Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1889-04-06
DIR. TALMAGE'S SERMON.
he TALKS OF THE WONDERS OF
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

i
tory Have Occurred During the Past
NIne Dccades-The Spirit Of Christianity
Spreading Over the Earth.
KANSAS CRY, March 81. Tho Rev.
T. DE Witt Talmage preached SER
mon here today on "Wondcrs OF Dis
aster and Blessing" his text being, ~
will show wonders in the heavens and
in the earth" Joel ii. 30. He said:
DR.. Cumming-grcat and good man
would have told us the exact time
Of the fuliillment Of this prophecy.
AS i stepped into his study in London
on my arrival from Paris just after the
French had surrendered ut Sedan, the
good doctor said 10 me: 1T is just rs
told you about France: people laughed
at me because | talked about the seven
horns and the vials. but ! forcsaw all
this from the Book of Daniel and the
Book Of Revelation. Not taking any
such responsibility in the intcrpreta.
ton Of the passage. simply assert
that there is in il suggestions Of many
things in our time.
Our eyes dilatc and our heart quick
ems its pulsations us we read Of events
In the Third century. the Sixth cen
tury, the Eighth century. the Four
teenth century, but there are more far
reaching events crowded into the
Nineteenth century than into any
other, and the last quarter bids fair 20
eclipse the preceding three quarters.
We read in the daily newspapers Of
events announced in one paragraph
and without any special emphasis
events which u llcrodotus. n Joscphus,
q Xcnophon, a Gibbon would have
taken whole chapters or whole vol
umcs TO elaborate. Looking out upon
our time. we must cry out in the words
Of the text: Wonders in the heavens
and in the earth"
propose To show you that the time
in which we live is wonderful for dis.
aster and wonderful for blessing. for
there must be lights and shades in this
picture rs in all others. Need argue
this day that our time il wonderful for
disasteri Our world has had II rough
time since by the hand Of God il was
bowlcd out into space. II is an cpilcp.
| tic earth: convulsion after convulsion; !;
frosts pounding i, with slcdgc hammer
of iceberg. and fires melting il with
4 furnaces seven hundred times heated.
/ II is "a wonder To me il has lasted so
long Mctcors sllooting by on this
side and grazing il. and mctcors
shooting by on the other side and
grazing il, none Of them slowing up
for safety. Whole fleets and navics
and argosics aud llnillas of worlds
sweeping all about us. Our earth like
a fishing smack oil the banks of New.
/ foundland, while the Etruria and Ger.
| manic and the .ArlZona and the City of
| New York rush by Besides that. our
world has by sin been damaged in its
internal machinery. and cvcrand anon
the furnaces have burst. and the walk
ing beams Of the mountain have
broken. and the islands have shipped
a sea. and the great hulk Of the world
has been jarrcd with accidents that
ever and anon threatened immediate
demolition. But il seems Ia us us il
our century were especially charac-
tcrizcd by disaster. volcanic. cy.
clonic, oceanic. epidemic. say
volcanic, because an earthquake
is only volcano hushcd up.
When Stromboli aud Cotopaxi and
Vcsuvius stop breathing, let the foun-
dations Of the earth beware Seven
thousand earthquakes in two centuries
recorded in the catalogue of the Brit
ish ASSOCIATION. Trijan. the emperor,
goes To ancient Antioch. and amid the
splcndors Of his reception is met by an
earthquake that nearly destroys the
cmpcror's life. Lisbon, fair and
beautiful at o'clocl; an the Is, of No
vcmbcr, i75j. III sin minutes in. 1000
have pcriShcd, and Noltairc writes Of
them: "lor that region il was the last
Judgment, nothing wanting but a
irumpctl' Europe aud America feel,
ing the ihrob; $40 chinncys ia Bos-
ton partly or fully destroyed.
SOME DISASTERS OF THE NINETEENTH
CENTURY.
But the disasters of other centuries
have had their counterpart in our
own. In 1872 Caracc;,s was caught in
the grip Of the earthquake; in lS22. in
Chill, l0O, 600 square miles of land by
volcanic force uplcavrd 10 four and
seven feet Of permanent elevation; in
1854 Japan felt the geological agony
Naples shaken in 1857; Mexico in 1858 (;
Medosa. the capital OF the Argentine
Republic. in 1861: Manila tcrrorizcd
in 1868; the Hawaiian islands by such
force mplificd and let down in 1871 t;
Nevada shaken in 1871; Antioch in
1872; California in 1872; San Saliva
dor in 1873; while in 1883 what sub
tcrrancan excitement lschia. an isl
and Of the Mediterranean. II beautiful
x.se..x.a,..l ..i...t
surrounded by all natural charm
and historical rcminisccncc; yondcr,
Capri, the summer resort of the Ro-
man emperors; yondcr Naples, the
paradise Of art-this beautiful island
suddenly topplcd into the trough of
the earth, 5000 merry makers perish.
ing, and some Of them SO far down be-
meath the reach of human obsequies
that il may bc said Of many one Of
them us il was said Of Moses, THE
Lord buried him" Italy weeping. all
Europe weeping. all Christcndom
weeping where there were hearts
To syinpathizo and Christians 10
pray. But while the nations
were measuring that magnitude Of
disaster. measuring il not with
ROiuctl TOu Ithc ttitt Win NuiCh tiic
angel measured heaven. but with the
black rule OF death. Java. OF the Indian
archipelago. the most fertile island Of
all the earth, is caught in the grip Of
tho earthquake, and mountain after
mountain goes down, and city after
city, until that island, which produces
the hcalthiest beverage Of all the
world, has produced the ghastliest nc
ci'ient Of the century. One hundred
thousand people dying, dying, dead,
4 dead.
WHEN HEAVENS WINDS VISITED THE
EARTH ROUGHLY.
But look at the disasters cyclonic.
Al tho mouth Of the Ganges are three
islands-the Haitian. the Sundccp and
the Dakin Shahazporc. In the mid.
night of Ocio.'er. 1877. On all those
three islands the cry was. The waters,
the waters! \ cyclone arose and
,.nllo.l a., sa., AGAR tl,,s,. fi,r,,c iSlande