Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-09-01
WORDS OF SEA CAPTAINS.
SERMON PREACHED BS OR. TAI
MAGE AT PORTLAND, ORE.

HIS Text L. tn BE Found In ! Corinthians
In. si' Lest That by Any Means ! Ny
self should 10 Cast Awsy"-A Large
Crowd Present.
PORTLAND, Ore, Aug. %. The Rev.
I. DE Witt Talmage, ID. d.. who
preached here today TO a vast audi
ence. look for his text | Cor. tx, %;
''lesi that by any means ! myself
should be cast away" The preacher
said
In the presence of you who live on
the Pacific coast, | who live on the
Atlantic coast may appropriately
speak on this marine 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
il themselves. The carpenters that
built Noah's ark did not get into il
themselves. Gown and surplice, and
diplomas, and canonicals are no Sc
rurity. Cardinal Wolsey, after hav.
ing been petted by kings, and having
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 examination,
found 10 have been, not 6guratively
but literally, broken. We may have
hands Of ordination on the head, and
address consecrated assemblages, but
that is no reason why we shall neces
sarily reach the realm celestial. The
clergyman must 60 through the same
gate Of pardon as the layman. There
have been cases Of shipwreck where
all ON board escaped excepting the
captain. Alas! il. having preached to
others, myself should be a castaway."
God forbid il.
SPIRITUAL cASTAwAYs.
have examined some of the COM
mentaries 10 see what they thought
about this word ''castaway," and |
find they differ in regard 10 the figure
used. while they agree in regard 10
the meaning. So / shall make my
own selection, and tlke it in a nauti-
cal and seafaring sense, and show you
that men may become spiritual cast
Always. 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 isa sea
captain, and there is another, and yon-
der is another, and there are a goodly
number of you who. though once you
did not know the difference between a
brig and bark, and between diamond
knot and a spirit sheet sail knot, and
although you could not point out the
weather o jack brace, and though
you could not man the fore clew gar
nets, now you are Is familiar with a
ship as you are with your right hand,
and II 1t were necessary you could
take a vessel clear across to the mouth
of the Mersey without the loss of a sin
gle sail. Well, there is a dark night
in your memory of the sea. The YES
sci became unmenageable. 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
We're a castaway, as when the Her
cules drove on the coast Of Catfraria,
as when the Portuguese brig wen.
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 galel Wrecked for
two worldsl Castawaysl Csstawaysl
FALSE LIGHTS.
By talking with some sea captains,
/ have found out that there are three
or four causes for such a calamity 10 a
vessel. | have been told that it some.
times comes from creating false lights
on the beach. This was often SO in
olden times. II is not many years
ago, indeed. that vagabonds used "a
wander up and down the beach, get.
ting vessels ashore in the night,
throwing up false lights IN their pres
ence aud deceiving them, that they
may despoil and ransack them. All
kinds Of Internal arts were used Ia
accomplish this. And one night, on
the Gwuish coast, when the sea was
coming in fearfully, some villains
took a lantern and tied il TO a horse,
and he'd the horse up and down the
beach. the lantern swinging 10 the
motion Of the horse, aud "a sen cap
tain IN the oiing saw II, and made uI
his mind that he was not anywhere
near the shore, for lac said; There,
a yessel-that must be a vessel. for il
has a movable light. and he had nc
apprehension till he heard the rocks
grating on the ships bottom, and il
went to pieces and the Williams on
shore gathered up the packages and
treasures that were washed To the
land. And | have to tell you tina
there are a multitude Of souls ruined
by false lights on the beach. In thu
dark night Of mans danger, false re
ligion goes up and down the shore,
shaking its lantern, and men look oil
and take that pickering and expiring
wick as the signal of safety. and th,
cry is: ''Heave the maiu topsail 10 the
mast All is well' when sudden de.
struction cometb upon them, and they
shall not escape. So there are all
kinds of lanterns swung on thC
each-philosophical lanterns, educa
fional lanterns, humanitarian Ian.
xorns Man lnok M thpni mud ara de