Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1889-11-21


course.
The Rev. t. De Witt TalmAge, D. D.,
preached at Brindisi Italy, on Sunday,
Nov. IL. His subject was "A Mediterra-
nean Voyage" and he took for his text
Acts xvii, A: And SO il came to pass,
that they escaped all safeto land" DR..
Talmage said:
Having visited your historical city,
which we desire to see because il was
The terminus of the most famous road
of the ages, the Roman Appian Way,
and for its mighty fortress overshadow-
ing city which even Hannibars hosts
could not thunder down, we must to-
morrow morning leave your harbor, and
after touching at Athens and Cornith,
voyage about the Mediterranean to
Alexandria, Egypt. Ihave been reading
this morning in my New Testament of a
Mediterranean voyage in an Alexandrian
ship. 1t was this very month of Novem-
ber. The vessel was lying in port not
very far from here. On board that vessel
were two distinguished passengers; one
Josephus, the historian, as we have
strong reasons to believe; the other, q
convict, enc Paul by name, who was
going to prison for upsetting things, or,
as they termed it, turning the world
upside down" This convict had gained
the confidence of the Captain. Indeed
think that Paul knew almost as much
about the sea as did the Captain. He
had been shipwrecked three times al
ready; he had dwelt much of his life
amidst capstans, and yardarms, and
cables, and storms; and he knew what he
was talking about. Seeing the equi-
noctial storm was coming, and perhaps
noticing something unseaworthy in the
vessel, he advised the Captain to stay in
the harbor. But hear the Captain and
the first mate talking together. They
say: I'VE cannot afford to take the ad-
vice of this landsman. and he minister.
He may be able to preach very we'll, but
don't believe he knows marlinespike
from lutf tackle. All aboardl CAST off!
Shift the helm for headway! Who fears
the Mediterranean" They had gone
only little way out when q whirlwind,
called Euroclydon, made the torn sail
it's turban, shook the mast as you would
brandish o spear, and tossed the hulk
into the heavens. Overheard with the
cargo! 1t is all washed with salt water,
marine insurance companies. All hands
ahoy, and out with the anchors!
Great CONSERVATION comes on crew
and passengers. The sea monsters
sport in the foam, and the billows clap
their hands in glee of destruction. In
q lull of the storm l hear a chain clank.
1t is the chain of the great apostle as he
walks the deck, or holds fast to the rig
ging amidst the lurching of the ship
the spray dripping from his long beard
as he cries out to the crew: Now ex-
hort you to be of good cheer; for there
shall be no loss of any mans life among
you, but of the ship. For there stood
by me this night the angel of God,
whose am, and whom serve, saying,
Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought
before Cesar; and, 10, God hath given
thee all them that sail with thee"
Fourteen days have passed, and there
is no abatement of the storm. It is
midnight. Standing on the lookout,
the man peers into the darkness, and,
by o fash of lightning, sees the long
white line of breakers, and knows they
must be coming near to some country,
and fears that in a few moments the
vessel will be shivered on the rocks.
The ship flies like chaff in the tornado.
They drop the sounding line, and by
the light OF the lantern they see it is
twenty fathoms. Speeding along little
farther they drop the line again, and by
the light of the lantern they see it is
fifteen fathoms. Two hundred and
seventy-six souls within q few feet of
awful shipwreck! The managers of the
vessel, pretending they want to look
over the side of the ship and undergrad
it, get into the small boat, expecting in
tito escape; but Paul sees through the
sham, and he tells them that if they go
off in the boat it will be the death Of
them. The vessel strikes! The planks
spring! The timbers crack! The vessel
parts in the laundering surge! Oh,
what wild struggling for life! Here
they leap from plank to plank. Here
they go under as if they would never
rise, but, catching hold of timber,
come floating and painting on it to the
beach. Here strong swimmers spread
their arms through the waves until their
chins pillow the sand, and they rise up
and wiring out their wet locks on the
beach. When the roll of the ship is
called, two hundred and seventy six
people answer to their names. "And
so, says my text, 1T came to pass that
they escaped all safe to land"
learn from the subject:
First, that those who get us into
trouble will not stay to help us out.
These shipmen got Paul out of Fair
Havens into the storm; but as soon as
the tempest dropped upon them, they
wanted to go off in the small boat,
caring nothing for what became Of Paul
and the passengers. All me! human
nature is the same in all ages. They
who get us into trouble never stop to
help us out. They who tempt the young
man into life of dissipation willbethe
first to laugh at his imbecility, and to
drop him out of decent society. Gam
blers always make fun of the losses Of
gamblers. They who tempt you into the
contest with fists, saying 81 will back
you" will be the first to run. Look over
all the ,predicaments Of your life, and
count the names of those who have got
you into those predicaments, and tell
me the name of one who ever helped
you out They were glad enough to
get you out from Fare Havens, but
when, with damaged rigging, you tried
to get into harbor, did they hold for you
plank or throw you ropef Not one.
Satan has got thousands of men into
trouble but he never got one out. He
led them into theft, but he would not
hide the goods or bail out the defend
ant. The spider shows the fly the way
over the gossamer bridge into the cob
web; but it never shows the fly the way
out of the cobweb over the gossamer
bridge. think that there were plenty
Of fast young men to help the prodigal
wasted his substance III riotous living,