Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1891-09-17
DROVES AT THE WELL.
SERMON PREACHED At ELMIRA, N.
", BY REV. DR.. TALMAeE.

The Subject Rendered Appropriate by the
Fact That They Are Holding an Inter
state Fair There-Text Of the Sermon,
Genesis, Exix, 8.
ELMIRA, Sept. 6.-The Rev. DIR. Talmage
preached here today to the immense multi
tude who have come to attend the New
York and Pennsylvania exposition, which
Is being held here Sept. I to Sept. Q. 1t is
q combined exposition of cattle, sheep,
horses and valuable stock of all kinds from
the two states The sermon was preached
on the fair grounds to a great audience Of
farmers, horsemen, drovers and stock
raisers from near and far, as we'll as citi-
gems from the adjacent cities. Secretary
Stanley, of the Young Mems Christian As
sociation of Elmira, presided. DIR. Tai.
mage's text was Genesis xxx, 8, "And
they said, we cannot, until all the focks be
gathered together, and till they roll the
stone from the wells mouth; then we
water the sheep"
THE HORSE THE KING OF BEASTS.
There are some reasons why it is appro
pirate that ! should accept the invitation
to preach at this great interstate fair, and
zens-horsemen just come from their fine
chargers, the king of beasts, for | take the
crown from the lion and put it on the
brow of the horse, which is in every way
nobler-and speak to these shepherds just
come from their focks-the Lord himself
in one place called Shepherd and in an.
other place called Lamb, and all the good
are Sheppard preach to you cattlemen
tl,,
honored by the fact that God himself
thinks it worthy of immortal record that
he owns "the cattle on thousand hills"
1t is appropriate that | come, because
was a farmers boy, and never saw city
until was nearly grown, and, having been
born in the country, never got over it,
and would not dwell in, cities a day if my
work was not appointed there. My love
to you now and when get through / will
give you my hand for though have this
summer shaken hands with perhaps forty
thousand people in twenty-one states of
the Union, all the way through to Colorado
and north and south, will not conclude
my summer vacation till have shaken
hands with you. You old farmer out
therel How you make me think of my
father! You elderly woman out there with
cap and spectacles How you make me
think of my motherl
And now, while the air of these fair
grounds is filed with the bleating of
sheep, and the neighing of horses, and the
lowing of CATTLE | cannot find a more ap.
propriate text than the one | read. 1t is a
scene in Mesopotamia, beautifully pastoral.
A well of water of great value in that
region. The fields around about it white
with three focks of sheep lying down wait
ing for the watering | hear their bleating
coming on the bright air, and the laughter
of young men and maidens indulging in
rustic repartee. look off, and l see other
focks of sheep coming. Meanwhile, Jacob,
a stranger, on the interesting errand of
looking for a wife, comes to the well. A
beautiful shepherdess comes to the same
we'll. | see her approaching, followed by
her fathers flock of sheep. 1t was mem
orable meeting. Jacob married that shep-
herdess. The Bible account of it is, Jacob
kissed Rachel. and lifted up his voice and
wept"
1t has always been mystery to me what
he found to cry about! But before that
scene occurred Jacob accosts the shep
herds and asks them why they postpone the
slaking of the thirst of these sheep, anG
why they did not Immediately proceed tt
water them. The shepherds reply to thu
effect: 1--WE are all good neighbors, and al
a matter of courtesy we wait until all thu
sheep of the neighborhood come up. Be
sides that, this stone on the wells mouth il
somewhat heavy, and several of us tax,
hold of it and push it aside, and then th'
buckets and the troughs are filled and tn,
ehaay1 ora cotjcfiad Wa nannOt until nj
the focks are gathered together, and til
they roll the stone from the wells mouth
then we water the sheep"
THIRSTY WORLD.
Oh, this is thirsty worldl Hot for tn
head, and blistering for the feet, and parch
ing for the tongue The worlds great wan
Is cool, refreshing, satisfying draft. W
wander around and find the cistern empty
Long and tedious drought has dried up tn
worlds fountains, but nearly nineteen cen
turies ago Shepherd, with crook in tn
shape of cross, and feet cut to the bleed
ing, explored the desert passages of thi
world, and one day came across well
Thousand feet deep, bubbling and bright
and opalescent, and looked to the north
and the south, and the east, and the west
and cried out with voice strong an
musical that rang through the ages: "HC
every one that thirsteth, come ye to th
watersW
Now, great flock of sheep today gathe
around this Gospel well. There are grea
many thirsty souls. l wonder why th
focks of all nations do not gather-why s
many stay thirsty; and while 1 am wonde
ing about it, my text breaks forth in th
explanation, saying "We cannot. until a
these focks be gathered together, and tt
they roll the stone from the wells moutl
then we water the sheep"
THE GENTLENEss OF SHEEP.
If a herd of swine come to a well the
angrily iostle each other for the precedenc
If q drove of cattle come to we'll, the
hook each other back from the water, br
when the flock of sheep come, though
hundred of them shall be disappointe'
they only express it by sad bleating-the
come together peacefully. We want
great multitude to come around the Gosp
well. l know there are those who do nj
like crowd-they think crowd is vulga
If they are oppressed for room in church
makes them positively impatient and be
ligerent Not so did these oriental she
herds. They waited until all the focl
were gathered, and the more tiocks thi
came the better they liked IL.
And SO. we ought to be anxious-that a
the people should come. Go out into tt
highways andthe hedges and compel the
to come in. Go to the rich and tell the
they are INDECENT without the Gospel