National Republican., 1888-05-13

bhOOkll y, May ll.-'A llcOflN W ciCOnlc
to Methodstsn was the subject Of the Tab
ernacle Friday night talk Of this date. Fol-
lowing is report Of what the Rev. r. De.
witt Talmagc, d. D., said this evening to
his people regarding the Methodist general
conference now in session Ia New York:
About five hundred Methodist ministers
In session for the month Of May IN New
York make an oycurchng event that this
Friday evening lccturcship cannot disregard.
\ dcluge Of theology to rain nearly forty
days and forty nights with no rainbow
promising that the thing will never happen
again. 1t seems as If all the ministers of
the land had broken loose. You pass them
on every street. They stand In knots
on the corner, IL you want to say
anything against McthUdism YOU
have to look both ways and up aud down,
before you dare to say II. They will
preach for us, but we must look out, for II
the matter goes ON too far our COngrc-
cations will not consent to hear us agai n.
II is very hard to go back from ycnison and
partridge and canvas-back duck to plain
fare. Almost all our citizens look In upon
the great religious cOnvOCation, Its appear
nnce impressed us with three or four
things.
Church courts nearly always look cadav-
erous. The majority of theOlogians arc
coloress and seemed tagged out. But We
do not believe there ever was an equal
amount of avoirdupois weight IN any other
church court. Indeed, none OF them have
been known while here to miss their meals.
Preaching evidently agrees with all of
them. l suppose that, us they change
residence every three years, they
do not stay long enough In place to ret
into disquietng prcdicaments. And then
hos g.1t a.. 4.
count for this sanitary condition. The doc
tors say that change of air isgood for health,
and itinerancy necessitatcs 1t. AS u de
nomination, they do not smoke
Smoking sends many ministers
% heaven before their time
sup. | should like to go up on cloud,
but not on one Of that kind. The clergy
man looks pale, and his dear people think
1t Is because he Is becoming ethereal and
sanctiilcd: but have been behind the scenes,
and now let the outsiders know that II is
not religion that gives that pallor and un-
earthly appearance, but tobacco smoke
We need more physical devopment among
the clergy. Leviticus, xii, 81: "Blind, or
broken, or maimed, or having wen, or
scurvy, or scabbed ye shall not offer these
unto the Lord The Bible clergy had
muscle as well as grace David was little,
but too, much for Goliath, and grand on
bear hunt; People talk of Paul
as though he were skeleton
because lie had ga thorn in the
flesh but he was no skeleton. lie rode
horseback, and graduated from the saddle
into the ministry. lie did not fall from
his horse because he was not a good rider.
From the joyful view he took of almost
everything, / know nothing allied his
liver. From the courageous way he
stood before Felix. know nothing was
the matter with his backbone.
At Is years of age he made journey Of
more than l,500 miles, before ''paace cars
were invented, and still had enough strength
= left to write in dungeon the second cpis-
tie to Timothy. How much skeleton was
there about that9 The ministry of
ls9S will be strong, robust, agile,
lion lie down together there will have to be
some fighting done, and want our side to
win. These men whom / saw at the con
ference we will place in the front of the
battle, not only because We want stout men
there, but because 1t is safer and more pru-
dent for us stay a little way back.
The conference is not coroner's inquest,
but jubilee. We never knew company
seemed to agree so well. l do not know
whether they will all get to heaven, but
they all looked as IL they were on their way
to some very comfortable place. There
ought to be room on every mans
hSS f%ss to TFts there pTs'e pTs NOT e0oasS 'hS
glad things ahead of us, we had better turn
round and go the other way. If we think
the grapes of Canaan sour, better 90 back
and eat onions in Egypt. There may be
tough battles yet before us, but, with
Pharaoh's host gone under, think Miriam
can risk the clapping of one pair Of Gym
balls.
The conference is not company or reg
iment, but an army. If there ever was so
large church court assembled in this cOun-
try, never knew Of it. 1t came across us
overwhelmingly, the good that all those
consecratcd hearts must be doing. We want
numbers. 1t will not do to pride ourselves
any longer on being "little flock" Do not
let us be afraid of crowds. Heaven, ac-
cording to the theory of some,
must be vulgar place because
there will be vast multitude there. This
harvest is so great that we want the round
earth to CLEAN with the flash Of sickles
When the time just now spoken of comes
for the lion to lie down with the lamb, do
not let there be ten lions to two lambs
From the fact that, according to David, the
chariots of God are twenty thousand,
know the Lord likes plenty of artillery.
From the fact that Elisha's servant saw the
mountains full Of horses Of fire know that
knew minister who prided himself on the
fewness of his congregation. He said they
were the elect. | saw that they had been
elected to be bored. He preached until
about all had left the church
save the sexton and my father
The sexton stayed because he was
paid, and father endured II because he could
sleep soundly whenever he willed, and be-
sides that, since the minister had ruined the
ptnt,
that somebody be on hand to see that he did
not steal the cushions and carpets. The
sexton would not have seen any such dep
relations because he was out in front of the
church whiting sticks during service. Do
not lei us boast of our smallncss. Let our
churches and conferences and general as
semblies be crowded with earnest souls.
But while the Methodstic host tarry with
us, let us rejoice in what they have done
and are doing. In 1893 Christianity seemed
to be in decay. The ministers Of the Gospel
went drunk into the pulpit. The River OF
Life seemed to be frozen over The indie
cencies of Dean Swift and of Sterne did not
seem to shock their congregations at all.
There were few men among them-thc
Wesleys, the Grimshaws, the Rowlands,
and the Whitefclds-who got tired of this
state of things, and they blew the trumpet
and aroused an excitement that shook the
known world.
The world never saw more wonderful
man than John Wesley. Grave historians
say that at the time he entered the ministry,
there were supernatural appearances aud
sounds, and that Wesley, to test these ap'
pearances and sounds, demanded that Satan
come into his study and say what he had to
say, instead of frightening the family and
friends of Wesley. But whatever may have
been the source OF these dcpredations and
insults, they We're introductory to one
long scene Of outrage aud scorr
heaped upon Methodism. Its disciples
We're mobbed; they were spit upon; they
came from the preaching Of the glorious
Gospel bleeding with wounds. While ,ont
and thrust mud into his mouth, Some OF