National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1886-07-12


his series Of rural sermons, entitled "Voices |
of Gardens aud Fields" the Rev. I. De |
witt Talmage, d. d., to-day preached from |
the song Of Solomon v. 1-'I am come into |
my parden.n He said
The Bible is a great poem. We have In
IL faultless rhythm, and bold imagery, and
startling antithesis, and rapturous lyric,
and sweet pastoral, and instructive nara
tive, and devotional psalm; thoughts ex-
pressed in style more solemn than that OF
Montgomery, more bold than that OF Mil
ton, more terrible than that of Dante, more
natural than that Of Wordsworth, more i'm
passioned than that Of Pollok, more ten
der than that OF Cowper, more weird than
that Of Spenser. This great poem brings
all the gems Of the earth into its coronet,
and 1t weaves the flames OF Judgment into
its garlands, and pours eternal harmonies In
its rhythm. Everything this book touches
IL makes beautiful, from the plain stones or
the summer threshing floor to the daughters
OF Major filling the trough for the camels,
and the fish pools OF Heshbon up to the
psalmist praising God with diapason OF
storm and whirlwind, and Job leading
forth Orion, Arcturus, and the Plelades.
Ny text leads us into a scene OF summer
redolence. The world has had great many
beautiful gardens. Charlemagne added to
the glory OF his reign by decreeing that they
be established all through the realm-de-
Gliding even the names OF the flowers to be
planted there. Henry ", at Montpelier,
established gardens Of bewltching beauty
and luxuriance, gathering into them Alpine,
Pyrenean, and French plants. One Of the
sweetest spots on earth was the garden OF
Shenstone, the poet. His writings have
made but little impression on the world,
but his garden, "The Leasowes,n will be
immortal. To the natural advantage Of
that place was brought the perfection Of
art. Arbor, and terrace, and slope, and
rustic temple, and reservoir, aud urn, and
fountain here had their browning. Oak
and yew and hazel put forth their richest
foliage. There was no life more diligent,
no soul more ingenious than that OF Shen-
stone, and all that diligence and genius he
brought TO the adornment OF that one treas
ured spot. lie gave f300 for IT, he sold II
for $4,000. And yet am to tell you to-
day of u richer garden than any have
mentioned.
1t is the garden spoken of In my text,
the garden Of the church, which belongs to
Christ, for my text says 30. He bought it,
have It. Walter Scott, in his outlay at
Abbotsford, ruined his fortune, and now,
in the crimson flowers Of those gardens,
you can almost think or imagine that you
see the blood Of that old mans broken
heart. The payment OF the last 100000
sacrificed him. But have to tell you that
Christ's life and Chrisps death were the
outlay Of this beautiful garden Of the
church, Of which my text speaks. oh,
how many sighs, and tears, and pangs, and
agonies Tell me, We women who saw Him
hangl Tell me, ye executloners who lifted
Him and let Him down. Tell me, thou sun
that didst hide; We rocks that fell "Christ
loved the church, and gave himself for It,"
II the garden OF the church belongs to
Christ, certainly he has right to walk in
IL. Come, then, o blessed Jesusl today;
walk up and down these aisles, and pluck
what Thou wilt of sweetness for Thyselfl
The church In my text is appropriately
compared to a garden, because 1t Is place
Of choice flowers, of select fruits, and Of
thorough irrigation.
That would be strange garden in which
there were no flowers. IL nowhere else,
they would be along the borders or at the
gateway. The homeliest taste will dictate
fomethng, II 1t be the old-fashioned holly
hook, or dahlia, or daffodil; but IL there be
larger means, then you will find the Next
can cactus, and blazing aZalea, and cluster
ing oleande. Well, now, Christ comes to
His garden, and He plants there some of
: the brightest spirits that ever lowered upon
the world. Some Of them are violets, I'M
conspicuous, but sweet as heaven. You
have to search and find them. You do not
see them very often, perhaps, but you find
where they have been by the frightened
face Of the invalid and the sprig Of geranium
on the stand, and the new window cur
bhlub httplEB OuJ tuC BlOW VI tuC buuilButs
They are, perhaps, more like the ranuncu-
lus, creeping sweetly along amid the thorns
and briars of life, giving kiss for sting; and
many man who has had In his way some
great black rock Of trouble has found that
they have covered 1t all over with fowery
jessamine running in and out amid the
crevices. These flowers In Chrsts garden
are not like the sunilower gaudy 10 the
light, but wherever darkness hovers over o
soul that needs to be comforted, there they
stand, night-blooming cereuses. But In
Christ's garden there are giants that may
--thorns without, loneliness within; men
with sharp points Of character. They
wound almost everyone that touches them.
They are hard to handle. Men pronounce
them nothing but thorns, but Christ loves
them notwithstanding all their sharpnesses.
Many man has had very hard ground to
cultivate; and 1t has only been through Sc
we're trialhe has raised even the smallest
scrap Of grace. A very harsh minister was
talking to very placid elder, and the
placid elder said to the harsh minister
''Doctor, do wish you would control your
temper.n "Ah," said the minister to the
AcaTr; II control more temper In five min
'tb9s than you do in FIVE years." 1t Is
Spider for some men to do right than for
other men 70 do right. The grace that
would elevate you to the seventh heaven
might not keep your brother from knock
ing a man down. had friend who came tc
me and said ~ dare not join the church. )
said, "Whym "Oh," he said, 81 have
such violent temper. Yesterday morning
/ was crossing very early at the Jersey City
ferry, and saw q milkman pour large
amount of water into the milk can, and
said to him, Il think that will do and he
insulted me, and knocked him down. Do
you think / ought to join the church p
Nevertheless, that very same man, who wa
so harsh lin his behavior, loved Christ and
could not speak OF sacred things withou
tears OF emotion and affection. Thorn
without, sweetness within-the best speci
men Of Mexican cactus | ever saw.
There are others planted In Christs gar
den who are always radiant, always impress
sive-more like the roses OF deep hue tina
we occasionally find called "giants OF bat
tie" the Martin Luthers, st. Pauls, Chrys
ostoms, Wickliffs, Latimers, Samuel Ruth
erfords. What in other men is a spark Il
them is connagratlon. When they swea
they sweat great drops Of blood. Whe
they pray their prayers take fire. Whe
they preach II is a Pentecost When the
fight IL is Thermopyle. When they die
Is martyrdom. You find great man
roses in the gardens, but only few giant
more of them in the churehP' say
"Why don't you have in the world NOR
Humboldts and Wellingtons2" God give
to some ten talents, to another one.
In this garden OF the church which Chris
has planted also find the snowdropI
beautiful but cold looking, seemingly al
other phase Of winter. mean thos
Christians who are precise in their tasteI
unimpassioned, pure as snowdrops, and O
cold. They never shed any tears, they neye
get excited, they never see anything rashly
they never do anything preeipitately. The
pulses never nutter, their nerves nevC
twitch, their indignation never boils owe
They live longer than most people, bu
their life Is In q minor key. TheY neve