The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1890-12-26
TALMAGE,S TALK.
He Visits Mount Lebanon and
Describes its Historic
Celars.

And Draws a Moral From
Their Strength and
Influence.
BRooELlN. Spccial.-Dr Talmnge contin.
ued his sermons, on Palestine, his text
being from civ. 1G: 1.-The cedars of Lebanon
which hc planted"
At a height of 0.OOO feet IL a grove Of
cetara. the only defendants of those vast for.
ests from which Solomon cut his timber for the
temple ut Jerusalem, and where mt one time
there wele 100000 axcmen hewing out tho
beams from which great cities wore construct.
Ell. But this nation Of trees l,as by human
aconoclaRm been massacred until only q
small group is left. This race of giants is
nearly extinct, but have no doubt that
some OF these were hero when Hiram, king Of
Tyre. ordered tho assassination Of those
cetiars Of Lebanon which the Lord planted.
From the multitude Of uscs to whicl. it may
he put and the employment of It In the
scriptures, tho cedar is the divine favOrite
When the plains to be seen from the window
OF this stage In which We ride today are
parrhed under summer heats, and not IL
grass blade survives the fervi,lity, this trec
stands in luxuriancc deiying tho summer
sun. And when the storms Of winter terrify
the earth. and hurl tho rocks In avaln nche
down this mountain side, this tree grapples
the hurricane OF snow In triumph, and
leaves the spent fury ut its feet From 60 to
80 feet high are they, the horizontal branch.
es OF great sweep with their burden Of leaves
needle-shapcd, the top Of the tree pyrami,lal,
o throne Of foliage on which might, and
splendor, md glory sit. But so continually
has the determination of trees gone on,
that for the most part the mountains OF
Lebanon are bare Of foliage. while am sor-
~ to say, the earth In all lunds IL being
likewise denuded.
The axe il slnying the forests oil round the
Earth. To stop the slaughter God opened
the coal mines Of England, mud Scotland,
and America, md the world. practically say
ing by that: Here is f'iel; as inr ns possible
let my trees alone" And by o,mning for the
human race the grcnt quarries of granite,
and showing the human iamlly how 10 make
brirk: God IL practically saying: "llere is
building materinl; let my trees nlone" We
had bctter stop the axes among the Alrion.
dacks We hud better stop the axes in all
our forests. as it would have been better for
hvrin II the axes had long ago been stopped
among the mountains OF Lebanon 10 nun.
leh us fol our reckless assault on tho forests,
We have the disorieretl sr,aons now the
lronths because tho uplifted arms Of the
trees do not pray for rain. their presence nc.
tording to all srientists .lisposng the DE-
scent OF the showers: and then we have the
cyclones aud hurricanes multiplied In num-
Der aud velocity because there in nothing to
prevent their nwful sweep.
~ We ride aiong on those mountains Of
Lebanon, we bethink how it's cednrs spread
their branches. and breathe their aroma,
and cast their shadows all through the
bible. Solomon tiisc0ursed about tlsm in
his botanical works, when he spoke of trees
from tho cedar tree that is in Lebanon even
unto the hyssop that springeth out Of tho
wall" The psnlmist snys, The righteous
on. and in ono oi his magnificent doxolo.
giles cnlis on the cedars to praise the Lord
And Solomon says the countenance Of
Thirst in excellent as the cedura and Isnial.
declares. "lhe day Of the Lord shall bs
upon all the ce.lara of Lebanon. And Jero.
mial' md Ezokiel AMI Amos aud Zephunini,,
and Xecharinh weave its foliage into their
sublimeHt utterancps.
AZ the lion Is the monarch of the fields,
and belemnth tho moVar'.h o tho waters
tho cedar IL tho monarch OF the trees. Aud
] think one reaaon why It IL 10 gloriiie.i all
up nnd down the Bible IL because We need
more of Its characteristics in our religious
llfe We have too much Of the willow, and
nre easily bent this way or TINT; too much Of
tile aspeI. nnd va treInble under every xeph.
Iyr OF assault; too much of the braun hle tree
and our sharp points sting. .,uUi .lYcn8d and
Latyen ::AsPiring nnd tompest. .grappling.
but the reason these cetinr stand 80 well s
that they nre drei.rooted. They run their
anchors down into the c,,verns of tho noun
| kni fno inf.
the earth, an! twist around and clincll them
selves on the other side Of the deepest nyer
of rock they ran reach. And that is the llif.
ference lGtwean Christians who stand aud
Cirstiuns who fall 1t is the difference lo-
tween IL superficial character and one that
has rlutche its roots deep down around and
under the Rock Of Ages,
| One Of tho Lebanon cpdur was examined
by scientist and IRON its coneentrc circles.
1t wna found to be =, 500 yenrA old md still
standiEg, unh there Is such thing ms ever
lasting strength. aud such II stanclness of
l'llrstian character that all timo and cter-
nifty instead of being its demolition shall be
lts opportunity Not such are those vncili:lt-
ing Christians who are 80 pious on Sunday
that they have no religion left for the week
day. Ar the anncouda gorgss itself with
TODD. ani them seems or II long while to lie
thoroughly inHensble 20 there ,lrc mon who
will on Sunday get such religious surfrit
Tint the rest Of the week. they seem thor.
oughly dead to all religious emotion. They
weep In church under IL charity sermon, but
II on Mondny IL subject Of want presents it.
self ut the door. the brggar's sntety will lie.
pend entirely on quick limbs aud al unOb.
vtructed stairway. 1t tnkes all tho grace
they can get to keep from committing ms.
sault and hattsry on those intruders, who
come with pule faces and storics OF distress
and NJ bscription papers The reason that
God planted these ce'lnrs IN the Bible was to
suggest to us that We ought in our religious
character. to bo deep like the cedar, high
like tho ccdnr, broad brancllcd like the rOdnr.
A traveller measured the spread of tho
boughs of one OF these trees and found 1t Ill
feet from branch tip to branch tip, and
have seen cedars of Christian character that
through their prayers ind charities put out
one branch to the uttermOst pi,rts Of Amer
lea, aud another branch to the utterrnost
parts Of Asia, and these wide. .brnncl.ed
Christians will keep on multiplying until
oil the oarth is overshadowsi with mercy.
could not grow IL planted in mild climatos
and in soft uir. anl in carefully watered
gardens. They must have the gymnasium
OF tho midnight hurricane to develop their
arms. They must pIny the athlete with u
thousand winters before their eet are
rightly planted. and their arms rightly mus.
clet. And il there be my other way for de-
by storms Of trouble, never heard oft.
Call the roll Of martyrs, call the roll of the
prophets. call the roll OF the apostles. aud
see which of them had an ensy time Of
1t. Which OF these cedars grew in the warm
valley? Not ono Of them. IioieysMckea
thrive best on the south side of the house.
but cetlnrs in Syrian wlirlwini. Men nnd
women who hear this or read this, instead of
your grumbIing because sou have it hard.
thank God that you nre in just the best
school for making heroes and heroines.
IL is true both for this world and the next.
Rock that baby in the cradle cushioned an,i
canopi& graduate him from that into IL
costly - h chair ind give him IL gold spoon:
send him to school strapped in fur enough
for an Arctic explorer; send him through
college where he will not have to study in
order to get a diploma. because his father is
rich; start him in q profession where he
begins witlIshn office the floor covered with
Administer and library of books in Russian
morocco and an arm chair upholstered like
q throne, and an embroidered ottoman upon
which to put h;s $12 gniters, and they lay
upon his table the best ivory cigar-h0lder
you cnn import from brussels. and having
standing outside his door pranring span
that won the prize at the horse fair. and
leave him estate enough to make him indie.
pendent Of all struggle. and what will bs-
come of him? Ifhs do not die early Ofin.
anition or dissipation. he will live II useless
life. and die nn unlamented death and go
into n fools eternity.