The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1892-10-21
TALMAGE's SERMON.
Tho Career OF Columbus From a
Religious Standpoint. -
Lessons to be Learned by Christians from
the Great Navigator's Life and works
America Discovered In tho
Name of God.

lumbar quadro-centenE:al The text
was:
Lift MP thine eyes westward.-Deut ILL.,, r.
So God said to Moses in Bible times
and SO BE said to Christoforo Colombo,
the son of n wool-comber, of Genoa.
more than four hundred years ago.
The nations had been looking chiefly
toward the east The sculpture of the
world, the architecture of the world,
the laws of the world. the philosophy
of the world, the civilization of the
world, the religion of the world came
from the east But while Columbus,
ms his name was called after it was
Latinized, stood studying maps and
examining globes and reading cosmo-
graphy, God said to him: Lift mp thine
eyes toward the west" The fact was
1t must have seemed to Columbus
very lop-sided world. Like cart with
one wheel, like scissors with one
blade, like sack on one side of
camel, needing a sack on the other
side to balance it. Here was bride of
the world with no bridegroom. When
God makes a, half of anything He does
not stop there. He makes the other
half. We are all obliged sometimes to
leave things only half done. But God
never stops half way, because He has
the time and the power to go all the
way. lido not wonder that Columbus
was not satisfied with half world, and
SO he went TO find the other half The
pieces of carved wood that were ioated
60 the shores of Europe by westerly
gale, and two dead human faces, unlike
L. L. L L
foated from the west, were to him the
voice of God, saying: Lift up thine
eyes toward the west" But the world
then, as now, had plenty of Can't-be-
dones. ta& si
That is what keeps individuals back
and enterprises back and the church
back. and nations back-ignominiou
and disheartening can't-be-dones Old
navigators said to young Columbus, SIT
can't be done" The republic of Genoa
said: ''It can't be Done" Alphonso v.
said: ut can't be done" A committee
on maritime affairs, to whom the sub
ject was submitted, declared: cit can't
be done" Venetians said: 1T can't be
done" But the father of Columbus
wife died, leaving his wife a large num-
Der of sea charts and maps and as if
to condemn the slur that different ages
put upon mothers-in-law, the mother
in-law of Columbus gave him the navi-
gators materials, out of which he
ciphered America. After awhile the
story of this poor but ambitious Column
bus reaches the ear of Queen Isabella,
and she pays eighty dollars to
buy him a decent suit of clothes,
so that he may be fit to APP
pear before royalty. The interview
in the palace was successful Money
enough was borrowed to fit out the ex-
petition. There they are, the three
ships, in the gulf of Cadiz, Spain. If
you ask me which have been the most
famous boats of the world, / would
say, first, Noah's ship. that wharfed on
Mount Ararat; second, the boat of bull
rushes, in which Moses foated the
Nile; third. the Mayhower, that put
out from Plymouth with the Pilgrim
Fathers; and now these three vessels
that on this, the Friday morning, Au-
gust 8, 1922, are rocking on the ripples,
/ am glad it is Friday, so that the
prows of those three ships
shall first all run down the
superstition that things begun or voy-
age started on Friday must necessarily
prove disastrous. Show me any Mon
day or Tuesday or Wednesday or
Thursday or Saturday that ever accom-
plished as much as this expedition that
started on Friday. With the idea that
there will be perils connected with the
expedition, the sacrament of the Lords
supper is administered. Do not forget
that this voyage was begun under re-
ligious auspices. There is the Santa
Maria, only ninety feet long, with four
masts and eight anchors. The captain
walking the deck is fifty-seven old, his
hair white; for at thirty-five he was
gray, and his face is round, his nose
aquilline, and his stature little taller
than the average. know from his de-
cided step and the set of his jaw that
he is a determined man. That is Capt.
Christopher Columbus Near by, but
far enough off not to run into each 9TH
err, are the smaller ships, the Pinta and
the Nina, about large enough and safe
enough to cross the Hudson river or
the Thames in good weather. There
are two doctors in this fleet of ships,
and a few landsmen, adventures who
are ready to risk their necks in wild
expedition. There are enough provi-
sions for a year. Capt Christopher
Columbus, where are you sailing for?''
81 do not know" How long before
you will get there?" 81 can not say"
'.All ashore that az going" is heard,
and those who wish to remain GO to the
land.
Now the anchors of the three ships
are being weighed and the ratlines be-
gin to rattle and the sails to unfurl.
The wind is dead east, and il does not
take long to get out to sea. In a few
hours, the adventures wish they had
not started The ships begin to roll
and pitch. Oh, it is such delightful
sensation for landsmenl They began
to bother Capt. Columbus with ques-
trons. They want to know what he
thinks of the weather. They want to
know when he thinks he will probably
get there. Every time when he stands
taking observations of the sun with an
astrolabe they wonder what he sees,
and ask more questions. The crew are
rather grouty. Some of them came on
under four months advance pay and
others were impressed into the service.
For sixteen days the wind is dead east
and that pleases the captain, because
il blows them further and further
away from the European coast, and
further on toward the shore of another
country, if there is any. After awhile
there comes q calm day. and the at
tempt is made to fathom the ocean, and