The sun., 1879-01-13
SETTLING WITH HIS CRITICS.
T1LMAGE TELLING THE STORY OF HIS
FIRST WIEE'S DROWNING.
Declaring that his Clerical Brethren are not
Happy when they Can him n MONTE bank
He has o W ords hut q ood w rds for Them

dutIuhcio yeSteTuuy tnhn tnofo mas boon Tor |
some Sundays past, and yet 1t was not crowded, |
although Mr.. Talmago had announced his in
tcntion OF ashing his critics, clerical and lay. |
and OF telling them what his opinion was of tho |
man whom they had attacked
To every man his work. was the text. and |
then Mr. TalmaRo said. making each OF his |
hands hold the other against the time when IL |
should be proper to let them fly. that there we're
in the world 1.377 100000 persons and just as
many distinct fields Of usefulness and II man
neglected his work. the preacher added no was
undone forever. Drawing then long breath
" 1t 49," Mr. Talmage said. a double anniver-
eary in this church to-day. Ten years ago
became your pastor. and forty-soven years ago
was born. You will pardon" The looked
~ II he knew they would II on an occasion
like this l make my sermon somewhat auto
biographical.
" l was reared" with another sigh. and the
hands still claspedl In a Christian family.
where household prayers were said every night
and where a blessing was always asked at
table. Only once / saw my father cry II
WAS when" lthe hands now few apart they
put the lid over my mother. Her hair was as
white as snow. her faco was very much wrinkled.
because she had worked very hard for us and
had suffered much during her life. do not
know how tho world would have thought Of that
sidered II homey or not to us 1t was very
beautiful. ..,
hut six OF us are now in heaven. wanted to
be n lawyer. and to this day never pass by u
court house but my blood quickens and my en-;
thusiasm becomes aroused. But God converted
my soul and put me into the ministry. by a va
rety Of circumstances shutting me up to that
glorious profession. and am willing always 70
remain among those i've thousand ministers
know. who are about 40 perfect as human ma
ture ever gets to be. although may stand at
the bottom OF the rpll-fOr | willing To
be n servant Tor Jesus's sake. | found my re-
ligon In the Garden. Of Eden. whore the heel Of
the woman bruised the serpent's head. That Is
the religion. What sort of men II made-Mo-
SOS. and Joshua and John Bunyan and John
sand other Johnsl There was gleam in Mr..
Talmagr's eye and his hands were going wildly
in-thc sort that bruises the serpent's head. /
hate Ike cannon shot serpent. and every
time ! see him | hit him with n stone. And
how they hissl IA pleased expression. as II the
hiss OF scrpents were music TO him.l But
have only .troddcn on them with one foot The
ono that Mr.. Talmage lifted cXplanatorily
seemed a competent engine Of destructionl; be-
Tor" | am through Will use both tCet. lAni-
mated illustrationJ God helping me. declare
war mo herald ever made q proclamation that
could be- heard furtherl for the next twenty five
yrars asainst iniqqity. and Tor Christ BE.
beat one inch OF retreat or yield one iota TO
compromise"
tinuc the national series Tor twenty-five years
without hnching, Mr.. Talmagc. IA q Little
quiet aside. declared thNt WuOu he dlcd ne
dld not want marble = ao ana funeral pro-
ccsslon-only plain box, carried out in a
wagon. and the, !approoati9n Of his people.
benedirtion and everybody go home"
Mr. THlmagc then gathered up his arms and
the clergy. He had been criticised. he de-.
clared. 10y his clerical brethren. II ybody
went 10 any installation he could hear the min
Usher in charge excoriate Talmage. When "A
preachers audience anywhere got dull through
the lack Of ventilation the preacher pointed
wake them up. and the congregation would
bunch each other and say. That's Talmage."
him. and Mr., Tamage rccited them slowly. one
alter the other. amid the uproarious laugh
"Mou1,eb.nIEs" "seSsatIonelism. "Gy and @BuIt.
foonery" - All of which shows" added Mr..
Talmage. THAI my dear clerical brethren are
spikes OF irony sticking out OF every smiling
word. the advantage nnot assaultinR them.
Dear souls. wish them big audiences, $4,000
salaries large families OF children. and heaven
OF darkness limitati ng the posture Of the Arch
angel Michael in the pictures that they used to
show in the stereopticonl To stop and stab one
Of my own regiment In the back. | might
answer with some acrimony but would that
advance the interests Of our holy religion2 In
q war Of words think should scarcely come
putting the fact set the Tabernacle in gigl,lel
nobody ever accused me OF n lack Of vocabulary.
But can tell my clerical friends. what every
layman knows. that nobody ever built himself
up 10y trying 20 pull another down. lApplause.l
Show me a case where any church pulpit has
ever been built up by bombarding Ame other
| pulpit | have never given anybody advice IN
| this place, and God has saved ns many In this
| church as in any other church lsaid with great
| postivenessl; but my dear metaphysical
| friend may you none the less succeed IN driV-
| ing people into heaven by creating n fox on
earth; and my dear logical brother. may you
hook your hearers beyond the stars on the horn
| of dilemma; and my dear botanical associate.
! may you twist daisies and buttercups In a way
| that shall lead 10 everlasting ifo; and my dear
classical brother may you swing your club ot
make Parnassus bowto Cavary' lord bless you
| all as you 20 to take ter with tNe I'D ladies'
| lgigglesl and rs you take the children on your
| knee and say how much they look like their
| mothers laughterl, and II II is comfortable, stay
| long time-or. II II rains. stay all night up;
| roar.l And when you throw an ecclesiastical
| brickbat at me | will pour holy oil on your head
| TIL 1t runs down TO your coat collar. A blessing
| from me your head, dear brother. and
another on your back, and halt dozen on your
| shoulders, and couple IN your boots nave
| no word but good word for you"
| Mr.. TRimage recovered tho boundaries OF his
mouth in "a measure, and said that he had re-
ceived the worlds criticism not only but its
| Fifth Avenue Hotel, married couple who
| aiterward went up IN balloon. and the news.
| papers had il next day that he had " "dIsgraced
| the holy ordinances OF religion by PERFORMING
| the marriage ceremony mile high" Again.
| he had gone once to II Sunday school ccehra-
| over with tin foil, and Mr.. Talmage carried
away by sudden enthusiasm. cried out,
| Boys. | feel Ike morning star, nnd lol in "a
dnv the newspapers had II that Mr.. Talmage
had in his pulpit. quoted two or three verses
| from Shoo-Fiy." and had caused 1t to be- sung
| every Sunday IN the sunday school and grave
| editorials appeared saylng that the Brooklyn
| sunday schools seemed TO be going To ruin.
| Two ironical sentences, taken from their con-
| text In an article printed in the Iudepend-
mt had circulated all over the world
the impression that Mr. Tamage preached
in kid gloves and a swallow-tai cont; and an,
other Iia had made him say thnt all actors and
ACTRESSES we're dssolute. that II was wicked tC
20 to \ geological garden aud sinful to look nj Il
zebra. But worse than all. n clergyman way
down somewhere in Maine had written 70 q
brother clergyman in BroOklyn deploring that
Mr.. Talmage should go into his pulpit in ar
Indian dress, with feathers on his hend and d
scalping knife IN his hand. | don't want tC
stop 'em," said Mr.. Talmago they max,
things spicy, and long ago learned to harness
the tattlc and the lies Of the world into Chris
| tan srrvice.n With that Mr. Talmage took uI
n news paper from his pulpit and read on Ions
list Of names Of provincial newspapers that ha,
| circulated his sermons. Ono of these lt may ~
well be emhalmedi WINS the Henrietta JuHe"ai q
| Texas. My enemies remarked Mr.. Tai
mage AZ ne laid the paper down give me th'
opportunity u addressing 5000 600 poopl'
every week They have aroused u curiosity IL
mo which honorable newspapers have graf
But thero is one falschood,", Mr.. Tamag