The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1888-11-08
FALMAGE'S SERMON.
Lpr.r INFLUENCE AT WORK
,,,r, tbc Eternal Liv - OF Counts
less MilIiors of Earth. -

n.
S,ctures are by some relegnted TO the realm
the trivial. accidental, sentimental ol
<ldly. but my text shows that God scru
zes pictures. and whether they are good
had whether used for right or wrons
kroses. is a matter Of Divine observation
orrejpnment The divine mission oi
lures is my subject.
fbat the artist pencil and the engravert
In have sometimes Teen made subservienl
khe kingdom OF the lad is frankly admit
After the ashes and scoria were re
ve1 from Herculaneum and Pompcii this
hls of those cities discovered to the explor
Ia degradation in art which cannot lie ex
kerated Satan and all his imps have al
Ks wanted the lingering of the easel: they
lid rather have possession of that than the
| of printing, for types are not 30 potent
ouick for evil as pictures. The powcri
[lorkness th nix they have gained tri
kph. and they nave, when in some respect
= parlor or public art gallery they can
Ii a canvns embarrassing to the good, but
kinating TO the evil
4 Is not in n spirit of prudery. hut backed
Inv Gods eternal truth when / say that
] have no right TO hang in your art room,
Your dwelling houses that which would
defensive TO good people IL The figures pic
hi were alive in your parlor and the
ksts of your househo d. a picture that
have to hang IN n somewhat secluded
Ire. or that in a public hall YOU cannot with
<oup OF friends deliberately stand before
discuss, ought to have knife stabbed
D il ut the top and cut clear through tc
| bottom, and n stout finger thrust in on
right siic ripping clear through to the
] Plinv. the elder. lost his life by going
kr enough to see the inside of Nesuvius
the further you can stand Off from the
ming crater OF sin the better.
ter till tho Books of the Last Day
opened shall we know what has
|m the dire harvest of evil pictorials and
becoming art galleries Despoil n mans
kgination and he becomes a moral carcass.
show windows Of English and American
es IN which the low theatres have some
es hung long lines Of brazen actors and
feSSes In style insulting to all propriety,
ke made broad path u death for multi
es Of people. But so have all the other
: been at times suborned OF evil How
music been hedraggled Is there any
Re so low down in ds ssoluteness that into
has not teen carried Davids harp, and
hdel's organ. and Gottschalk's y ano and
Bulls violin, aud the flute, which though
bed after so insignificant "A thing as the
lian eel. which has seven spots on the
= like fute holes, yet for thousands Of
xrs has had nm exalted mission. Architec-
D, born in tho heart of Him who made the
lids, under its acres and across its floors
Rt bacchanalian revelries have been en-.
ed' IL is not against any of these arts
y they have been SO led into captivity.
Dat poor world this would lie IL IL were
for what my text calls pleasant pict.
! refer To your memory and
% when | nsk If your knowledge
the Holy Scriptures has not
p nightly augmented by the woodcuts
IngraNings in the old family Bible, which
Der and mother read out Of and laid on
table in the old homestead when you
p boys aud girls. The Bible scenes which
hll carry in our minds were not gotten
the Bible typology, but from the Bible
|nres. To prove the truth of il in my
case, the other day | took up the old
PLY Bb'e, which inherited. Sure enough,
have carried in INV mind Of Jacobs
Ier was exactly the Il BILE engraving of
cb ladder; and so with Samson carving
the potes of GAIA; Elisha restoring
Shunamites son: the massacre Of
innocents; Christ blessing little
dren; the CrnciiiNion and the
Judgment My idea of all these is that
yhe old Bible engravings which / scanned
!ore could read word. That is true
th nine-tenths of YOU. II / could swing
- the door OF your foreheads would find
y you are walking picture galleries. The
~ Intelligence abroad about the Bible
4not come from the general reading of the
- for the ma iority of the people read il
little, IL they read it at all: but all the
re- scenes have been put before the great
s., and not printers ink but the
Borinl art must have the credit of the
hevement First. painters pencil for the
yored iew, and then engraver's plate or
pdcut Tor millions on millionsi What
Ewhelming commentary on tho Bible
~ relnioreement for pltriarchs, prophets
9stles and Christ, what distribution of
{ipiural knowledge of all nations, in the
ptings and engravings therefrom of
nan hunts Christ IN the Temples" Paul
foneS'S ''Magdalsn Washing the Feet of
Fist; EaphacIs Michael the Archangel:n
pert DurerS dragon OF the ApocalypSa:r -
fhael Angeles Plague of the
ry Serpents," Tintoret's Flight into
Fpt; Ruben's descent from the Cross:n
pnardo Da Ninci's Last Supper:r Claude's
pen of Sheba;n Bel,ini's Madonna Mt
Pn' Orcagna's Last Judgment and
dreiS OF miles Of pictures ii they were
IN me- Illustrating, displaying, drama
Rg lfradlntlng Bible truths until the
ppturrs are not to day so much on paner
p canvas. not so much in INK as i'm all The
2is oi The spectrum. In 1888 forth from
psnurg, Germany, there came child that
To eclipAc in speed and boldness and
Ieu' any thing and everything that the
~ had seen since the first color
farei on the sky at the crea-
Paul Gustav Dore. A. eleven
OF age he published marvellous Iitho-
~ OF his own. Saying nothing of what
Tor Mi.tons Paradise Lost, nemblazon.
Oh the attention OF the world, he takes
h' BOOK OF Books, the monarch of litera-
tHe Bhle, and in his pictures, "The
ION ol Light, The Trial of Abraham's
h The Burial of Sarah,n "Joseph Sold
ls Brethren" The Bra2en Serpent.n
zand Ruth, David and Goliath, I" The
snGuration," The Marriage in Cana.u
pylon Fallen" and two hundred and
H'rIptural scenes in all, with boldne-s
q grasp and almost supernatural afIIatus
HaSo the heart throb. and the brain
ana the tears start, and the cheeks
en' ana the entire nature quake with the
shu9us things of God and eternity and
ooal' actually staggered down the
OF the london Art Gallery under the
OF Dore's Christ leaving the
'orinm.' Profess you to he a Christian
OF woman and see no divine mission in
una acknowledge you no obligation
~ IN thanks TO God or mani
Is no more tho word of God when put
~ US In printers ink than by skillfully
s On OF colors, or designs on metal
Rugh lncislon or corrosion. What a lesson
iorals was presented by Hogarth, the
ur' IN his two pictures, "The Rake's
Eress and The Miser's Feast" and by
nss coles engravings of the Voyage OF
a.. ,iT' h,le' and the Course OF EmpIre:n
urners Slave Ship" God in Art
IN Art Patriarchs. prophets and
IN art Angels in artl Heaven in
torld and the church ought TO come
higher appreciation OF the divine
oI pictures, yet the authors OF them
|nerally been left IN sami starvation