The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1889-08-31
MORAL CASTAWAYS.
DIR. Talmage on the Moral Wrecks
of Life.
false Religious Lights Lead Many on the
Shoals OF Destruction-The Gospel the
Only True LIght-saIvatIon For
the Family.

In a recent sermon at Portland, Ore,
Rev. I. De Witt Talmage, of Brooklyn,
took his text from l Cor. tx. 81: Lest that
by any means | myself should be cast
away" The preacher said:
In the presence OF you who live on the
Pacific coast, l who live on the Atlantic
coast may appropriately speak on this
marine alluslon OF the text. for all who
know about the sea know about the cast
away. 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 di-
plomas and canonicals are no security.
cardinal Woolsey, after having been pet
ted by kings and having entertained for
eign 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 examination,
found to have been, not fguratively, but
literally broken. We may have hands of
o~r4lnntion on the head and address conse-
cfoita, assemblages, but that is no reason
Why We shall necessarily reach the realm
te<ett}qL The clergyman must go through
the sAme gate of pardon as the layman.
There lave been cases of shipwreck where
all on board escaped excepting the cap
tain, Alas! II having preached to others
myself should be cast away" God for
bid II.
l have examined some of the comment
aries to see what they thought about this
word "castaway" and l find they differ in
regard to the figure used, while they agree
In regard to the meaning. So / shall
make my own selection aud take it in q
nautical and seafariug sense and show
you that men may become spiritual casta-
ways and how finally they drift into that
calamity.
You and 1 live In sAaboard cities. You
have all stood on the beach. Some of you
have crossed the ocean. Some of you
have managed vessels in great stress OF
weather. There is a sea captain, and
there is another, and yonder is another,
and there is a goodly number of you who,
though once you did not Know tho differ
ence between a brig and bark, and be-
tween a diamond knot and a spirit sheet
snil knot, and although you could not
point out the weather cross jack brace,
and though you could not man the fore
ciew garneis. now you are as familiar
with a ship as you are with your right
hand, and II 1t were necessary you could
take q vessel clear across to the mouth
OF the Mersey without the loss of a
single sail Well, there is a dark night
In your memory OF the sea. The vessel
became u~nmanageable. You saw it was
scudding toward the shore. You heard
the cry: Breakers aheadl Land on the
lee bow !" The vessel struck the rock and
you felt the deck breaking up under your
feet, and you were a ~casiaway, as when
the Hercules drove on the coast of CafRra-
ria, as when the Portuguese went staying,
splitting, grinding, crashing on the Good
wins. 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! Castawaysl
By talking with some sea captains 1
lave found out that there are three or four
causes for such a 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. 1t Is
not many years ago, indeed, that vaga-
bonds used to wander up and down the
beach getting vessels ashore in the night,
throwing up false lights in their presence
and deceiving them that they may
despoll and ransack them. All kinds
Of Internal arts were used to accom-
plish this. And one night on the
Cornish coast when the sea was coming in
fearfully some villains took n lantern and
tied II to a 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 II, and made up his mind
that he was not any where near the shore,
for he said: There's a vessel, for 1t has
a Movable light" and he had no appre-
hension till he heard the rocks grating on
the ships bottom, and it went to pieces
and the villains on the shore gathered up
the packages and treasures that were
washed TO the land.
And l have to tell you that there are
multitudes Of souls ruined by false lights
on the beach. In the dark night of mans
danger, false religion goes up and down
the shore shaking it's lantern, and men
look OF and take the Pickering and ex-
piring wick as the signal of safety, and
the cry Is: ''Heave the main topsail to
the mastl All is well !" when suddenly
destruction comeih upon them and they
shall not escape. So there are all kinds
of lanterns swung on the beach-philo-
sophical lanterns, educational Ian
terms, humanitarian lanterns. Men
look at them and are deceived, when
there is nothing but Gods eternal light
house Of the Gospel that can keep them
from becoming castaways. Once on Wolf
Craig lighthouse they tried to build a cop
per figure of a wolf with its mouth open,
so hat the storms beating into it the wolf
would howl forth the dangers to mariners
might be coming anywhere near the
coast. or course it wss a failure. And
so all new inventions for the saving Of
mans soul are %uuavailing. What the hui
man race want is a light bursting forth
from the cross standing on the great head
Landslide light Of pardon. the light of
comfort, the light OF Heaven Yor- might
better go to-rlght and destroy all the
great lighthouses on the dangerous coasts
tho Barnegat lighthouse. the Fastnet
lighthouse, the Sherryvore lighthouse, the
Longship's lighthouse, the Hollyhead
lighthouse-than to put out God's great
ocean lamp-the Gospel. Woe to those
who swing false lanterns on the beach till
men crash INTO ruins. C~astawaysl Cast
awaysi
BY talking with sea captains have heard
also that sometimes ships come TO this
calamity by the sudden swoop of a tenn
pest. For instance, a vessel is sailing
along In the East Indies, and there is not
a single cloud in the sky; but suddenly
the breeze freshens, and there are swift
feet on the ratlines. and the cry is: way,
haul away there 20 but before they can
SQUARE the booms and %tarpauiin the hatch
ways the vessel Is grooming and creaking
In the grip of a tornado, and falls over
into the trough Of the sea, and broadside
IL rolls on TO the beach and keels over,
leaving the crew to struggle in merciless
surf. Castawayi C~astawayl And so !
have to tell you there are thousands OF
men destroyed through the SUD zen swoop
of temptations. Some great inducemenU
20 worldliness, or ~sensuality, or high
temper, or to some form of dissipation,
comes upon them. II they had time to ex-
mime their Bible, IL they had time to con-
suit with their friends. il they had time
to deliberate, they could stand it; but the
temptation came so suddenly-an euro
clydon on the Mediterranean, n whirl-
win Of the Caribbean. One awful surge
oftemptatlon n they perish.
And so we often hear the old story: 81
hadn't seen my friend IN a great many
years. We were very glad to meet. He
said l must drink and he took me by the
arm and pressed me along, and filled the
cup up until the bubbles ran over the edge,
and In an evil moment all my good reso-
iutions were swept away, and to the out
raging OF God and my own soul / fell"
Or the story Is: II had hard work TO sup
port my family. l thought that by one
false entry, by one deception, by one en-
beszlement, L might spring out free from
all my trouble, and the temptation came
upon me so fercely j could not deliberate.
i did wrong, and having done wrong once
] could not stop" o, it Is the first step
that costs; the second is easier; and the
third, and on to the last. Once having
broke loose from the anchor 10 is not so