The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1892-10-11
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
EHB EMINENT DIVINE DELIGHTS 4
LARGE CONGREGATION.
Lift up Thine Eyes Heavenward"-Ths
Discovery Of America by Columbus
and What Prompted It.

DIR. Talmage's discourse today was occa-
stoned by the Columbus observance now
taking place. In the overlooking audience
were many who had come to the city to
participate in the patriotic ceremonies. The
subject was Half Planet" the text be-
ing Deuteronomy 1927: Lift up thine eyes
westward
So God said to Moses in Bible times,
and so he said to Christoforo Colombo, of
Genoa, more than four hundred years ago.
The nations had been looking chiefly to-
wards 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, as his name was
called after it was Latinized, stood studying
maps and examining globes and reading
cosmography, God said to him: Lift up
thine eyes toward the west" The fact was
it must have seemed to Columbus very
lop-sided world. Like cart with one
wheel, like u scissors with one blade, like
O sack on one side of a camel needing a
sack on the other side to balance it. Here
was a bride of world with no bridegroom.
When God makes 4 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
ana the power to go all the way. L do not
wonder that Columbus was not satisfied
find the other half. The pieces of carved
wood that were tloated to the shores OF
Europe by westerly gale, and two dead
human faces, unlike anything he had seen
before likewise fiOatcd from the west, We're
10 him the voice of God saying: Lift up
md thn o.
world then as now had plenty of can the
dOncS. That is what keeps individuals back
and enterprises back and the church
back, and nations back-ignominOus and
disgusting and disheartening can t-be-dones.
Sld navisat9 tors said said to to- G young
AIphOso v, said, at can't be
done" A committee on maritime affairs.
to whom the subject was submitted, declared
1T can't be done Nenetians said. 1T
can't be done" But the father of Column
bus wife died, leaving his widow a large
number Of sea charts and maps, and as if
to condemn the Sur that dlrerent ages put
upon mothers-in-law, the mother-in-law of
Columbus gave him the navigatOr's mate
rails. out of which he ciphered America.
After Il while the story of this poor but
ambitious Columbus reaches the ear of
Queen Isabella, and she pays eighty
dollars TO buy him decent suit
of clothes, SO that he may be fit to appear
before royalty. The interview in the pal
ace was successful. Money enough was
borrowed to lit out the expedition There
they are, the three ships, in the gulf of Ca
dir, 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 hOated the Nile;
third, the Alayfower that put out from
Plymouth with the Pilgrim Fathers; and
now these three vessels that on this, the
Friday morning, August 3, 1892. are rock
ing on the rippleS. / am so glad it is Fri
day, that the prOws of those three ships
shall first of all run down the superstition
FRIDAY must necessarily prove disastrous.
Show me any Monday or Tuesday or
"Wednesday OF Thursday or Saturday that
ever accomplished much as this eXped-
ton that started on Friday. With the idea
that there will be peris connected with the
expedition, the sacrament of the Lords Sup
per is administered. Do not forget that this
voyage was begun under religious auspices.
Here is the Santa Maria, only ninety feet
long, with four mastS and eight anchors.
The captain walking the deck is fifty-seven
years old, his hair white, for at thirty five
he was gray, and his face is round, his nose
equlllne. and his stature a little taller than
the average. l know from his decided step
and the set of his jaw that he is a deter
mined man. That is Captain Christopher
to run into each other. are the smaller ships.
the 1'inta and the Nina, about large enough
and safe enough TO cross the Hudson river
or the Thames i'll good weather There are
TWO doctors i'll this fleet Of ships, and u few
landSmen, adventures who are ready to
risk their necks in Il wild expedition. There
are enough provisions for a year. Captain
Columbus. where are You sailing for!' Il
don't know" How long before you will
get there Il cannot say. All ashore
that are going is heard. and those who
wish to remain go to the land. Now the
anchors OF the three ships are being weigh
ed and the ratlnes begin to rattle and the
sails to rnfurl. The wind is dead east and
it does not take long 10 get out to sea, In
O. few hours, the adventures wish they had
not started. The ships begin to roll and
pitch Oh, it is such Il delightful sensation
for landsmen, They begin to bother Cap
tain Columbus with questions. They want
10 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 Nhat he sees and
ask more questions. The crew are rather
groty Some of them came on under fOur
months advance pay and others were i'm
pressed into the service. For sixteen days,
the wind is dead east, and that pleaSeS the
captain, because it blows them further
away and further away from the European
coast. and further on toward the shore of
another country, if there is any. After II
while, there comes calm day. and the at
tempt is made to fathOm the ocean. and
they cannot touch bottom. though the line
and lead run down POO fatLoms. More de-
ightful sensations for those who are not
good sailors! A fathom is six feet, aud
200 fathoms, 200 feet, and below that it
may be many hundred feet
voyage, on the twentieth day ont a violent
storm sweeps the sea, and the Atlantic
pecan tries what it can do with the Santa
Maria. the Pinta and the Nina. Some of
you know something of what a sea can do
with the Umbria. the Majestic, the Teu-
tonic and the City of Paris. and you must
Imagine what the ocean could do with those
three small ships of olden time. You may
judge what the ocean was then by what it
IS now: ii has never changed its habits. 1t
can smile like the morning, but often it is
the ArchaItyel of Wrath and its most roll
Kicking fun is q shipwreck. The mutinous
crew would have killed Columbus haG it
not been for the general opinion on ship
board that he was the only one that could
take them back home in safety. The PROM
Use of a silk waiStcOat and $40 in money TO
the man who should first discover land ap-
peased them somewhat. but the Indignation
and basphemy and threats of assasSna-
ton must have been awful. Yet, God sus-
tained the great sailor commanding the
Santa Maria. Every evening Oh shipbOard
they HAD prayers and sung vesper hymn.
But, after all the patience of those on board