  public embracing of
 young men and women in the vile dances 
of the day1 is  an offense against      
decency1 an abomination against which   

manly nobleness  and maidenly delicacy  
ought to cry out with all their power4  
,it will tell  you that when pleasure of
 any kind interferes with your covenant 
obligations to the church1 and keeps you
 from the ordinances of ,god's  house1  
it is an abuse2 a conformity to the     
world1 against which ,god warns  you in 
this text4    ,come then and give       
yourselves to ,christ1 not repelled by  
any false1  ascetic views of his        
religion1 but believing1 as his word    
entitles you to  believe1 that it is the
 promoter of innocent joy1 of healthy   
and grateful  recreation1 of the highest
 and purest pleasures4 ,come1 and he    
shall show  you by his own life how to  
be in the world1 yet not of it4 ,how to 
live in  strictest conformity to duty1  
and yet be free indeed1 and exhibit to  
the  world a broad1 noble1 generous     
,christian life--a life in the spirit   
and not  in the letter4 ,he shall teach 
you to live by the insight of love1 and 
not  by the prescriptions of a bare     

scheme of duty4 ,oh1 that you may grow  
to  the stature of perfect men and women
 in ,christ2 that you may be living     
examples of a reasoning service1 models 
of a piety1 enthusiastic yet  judicious2
 all aglow with the love of ,christ     
carried into every detail of  your      
lives1 into your pleasures1 your        
conversation1 your business2  bringing  
everything1 great and small1 into       
conformity with the law of  ,christ1 and
 making the whole life move sweetly and 
harmoniously round him4  ,you will not  
then be a worldly church4 ,you will not 
then be stumbling  blocks to the kingdom
 of ,christ4 ,you will be living        
epistles1 read and  known of all men1   
and they1 seeing your good works1 shall 
glorify your  father which is in        
,heaven4            ,,the ,,church ,,and
 ,,the ,,young ,,man4               ,a  
,sermon ,delivered on ,sabbath ,morning1
 ,november #d1 #ahff1                   
,in ,the ,first ,presbyterian ,church1  
,troy1               ,at ,the ,request  

of ,the ,young ,men's ,christian        
,association4          #b ,sam4 xviii1  
#e4 8,and the king commanded ,joab and  
,abishai and      ,ittai saying1 deal   
gently for my sake with the young man1  
even      with ,absalom40      ,there   
are few passages of ,holy writ more     
beautiful or suggestive than  this4     
,notwithstanding the astounding         
character of ,absalom's rebellion2      
though the mind of the sovereign and    
father of his people is torn with       
indignation at this outrage upon his    
throne and person1 and is busy with     
plans for the security of his kingdom   
and the repulse of the invader2  though 
,david is stunned and bewildered at this
 high handed display of  ingratitude and
 rebellion on the part of his favorite  
child1 the father  finds place to assert
 itself amid the cares of the sovereign1
 and to  breathe a word of caution to   
his generals respecting the person of   
his  dearly loved boy4    ,in accordance
 with the request of the ,young ,men's  

,national ,christian  ,convention to the
 churches1 ,i propose to devote this    
service to a  discussion of their       
relations to the church4 ,i take this   
text as setting  forth a similar charge 
given by our ,lord and ,king ,christ to 
his militant  church1 to deal gently    
with the young man4 ,i therefore invite 
your  attention to the following points 
respecting the relations of young men to
  the church3    ,i4 ,the church must   
deal with them4  ,,ii4 ,the church ought
 to deal with them4  ,,iii4 ,how the    
church should deal with them4    ,i4    
,the church must deal with young men4   
,absalom1 however foolish and wicked his
 revolt1 however strange his  rebellion 
against his royal father1               
notwithstanding his youth and           
inexperience1 was a stubborn fact1 with 
which the leaders and counselors  and   
armies of the kingdom found themselves  
obliged to deal4 ,otherwise  ,david     
would have been dethroned and his       
authority violently usurped4 ,if  not   

dealt with so as to suppress him1 he    
must be dealt with in the more          
unpleasant capacity of a suppressor and 
tyrant4    ,young men are a fact in     
society2 and as such cannot be without  
relations  to the church4 ,not only so1 
they are an important fact2 a prominent 
fact2  a potent fact4 ,they are a force 
in the business1 the social1 the        
political1 the governmental relations of
 the community4 ,if they have not       
wisdom1 they have strength and energy4  
,if they have not caution1 they have    
enterprise4 ,if they have not           
experience1 they have tact1 intelligence
 and  knowledge4 ,if they refuse to     
follow old rules1 they succeed ofttimes 
in  the use of their own methods4       
,society concedes much to them1 entrusts
 them  with serious responsibilities1   
seeks them for positions of power and   
influence1 is powerfully swayed in      
whatever direction they choose1 as a    
body1 to throw themselves1 applauds and 
welcomes their success4    ,the         

relations of such a body to the church  
of ,christ must be important4  ,this    
mass of manly strength1 energy1         
independence1 intelligence and          
enterprise must1 if set on fire with    
,christian ardor and enlisted on her    
behalf1 greatly conduce to her          
prosperity2 while it cannot but be a    
serious hindrance to her success if this
 element is neutral1 or arrayed  against
 her4 ,if neutral1 indeed1 it is against
 her4 ,if she have not the  young men   
incorporated with her membership1 at    
work in her sabbath  schools1 in regular
 attendance on her ordinances1 woven    
into her social  relations1 throwing    
their strength and generosity and       
enthusiasm into her  benevolent         
enterprises1 contributing their fresh   
thought to her  assemblies1 working1    
through the closer intimacies which mark
 their age1  to increase her numbers1   
she will have to move under the drag    
applied by  their indifference1 resist  
their fascinations exerted in drawing   

others  away from her standard1 contend 
sharply against the skepticism to which 
youth is naturally prone1 and if they   
are won at last1 win them when the      
freshness of youth is gone1 and by a    
double expenditure of power4 ,the       
church must deal with them as the       
friends or as the enemies of religion2  
must appropriate or resist their power4 
,they come to her in the flush of  their
 manly strength1 like the ,roman envoys 
to ,carthage1 holding in their  robes   
peace and war1 and offering the church  
her choice4    ,,ii4 ,the church ought  
to deal with them4    #a4 ,in simple    
consistency with her own principles4    
,not only to touch them  where she must1
 but where she can4 ,not to regard them 
as aside from her  peculiar work1 but as
 constituting a peculiarly important and
 interesting  part of her work4 ,she    
professes to labor for the salvation of 
men1 where  can she find excuse for     
failing to provide special appliances if
 need  be1 for the salvation of young   

men8 ,she professes to be an educator as
  well as an evangelizer4 ,here is      
material in its most inviting shape1 and
  at the stage best adapted for her     
moulding4 ,she professes to provide for 
the extension of her doctrine and       
spirit4 ,can she1 with any show of      
reason1 neglect the force furnished her 
in this mass of youthful energy  and    
enthusiasm4 ,she professes to rescue men
 from danger4 ,does she see any  danger 
more imminent than those which menace   
young men1 any temptations  more        
seductive1 any ruin more pitiable8 ,does
 she see any more susceptible  of these 
influences than youth with their high   
spirits1 superfluous energy  and glowing
 passion8 ,does she see any victims     
which appeal more powerfully  to her    
compassion than these sons and brothers 
in whose success and virtue  are bound  
up the hopes and affections of thousands
 of parents1 every one  of whom cries to
 the world and to the church1 8deal     
gently for my sake  with the young man80

    #b4 ,but the church ought to deal   
with them1 in the absence of other      
appliances to reach them4 ,the church   
has few enough1 far too few2 but  there 
are fewer elsewhere4 ,take business4    
,what does it furnish8 ,it deals  with  
the young man4 ,not always gently       
either4 ,it deals with his youthful     
strength2 with his clear and active     
brain2 with his enterprise and energy4  
,it uses these to build up trade and    
accumulate wealth4 ,it deals1 ,i say1   
not always gently4 ,it is often exacting
 and severe4 ,it often binds burdens    
too heavy for youthful shoulders4 ,it   
often refuses leisure which health      
imperatively demands1 and denies        
compensations which might furnish less  
temptation to crime4 ,but ,i am not here
 to speak of these now4 ,how does it    
deal with the young man morally8 ,does  
business take into the account1 to  any 
great extent1 the fact that young men   
are moral and intellectual  beings8 ,how
 much leisure does it afford them for   

mental or religious  culture8 ,alas1    
with the most charitable view of the    
case1 with the noble  exceptions clearly
 recognized1 business presents a sad    
aspect in this  regard4 ,the maxim      
8business is business0 is carried too   
far4 ,what the  world may think or do in
 this matter is not the question here2  
but to  ,christian men1 who believe or  
profess to believe that religion belongs
  everywhere1 business should be        
something more than business4 ,how many 
,christian business men recognize in its
 contact opportunities for the  exertion
 of ,christian influence as well as for 
making money8 ,how many see  in their   
clerks something besides the hired arms 
or brains to carry on  their trade8 ,how
 many recognize them as beings with     
social instincts as  well as with sharp 
wits2 immortal souls as well as clear   
heads2  susceptibilities to temptation  
as well as to self-interest2 young men  
who  are to fill a place in these       
democratic communities1 to cast their   

votes1  exert their influence1 be each  
the centre of a greater or smaller      
circle1  be fathers to train up children
 and perpetuate their own moral         
character  and sentiments whatever they 
be8 ,how many consider the influence    
which  their position of employer gives 
them over the moral destiny of these    
youth2 the power they may wield through 
the truly affectionate and  confidential
 relations subsisting between them8 ,how
 many concern  themselves as to where   
their clerks go after business hours1   
what  associations they form1 whether   
they have a place of worship or not8    
,how  many of you business men1 here    
to-day1 are in the habit of asking the  
young men in your employ to accompany   
you to church1 or to ,bible class1 or   
to prayer-meeting8    ,take the         
community at large4 ,its influence1 if  
exerted in this  direction1 must be     
chiefly confined to furnishing some     
counter attraction1  moral1 but not     
necessarily religious1 to the           

attractions of the haunts of  sin4 ,and 
a great work can be done here1 in which 
men of the most opposite  religious     
theories1 and men with no religion at   
all can unite4 ,there1 for  instance1 is
 the temperance question4 ,there is a   
variety of views on the  subject2 but   
all agree that intemperance is an awful 
evil1 and one which  all moral and      
religious men are called on to resist   
and suppress by every  possible means4  
,we believe that the only effectual     
method of reforming a  drunkard1 or of  
keeping a man from becoming one1 is to  
make him a  ,christian4 ,that will      
reform in all respects4 ,but we cannot  
bring the  community to agree on this   
platform4 ,here then is one where all   
can unite1  namely1 in organizing some  
force to overbalance the attractions of 
the  dram shop4 ,it need not be         
distinctively religious1 only free from 
vicious  associations4 ,the saloon      
keeper understands perfectly that not   
one young  man in ten comes to his haunt

 originally to drink or in which to     
gamble4  ,he wants a warm and pleasant  
room to sit down and chat with his      
companion2  to read his evening paper1  
or it may be to procure a meal4 ,so this
  minister of corruption proceeds to    
make provision for these natural and    
healthy cravings1 that1 through them1 he
 may excite those unnatural and         
depraved desires1 the satisfaction of   
which constitutes his chief source  of  
profit4 ,he furnishes his rooms         
tastefully and comfortably4 ,he provides
  food of all kinds prepared to please  
the most fastidious palate4 ,a small    
sum will secure a quiet and cosy retreat
 where the youth and his friends  may   
pass an evening4 ,but he furnishes the  
bar with its tempting array of  liquors4
 ,he gathers there his array of well    
dressed and gentlemanly  confederates   
who are always ready to challenge to    
drink1 and to sneer at  the principle   
which refuses4 ,he has his licentious   
pictures to stimulate  the passions1 and

 abundant facilities for their          
gratification4 ,and  thousands of youths
 who went thither at first1 only because
 they could  find no other retreat1 have
 come at last to frequent it for the    
gratification of the basest appetites1  
and have gone from its doors at  last1  
hopeless1 homeless drunkards4    ,now   
suppose a community should say 7and no  
individual with a shadow of  moral sense
 could say otherwise71 the rumseller    
takes an unfair advantage4  ,he unites  
things which may just as well be        
separated4 ,there is no  necessity that 
all the light and comfort and retirement
 should be  associated with liquor and  
licentiousness4 ,let us furnish these to
 the  hundreds of poor young men who    
have no retreat but their offices and   
boarding houses4 ,let us build a house  
or hire a large suite of rooms4 ,let  us
 have a suitable person employed to     
dispense proper refreshments at a       
reasonable price4 ,let us have a reading
 room furnished with the best  papers   

and periodicals1 and with a good        
library4 ,let us have a  conversation   
room1 where young men can chat or play  
their game of chess or  backgammon4 ,let
 us have a ten pin alley1 and even a    
smoking room4 ,would  not this be in the
 interest of temperance as well as of   
many other  virtues8 ,would it not keep 
scores of young men from the gin        
palaces8 ,could  not society1           
independently of any religious views1   
easily inaugurate and  carry out such a 
plan8 ,it has been done1 and has worked 
wonders4 ,the  slight approach towards  
it made by our ,young ,men's ,christian 
,association1  saying nothing now of the
 religious adjuncts1 has proved what a  
strong1  well organized effort might    
effect in this direction4 ,and yet what 
has our  communities of this character8 
,what organized appliance have our      
cities  anywhere to act upon young men8 
,there ,i know are the ,young ,men's    
,associations1 and they are good as far 
as they go2 but they make provision     

chiefly for intellectual wants4 ,their  
libraries1 and reading rooms1 and       
lecture courses are doing a good work2  
but after all it is for the  community  
at large1 male and female1 as well as   
for young men4 ,there is a  lower class 
of wants peculiar to young men1 and to  
young men of a certain  class1 which    
will be supplied somehow1 and which a   
proper effort may  supply judiciously1  
without injury to the youth1 and in a   
way to create  wants and lead to        
associations of a higher character4 ,if 
the moral and  ,christian part of the   
community do not supply them1 the       
immoral part will4    #c4 ,but the      
church ought to deal with young men1    
because she has the  means4 ,she has    
organization4 ,the community at large is
 not organized to  carry out such       
efforts4 ,special organizations have to 
be made when such a  movement is        
undertaken by it2 and even then the     
personal sympathy and  cooperation of   
individuals1 except perhaps through     

their purses1 is not  secured4 ,a moral 
movement agitated outside the church    
requires a good deal  of time and effort
 to bring it into contact with men's    
minds1 and to get  them enlisted in it4 
,it has to work principally upon        
individuals4 ,but the  moment a question
 of moral reform starts with the church1
 it works from  the very first upon and 
through an organization4 ,that is the   
reason why  the agents of all great     
benevolent enterprises and reform       
movements try  first to get before the  
churches4 ,the subject is presented to  
masses4 ,it  reaches the larger part of 
the community through their religious   
detachments1 so to speak1 and by the    
mouth of their chosen and respected     
religious instructors4 ,the organization
 is already formed to discuss the       
question1 to decide upon it1 to raise   
means for carrying out the  enterprise1 
to delegate men to represent this or    
that branch of the church  in it4 ,added
 to this is the personal sympathy       

evoked4 ,as a moral question  it is     
brought home to the church on her own   
ground4 ,if it concerns the  salvation  
of men1 every individual1 as well as the
 church at large has to  do with it4 ,it
 appeals to him as a man and as a       
brother2 to his prayers1  to his pocket1
 to his effort4    ,the church has the  
wealth4 ,i need only say1 that the      
church represents by  far the largest   
proportion of the money of our          
communities4 ,take our own  city for    
instance1 and count up our wealthiest   
men1 and you will find that  the most of
 them are not only members of           
congregations1 but also members  of     
churches4    #d4 ,the church ought to   
deal with young men1 because she        
represents the  only restraining and    
reforming power4    ,no reform that is  
not ,christian in its essence is        
radical4 ,no restraint  that is not     
,christian is permanently effective4    
,other influences are  partial in their 
operation4 ,they modify one side of     

character4 ,they  protect it partially  
at one or two weak points4 ,they touch  
the outward  developments of the life   
merely2 trying to regulate it from the  
circumference4 ,this goes to the very   
seat of life1 purges the fountain  head 
of impulse and desire1 creates a new man
 to do new works1 and does  not simply  
ingraft new works on the old character1 
putting the new piece  into the old     
garment4 ,this brings the thought and   
will into conformity  with the law of   
,christ1 and develops the man as a      
whole1 makes him  something1 as well as 
restrains him from evil4 ,without this1 
who can say  that any restraint will be 
effectual2 that any memories will be    
sacred  enough1 any admonitions forcible
 enough1 any associations attractive    
enough1 any moral purpose strong enough 
to keep one pure8 ,alas1 the shore  of  
life is strewn so thickly with wrecks of
 youthful hope and promise1 the  annals 
of crime embrace so many youth of noble 
aims and high attainments1  reared under

 the holiest influences of home and     
sanctuary1 that we may  well ask--who is
 safe8    ,while then1 ,i would not     
discourage an effort at reform made in  
good faith  by society1 yet without any 
distinctively religious character1 while
 ,i  believe that many such efforts have
 done good in their sphere1 ,i say      
distinctly1 that their sphere is not    
large enough4 ,their influence does  not
 reach deep enough4 ,they help reform or
 restrain certain developments  of the  
life2 but they do not inaugurate any    
positive moral development4  ,nay1 the  
very fact that many of them are forced1 
as a condition of their  existence1 to  
denude themselves of anything but the   
most general and vague  religious       
character1 makes them incapable of      
fostering any high moral  development4  
,to take the instance cited a few       
moments since4 ,the community           
establishes a coffee room1 or reading   
room1 or resort of any kind for  young  
men1 without the vicious attractions of 

the fashionable restaurant  or saloon4  
,it does a good and laudable thing4 ,its
 influence is good as far  as it goes1  
in keeping young men away from worse    
places4 ,but the moral  influence       
exerted1 depends entirely upon these    
outside appliances4 ,in  other words1   
this institution keeps them from evil so
 long as they can  have recourse to it1 
but does not implant within them a      
principle which1  in the event of their 
being deprived of this privilege1 would 
cause them  to forego their comfort and 
recreation1 rather than seek them amid  
debasing associations4    ,on this point
 then ,i am avaricious4 ,i want the     
church to control all  schemes of       
reform4 ,i want them to originate in the
 church as their only  legitimate       
source1 so that in every effort put     
forth for the protection1  or           
restoration1 or training of youth1 the  
gospel of ,christ1 the only power  which
 can ever thoroughly regenerate         
individual or society1 may be           

paramount3 so that the effort may be not
 only a conservative but an  aggressive 
force1 winning youth to ,christ as well 
as keeping them away  from ,satan1      
creating positive developments of       
character as well as  securing simple   
safety or harmlessness1 narrowing the   
boundaries of the  devil's empire as    
well as keeping ,christ's from          
infringement4 ,for this  reason ,i am   
anxious that instead of its being left  
for secular  organizations to inaugurate
 such movements1 the church should      
enlarge her  ,christian organizations so
 as to take in and sanctify every force 
that is  requisite to meet the demands  
of the various characters with which she
 has  to deal4    ,and just at this     
point1 ,i want to call your attention to
 a thought which  bears especially upon 
our city churches4    ,it is commonly   
thought that the city is the fountain   
head of all vice1 and  with some reason 
,i admit4 ,parents have a traditional   
horror of sending  their sons into large

 cities4 ,they think they are going into
 the very jaws  of death and            
destruction4 ,they draw a fearful       
picture of the gayeties and  the        
temptations of city life4 ,they look    
upon young men reared in cities  with   
suspicion4 ,they are inclined to regard 
them all as loose in morals1  and as    
taking naturally to sin4    ,now ,i do  
not believe that1 as a rule1 young men  
or any other men are worse  in cities   
than elsewhere4 ,sin is pretty much the 
same thing1 ,i apprehend1  among grain  
and trees1 as it is on sidewalks4       
,propensities just as  vicious1 passions
 just as furious and debased1           
exhibitions of vice quite  as           
disgusting1 more so1 perhaps1 because   
more coarse and pronounced1 are  to be  
seen in farming districts and in country
 villages as in cities4 ,the  appliances
 of vice are quite up to the proportion 
of the population in the  former1 both  
in quantity and in quality4 ,a good deal
 of injustice is done  the city in this 

respect4 ,it is often said that a young 
man's ruin  commences from the time he  
leaves his quiet country home and goes  
to the  city4 ,but the fact is that1 in 
many cases1 the city only completes what
  was well begun at home1 begun in      
evenings spent in country grocery       
stores1  and on the piazzas of village  
taverns4    ,but there is another aspect
 of this matter which would perhaps     
startle  those who think that all piety 
and orthodoxy reside in the rural       
districts2 and that is1 that the city1  
as it is1 affords far greater           
encouragements to well developed piety  
than the country2 and that if the       
church were fully awake to her duty     
towards young men1 and actually         
employing all the means afforded her by 
her wealth1 organization and  influence 
to shield1 restrain1 influence and      
reform them1 the city would  be the     
safest place on earth for a youth4 ,if  
the city is the stronghold of  vice1 it 
is in the church's power to make it the 

stronghold of virtue4 ,for  it is       
admitted that1 in other respects1 the   
city affords superior  advantages4      
,young men leave the country store and  
come thither if they  desire to learn   
business on a large scale4 ,they are    
obliged to seek the  city for large     
literary opportunities4 ,the great      
popular literary  attractions seldom    
move out of the track of the cities4    
,here the pulse of  life beats quicker4 
,men live faster4 ,thought is more      
energetic and prompt4  ,the same is in a
 measure true of religious life4 ,it    
develops more  activity1 more           
benevolence4 ,it invests religious      
instruction with more  attractions1 and 
throws more life and power into social  
worship4 ,go into  such a prayer        
meeting1 for instance1 as you can find  
in scores of churches  in our large     
cities1 where the large numbers present 
augment the sympathy  of each with the  
common object1 where thoughtful1        
practical1 energetic men  pour into the 

common treasury streams of fresh1 living
 thought1 where the  singing is an      
inspiration1 and say what you will1 a   
man will be stirred  and stimulated as  
he cannot be in the thin assemblies of  
too many country  churches1 where the   
minister is chiefly depended on to give 
interest to  the meeting1 where the     
singing is faint and slow4 ,i know ,god 
is often in  the one place as in the    
other4 ,i know there is true religious  
life there1  and that souls are         
converted there4 ,but so long as men    
remain human1 their  piety will not be  
insensible to such influences4 ,so too1 
the influences of  the city churches    
tend more to develop young men4 ,my     
impression is that in  country districts
 age is a prime qualification for       
responsibility2 young  men are kept     
back1 and not expected to bear a        
prominent part in religious  services   
until later in life4 ,with us1 it is    
part of our creed to educate  young men 
by responsibility4 ,we love to hear them

 speak or pray1 not only  because they  
bring us good and fresh and profitable  
thoughts1 but because  we know that     
these exercises are developing them into
 strong men for the  future leaders of  
the church4 ,not only so1 but our larger
 religious  machinery1 the wider sphere 
of our activity1 furnish places for them
 to  work4 ,we must depend largely upon 
them to carry on our mission schools1   
and to carry out other practical schemes
 of benevolence4 ,under these           
influences1 ,i say1 they develop faster1
 and as ,i think better4 ,as a rule1    
the young man of a city church is more  
capable1 more efficient1 than one  of   
the same age and of equal natural       
abilities in a rural district4    ,but  
then these influences do not reach the  
class of unconverted youth  directly4   
,they have no interest in prayer        
meetings1 little in sermons4  ,this is  
the plain question before us then3      
,,iii4 ,how shall the church deal with  
the ,absaloms3 the erring youth or      

those of no religious bias1 the careless
 and pleasure loving8 ,there is  such a 
class4 ,are you surprised at my stating 
a fact which seems self  evident8 ,i    
state it because it seems to have been  
practically forgotten4  ,some men frame 
their schemes of reform on the principle
 that every one  must be appealed to by 
the same influences which appeal to     
them4 ,for  instance1 when it is        
proposed to furnish1 under ,christian   
supervision1  certain innocent          
appliances which may counterbalance the 
attractions of  the saloon1 and perhaps 
lead to the exercise of some more       
distinctively  religious influence1 we  
are flatly told by some that there is no
 need of  recreation4 ,youth are on the 
brink of the grave1 and should find     
enjoyment  in singing psalms4 ,others   
tell us there is recreation enough in   
the  contemplation of the heavenly      
bodies1 and of the beauties of nature1  
and  that these ought to satisfy the    
soul without its having recourse to     

lower  joys4 ,now you and ,i like to    
sing psalms4 ,they are suggestive to us 
of many  rich and comforting thoughts4  
,some of you can find sufficient        
enjoyment in  the beauties of nature1   
not only because ,god has opened your   
eyes to see  him in all things1 but     
because study and knowledge have        
prepared your mind  to discern and      
appreciate the wonders of creation4 ,i  
don't think you  particularly loved to  
sing psalms before ,christ touched your 
heart4 ,and  the practical point we have
 got to meet1 and meet as ,christians   
and with  ,christian methods is1 that   
there is a large class that cannot be   
appealed  to by the beauties of nature  
and the charms of literature1 and the   
glory  of the starry heavens4 ,have we  
anything to do with these8 ,just as     
indubitably as ,david's army had to do  
with the erring ,absalom4 ,and we have  
got to deal gently with them too2 not   
force them upon the procrustean bed  of 
our methods1 and give them their choice 

of these or none4 ,if the church  says  
to these unconverted1 careless ones1    
8,if you will not come to our  prayer   
meetings1 if you will not listen to our 
sermons1 we have done our  duty and     
cleared our skirts1 and you may go on to
 perdition as fast as you  please10 ,i  
say the church is awfully in error4 ,her
 skirts1 are in that  event1 soaked with
 the blood of ruined youth1 and it cries
 aloud against  her from the ground4    
,what are we to do then8 ,if the church 
has a duty to this class1 has she  also 
means to discharge it8 ,is it in her    
power to make the city the best  place  
for irreligious as well as for pious    
youth8 ,i say1 yes4 ,but she will  be   
obliged to enlarge her scheme of work4  
,she must sanctify new forces to  this  
end1 if she has to take them out of the 
devil's hand4 ,she must  institute new  
attractions1 under her own control1 to  
draw youth within the  sphere of her    
influence1 and to hold them when drawn4 
,she must employ  forces with a view    

merely to restrain from worse           
influences1 until she can  bring direct 
religious influences to bear4 ,without  
compromising principle  one iota1       
abstaining from the very appearance of  
evil1 she is nevertheless  to press into
 her service everything that she can    
separate from low  associations1        
everything that will enhance her own    
social attractions1  everything which   
will amuse1 interest1 instruct1 to keep 
these away from  the palaces of hell1   
and to draw them into contact with the  
influences of  the gospel4 ,the wisdom  
of ,christianity is shown in its dealing
 with men as  they are4 ,in reaching    
them at their own level2 and the church 
will best  show her wisdom by not trying
 to be wiser than her ,lord4 ,the       
mountain will  not go to ,mahomet1 and  
,mahomet must go to the mountain4 ,we   
have a variety  of characters to deal   
with1 and must use a variety of means4  
,gather such a  band of youth together1 
and preach to them that they ought to be

 satisfied  with the beauties of nature1
 or with books1 or the like1 and you    
simply  drive them the faster from      
religious influences1 and cut every tie 
between  you4 ,here is one young man who
 loves books4 ,let the church give him  
books4  ,let him know that he receives  
this high and pure pleasure from the    
hand of  ,christianity4 ,here is another
 that loves pictures4 ,let ,christian   
art adorn  the walls1 and ,christian    
liberality pay the price4 ,but here is  
another of  a lower grade of culture4   
,not vicious1 not specially inclined to 
dissipation1 but finding little interest
 in books or pictures4 ,throw him  among
 these higher influences1 of course1 for
 they will insensibly educate  him2 but 
if a checker board or a game of dominoes
 will attract him1 and  keep him for an 
evening away from the liquor saloon or  
the theatre1 pray  tell me why          
,christian hands should not furnish him 
these1 and a pleasant1  quiet place in  
which to play his innocent game1 where  

no profanity greets  his ears1 where no 
bar presents its seductions4 ,another   
loves music2 why  should not ,christian 
liberality furnish him the gratification
 of this  taste1 and ,christian hands   
and voices join with him in swelling the
  harmony in which his heart delights8  
,it is1 of course1 impossible for me to 
go into details here1 but the  general  
principle ,i think is clear4 ,it seems  
to me that the only way in  which the   
church can reach any large proportion of
 these young men1 is by  the judicious  
union of attractive and direct          
influences2 by bringing under  her own  
control and using all those appliances  
which appeal to the social  instinct1 to
 the taste1 to the intellect1 to the    
necessity for recreation1  freeing them 
from debasing associations1 and thereby 
drawing the  unconverted youth within   
the range of direct religious           
influences4 ,she  must be content to    
keep them out of the hands of evil for  
the time1 if she  cannot fully commit   

them to piety4 ,but then1 let it be     
clearly understood  that these things   
are to be under the control of religion4
 ,that the  salvation of the young men  
is the great end toward which these are 
only  means4 ,the moment our ,young     
,men's ,christian ,associations1 to     
which we must  chiefly look to carry out
 this plan1 let their rooms become mere 
lounging  places2 the moment the prayer 
meeting is dropped2 the moment the young
 men  cease to be on the watch for      
opportunities to speak the word of      
religious  counsel1 that moment they are
 no longer the allies of the church2    
they  will have become no better than   
clubs4 ,i want to say to the young men  
of  our own association who have so     
boldly and1 thus far1 so successfully   
carried out this theory1 you must guard 
yourselves here4 ,the ,troy             
,association has drawn the eyes of the  
church throughout a large part of  the  
country upon itself by its course in    
this matter4 ,it is thought by  many a  

bold experiment4 ,by many it is openly  
denounced4 ,many predict that  the      
result will be the ruin instead of the  
salvation of young men4 ,if you  would  
silence and convert your opponents1 if  
you would convert the  wavering into    
enthusiastic supporters of your policy1 
guard well the  religious side of your  
work4 ,infuse the gospel spirit into    
everything4  ,strictly enforce the rules
 which ,christian prudence lays down for
 the use  of means and attractions not  
distinctively religious4 ,let the word  
,christian be in the largest letters on 
your sign4 ,remember your great  object1
 the duty thrown upon you by the nature 
of the case1 thrown upon  you by        
similarity of age1 by congeniality of   
taste and pursuits1 thrown  upon you by 
the church1 thrown upon you by ,christ2 
the church's head1 is  the salvation1   
not the entertainment of the young men4 
,you use these  appliances to entertain1
 only that thereby you may bring other  
forces to  bear1 which may make them    

,christians1 add their power to the     
various  churches of the community1 and 
unite them with you in the work of      
saving  others4 ,the moment you forget  
this1 ,ichabod will be written upon your
  banners1 and the cause of ,christ     
receive a blow which all the good you   
have heretofore accomplished can        
scarcely heal4    ,the practical working
 of this theory is the best answer to   
its opponents4  ,we have this answer    
among us to-day1 and ,i am thankful from
 my inmost  heart that the ,young ,men's
 ,christian ,association is to-day1 what
 it was  not two years ago1 among the   
great religious forces of our city4     
,those who  have opposed its later      
proceedings have some stubborn facts to 
get round4  ,these facts demonstrate    
this3 that since the ,young ,men's      
,christian  ,association inaugurated the
 policy of attracting youth to its      
head-quarters1 its distinctively        
religious force has increased ten-fold4 
,as one evidence of this1 the city      

missionary says1 8since we entered upon 
our present plan1 a larger number of    
young men than ever before have been    
brought to sympathize with me and my    
work1 are ready to sit up with the      
sick1 to visit the needy1 to labor for  
the spiritual good of their  fellows4   
,our rooms have resulted in increasing  
the effective force of  spiritual       
co-laborers with me1 more than          
ten-fold40 ,last month1 the  daily      
prayer meeting from twelve to one1 was  
attended by an average of  twenty-two   
daily1 mostly young persons1 and        
generally conducted by young  men       
converted under the agency of the       
association4 ,some of you remember  the 
old noonday prayer meeting1 and to such 
,i need say nothing as to the  contrast4
 ,the call for this noonday meeting was 
signed by about fifty  young men4 ,the  
call itself was drawn and circulated by 
a young man who1  six months ago1 came  
to our city penniless1 was made to feel 
at home in  our rooms1 was furnished    

with employment by the agencies of the  
association1 came to the weekly prayer  
meeting1 was converted1 and is now      
counted among our most earnest          
,christian workers4 ,young men are being
  converted through this agency4 ,i give
 you one instance out of a number4 ,a   
young man visited the rooms on ,thursday
 night1 and was invited with others     
down to the young men's prayer meeting4 
,he went1 and was deeply  interested1   
and immediately after the meeting       
returned to the parlor1 and  was seen   
earnestly studying a ,bible at one of   
the reading tables4 ,at the  hour of    
closing1 some of the ,christian young   
men accompanied him home1 and  urged    
upon him the subject of personal        
religion4 ,they followed him up for  two
 or three days1 until he gave his heart 
to ,god2 and he has since been  an      
active co-laborer with the young men in 
the work of the association4    ,one    
more incident4 ,a young man came to one 
of the members of this church  sometime 

since1 saying1 8,i came to the city two 
years ago4 ,i was a member  of a church 
at home2 but here1 no man seemed to care
 for my soul4 ,i have  neglected my     
duty1 have sought for no church home2   
but ,i was attracted to  your rooms4 ,i 
went to the association prayer meeting4 
,my heart was  stirred1 and ,i became   
ashamed of my neglect and inconsistency2
 and now ,i  want to know when your next
 communion season is1 that ,i may give  
my letter  to your pastor40    ,i could 
give you others1 but these speak volumes
 for the value of this  policy2 and1    
from the bottom of my heart this        
morning1 ,i say ,god bless the  ,young  
,men's ,christian ,association1 and     
pledge them my poor efforts and         
influence1 and prayers to help forward  
the work so nobly begun4    ,i know not 
where to stop4 ,my heart is so full that
 it seems as if ,i could  spend the day 
on this theme4 ,but ,i must stop1 and1  
in conclusion ,i say1  first to the     
church1 accept frankly the              

responsibility which ,god throws on  you
 in the persons of these young men4 ,you
 are the appointed agency1 the  proper  
agency1 and the only agency to save and 
restrain and protect them4  ,you cannot 
shirk it1 especially as city churches4  
,into these centres of  trade and       
education ,god pours the young men1 and 
he asks you and me this  morning if we  
are ready for them2 if1 while business  
and education are  multiplying their    
facilities1 the gospel of ,christ1      
represented by the  churches1 is        
multiplying its facilities to make the  
city the best place  for the education  
of young men in virtue4 ,he asks these  
churches if there  is nothing           
significant1 no message to her in the   
concentration of the mass  of our young 
men and the mass of ,christian culture1 
organized power1 and  wealth1 at one    
point8 ,have these things no relation to
 each other8 ,yes1  brethren1 they have4
 ,there is no evading it4 ,the finger of
 ,providence  points unswervingly to    

these city churches as the great sources
 of  ,christian influence upon young    
men4 ,let us not fail to hear these     
voices4  ,the ten thousand appliances of
 vice1 confronting the church with      
brazen  defiance1 or with devilish      
ingenuity and secresy sapping the       
foundations  of manly honor and         
integrity1 call to us1 deal gently with 
the young man4  ,fathers and mothers1   
the yearnings of whose hearts you read  
full easily in  your love for your own  
sons1 whose happiness1 whose very lives 
are bound  up in the honor and          
prosperity of these sons and brothers1  
call to us from  their distant homes in 
quiet villages1 and on the open farm    
lands1 call to  us with agonizing       
earnestness--deal gently for our sakes  
with the young  man4 ,our community1 our
 country1 calls to us4 ,oh1 when ,i look
 upon society  and see what characters  
ride rampant there1 when ,i look at     
government and  see the awful corruption
 festering there1 when ,i see how men in

 power1  from the chief magistrate of   
the nation down to the humblest         
postmaster1  will sell their souls for  
party1 and betray their country to its  
enemies  through lust of power1 or      
something else1 ,god knows what2 when ,i
 see  drunkenness holding high carnival 
in the nation's capitol1 reeling in the 
seat of the ,president1 and retailing   
its maudlin declamation before a        
sickened country from ,washington to    
,chicago1 ,i can only turn to ,god and  
the future4 ,our only hope is in the    
work of the ,christian church through   
all its agencies1 social1 ecclesiastical
 and educational1 moulding out of  the  
glorious material so abundantly at its  
disposal1 a band of men who  shall      
convert the seats of power into seats of
 righteousness1 and make  government and
 purity synonymous terms4 ,the young men
 themselves appeal to  us4 ,this mass of
 intelligence1 clear wit1 energy1 tact1 
education2 these  noble brows on which  
,god has set the seal of power2 these   

frank1 manly1  generous natures1 these  
enthusiastic impulses1 all speak to us1 
saying1  deal gently with us1 and teach 
us by the power of ,christian love how  
to  use our power2 they speak to us1 and
 warn us against letting so much power  
and energy and culture be turned against
 us1 or left to hang as a drag on  our  
wheels4 ,and ,christ speaks to the      
church1 ,christ who loves these young   
men1 ,christ who died for these young   
men2 ,christ who from his seat of  glory
 at the ,father's right hand1 yearns    
over these young men1 ,christ is        
calling to his church to-day1 to you1 to
 me1 to all the pastors and             
congregations of this city1 8take care  
of them1 take care of them1 deal  gently
 for ,,my sake with the young men40     
,christian young men1 you have heard the
 call1 and in some sort are obeying  it4
 ,in proportion as you have not feared  
to use the range of gospel  agencies1 in
 proportion as your love has been       
kindled for the souls of  these youths1 

and your hands and tongues have been    
devoted to this end1  ,god has blessed  
you4 ,go on as you have begun4 ,go on1  
not defiantly1 but  firmly1 boldly1     
prudently4 ,dare to be singular1 if it  
will compass your  end4 ,take the word  
of ,god as your highest authority4 ,use 
no means that is  not sanctioned by it4 
,use none of doubtful expediency1 but   
enlarge the  range of your agencies4    
,wrest from the devil attractions which 
belong to  you rather than to him4      
,leaven them4 ,separate them from the   
debasing  associations with which sin   
has identified them1 and in the name of 
,christ  your ,master1 set up your      
banners1 rally your forces and join the 
churches  in their work of salvation4   
,and you1 unconverted young men1 one    
word to you4 ,for your own souls' sake1 
for the sake of your best interests1 for
 the sake of the parents who love  and  
hope in you1 for the sake of your       
country1 for ,christ's sake1 deal       
gently with yourselves4 ,remember1 the  

only true manhood is ,christian         
manhood4 ,no restraints which the church
 can throw round you will ensure  your  
safety against temptation2 no strength  
of resolution on your part  will keep   
you pure1 if you be not the children of 
,christ4 ,come to ,jesus4  ,come this   
very morning4 ,come and learn of him4   
,he will deal very gently  with you4    
,his yoke is easy1 his burden is light4 
,the life he gives you is  full of the  
highest impulses and of the purest      
enjoyments--a living spring  of         
water--and the eternal rewards he       
promises are such as eye hath not  seen1
 nor ear heard1 nor the heart of man    
conceived4            ,,thoughts ,,for  
,,the ,,clergy ,,on ,,the ,,amusement   
,,question4      ,as pastors1 we can no 
longer evade this question4 ,our people 
are hearing1  reading1 and being        
influenced by discussions of the subject
 in various  quarters4 ,obviously1 we   
must not let our congregations form     
their  conclusions on so important a    

matter1 independently of their chosen   
spiritual guides4 ,the word of each     
pastor will carry with it1 in most      
cases1 a weight which can attach to no  
other's word4 ,let us see to it that  we
 separate ourselves1 as much as         
possible1 from prejudice in our         
examination of this question4 ,let us   
face the facts fairly1 and inquire  what
 provision is furnished by the gospel to
 meet them4 ,we have nothing to  do with
 any other consideration4 ,whether the  
gospel principles and methods           
applicable to this case appear to us    
safe or unsafe1 we have no right to     
advocate any other4 ,we have no right to
 be silent4    ,what are the facts8     
#a4 ,the youth1 as a class1 are vitally 
important to the church and to the      
state4 ,our work as ,christian teachers 
reaches beyond our own generation4  ,we 
owe to the future the proper training of
 the men and women who are to  mould its
 destinies4 ,the present youth are the  
future leaders of church  and state4    

,how they shall lead them1 depends very 
much upon us4 ,these  truths are        
self-evident4    #b4 ,they are exposed  
to peculiar dangers calling for special 
effort on  their behalf4    ,special    
efforts are being made to ruin them4    
,the self-interest of vice is           
interested in this work2 for to youth   
its appliances look chiefly for         
support4 ,as one has happily expressed  
it1 8,age has few passions to which     
profligacy can appeal2 and the          
proselytism of decrepitude and years are
  enlistments of little value40 ,the    
withdrawal of young men from the rolls  
of the intemperate and licentious1 would
 leave two-thirds of the drinking       
saloons and brothels bankrupt4 ,the     
passions to which these appliances      
appeal are such as are most active and  
dangerous in youth4 ,they offer the     
freedom and license which youth loves4  
,they throw off the shackles which      
youth hates4 ,our cities and villages   
swarm with traps set expressly for      

them4 ,thousands are freely expended to 
invest the bar room and the  gambling   
hall with the cozy attractions of the   
parlor4 ,the harlot's palace  opens wide
 its doors4 ,the public ball room       
displays its fascinations4  ,dissipation
 draws round itself the attractions of  
wealth and taste and  fashion1 and in   
its splendid club rooms secures for     
itself the pleasures  which expediency  
forbids it to seek more publicly4 ,vice 
literally flaunts  its banners in the   
face of the public4 ,but a few days     
since ,i saw from my  window a banner   
carried through the streets1 blazoned   
with the name and  attractions of one of
 the vilest fashionable groggeries in   
the city1 and  preceded by the music of 
a drum and fife4 ,the snug retreat1     
known only to  the initiated few1 where 
licentiousness and drunkenness are      
secluded1 and  thousands lost and won1  
was never more popular than now4        
,practiced decoys  lie in wait for the  
daughters of our families1 and the whirl

 of general  society in which so many of
 them1 at a tender age1 are madly       
revolving  night after night1 is no poor
 preparation for the fatal success of   
these  wiles4 ,young girls1 who come    
from quiet country homes to seek        
employment1  cast adrift on these       
surging tides of life without a friend  
or an adviser1  readily fall victims to 
the wiles of young seducers whose social
 position  ensures their security4 ,in a
 certain city1 ,i was informed not long 
since1  of one keeper of a fashionable  
brothel who had removed her trade1      
because  it was too largely usurped by  
victims of this class to render it any  
longer profitable4 ,young men1 too1 are 
coming to the cities in crowds1 to      
engage in business or study4 ,they must 
have society and recreation2 and  the   
votaries of vice are sparing neither    
pains nor expense to give them          
abundance of both1 fraught with ruin to 
soul and body4    ,without going outside
 of our special sphere as pastors1      

viewing this  subject solely with       
reference to the youth of our           
congregations1 as1 in  common with      
others subjected to these and other     
temptations1 what ought  to be our      
influence in arresting and counteracting
 these evils8    ,it ought to be second 
to none but parental influence4 ,if the 
name pastor  mean anything1 our position
 as the chosen religious teachers of    
congregations ought to give us free     
access to every household in our        
flocks1 and the strongest influence over
 the youth whose moral training we      
directly or indirectly shape4 ,we ought 
to be not only respected and            
reverenced1 but so loved as to be the   
familiar advisers and confidants  of the
 youth of our charges4 ,our word ought1 
next to the parents'1 to have  weight in
 turning them from improper courses and 
associations1 and in  keeping them from 
such4 ,moreover1 our influence ought not
 to be merely  restrictive and          
admonitory4 ,we should be sufficiently  

in sympathy with  them1 familiar enough 
with the demands of their age and with  
the best  means of satisfying them1 to  
be able to offer positive suggestions   
respecting their employments1           
recreations1 society1 reading1 and the  
like4  ,if we sustain proper relations  
to the youth of our charges1 they will  
be  as likely to refer such questions to
 us1 as matters of theology or          
practical morality4    ,now1 the        
question of the amusements of our youth 
is as good a test  question in this     
matter as we need ask4 ,what1 then1 is  
the influence of  the clergy at large in
 regulating the diversions of the youth8
    ,i appeal to the experience of the  
mass of ministers1 not with the few     
special friends and admirers1 which most
 of them have among the young  people of
 their congregations1 but with the mass 
of the youth4 ,i appeal  to those       
judicious1 farseeing ,christians1 who   
are wont to observe  carefully the      
tendencies of society1 if this influence

 is not a  comparative nullity4 ,in a   
question which1 perhaps1 as much as any 
other1  concerns the welfare of our     
youth1 which has the most vital         
relations to  the attractions of home1  
which will enter1 whether we may think  
it right  or not1 into the              
considerations which influence the      
choice or rejection of  a religious     
life2 at a point which the ministers of 
vice are fortifying  most strongly1     
wresting the best diversions to         
themselves1 striving to  make them      
peculiarly their own1 and to invest them
 permanently with  associations which   
shall exclude them from ,christian      
homes2 here1 ,i say1  the ,christian    
church1 the appointed regulator and     
instructor in the ethics  of amusement1 
is1 to a great extent1 at open issue    
with her own  intelligent youth1 and    
practically powerless to execute her own
 decrees4    ,it is well for us as      
ministers1 to look this fact squarely in
 the face1  and to call things by their 

right names4 ,how many pastors are in   
the  confidence of their youth with     
respect to the amusements of the latter8
 ,is  not the fact rather that there is 
a tacit antagonism recognized between   
the youth and the clergy on this        
subject1 an antagonism growing1 too1    
every year less tacit and more avowed8  
,can it be denied that a very large     
proportion of our youth regard their    
ministers as the foes to recreation1    
and would sooner think of consulting    
them on any subject than on this8 ,is   
it not the fact that while presbyteries 
and conferences and conventions  pass   
long and stringent resolutions on the   
subject of dancing and on the  use of   
cards and billiards1 multitudes of      
,christian families practice  dancing2  
scores of them may be found playing     
whist at their own firesides1  and      
scores more with their billiard rooms   
fitted up in their own houses8  ,it will
 not answer to say that those who       
practice these things are  backslidden  

in heart and worldly minded1 and that1  
if they were truly  ,christ's children1 
they would neither practice nor desire  
them4 ,this is  begging the whole       
question at issue1 and moreover is      
flatly contradicted  by facts4 ,many of 
those who engage in these recreations   
are among the most  devoted1            
enlightened1 faithful members and even  
ministers of our churches4  ,is it not  
the fact1 again1 that the pastors of    
these individuals would be  very much at
 a loss to administer discipline in such
 cases8 ,do they not  know that any     
attempt at authoritative interference   
would be regarded as  trenching upon    
individual rights of conscience1 and    
would send scores of  active and        
faithful members to other communions8   
,the truth is1 and there  is no shirking
 it1 that1 in the cities especially1 in 
the largest and most  powerful churches1
 the clergy are practically brought to a
 stand in this  matter4 ,they do not and
 cannot control it4 ,a vast mass of     

enlightened  ,christian sentiment is    
against their attempts to enforce the   
traditional  church doctrines on this   
subject4 ,their people pay little or no 
heed to  the official utterances of     
church assemblies4 ,many of them treat  
them with  ridicule4 ,there is no       
denying these facts4 ,hundreds of       
pastors are  painfully impressed with   
them4 ,the church's position in this    
matter is  most humiliating4    ,what   
then is the course of the clergy8       
,some of them are more than half        
persuaded that the more liberal view of 
their people is correct4 ,they fully    
sympathize1 perhaps1 with that view1    
yet they remain silent4 ,they cannot    
conscientiously reprove2 they refuse  to
 come boldly forward and define their   
position for fear of awakening          
prejudice1 or for fear their views may  
be misunderstood or misconstrued4  ,in  
short they think it is not safe4 ,and   
yet1 all the while1 the initiated  in   
the congregation know pretty well the   

general drift of their minister's       
sentiments2 that1 though he says little1
 he winks a tacit encouragement to  many
 indulgences which far over-step the    
bounds of ancient orthodoxy4 ,but  is   
this safe8 ,is it safe or honorable for 
the church to be impotent to  carry out 
her own dogmas8 ,is it safe for her to  
be under the charge of  inconsistency   
from the world because her statute books
 and the practice of  her members are at
 open variance8 ,is it safe for the     
views of an  influential ,christian     
teacher to be known only generally and  
vaguely1 that  his church and the world 
may draw undue license therefrom8 ,if he
 is  convinced that the church has been 
mistaken in this matter1 and has in     
past years committed herself to undue   
stringency1 is it safe to let the  error
 remain untouched1 and going on working 
its pernicious consequences8  ,if the   
gospel teaches a larger liberty1 a      
broader conception of ,christian  living
 and ,christian enjoyment than the      

church has preached1 has that  minister 
who conscientiously believes the fact   
any right to withhold the  truth because
 he deems it unsafe1 and to let a       
falsehood 7as he believes7  gain        
currency and power1 and forfeit moreover
 the attraction presented to  a sinful  
world by his more cheering and liberal  
conception of ,christ's  teachings8 ,not
 safe6 ,will not ,god take care of his  
truth8 ,doubtless men  will misconstrue 
it4 ,doubtless they will wrest the      
preaching of gospel  liberty to the     
confirmation of worldly license4 ,but   
the greater the danger  of this1 the    
more reason why the truth1 the whole    
truth1 should be  proclaimed loudly1    
boldly1 distinctly1 frequently4 ,when   
the water is first  let into a          
reservoir1 it is apt to be very muddy2  
but that is no reason  why the reservoir
 should remain dry forever4 ,the water  
will settle by and  by1 and the whole   
people be refreshed4 ,if there is truth 
in these more  liberal views of         

amusement1 it is in vain for religious  
newspapers to  shirk the discussion of  
the question4 ,it is in vain for        
influential  ministers to beg young     
men's ,christian conventions not to     
raise it4 ,it is  in vain for the pulpit
 to preserve a discreet silence4 ,the   
thing will out4  ,the truth will stay   
swathed in no cave in the rock4 ,the    
things that have  been spoken in the ear
 in closets will be proclaimed upon the 
house tops4  ,the ,christian public will
 the sooner attain correct views on this
 subject  through free discussion4 ,if  
the thing be not of ,god1 it will sooner
 come  to nought through this process   
than through any other4 ,but by their   
love  for souls1 and by their sworn     
loyalty to ,god and truth1 let the      
clergy run  the sword of the ,spirit    
through and through this matter1 that   
the world  may know the truth and detect
 the falsehood4    ,it is confessed by  
some that they have given the subject no
 attention4  ,they have accepted the    

traditions of the church as they found  
them1 have  preached and have tried to  
enforce them1 or else have settled down 
upon  the assumption that the matter is 
of minor importance4 ,i simply ask if   
this is justifiable in view of the      
facts2 in view of the contradictory     
position of the church on this subject2 
in view of the important part  which    
amusements must play in the education of
 youth2 in view of their  great and     
patent abuses2 in view of the point     
urged in these discourses  that many of 
the popular diversions of the day may be
 wrested from the  devil's hands and    
turned to good purpose in keeping the   
young from evil  influences and         
associations8    ,some positively refuse
 to consider the question under any new 
aspect4 ,it  is settled1 once and for   
all4 ,the books are balanced1 shut and  
sealed4 ,the  wisdom of a past          
generation exhausted the question4 ,its 
dictum is to be  received as gospel4    
,little needs to be said here4 ,such    

declarations demand  the utmost stretch 
of ,christian charity4 ,they betray an  
ignorance which1  in a popular teacher1 
is unpardonable1 and a blind            
acquiescence in the  conclusions of the 
past which is pitiable4    ,the truth1  
moreover1 is not promoted1 in any       
direction1 by abusing those  of more    
liberal views on this question4 ,the man
 who conscientiously  believes them     
wrong1 and boldly says so1 and does not 
simply declaim  against them but opposes
 them by fair argument drawn from       
scripture1 is to  be honored4 ,i would  
there were more such4 ,but it will not  
in the least  tend to conciliate favor  
for the more stringent aspect of the    
question1  for its advocates to cast    
slurs upon the sincerity and piety of   
those who  differ from them1 to announce
 them as corrupters of youth1 enemies of
 the  church1 underminers of pure       
religion1 and the like4 ,the day for    
this has  gone by4 ,the best men may    
differ even on this question1 which some

 think  so firmly settled2 and the      
liberal view of this subject is         
supported by  too many shining names in 
the ,christian ministry1 by too large a 
mass of  ,christian devotion and        
consistency and learning and            
intelligence1 to  entitle such          
assertions to any notice whatever4 ,the 
want of ,christian  charity which leads 
one public teacher to asperse his       
brother's ,christian  consistency and   
purity of motive upon such grounds1 is  
at least as  reprehensible as the       
holding of liberal sentiments on dancing
 or  billiards4    ,once more4 ,the     
pulpit1 in some places1 though alive to 
the importance of  the subject1 is      
holding sternly by its old1 stringent   
views4 ,it is laying  down the law      
authoritatively1 decrying as sinful all 
but a very limited  allowance of        
amusements4    ,the results of this     
policy so long and so thoroughly tried1 
are before us4  ,with all this          
preaching1 the prevalence and variety of

 amusements steadily  increases4 ,year  
after year such utterances of the pulpit
 fall with less  weight4 ,year after    
year the character and standing of those
 who openly set  them at defiance       
renders it more and more difficult to   
back them by  discipline4 ,the clergy   
are not gaining ground with the youth4  
,hundreds of  the latter1 repelled by   
this teaching1 are tearing themselves   
away from  the churches of their        
fathers1 to unite with folds where a    
more liberal  gospel is preached4 ,a    
prominent merchant of the ,methodist    
church1 a man  whose name is known in   
both hemispheres1 wrote me1 not more    
than a month  ago1 8the teachings of my 
own church on this subject have had the 
effect  to drive nearly my whole family 
into the ,protestant ,episcopal church40
    ,it is sometimes said3 8,let them   
go4 ,we are better without such4 ,we do 
not  want members who will not          
relinquish these suspected amusements4  
,we do not  want half way ,christians1  

conformed to the world1 trying to hold  
fast to  pleasure and secure heaven at  
the same time40 ,but such statements do 
not  fairly represent the case4 ,again1 
the whole question is begged4 ,many of  
those who refuse to conform to the      
churches dicta on these subjects care   
nothing whatever for the amusements in  
question4 ,the matter is entirely  one  
of principle4 ,they leave our churches1 
not because conscience is  relaxed1 but 
because it is acutely sensitive1 and    
because they would keep  it unsullied4  
,the above method of putting the case   
assumes that all the  conscience is on  
one side2 that1 while it operates       
strongly to condemn1 it  cannot possibly
 operate to approve4 ,many of these     
persons resort to other  communions1    
because they are too honest to          
compromise with conscience2  because    
they cannot see these questions in the  
light in which their own  churches      
present them2 and rather than go to     
,god's altars with even an  implied     

falsehood upon their consciences1 or    
embrace the alternative of  remaining   
outside of ,christ's fold1 they will    
sever life-long ties1  entwined with    
some of their dearest and tenderest     
recollections1 and go  alone with their 
conscience and their ,god to altars     
where no such tests  are imposed4 ,and  
in these new associations they bear     
themselves with all  ,christian         
fidelity4 ,they bring forth rich fruits 
of grace4 ,they walk  humbly and        
consistently with ,god4 ,they are       
exemplary fathers and mothers4  ,they   
are liberal in their gifts to the cause 
of ,christ1 and active in  promoting    
schemes to advance it4 ,our churches    
have been driving away such  men and    
women as these who would have been their
 ornaments and bulwarks1  because they  
have sought unduly to constrain         
,christian conscience on these          
subjects4    ,worse than this4 ,this    
course is keeping youth away from all   
church  communions2 away from ,christ4  

,few pastors have not received this     
answer1  when urging young persons to   
come to the ,savior4 8,if ,i become a   
,christian1  ,i must be very solemn4 ,i 
must repress my lightness of heart4 ,i  
must  relinquish all my cherished       
enjoyments40 ,admit that these views are
  greatly exaggerated1 as doubtless they
 are1 the question forces itself  upon  
us1 why do we meet such views so often8 
,why are they so generally  prevalent   
among our youth8 ,why does the immense  
amount of preaching1  forcible1 eloquent
 preaching1 on the comforts and joys of 
a ,christian life  produce1 seemingly1  
so little impression upon them8 ,why is 
it that they  persist in regarding      
,christian joy as a sickly1 stunted     
thing1 and  religion as the enemy of all
 light and hilarity and taste and       
freedom8    ,is all this result of      
native depravity8 ,i cannot believe it4 
,i cannot  dissociate a large measure of
 this most lamentable result from the   
old  teaching and practice of the church

 on the subject of recreation4 ,it is of
  no use to preach to ardent1 active    
youth1 that ,christianity is a religion 
of joy1 unless they see some joy brought
 out of it besides mere smiles and  a   
class of recreations which to them as a 
class are insipid4 ,to them  ,christian 
cheerfulness appeals as being less      
cheerful than any other  kind2 as a sort
 of mild1 repressed gayety1 from which  
their quick  sensibilities and stirring 
blood revolts4 ,they feel that in the   
church  they must be cheerful only in   
the way the church directs4 ,those      
ministers1  they reason1 can be very    
cheerful1 and even laugh uproariously   
over a  discussion on decrees2 but what 
do ,i care for decrees8 ,those elderly  
,christians can be cheerful in a quiet  
conversation on politics or on the      
church4 ,but if ,i want to be cheerful  
in a merry dance in proper society  and 
at proper hours1 if ,i want to go to my 
friend's billiard table and  play a     
quiet game1 if ,i want to make merry    

over a few hits of backgammon1  or give 
my energy full vent in rolling ten-pins 
for an hour1 ,i am a  heathen and a     
publican and unfit for the society of   
,christians4    ,as already observed1   
these views are doubtless greatly       
exaggerated by the  young4 ,yet does not
 the state of the case warrant us in    
asking carefully  and prayerfully if    
there is no connection between the      
stringent dogmas of  the church on the  
subject of recreation1 and the general  
suspicion of  religion which            
characterizes the mass of unconverted   
youth8    ,be this as it may1 the case  
is narrowed down to this4 ,of all the   
subjects  naturally under the church's  
supervision1 there is not one in which  
her  influence is less than in this4    
,she neither represses nor regulates4   
,one  of two courses she must pursue if 
she would escape the stigma of          
impotency4 ,either she must reassert her
 old dogmas1 and back them by the       
severest discipline1 or she must modify 

them1 and openly commit herself to  a   
larger liberty4 ,is she prepared for the
 first of these courses8 ,is she        
prepared1 first of all1 to defend it    
from ,god's ,word4 ,every other defense 
is worthless here4 ,is she ready to cut 
off remorselessly the man or the  woman1
 the youth or the maid who dances1      
however properly and modestly8 ,is  she 
ready to expel or suspend every minister
 who shall roll a ten-pin  ball1 or     
while away an hour with chess or        
backgammon8 ,is she ready to lay        
violent hands upon every member who     
fingers a card or handles a cue1 or     
strikes a croquet ball8 ,if so1 ,i      
tremble for the results of the          
experiment4 ,she will pause before she  
undertakes this course4 ,or will she    
openly confess to undue stringency in   
the past1 and write a new motto upon    
her banners--8,more abundant life80     
,here what seems a formidable objection 
is often preferred with great           
confidence4 ,grant that these more      

liberal  views are correct1 still public
 sentiment is not yet such as to make it
  safe to promulgate them4 ,the         
argument1 both in its character and     
result1  very strongly resembles that   
which used to be such a favorite with   
the  advocates of slavery4 ,the negro is
 not fit for freedom4 ,it recoiled on   
those who advanced it4 ,who made the    
negro unfit for freedom but those who   
held him in bondage until his imbruted  
nature ceased to prize or to desire     
liberty8 ,similarly ,i say1 if there is 
such a state of public sentiment1  why  
is it so8 ,how came this thing there8   
,who is responsible for a state  of     
sentiment in the church which makes it  
inexpedient to declare the plain        
teachings of ,christ on any subject8    
,there can be but one answer4 ,the      
responsibility lies between the church  
and the world1 and the world surely  has
 not done it4 ,the church herself has   
made this sentiment1 has created  the   
factitious conscience1 has awakened the 

morbid sensibility1 by  preaching on    
this subject a theory which shrivels at 
the touch of ,christ1  and which she has
 clearly shown her inability to carry   
into practice4 ,and  the fact that such 
a sentiment exists1 so far from calling 
for silence1 is  the strongest of all   
reasons why the church should speak out 
with a voice  of thunder1 and set       
herself right with the vast mass of     
conscience which  she so powerfully     
influences4    ,would you then1 says    
one1 free this matter entirely from the 
restraints of  the church8 ,by no means4
 ,on the contrary1 ,i am calling upon   
the church to  regain influence which   
she has forfeited4 ,i am pleading for a 
regulation  of these things by the      
church which does not now exist4        
,indulgence is  going too far in the    
church itself4 ,but from her present    
stand-point on  this question1 the      
church is1 from the very nature of the  
case1 almost  powerless to regulate4    
,assuming that the recreations in       

question are evil  and only evil1 she   
must not regulate4 ,that would be       
compromising4 ,she  must crush4 ,hence  
the matter resolves itself into a war of
 extermination  on both sides4 ,either  
these forms of amusement must be        
exterminated from  the church1 or they  
must get the upper hand of the church's 
statutes1 in  which case the church has 
no law for them4 ,she has only provided 
for  destroying them2 and failing in    
this1 must stand and see them run riot  
in  her very courts4    ,i would not    
have the church compromise one          
hair's-breadth with sin4 ,better  that  
she should err in excessive stringency4 
,but ,i would have her gain a  new      
vantage ground by being simply true1 and
 not proclaiming unmixed  evil1 where   
evil and good are blended in liberal    
proportions4 ,by not  undertaking the   
task of extermination1 where her duty is
 that of  discrimination4 ,the moment   
she begins upon the principle of        
analyzing  these mixed elements1 casting

 only the bad away1 and using1          
developing and  enjoying the good1 that 
moment she mounts to a point from which 
she can  regulate any matter which falls
 under her jurisdiction4 ,and to be thus
  true1 she must go direct to ,christ4  
,his word and example are conclusive1   
and we may safely preach what we find   
there4 ,do we find any such principle   
of repression as the church has preached
 for years past8 ,no2 we find abuse     
condemned1 and use allowed and approved4
 ,the ,savior is at the hilarious       
merry-making of the marriage1           
contributing to the festivity4 ,his own 
parable is on record1 bidding men put   
the gospel into all the forms and       
developments of life1 to refine and fit 
them for human enjoyment4 ,the long     
list of exceptions with which men are   
forbidden to bring the gospel leaven    
into contact has been added by men1 not 
by ,christ4 ,he was condemned for  the  
very same reason for which hundreds     
condemn a so called liberal  ,christian 

to-day2 because he used the world which 
other men used1 and  thought it not     
necessary to abstain from use because   
others abused4 ,these  teachings are    
there if anything is there4 ,they are   
for all time4 ,the  conditions of no age
 can justify ,christians in refusing to 
preach and to  apply them just as they  
stand4 ,nine-tenths of the really sinful
 indulgence  over which the church is   
mourning to-day1 is simply because of   
the failure  to do this faithfully4     
,because good men have been startled by 
the  magnitude and power of evil1 and   
have been too timid to meet it with     
methods which seemed so slow1 and which 
even gave room for the charge of        
compromise4 ,in being wiser than her    
,lord1 the church has drawn the reins   
too tightly1 and the results speak for  
themselves4 ,much is said about         
expediency2 and ,paul's words about meat
 offending his brother1 have been       
saddled with more burdens than any ten  
other passages of scripture2 but  after 

all1 the result proves simply this1 that
 it is always most expedient  to follow 
,christ implicitly4    ,i would1        
moreover1 that the church in dealing    
with this question1 would  consent to   
meddle less with its details1 and leave 
them more where they  properly belong1  
with the individual conscience4 ,no one 
man can decide  these things for        
another4 ,no man has a right to insist  
that his standard  of expediency shall  
be his brother's4 ,where ,god's law is  
explicit1 both  are bound alike4 ,when  
it throws a decision upon conscience1   
neither has a  right to complain if the 
paths diverge4 ,both paths may not be   
right1 but  to his own ,master shall    
each traveler stand or fall4    ,the    
church1 indeed1 can do better than to   
busy herself with such details1  or1 to 
speak more correctly1 she can deal with 
them much more successfully  by shifting
 her point of power from the            
circumference to the centre4 ,her  duty 
in this case will be very much          

simplified and lightened1 if she will   
give more attention to the springs of   
,christian life1 to the conformity  of  
the heart to the mind and will of       
,christ1 to fostering an  enthusiastic  
devotion to him4 ,then these details and
 distinctions will  mostly take care of 
themselves4 ,the church has lacked faith
 in the  regulative power of this       
principle1 and has sought to supply its 
assumed  defects by innumerable special 
provisions2 and the consequent tendency 
of  this course has been to fetter      
,christian individuality1 and to insist 
that  love to ,christ should express    
itself only in such modes as the church 
might prescribe4 ,hence the sentiment   
often expressed1 a true ,christian  will
 have no taste for these things4 ,but   
here again the whole question is        
begged4 ,you do not know1 you cannot    
know what affinities a ,christian life  
may develop4 ,all that you can with any 
confidence assert is the general  fact  
that he will love all that is good1     

acceptable1 perfect1 and hate all  that 
is essentially evil4 ,as to other       
matters1 things whose moral value       
arises entirely from circumstances1 a   
love to ,christ as sincere and as       
ardent as yours1 may lead him in a      
direction the very opposite of yours4   
,therefore it will be more in the       
interest of a true ,christian           
individuality1 of a higher and more     
generous ,christian manhood1 for the    
church to throw the soul more on its    
love to ,christ as the great  regulative
 principle4 ,let her probe the hearts   
committed to her1 deeply  for this4 ,let
 her strengthen this sentiment by every 
possible safeguard4  ,let her urge her  
members earnestly to higher attainments 
in this1 and her  difficulties in the   
regulation of the amusement question1   
and of every  similar question will1 in 
a great degree1 disappear4 ,her courts  
will be  full of the richest            
developments of grace1 the most varied  
activities1 the  most glorious examples 

of that wondrous unity in diversity     
which  ,christianity alone displays4    
,might not the church1 moreover1        
profitably ask herself if there be not a
  positive duty toward these much abused
 things1 as well as a privilege of      
letting them alone8 ,if a thing has good
 in it1 does ,christ teach that our     
duty to it is discharged in letting it  
alone for the sake of the evil  mixed   
with it8 ,that is the easier way1 ,i    
know4 ,it is a good deal easier to      
throw overboard good and evil together1 
than to separate them carefully  and to 
develop the good into a power4 ,but if  
easier1 is it better8 ,i  cannot avoid  
quoting just here the exquisite words of
 ,trench on the  ,marriage at ,cana1 as 
bringing out clearly our ,savior's      
example on this  point3 8,we need not   
wonder to find the ,lord of life at that
 festival2 for  he came to sanctify all 
life1 its times of joy1 as its times of 
sorrow2  and all experience tells us    
that it is times of gladness1 such as   

this  was now1 which especially need    
such a sanctifying power1 such a        
presence of the ,lord4 ,in times of     
sorrow the sense of ,god's presence     
comes most naturally out2 in these it is
 in danger to be forgotten4 ,he was     
there1 and by his presence struck the   
key-note to the whole future tenor  of  
his ministry4 ,he should not be as      
another ,baptist1 to withdraw himself   
from the common paths of men1 a preacher
 in the wilderness2 but his should  be  
at once a harder and a higher task1 to  
mingle with and purify the  common life 
of men1 to witness for and bring out the
 glory which was  hidden in its every   
relation40 ,to the same purpose are the 
pertinent words  of ,alford3 8,to       
endeavor to evade the work which he has 
appointed for each  man1 by refusing the
 bounty to save the trouble of seeking  
the grace1 is  an attempt which must    
ever end in degradation of the          
individual motives  and in social       
demoralization1 whatever present        

apparent effects may follow  its first  
promulgation40    8,a terrible          
responsibility you are taking on        
yourself10 say some to the  writer4     
8,youth are going to perdition on your  
authority1 pleading your  word and      
example as a ,christian minister40 ,i   
have only to say ,i fear not  to meet   
such before the highest of all          
tribunals4 ,if any man shall1 after     
carefully reading these four discourses1
 say that they give his worldly  heart  
full license to indulge its will1 ,i    
tell him to his face1 he is  either a   
fool or a hypocrite4 ,not proudly1 ,i   
trust1 but in humble reliance  upon him 
for whose sake every line has been      
penned1 ,i bow my shoulders to  every   
morsel of responsibility which the      
utterance of these truths  involves4 ,no
 youth will go to perdition on their    
authority4 ,if he shall  infer the right
 to abuse from a plea for moderate      
,christian use1 his  perdition be on his
 own head4 ,the truth ,i have uttered   

shall condemn him4  ,if ,i err1 ,god    
will bring this thing to nought3 and ,i1
 who have erred in  good faith1 and with
 an honest conscience1 shall be dealt   
with by a tender  ,savior as lovingly   
and leniently as ,i believe he will deal
 with those who1  with equal sincerity  
and zeal1 may possibly have erred in so 
presenting to  youth a gospel of light  
and joy and freedom1 as to make some of 
them  prefer the risk of perdition to   
embracing it4