The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1892-11-02
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIvINE'S SUN.
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "Observations in Russia and
Great Britain"


Great Britain"
TEXT: 'If Ttaks the Dings of the morn
ing and d,usU in the utmost parts of tn
sea, euen there shall Thy hand leod me. -
Psalm cxxxix., o.
What an absurd book the Bible must be to
q man who has no poetr" III MS sou'
':Wings of the morning. What kind of q
bird is it, and how long are its wings and o!
what color? Ah, some OF us have seen aud
felt its wings. They are golden. They are
,buoyant. They are swift: They are wide
spread. The 18th of last June took the
wings Of the morning" and started for Eu-
rope. June 20, on the wiogs OF the morn.
ing" started from Liverpool July IL, on
..ths wings of the morning." entered
Germany. the land of Martin Luther and
many of that ilk, living and dead.
On ''the wings OF the morning entered
at. Petersburg. Russia. On "the wings OF
the morning" entered Moscow. On ''the
wings of the morning" entered the palaces
of Russia, greeted by the emperor and EN-.
press, surrounded by q lovely orood OF
princes and priucesses. On "she wings OF
the morning. entered Inverness the cap,
ital Of the Scottish highlands, ccuntry OF
Robert Burns and Thomas Chaimers--tne
".
tsmber o1st on ''the wings Of the morning,
entered the finest haven Of all the earth
New York harbor-and looked OH toward
the most interesting place had sean IN tnree
mouths-1 South Oxford street, Brooklyn.
You all know why went Russia this sum-
mer. There are many thousands OF people
who have a right to say to me. as was said
in the Bible parable, 'Give an account Of
thy stewardship" Through The Christian
Herald. which I have the honor to edit. we
had for month"; in publishers in reportorial
and editorial column, put before the people
the ghastly facts concerning twenty million
Russians who were starving to death, and
subscriptions to the relief fund had come by
letters that seemed not 80 much written
with ink as with tears some Of the
letters practically saying, I'VE find it hard
to get bread for our own families, but we
cannot stand this cry Of hunger frsm beyond
the seas, and SC please to receive the en-
closed" And others had sent jewels from
their hands and necks, saving, "Seu these
and turn them into bread" And another
letter said Enclosed is an old gold piece.
1t was mymother's. She gave it to me and
told me never to part with It except for
bread, and now inclose it," We had gath
cred thirty-tive thousand dollars in money.
which we turned into three million pounds
of -four
When went down to the board Of trade
at Chicago and left five thousand dollars Of
the amount raised with a prominent -four
merchant, taking no receipt and leaving all
to him to do the best thing, and returned, it
was suggested that had not done things in
business way. How could we know
what sort of -four would be
sent. There are styles Of -four more
fit for the trough Of the swine
than the mouths OF hungry men and women.
Well. as is customary when the tour came
to New York 1t was tested, and we found
indeed they had cheated US. They gave US
In CHICAGO fine -four, but they sent us super
fine. God bless the merchants Of Chicago!
i Now we know nothing about famine In
America, The grasshoppers may kill the
icrops in Kansas, the freshets may destroy
the crops along tho Ohio, the potato worm
nav kin the vines of Long Island, the rust
may get into the wheat OF Michigan, yet
when there has been dreadful scarcity in
some parts of the land there has been plenty
in other parts. But in districts OF Russia.
vast enough to drop several nations into
them, drought for six consecutive years has
devastated, and those districts were pre-
.viously the most productive OF aii the empire.
It was like what We would have IN
America il the hunger feud somehow got
out of hell and alig ghtei in our Land, and
swept his wing over Minnesota and said,
'let nothing grow here" aud over Missouri
and said. "Let nothing grow here, and over
New York State and said, ''Let nothing
grow here" and over Ohio and Georgia and
Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania and Ne
braska and Dakota and the Carolinas and
said, 'Let nothing grow here" and the hun.
ger fiend had swept the same whitening and
blasting wing over the best parts OF America
in the wears 1887 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891 and
1902 and finally all our families were put on
small allowance, and we all had risen from
the table hungry, and after awhile the
children had only quarter enough, and after
awhile only one meal q day. and after
awhile no good food at all, but mixture
of wheat and chaR and bark Of trees, and
then thres Of the children down with hunger
ityphus and then all the family unable to
walk, and then crawling on hands and knees,
and then one dead In each room, and neigh
bors, not quite so exhausted, coming In to
bury them, and afterward the house becom-
ing the tomb, with none to carry the dead to
more appropriate sepulcher-whole families
blottei out.
That was what occurred in Russia in
homes more than were ever counted, 10
homes that were once as comfortable and
happy and bountiful as yours or mine. in
homes as virtuous as yours or nine, In homes
where God Is worshiped as much IS in yours
or mine. It was to do little something
toward beating back that archangel OF
wretchedness and horror that We went,
and we have now to report that, &C
cording to rne estimate OF the Russian fam
inc relief committee, We saved the iiv IS OF
125, OO0 people. As at the hunger relief sta
tions the bread was handed out--tor it was
- s-A- ENl
people would halt before taking it and reli-
for the donors.
Some OF them would come stagg sring
back and say: please tell US who sent this
bread to u.s." And when told 1t came from
America they would say: "What part OF
America? Please give us the names of
those who sent It," All, God only knows
the names Of those who sent it. but He GER
tainly does know, and many prayer is
going up, I warrant you, day by day. for
those who sent dour by the ship Leo. Per
haps some Of US at our tables rattle OF
prayer that may mean nothing. although
we call it Saying grace" but L warrant
when those people who received the bread
which saved their lives said grace" it
meant something.
I xaid respectfully to a Russian when
saw him cross himself. "What do you do
that forY' ''Oh," he said, "when do that
I always say, God have mercy on me-" /
hold in my hand something very suggestive.
What does that black and uncomely thing
look ikei That is what is called hungry
bread from Russia; that is what millions
of people lived on for months be
fore help came from England, Scotland,
Ireland and America; that is mixture
which seems to have in it not one grain OF
sustenance. 1t is a mixture OF pig weed and
chaf and the sweepings Of stables. That's
something which, II dropped in the street,
your dog or cat migat snuff at. but would
not eat. That was the only food on which