THE END OF VICIOUS AMUSEMENTS.
By Talmage
Go forth, O people, to your lawful amusements. God means you to be happy. But when there are so many sources of innocent pleasure, why tamper with anything that is dangerous and polluting? Why stop our ears to a heaven full of songsters, to listen to the hiss of a dragon? Why turn back from the mountain side, all a-bloom with wild flowers and a-dash with the nimble torrents, and with blistered feet attempt to climb the hot sides of the Cotopaxi? The day comes when men who have exerted evil influence upon their fellows will be brought to Judgment. Scene: The last day. Stage: The rocking earth. Enter: Dukes, Lords, Kings, Beggars, Clowns. No sword; no tinsel; no crown. For footlights, the kindling flames of a world; for orchestra, the trumpets that wake the dead; for gallery, the clouds filled with angel spectators; for applause, the clapping floods of the sea; for curtain, the heavens rolled together as a scroll; for tragedy, the doom of the destroyed: for the last scene of the fifth act, the tramp of nations across the stage,—some to the right, others to the left,—these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but those into life eternal.—Talmage.