The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1889-09-04
SPIRITUAL CASTAWAYS.
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage breaches
Marine Discourse
In Portland, Oregon Spiritual Ship
wrecks and Their Causes-How to
be Saved - Prayers for Divine
Help Is Essential

In the presence OF you VINO hSe on tue
Pacific Coast, ! who live on the Atlantic
Coast may appropriately speak on this ma
rine allusion of the text, for all who know
about the sea know about the castaway..
The text implies that ministers OF religion
may help others into Heaven and yet miss
it themselves The carpenters that built
Noah's ark did not get into it themselves
Gown and surplice, and diplomas, and ca
nonicals are no security. Cardinal Wotsey,
after having been petted by kings, and hav-
Ing entertained foreign ambassadors at
Hampton Court, died in darkness. One OF
the most eminent ministers OF religion that
this country has ever known. plunged into
sin and died; his heart, by post-mortem eX-
animation, found to have been, not tgura-
lively, but literally, broken. We may have
hands of ordination on the head, and ad-
dress consecrated assemblages, but that IS
no reason why we shall necessarily reach
ttNam celestial. The clergyman must
2ss gugh the same gate Of pardon as the
IS! 2n There have been cases Of ship
* where all On board escaped excepting
ting captain. Alas! if, having preached
to others. myself should be castaway."
God forbid It
/ have examined some OF the commen-
taries to see what they thought about this
word "castaway," and ] find cheT Iiher IL
regard to the figure used, while they agree
in regard to the meaning. So shall make
my own selection. and take it in nautical
and seafaring sense, and show you that
men may become spiritual castaways, and
how finally they drift into that calamity
You and I live in seaboard cities. You
have all stood on the beach. Many OF you
have crossed the ocean Some OF You have
managed vessels il great stress OF weather.
There is sea captain, and there IS another,
and yonderi is another, and there area goodly
number Of you who, though once you did
not know the difference between brig and
bark, and between diamond knot and
spirit sheet sail knot, and although you
could no point out the weather cross jack
brace, and though you could not man the
fore clew garnets, now You are as famllar
with ship as you are with your right hand,
and if it were necessary you could take
vessel clear across to the mouth OF the Mer-
sew without the loss Of single sail. Well,
there is a dark night in your memory OF the
sea- The vessel became unuanageable.
You saw it was scudding toward the shore.
You heard the cry: Breakers ahead! Land
on the lee bowr' The vessel struck the rock
your feet, and yoa,> were castaway, as
when the Hercules drove on the coast OF
Caffraria, as when the Portuguese brig
went staying, splitting, grinding crashing
on the Goodwins. But whether you have
followed the sea or not, you all understand
the figure when tell you that there are
men, who by their sins and temptations,
are thrown helpless! Driven before the
gale! Wrecked for two worlds! Castaways!
Csstaways!
By talking with some sea captains, have
found out that there are three orfour causes
for such calamity to a vessel. l have
been told that it sometimes comes from
creating false lights on the beach. This was
often so in olden times. It is not many
years ago, indeed, that vagabounds used to
wander up and down the beach, getting
vessels ashore in the night, throwing up
false light in their presence and deceiving
them, that they may despoil and ransack
them All kinds Of Internal arts were used
to accomplish this. And one night, on the
Cornish coast, when the sea was coming n
feariully, some villains took a lantern and
tied it to horse, and led the horse up and
down the beach, the lantern swinging to
the motion Of the horse, and a sea captain
in the ofing saw it and made up his mind
that he was not anywhere near the shore,
for ne said: There's vessel-that must
be vessel, for it has a movable light" and
he had no apprehension till he heard the
rocks grating on the ships bottom, and 1t
went to pieces and the villains on shore
gathered up the packages and treasures
that were washed to the land. And have
to tell you that there are multitude OF
souls ruined by false lights on the beach.
In the dark night Of mans danger false re-
ligion goes up aud down the shore, shaking
its lantern, and men look off and take that
Pickering and expiring wick as the signal
Of safety, and the cry Is: 'Heaye the main
topsail to the mast! AL is welln' when
sudden destruction cometh upon them, and
they shall not escape. So there are all
kinds of lanterns swung on the beach
philosophical lanterns, educational Ian
terms, humanitarian lanterns Men look at
them and are deceived when there is moth
ing but Gods eternal lighthouse Of the
gospel that can keep them from becoming
castawayS. Once, on Wolf Crag light
house, they tried to build copper figure OF
q wolf with its mouth open, so that the
storms beating into it the wolf would howl
forth the dangers to mariners that might be
anywhere near the coast. Of course it was
ataiiure. And so all new inventions for
saving mans soul are unavaiinG. What
the human race wants is light bursting
forth from the cross standing on the great
headlands-the light of pardon, the light OF
comfort the light of Heaven. You might
better go to night and destroy all the great
lighthouses on the dangerous coasts-the
Barnegat lighthouse, the Fastnet Rock
lighthouse, the Sherryvore lighthouse, the
Longship lighthouse, the Hollyhead light
house--than to put out Gods great ocean
lamp-the Gospel. Woe to those who swing
false lanterns on the beach till men crash
into ruin. Castaways! Castaways!
BY talking with sea captains have heard
also that ships sometimes come to this calam-
ity by the sudden Swoop Of tempest. For
instance, a vessels sailing along i'll the East
Indies, and there IS not single cloud on the
sky; but suddenly the breeze freSheus, and
there are swift feet on the ratlnes, and the
cry is: "Way, haul away there ~ but before
they can square the booms and tarpaulin
the hatchways, the vessel is groanng and
creaking in the grip Of a tornado, and falls
over into the trough Of the sea, and broad
eide it rolls on TO the beach and kcels over,
leaving the crew to struggle IN the mercl-
less surf Castaway! Castaway! And SO
I have to tell you that there are thousands
of men destroyed through the sudden
swoop of temptations. Some great induce
mont to WorldlinesS, or to SensuGllty, or tc
high temper, or to some form OF dissipation,
comes upon them. If they had time to ex-
omine their Bible, if they had time to de
Eberate, they could stand it; but the temp,
tatiou came so suddenly-an euroclydon on
the Mediterranean, whirlwind OF the Ca
ribbean. One awful sarge OF temptation
and they perish. And so we often hear the
old story: 81 hadn't seen my friend IN q
great many years. We were very giad 70
meet He said must drink. and he took
me by the arm and pressed me along, and
flied the cup until the bubbles ran over the
edge, and in an evil moment all my good
resolutions wereswept away, and to theout