Democratic messenger., 1889-11-09
A NAUTICAL SERMON.
DIR. TALMA0E'S DISCOURSE ON
LEAVING FOR THE HOLY LAND.
An Impressive Fareweil-The Symbol.
ism OF the Anchor Heaving the
Lead-Three Rules That May
Serve as q Guide During
Life's Voyage.

mage. ID. d., Of Brooklyn, on his embarka
iion for the Holy Land by the steamer
City Of Paris, addressed his millions oil
friends through the press. taking for his
text Acts XXX, :sS: And they accompan'
icd him unto the ship" His sermon !:
printed below at full length:
To the more than $4,000, 600 people In
many countries to whom my sermons
con.e week by week, In English tongue
ard by translation, through the kindness
Of the newspaper press, address these
words. ] dictate them TO a stenographei
on the eve Of my departure for the Holy
Land, Palestine. When you read this
sermon ! shall he in mid.Atlan,ic. l Ga
TO he gone few weeks on religious
journey. so because want for myself
and the hearers and readers TO see Bcthlc.
hem, and Nazareth, and Jerusalem, and
Calvary, and all the other places connect.
ell with the Sayiour's life and death, and
so reinforce myself for sermons. go be.
cause am writing the Life of Christ
and can be more accurate and graphic
when have been an eyewitness of the
sacred places. Pray for my successful
journeying and my safe return.
wish on the eve OF departure to pro.
nonnce loving bcncdic,lon upon all my
friends in high places and low, upon con-
grcgaiions To whom my sermons ARE read
In the absence Of pastors. upon groups
gathered out on prairies and In mining
districts. upon all sick and invalid AMI
aged ones who cannot attend churches,
but To whom ! have long administered
through the printed page. My next ser.
mon will he addressed To you from Rome,
ltlay for feel like Paul when he said so,
as much as in me is. am ready To preach
the Gospel To you that are at Rome also.''
The fac, is that Paul was ever moving
about on land or on sea. lie was an old
sailor-not from occupation but from fire..
qucncy of travel. think hc could have
taken vessel across the Mediterranean as
well as some of The ship captains. The
sailor never scofIed at him for being u
LAND lubber." II Paul's advice had been
taken the crew would never have gone
ashore ut Mcliia.
/ When the vessel WAS scu,l,linr under
bare poles Paul was the only self. possess.
cd man on board, and turning TO the ex.
cited crew and dcspairing passengers, he
exclaims in voice that sounds above the
thunder of the tempest and the wrath of
the sea
"BE OF GOOD CHEER
The men who now go to sea with maps
and charts and modern compass, warned
by buoy and lighthouse, know nothing of
the perils Of ancient navigation. Horace
said that the man who first vcniurcd ON
the sea must have had heart hound with
oak and triple brass. People then ven.
tured only from headland To headland and
from island to island, aud not until long
after spread their sail for voyage across
the sea. Before starting. the weather was
watched, and, the vessel having been
hauled up ON the shore. the mariners
placed their shoulders against the stern Of
the ship and heaved 1t of, they ut the last
moment leaping INTO H. Vessels were
then chiefly ships OF burden the transit
of passengers hcing the exception; for the
world was not then migratory as in our
day, when the iirs, desire OF man in one
place seems 10 bc 10 get into another
placc. The ship from which Jonah was
thrown overheard, and that In which Paul
was carried prisoner went out chiefly
with the idea ot taking cargo. AS now,
so then, vessels were accustomed To cary
ilag. In those times il was inscribed
with the name Of heather deity. 4 YES.
sci bound for Syracuse had ON il the in
scripiion Castor aud T. dux." The ships
were provided with anchors. Anchors
were of two kinds-those that were drop.
ped into the sea and those that were
thrown up ON To the rock To hold The YES.
sci fast. This last kind Is what Paul al .
/ lu,lc,l To when he said: Which hope we
have as anchor of the soul, both sure and
/ stcadtast, and which cntcreth into that
within the vail That is what the sail.
Ors call hook anchor" The rocks and
sandbars, shoals and hea,llands, not being
mapped out, vessels carried plumb line.
They would drop !, and find the water 80
fathoms, drop il again and find II 40 fa,homs
drop !, again and lind |, 10 ialhoms, thus dis.
covering their near approach To the shore.
In the spring. summer aud autumn the
wings Of ships, bu, AT the first wintry
blast they hic,l themselves To the nearest
harb0r, although now The worlds COM
merce prospcrs in January as well as In
June, and in mid winter, all over the wide
and stormy deep there iloat palaces ot
light trampling the pillows under foot aud
showering the sparks of terrible furnaces
On the wild wind, and the Christian pas.
senger, ,ippeled and shawled, sits under
the shelter of the smOkestack, look ing oil
upon the phOsphoresccnt deep, on which
Z - NiiNttut iu rNiOttS W ttiaut utlh utt
THY way, o God, is in the sea. and thy
path in the great waters -
PAUL's DEPARTURE.
II is m lhOse days Of early navigation
tina, see a group OF men, women and
children on the beach Of the MediteTran.
can. Paul is about To leave the congre.
CATION 10 whom he had preached and they
are come down 10 see him otf II Is u
solemn thing 10 part. There are 50 many
traps that wait for mans feet. The
solid ground may break through, and tile
sea-how many dark mysteries Il hides in
lis bosom. A few counsels. hasiy good.
by. last look, and The ropes rattle, and
the sails are h0isic,l, aud The planks are
Ia aud Paul II gone. | expect Ia sail over