The Forrest City times., 1888-02-11
THE eRooKLyN TABERNACLE.
pr. TaIr,age on the Platform-ora- toricsI Powers of the Noted Preacher,

pr. Ta1r-age on the Platform-Ora- toricsI Powers of the Noted Preacher.
 The first object that strikes the visi- tor to the Brooklyn Tabernacle is the immense organ. Promptly at 7:l5 o'clock the organist runs his fingers over the ivory keys. and plays two or three selections At the exact moment pf 7:30 Dr. Talmage walks on the plat form. His black broadcloth frock coat is thrown open. A turned down collar encircles his neck. and black tie GOV. CTS his snowy shirt front He drops in- to blue plush chair, and moment is spent in prayer. Then he adjusts his glasses to his eyes and opens his Bible. The organ peals forth Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow" A stout, well built man steps on small platform and waves his right hand. In bis left he holds silver cornet This he puts to his mouth and leads the vast audience in song. There is no choir or ouartette in the Tabernacle. The singing is entirely by the congregation. After this Dr. Talmage steps forward. The peal of the organ has hardly died away before he announces his Bible reading. He holds the good book in his right hand. close to his face. His left hand steals around to his back and clutches nervously at his coat tail. Hel begins in a well rounded but not must. cal voice. The vast audience is hush
 in expectancy. The fall of pin e1 be heard. Slowly the preacher ,. It is the ever delightful ', p,,h that he has selected. He o. .n,anoe 'tter sentence, and in a conversational wa, mleo's comments until the old story. tho all the world has laughed and cried ove.. 's invested with new light and a new ."ean'ng After this another hymn and the ! 'ne collection. As the pennies, dimes anS quarters jingle unsteady together in the collection boxes the cornetist plays again. The great church is by this time full to overfowing. There isn't standing room anywhere. Massive chandeliers light up the building per fectly, and the stained glass windows make pretty and effective back ground.
 Then the sermon begins. The preacher comes down to the front of the platform without notes or even book in his hand He doesn't use table or pulpit He stands alone. Every eye is on him. He gives out his text in clear, loud, ringing voice, and repeats it twice. He usually begins the ser- mon by hasty-word picture of the scene where the text is laid. or by an anecdote. The sermon lasts forty min- utes. It is full of vigor and earnest | ness. Indeed, that is the chief char acteristc of Talmage on the platform. ! He is in earnest. He talks quickly nervously. He paces up and down the platform, and now tells a story in low, sweet voice, and again he belches forth like Vesuvius, and makes the chandeliers rattle with the sound of his voice. At times he is intensely humer- ous. Again he has the audience in tears Again. he is so dramatic that the conviction forces itself upon you that if he had taken 10 the stage in stead of the pulpit he would have made great actor.
 What words did the Master use when the winds and waves lashed Gal flee into furyP"- he shouts.
 He steps back half dozen feet and for moment there is silence. Then he comes rushing down the platform like coronado until he reaches the very edge His hands arc uplifted- He turns his face to the ceiling until his mouth is on straight line with his ears and in pleading voice says, soft ly, musically: "Peacei"
 Quick as flash his hands come down His face has lost it's sweetness. His voice IS changed and harsh. and the sentence is completed by an awfu an intensely dramatic yell: 'Be stillp' It is the voice of authority. Calico is still
 ed. There are 'Oh's"in the audience,
 and a man in a pew in front of me leans over to his companion and whis-
 pores: 'I never understood the mean ing of that sentence before"
 The vast audience never loses inter- est It is an audience made up fully
 two-thirds of men between the ages of
 25 and 35. They belong to all walks
 in life. Some are students. others are
 actors and playwrights. young minis ters, bankers, brokers. lawyers and
 storekeepers. They laugh at the anec-
 dotes, and they cry and listen revernt-
 ly. tendcrly. to the manly pleading to
 come to Jesus. Foster Coates, tn New