Democratic messenger., 1892-09-03
TALMAGE IN EUROPE.
IMMENSE CONGREGATIONS IN BIR-
MlNGHAM, AND OTHER PLACES.

IMMENSE CONGREGATIONS IN BlR-
MlNGHAM, AND OTHER PLACES.
The Wonderful Powers and beauties Of
Beneath God That lie Charged Them
with Folly.
LONDON. Aug. 2s.-During the past
week DIR. Talmage has been preaching
TO enormous audiences i'll the great man
ufacturng towns of the English mid
land counties. In Birmingham, i'll spite
of the great size of the churches placed
at his disposal, il was necessary to en-
gage the town hall. the spacious build
ing in which John Bright delivered his
famous speeches to the electors, and
even this edifice would not contain half
the people who tried to get entrance At
Leicester, Cardiff and Swansea there
was the same eagerness to hear him. and
he was received with unbounded en-
thusigsm. The sermon selected for pub
LEGATION this week is on Isaiah vi, ..
with twain he covered his face, with
twain he covered his feet, and with
twain he did fly"
In hospital of leprosy good King
Uzziah had died. and the whole land
was shadowed with solemnity. and theo-
logical and prophetic Isaiah was think
ing about religions things. as one is apt
TO do in time of great national bereave-
ment. and forgetting the presence of his
wife and two sons. who made up his
family. he had dream. not like the
dreams of ordinary character. which
generally come from indigestion, but a
vision most instructive, and under the
touch of the hand of the Almighty.
The place-the ancient temple: build
ing-grand. awful. majestic. Within
that temple n throne higher and grand
er than that occupied by any czar or
sultan or emperor. On that throne the
eternal Christ. In lines surrounding
that throne the brightest celestialS. not
the cherubim. but higher than they: the
most exquisite and radiant of the heav-
enly inhabitants, the seraphim. They
are called burners because they look
like fire. Lips of fire, eyes of fire, feet
of fire. In addition 10 the features and
the limbs, which suggest human he
ing. there are pinions, which suggest the
lithest. the swifteSt, the most buoyant
and most inspiring of all intelligent
creation-a bird. Each seraph had six
wings. each two of the wings for a diff
ferent purpose. lsaiah's dream quivers
and flashes with these pinions. Now
folded, now spread. now beaten in loco
motion. With twain lie covered his
feet. with twain he covered his face, and
with twain he did fly
The probability is that these wings
were not all used at once. The seraph
standing there near the throne over
whelmed AT the insignificance of the
paths his feet had trodden as compared
with the paths trodden by the feet of
God. and with the lameness Of his loco
motion amounting almost to decrepitude
as compared with the divine velocity
with featherv veil of angelic modeSty
hides The feet. with twain he did
cover the feet.
Standing there overpowered by the
overwhelming splendors of Gods glory.
and unable longer with the eyes To look
upon them. and wishing those eyes
shaded from the insufferable glory. the
pinions gather over the countenance
With twain he did cover the face"
Then rs God tells this scraph to go 10
the farthest outpost of immensity on
message of light and love and JOY, and
get back before the first anthem, il does
not take the seraph great while to
spread himself upon the air with unim-
agined CELEBRITY; one stroke of the wing
equal TO ten thousand leagues of air.
with twain he did fly
HUMILITY THE PROPER STATE OF MAN.
The most practical and useful lesson
for you and me, when we see the seraph
spreading his wings over the feet, is a
lesson of humility at imperfection. The
brightest angels of God are so far he
meath God that he charges them with
folly. The seraph SO far bensath God,
and we so far beneath the Seraph in serv-
ice We ought Ia he plunged i'll humility
utter and complete. Our feet, how lag
gard they have been in the divine service!
Our feet, how many missteps they have
taken! Our feet, i'll how many paths of
worldliness and folly they have walked.
Neither God ror seraph intended to
put any dishonor upon that which is one
of the masterpieces Of Almighty God
the human foot Psychologist and anat-
omist are overwhelmed at the wonders
of its organization. The Bridgewater
Treatise" written by Sir Charles Bell
on the wisdom and goodness of God, as
illustrated in the human hand. was n
result of the so, 600 bequeathed in the
last will and testament of the Earl of
Bridgewater for the encouragement of
Christian literature. The world could
afford to forgive his eccentriciiies,
though he had two dogs seated at his
table, and though he put six dogs alone
in an equipage drawn by four horses
and attended by two footmen.
With his large bequest inducing Sir
Charles Bell TO write so valuable book
on the wisdom of God in the structure
of the human hand, the world could af-
ford to forgive his oddities. And the
world could now afford 10 have another
Earl of Bridgewater, however idiosyn-
cratic, if he would induce some other
Sir Charles Bell To- write book ON the
wisdom and goodness of God in the CON
struction of the human foot-the ar
ticulation of lis bones, the fabrication of
its joints. the gracefulness of its lines,
the ingenuity of its cartilages, the deli
cacy Of its veins, the rapidity of its mus
cular contraction, the sensitiveness of
its nerves.
sound the praises of the human foot.
With that we halt or climb or march.
II is the foundation of the physical
fabric 1t is the base of God poised
column. With it the warrior braces
himself for battle. With il the orator
plants himself for eulogium. With it
the toiler reaches his work. With it
the outraged stamps his indignation.
Its loss an irreparable disaster. Its
haalth an invaluable continent Ifvou