The Russellville Democrat., 1889-01-10
TALMAGEs SERMON.
The Story of the Humble Birth
 place of the Saviour
The Glorious Triumph that Had Its Be- ginning in the Manager Tt IsetIaie- hem Peace on Earth and
 Good Will to Men

ing Christmas Day, taking for his text:
 Ne shall find tho babe wrapped in swaddllng clothes, lying in | manager And suddenly there was with the angel 2 multitude Of the heavenly host--Tsuke l., ia. B
 At midnight, from one of the galleries of tho sky, a chant broke. T. an ordt- nary observer there was no reason for such a celestial demonstration. A poor man and his wlfe--travelers, Joseph and Mary by name--had lodged in an out house of an unimportant village. The supreme hour of solennity had passed md upon the pallid forehead and cheek of Mary, God had set the dignity, the grandeur, the tenderness, the everlasting Tad divine significance of motherhood.
 But such scenes had often occurred in Bethlehem, yet never before had star been unhxed, or baton of light marshaled over the hills a winged orchestra. If there had been such brill- iant and mighty recognition at an advent in the house of Pharaoh, or at an advent in the house of Cesar, or the house of Hapsburg, or the house of Stuart, we would not so much have wondered; but 0 barn seems too poor Q center for such delicate and archangelit circumference The stage seems too small for so great an H preciatiye authors, the window of the sta ble too rude to be serenaded by other worlds.
 No, Sir. No, madam. It is my joy this morning to tell you what wus born that night in the village barn; and, as want to make my discourse aecumulative and climacteric, I begin, in the first place, by telling you that that night in the Bethle- hem manager was born CD encouragement for all the poorly started. He had only two friends-they his parents. No satin lined cradle, no delicate attentions, but straw, aud the cattle, and the coarse joke and banter of the camel-drivers. No wonder the medieval painters represent ed the oxen kneeling before the Infant Jesus, for there were no men there at that time to worship. From the depths of what poverty He rose, until to-day He is honored in all Christendom and sits on the imperial throne in Heaven.
 What name is mghtiest to-day in Christendomg Jesus. Who has moro friends on earth than any other being? Jesus. Before whom do the most thous- ands kneel in chapel and church and cathedral this hour? Jesus. For whom could one hundred million souls be mar shaled, ready to fight or die? Jesus. From what depths of poverty to what height of renownl And so let all those who are poorly started remember that they can not be more poorly started, re- member that they can not be more poorly 1 born, or more disadvantageously than Christ. Let them look up to his example while they have time and eternity to imi- tate.
 Do you know that tue vast majority of the worlds deliverers had barn-like birth- places? Luther, the emancipator of re- ligion, born among the mines. Sbake- speare, the emancipator of literature, born in an humble home at Stratford -on Avon. Columbus, the discoverer of a world, born npoverty at Genoa. Hogarth, the diseoverer of how to make art accu- mulative aud administrative of virtue, bornin an humble home at Westmoreland. Kitto and Prideaux, whose keys unlocked new apartments in the Holy Scriptures which had never been entered, born in want. Yes, 1 have to tell you that nine out of ten of the worlds deliverers, nine out of ten of the worlds messiahs- the mes ;iahs of science, the messiahs of law, tn messiahs of medicine, the messiahs of poverty, the messiahs of grand benevo- lence-were born in want.
 I suppose that when Herschel, the great astronomer, was born in the home of poor musician, not only one star, but all the stars he afterward discovered, point ed down to his manager. l suppose when Haydn, the German composer, was born in the humble home of poor wheelwright, that all the angels of music chanted over the manager. Oh, what encouragementfo for those who are poorly started! Ye who think yourselves far down, aspire to go higher up!
 I stir your holy ambitions to-day, and want to tell you, though the whole world may be opposed to you, and inside and outside of your occupations and pro- fessions there may be those who would hinder your ascent on your side and en- listed in your behalf are the sympathetic heart and the almighty arm of One who, one Christmas night about 1888 years ago, was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in Q manager. Oh, what mag niicent encouragement for the poorly started.
 ?. Again, I have to tell yOu that in that village barn that night was born good will to men, whether you call it kindness. or forbearance, or forgiveness, or geniality, or affection, or love. It was no sport of high Heaven to send its fayorite to that humiliation. It was sacrifice for rebel ious world After the calamity in Para disc, not only did the OK begin to gore, and the adder to sting, and the elephant to smite with his tusk, and the lion to put to bad use tooth and paw, but under the very tree from which the forbidden fruit was .plucked, were hatched out war and revenge, and malice and envy, and jealousy, and the whole brood of cocka- trices.
 But against that scene set the Bethle hem manager, which says: "Bless rather than curse, endure rather than assault" and that Christmas night puts out Yindic- tiveness. It says "Sheathe your sword, dismount your guns, dismantle your bat tories, turn the war-ship Constellation that carried shot and shell into grain ship to take food 10 famishing Ireland, hook your cavalry horses to the blow, use your deadly gunpowder in blasting rocks and patriotic celebration, stop your law suits, quit writing anonymous letters, ex- tract the sting from sarcasm, let your wit eoruscato, but never 6urn, drop all the harsh words out of your vocabulary Good will to mem"
 "OhP you say, T can't exercise it; won't exercise it until they apologize; I won't forgive them until they ask me to forgive them" You are no Christian then--I say you are no Christian, or you are a very inconsistent Christian. If you forgive not men their tresspasses, how cou you expect your Heavenly Father to forgive you: Forgive them if they ask your forgiveness, and forgive them any, how. Shake hands all around. "Good win to men"
 Oh, my Lord Jesus, drop that spirit into our hearts this Christmas hour. l tell you what the world wants more than any thing else-more helping hands, more sympathetic hearts, more kind words that never die, more disposition to give other people a ride and to carry the heavy end of the load and give other people tho light end, and to ascribe good motives in- stead of bad, and 10 find our happiness in