The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1885-10-22
I,ALMAGE'S SERMON.
Return Of the Eminent Preacher
From His Vacation.
A Discourse on "Castaways," Full OF
Nautical Illustrations of the Sine
ner's Course On the Ocean
of Life.

"Casta ways" at the Tabernacle, to
crowded audience. He gave out the
familiar hymn, beginning:
Out on the ocean all boundless We ride,
After which he read and expounded the
tenth chapter of Acts. His text was:
Lest that by any means, when I have
preached to others, myself should be q
castaway.-L Corinthians, TX, 81.
The following is a complete report OF
the sermon:
The apostle, In the text, indicates that
some religious teachers may fail to reach
the heavens, to which they point Others
Gown and surplice aud cardina l's red hat
are no security. Cardinal Wolsey, after
having been petted by kings and having
entertained foreign embass adors at
Hampton Court, died in darkness One
of the most eminent minis tiers of religion
that this country has ever known plunged
into sin and died, his heart, in post -mor-
tenn examination, found to have been
not figuratively but literally broken. o,
ministers of Christ, because we have
diplomas of graduation, and hands of
ordination on the head, AMI address con
secrated assemblages, there is no reason
why we should necessarily reach the
realm celestial. The clergyman must go
through the same gate of pardon as the
layman. The preacher may get his audi
ence into heaven, and he himself miss it.
There have been cases of shipwreck
where all on board escaped excep ting the
captain. Alasl If, having preached to
others, myself should be a castaway.
God forbid it.
/ have examined some of the common
taries to see what they thought about
this word ''castaway," and I find that
they differ in regard to the figure used,
while they agree in regard TO the mean
ing. So shall make my own selection,
and take it in a nautical and sea-faring
sense, and show you that men may be-
come spiritual castaways, and how finally
they drift into that calamity.
We are seaboard town. You have all
stood on the beach. Many of you have
managed vessels in great stress Of wealth
er. There is q sea. captain; and there is
another; and yonder is another, and there
are goodly number Of you who, though
once you did not know the difference be-
tween brig and bark, and between a
diamond knot and O spirit sheet sail
knot, now you are as familiar with a
ship as you are with your right hand,
and, If 1t were nece ssary, you could take
vessel clear across to the mouth of the
Mersey without the loss of single sail
DRY of the sea. The vessel became I'M
manageable. You saw it was scudding
toward the shore. You heard the cry.
"Breakers aheadl Land on the lee bowl
The vessel struck the rock, and you felt
the deck breaking up under your feet, and
you were q castaway, as when the Her.
cules drove on the coast Of California, or
when the Portuguese brig went staving,
splitting. grinding, crashing on the Good
wins But whether you have followed
the sea or not you all understand the
figure when tell you that there are
men who by their sins and temptati ,ns
are thrown helplessl Driven before the
galei Wrecked for two worldsl Cast
away! cast awayi
By talking with some sailors I have
found out that there are three or four
causes for such calamity to vessel.
have been told that it some times comes
from creating false lights on the beach
This was often so in olden times. It !.
not many years ago, indeed, that vaga'
bonds used to wander up and down the
beach, getting vessels ashore in the night
throwing up false lights in their pres
ence and deceiving them, that they might
despoil and ransack them. ALI kinds O
internal arts were used to accomplish this
and one night on the Cornish coast. whel
the sea was coming in fearfully, some vii
lains took lantern and tied it to horse
and led the horse up aud down the beach
the lantern swaying to the motion of thu
horse, and sea captain in the offing saw
it and made up his mind tha he was no
anywhere near the shore, for he said
There's vessel; that must be vess Ell TO
it's movable light" Aud he had no ap
prehension until he heard the rock
grating on the ships bottom, and it wen
TO pieces, and the villains on shore gath
cred up the packages and the treasure
that were washed to the land. And
have to tell you that there are a multi
tude of souls ruined by false lights on tn
beach. In the dark night of mans dan
ger Religious Error goes up and down th
shore shaking its lantern, and men loo
of and take that Pickering and expirin
wick as the signal of safety, and the CT
is: s'Heave the main topsail TO the mast
All Is wellW when sudden destructio
cometh upon them and they shall not es
cape. So there are all kinds of lantern
swung on the beach-philosophi cal Ian
terms, educational lanterns, hum anitaria
lanterns. Men look at them and are de
ce:ved when there is nothing but God
eternal lighthouse of the Gospel ths
can keep them from becoming casi
aways. Once, on Wolf Craig Lighthouse
they started to build copper figure of
wolf with its mouth open, so that th
storms beating into il, the wolf woul
howl forth the danger TO mariners the
might be coming anywhere near tbs
coast. or course it was failure. An
SO all new inventions for the saving
mans soul are unavailing. What the hr
man race wants is light bursting fort
from the cross standing on the gres
headlands-the light of pardon, the llgf
of comfort, the light of Heaven. Yo
might better go tonight and destroy q
the great lighthouses on the dangero
coasts-the Barnegat Light house, IL
Fastnet Rock Light house, the Skerryva
Lighthouse, the Longship's Light hous
the Holyhead Light house-than to p,