The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1889-09-18
SPIRITUAL CASTAWAYS.
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage breaches
q Marine Discourse
In Portland, Oregon Spiritual Ship.
wrecks and Their Causes-Now to
be Saved = Prayers for Divine
Help Is Essential

Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage preached recent
" to a vast audience at Portland, Ore,
taking for his text l. Cor. tx, %: ''Lest
myself should be cast away.,' Following is
the sermon:
In the presence Of you who live on the
Pacific Coast, I 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, alII ca
ronicals are no security. Cardinal Wolsey,
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 t-mortem ex-
animation, found to have been, not 6gura-
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
the realm celestial. The clergyman must
go through the same gate Of pardon as the
iayman. There have been cases of ship
wreck where all on board escaped excepting
the captain Alas! if, having preached
to others, myself should be castaway."
God forbid it.
I have examined some of the commen-
taries to see what they thought about this
word ''castaway," and fin6 they differ IN
regard to the figure used, wnile theJ' 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 live in seaboard cities. You
have all stood on the beach. Many of you
have crossed the ocean Some Of you have
managed vessels in great stress OF weather.
There is sea captain, and there is another,
and yonderis another, and there are goodly
number of you who, though once you did
not know the difference between brig and
a 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 familiar
with ship as you are with your right hand,
and il it were necessary you could take
NSSSSl S4C~A 1SlOoo w ShO aiSSS& S~ e1S H~~A
sey without the loss OF single sail. Well,
there is dark night in your memory OF the
sea. The vessel became unmanageable.
You saw it was scudding toward the shore.
You heard the cry: Breakers ahead! Land
on the lee bowl" The vessel struck the rock
and you felt the deck breaking up under
your feet, and you were castaway, as
when the Hercules drove on the coast OF
H,~Icr
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!
CastawaySI
By talking with some sea captains, have
found out that there are three four causes
for such calamity 20 vessel. have
been told that it sometimes comes from
creating false lights on the beach This was
often 80 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 decelvlng
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 IN
fearfully, some villains took lantern and
tied it to a horse, and led the horse up and
down the beach, the lantern swinging to
the motion Of the horse, and sea captain
IN the -ofing saw it and made up his mind
that lie was not anywhere near the shore,
for he said: There's veSsel-that must
be vessel, for it has movable light" and
he had no apprehension till he heard the
rocks grating on the ships bottom, and it
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 and 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: "Heave the main
topsail to the mast! All is WE'LL" 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
wolf with its mouth open, so that the
storms beating into 1t the wolf would howl
forth the dangers 70 mariners that might be
anywhere near the coast. Of course it was
8 failure. And so all new inventions for
saving mans soul are unavailing. 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 60 TO- night, and destroy all the great
lighthouses on the dangerous coasts-the
Barnegat lighthouse, the Fastnet Rock
lighthouse, the Sherryvore lighthouse, the
Lonsship lighthouse, the Hoilyhead light
house-than to put out Gods great ocean
lamp-the Gospel Woet to those who swing
false lanterns on the beach till men crash
into ruin. Castaways! Castaways
BY talking with sea captains have heard
also thatsh sometimes come to this calam-
ity by the sudden swoop Of a tempest. For
instance, avesselis sailing along in the East
Indies, and there IS not a single cloud on the
sky; but suddenly the breeze freshens, and
there are swift feet on the ratlines, and the
cry is: 'Way, haul away theren' butbefors
they can square the booms and tsrpaulin
the hatchways, the vessel is groaning and
creaking in the grip Of tornado. and falls
over into the trough Of the sea, and broad
side it rolls on to the beach and keels over,
leaving the crew to struggle IN the merci-
less surf. Castaway! Castaway! And so
have to tell YOU that there are thousands
of men destroyed through the sudden
swoop of temptations. Some great induce
mept to worldliness, or . sensuality, OF to
high temper, or to some form of dissipation,
comes upon them If they had time to ex'
Inine their Bible, if they had time to de-
liberate, they could stand it; but the temp
tation came so suddenly-an euroclydon on
the Mediterranean, a whirlwind OF the Ca
ribbean. One awful surge OF Temptation
and they perish. And so We often hear tne
old story: 81 hadn't seen my 1rieno IN