Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1888-12-08

oUENTLY ON DIVINE scRIPTURE.
Tho Cathedral of Notro Dame IN Pnrl
nInde tho Subject of Striking Com
parison-Thc Symbolic Myrrh. Aloes nm
Cnssin-Some Rich metaphors.
BROOKLYN, Dec. 2.-New member
were received at the Tabernacle thi
morning, making the conlmqnican
membership four thousand one hun
dred and ninety-two. Multitddes 0
strangers from all parts of the cart
were present; and all together, led OF
by organ and colmet, united in singing
William Cowper's hymn:
There Is O fountain filed with blood
Drawn from Emantcls veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose oil their guilty stains
The Rov. 7. De Witt Talmage, DID
preached m eloquent sermon olSs llt
Fragrance of the Gospel" talSingfo
his text; Call thy garments snisaEo
myrrll, and aloes, and cassia, oft q
the ivory palaces. "-Psalms X19ss
He said: RTs'
Among the grand adornnents Of the
city of Paris is the Church. Of IN otre
Dame, with its great towers andselab
grated rose windows and sculptuling
of the last judgment, with the trum-
peting angels and rising dead, its bat
Elements OF quarterfoi1, its sacristy,
with ribbed ceiling and statues OF
saints. But there was nothing in all
that building which moro wildly ap-
pealcd to my plain republican tastes
than the costly vestments which laid
in oakcn presses-robes that had been
embroidered with gold, and been worn
by popcs and archbiShops on great oc-
casions. There was a robe that had
been worn by Plus VII at the crown
ing of the first Napoleon. Thcreswas
also vestment that had been worn
at the baptism of Napoleon II. AS
our guide opened the oallcn
presses and brought out these vest
mcnts of fabulous cost, and lifted
them up, the fragrance of the pungent
aromatics in which they had been pre-
served filled the place with sweet
ness that was almost oppressive.
that had been done in stone
more wildly impressed me than these
things that had been done i'll cloth,
and embroidery, and perfume. But
today l open the drawer of this text,
and 1 look upon the kingly robes of
Christ, and as I lift them, flashing with
eternal jewels, the whole house is filed
with the aroma of these garments,
which "sncll of myrrh, and aloes, and
cassia, out of the ivory palaces"
In my text the king steps forth.
His robes rustic and blaze as he adj
vanccs. His pomp and power and
glory overmastcr the spectator. More
brilliant is he than Queen Vashti, NOV
ing amid the Persian princes; than
Marie Antoinette on tic day when
Louis XVI put upon her the necklace
Of eight hundred diamonds; than Anne
Bolcyn the day when Henry VIII vel
,omed her to his palace; all beauty
md all pomp forgotten, while we
stand in the presence of this imperial
glory, King of Zion, King of Earth,
King of heaven, King foreverl
lis garments not worn out, not
lust bedraggled; but radiant and
e,,.,lcd and. redolent. It sseef:;s!
hundred years amid the flowers OF
heaven. The wardrobcs from which
hey have been taken must have been
,weet with clusters of campfire and
ranl1incense, and all manner of pre-
,io1ls wood. Do you not inhaie the
doors? Ay, ay. They smell OF myrrh,
md aloes, and cassia, out OF the
worry palaces.
THE HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE OF
MYRRn
Your first curiosity is to know why
he robes of Christ are odorous with
nyrrh. This was a bright leafed
plant. 1t was trifoliated;;
The Greeks, Egyptians, Romans and
Jews bought and sold it at high
price. The first present that was ever
given to Christ was sprig OF myrrh,
thrown Oh his infantile bed in Beth
lehem, and the last gift that Christ
ever had was lnyrrh pressed into the
CUP of his cruciixion. The natives
would take a stone and bruisc the treo,
md then it would eXude gum that
would saturate all the ground be-
meath. This gum was used for
of merchandise. Ono piece
of it, no larger than chestnut, would
whclm whole room with odors. 1t
was put in closets, i'll chests, in draw
crs, in rooms, and its perfume adhered
almost Unfortunately 10 anything that
was anywhere near it. So when in
my text read that Christ's garments
smell Of myrrh, l Immediately con-
clutc the exquisite sweetness OF Jesus.
I know that to many he is only like
any historical person; another John
Howard, another philanthropic Obcr-
lin, another Confucius, a grand sub
icct for a painting, heroic theme for
o poem, beautiful form for q
statue; but TO those who have heard
his voice, and felt his pardon,
and received his benediction, ne
is music, and light, and warmth,
and thrill, and eternal fragrance.
Sweet as friend sticking to you when
all else betray. Lifting you up while
others try to push you down. Not
so much like morning glories, that
bloom only when tho sun is coming
up, nor like '4our o'clocks," that
bloom only when the sun is going
down, but like myrrh, perpetually
aromatic-tho same morning, noon
and night-.yesterday. today, forever.
1t seems as if we cannot wear him out;
We put ON him oil our burdens, and
aflict him with ell our gricfs, and sci
him foremost in all OR battles, and
vet he is reaGy to LIT, and to sym
pathizc, and to help. We have 50 i'm
posed upon him that one would thinl
in eternal atfront he would quit oul
soul; and yet today he addresses u
with the Same Tenderness, dawns upol
us with the same smile, pities US with