Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1891-12-30

SERMON PREACHED BY DR.. T. DE
WITT TALMAcE.


isabe In the Manager.
Brooklyn. Dec. n. DIR. Tal1hage
preached this morning a sermon ap-
propriate to the Christmas season
Taking up the subject of the Nativ-
ity he drew from it lessons which,
though perfectly legitimate, are
commonly overlooked His text was
Luke IL l6 And they came with
haste. and found Mary and Joseph,
and the Babe lying in a manger."
The black window shutters of
December night were thrown open.
and some of the best singers of q
world where they all sing stood
there and putting back the drapery
of cloud, chanted peace anthem.
until all the echoes of hill and valley
applauded and encored the Hallelu-
iah chorus. Come let us go into
that Christmas scene as though we
had never before worshiped at the
manger Here ia Madonna worth
looking at.
wonder not that the most fire.
quent name in all lands and in all
Christian centuries is Mary. And
there are Marys in palaces and Marys
IN cabins. and though German and
French and Italian and Spanish and
English pronounce it differently they
are all nameAalSes Of the one whom
we find on bed of straw. with her
pale face against the soft cheek of
Christ in the night of the Nativity
All the great painters have tried, ON
canvas. to present Mary and her
child and the incidents of that most
famous night OF the worlds history
Raphael IN three different master
pieces celebrated them. Tintoretto
and Ghirlandajo surpassed them
selves IN the alteration Of the Magi.
CorTeggio needed to do nothing more
than his Madonna to become immor-
tai The Madonna of the Lily, by
Leonardo da Vinci, will kindle the
admiration of all ages. But all the
galleries of Dresden are forgotten
when | think of the small room Of
that gallery containing the Sistine
Madonna. Yet all of them were cop
les of ST. Matthew's Madonna and
LulSe's Madonna. the inspired Ma
donna Of the Old Book, which we
had put into our hands when we were
infants, and that we hope to have
under our heads when we die.
GOD HoNoRED THE BRuTEs.
Behold, in the first place, that on
the first night of Christ's life God
honored the brute creation. You can
not get into that Bethlehem barn
without going past the camels, the
mules the dogs, the oxen. The
brutes Of that stable heard the first
cry Of the infant Lord. Some of the
old painters represent the oxen and
camels kneeiing that night before
the newborn babe. And well might
they kneell Have you ever thought
that Christ came among other things
to alleviate the sufferings of the brute
creation2 Was it not appropriate that
he should during the first few days
and nights Of his life on earth, be
surrounded by the dumb beasts, whose
moan and laint and believing have
for ages ht, Il a prayer to God for the
arTesting OF their tortures and the
righting of their wrongsi 1t did not
merely happen SO" that the unintel-
ligent creatures Of God should have
been that night la close neighborhood.
Not kennel IN all the centuries,
nota birds nest not worn out horse
on towpath not herd freezing in
the poorly huiltcow pen, not freight
car ia summer time bringing the
beoves to market without water
through thousand miles Of agony,
not surgeons room witnessing the
struggles Of fox or rabbit or pigeon
or dog in the horrors OF vivisection,
but has an interest ia the fact that
Christ was born in a stable, surround
ed by byutes. He remembers that
night. and the prayer he heard in
their pitifli moan he win answer IN
the punishment OF those who NAL
treat the dumb brutes. They surely
have as much right in this world as
we have.
In the first chapter of Genesis you
may wee that they were placed on the
earth before man was. the fish and
fowl created the fifth day, and the
quadrupeis the morning of the sixth
day, and man not until the afternoon
Of that day The whale, the eagle
the lion. and al the lesser creatures
OF their kind were predecessors OF
the human family. They have the
world by right OF possession. They
have also paid rent for the places
they occupied What an army of
defense all over the world are the
faithful watehdogs And who can
toll what the world owes the horse
aud camel and OK for transportationl
And robin and lark have. by the can
ialaa with which they have allied or
char1 and forest moro than paid for
the few grains they have piclEosl up
for their plistenanea
When you abuse any creature Of
God you strike lts Creator, and you
insult the Christ who, though he
might have been welcomed into life
By princes and taken bis hrsl hlfan
tile slumher amid Tyrian plush and
canoIded conches and ripping waters
from royal aQneducts dripping into
basins IT ivory and pearl, chess a. b.
born on the level with q cows horn.
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