Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1889-08-23
THE STRONG SWIMMER.
SUBJECT OF DR.. TALMAeE's SER
MON AT SEATTLE, AUG. 10.

''He Shall Spread Forth His Hands in the
Midst Of Them. as He That swimmeth
spreadeth Forth His Hands to SWIM
the Words Of His Text.
SEATTLE, W. T., Aug 1s-The Rev. T.
Dewitt Talmage, d. D.. Of Brooklyn, preach
ed here today. His text was Isaiah XIV, IL:
"He shall spread forth his hands in the
midst Of them, as he that swimmeth
spreadeth forth his hands to swim.n The
preacher said;
At this season Of the year multitudes Of
people wade into the ponds and lakes and
rivers and seas At first putting out cautious
IL from the shore, but having learned the
right stroke Of arm and foot, they let the
waters roll over them, and In wild glee dive
or float or swim. So the text viii be very
suggestive; "He shall spread forth his hands
in the midst Of them, as he that swimmeth
sPreadeth forth his hands to SWIM
Thefisherman seeks out unfrequented hooks
You stand all day on the banks of a wide
river in the broiling sun, and fling out your
line, and catch nothing, while the expert
angler breaks through the jungle and goes
by the shadow of the solitary rock, and in a
place where no fisherman has been for ten
years, throws out his line, and comes home at
night, his face shining and his basket full,
do not know why we ministers Of the Gospel
need always be fishing in the same stream,
and preaching from the same texts that other
people preach from. / cannot understand
the policy Of the minister who, in Blackfriars,
London, England, every week for thirty
years preached from the Epistle to the
Hebrews It is an exhilaration to me
rrr1ta I F.1, 60
no one else has treated, and my text is one Of
that kind. There are paths in Gods Word
that are well beaten by Christian feet When
men want to quote Scripture, they quote the
old passages that everybody has heard.
When they want a chapter read, they read
a chapter that all the other people have been
reading so that the church today is ignorant
Of three-fourths Of the Bible. You go into
the Louvre at Paris. You confne yourself to
one corridor of that opulent gallery Of paint
ings. As you come out your friend says to
you, did you see that Rembrandt" "No. -
did you see that RubensF "No" ibid
you see that TitianP no did you see that
Raphael" "No." 'Wen, says your friend,
"then you didn't see the Louvre Now, my
friends, think we are too much apt to con-
fine ourselves to one Of the great corridors Of
this gallery of Scripture truth, and so much
so that there is not one person out of a mil
lion who has ever noticed the an suggestive
and powerful picture i'll the words Of my text.
BOLD FIGURE
This text represents God as a strong swim
mer, striking out to push down iniquity and
to save the souls Of men. "He shall spread
forth his hands in the midst Of them, as he
that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to
SWIM The figure is bold and many sided.
Most of you know how to swim. Some of
you learned it in the city SCHOOL, where this
art is taught; some OF you in boyhood, in the
river near your fathers house; some of you
since you came to manhood or womanhood,
while summering on the beach of the sea.
You step down in the wave, you throw your
head back, you bring your elbows to the
chest, you put the palms of your hands down
ward and the soles of your feet outward, and
you push through the water as though you
had been born aquatic 1t is grand thing
to know how to swim, not only for yourself,
but because you will after awhile, perhaps,
have to help others. l do not know anything
more stirring or sublime than to see some man
like Norman Mckenzie leaping from the
ship Madras into the sea to save Charles
Turner, who had dropped from the royal
yard while trying to loosen the sail, bringing
him back to the deck amid the huzzas Of the
passengers and the crew. If a man has not
enthusiasm enough to cheer in such circum-
stances he deserves to drop into the sea and
have no one help him. The Royal Humane
Society of England was established in 1774, its
object to applaud and reward those who
should pluck up life from the deep. Any one
who has performed such deed of daring has
all the particulars of that bravery recorded
in a public record, and on his breast medal
done in blue, and gold, and bronze; anchor,
and monogram, and inscription, telling to
future generations the bravery of the man or
woman who saved some one from drowning
But, my friends, if it is such a worthy thing
to save body from the deep, ask you if it
is not a worthier thing to save an immortal
soull And you shall see this hour the Son of
God step forth for this achievement. He
shall spread forth his hands in the midst Of
them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth
his hands to swim