Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1892-04-04
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
tcontinuod from second Page.

biihJ udy w utiy ~ hobblilS ucDb. Al ble
morning old DR.. Stephen II. Tying, the
glory of the Episcopal church and the
Chrysostom of the American pulpit,
preached sermon which fingered in iLs
gracious effects as long as the building
stood. Flo read enough out Of the Epis-
copal prayer book TO keep himself from
being reprimanded by his bishop 70,
preaching at non-Episcopal service
and we, although belonging to another
den0minatip, responded with hearti-
ness, as though we were used to the
liturgy "Gool Lord, deliver usl'
During the short time we occupied
that building we had constant down
pour of religious awakening. HosannahI
Ten million years in heaven viii have nc
power to dim my memory of the glorious
times we had in that first Tabernacle,
which, because Of its invasion of the u.s.
ual style of church architecture, was
called by some "Talmage's Hippo
drome," by others, "Church of the Holy
Circus" and by other mirthful nomen-
clature. But it was building perfect
for acoustioI, and stood long enough to
have its imitation in all the large cities
of America and to completely revolu-
tionize church architecture. People
saw that it was the common sense way
of seating an audience.
Instead of putting them in an angular
church, where each one chiefly saw the
back part of somebody elses head, the
audience were arranged in semicircle,
80 that they could see one another's faces,
and the auditorium was great family
circle seated around o fireplace, which
was the pulpit. 1t was an iron struc-
ture, and we supposed fireproof, but the
insurance companies looked at it, and
after we had gone too far to stop in its
construction, they declined to insure it,
except for mere nothing, declaring
that, being Of iron, if the infammable
material between the sheets of iron took
fire no engine hose could play upon it.
And they were right. During those
days we educated and sent out from a
lay college under our charge some
twelve hundred young men and women,
many of them becoming evangelists and
many Of them becoming regularly or
dained preachers. and meet them in
all parts of the land toiling nightly for
God.
One Sunday morning in December,
1879, the thermometer nearly down to
zero, was ON my way to church. There
was an excitement in the street and
much smoke in the air. Fire engines
dashed past, But my mind was on the
sermon | was about to preach, until
some one rushed up and told me
that our church was going up in the
same kind of chariot that Elijah took
from the banks of the Jordan. That
Sunday morning tragedy, with its
wringing of hands and frozen tears on
the check Of many thousands standing
in the street. and the crash that shook
the earth, is as vivid as though it were
yesterday. But it was not perfect loss.
All were anxious to do something,
and as on such occasions sensible people
are apt to do unusual things, one of the
members, at the risk of his life, rushed
in among the fallen walls, mounted the
pulpit and took q glass of water from
the table and brought it in safety to the
street. So you see it was not total
loss. Within an hour from many
churches camo kind invitations to oc-
cupy their buildings, and hanging against
a lamppost, near tho destroyed building,
before IL o'clock that morning, was a
board with the inscription, "The con-
gregation of Brooklyn Tabernacle will
worship tonight in Plymouth church,"
Mr.. Beecher made the opening prayer,
which was full of commiseration for me
and my homeless flock, and preached
that night The sermon that intended to
preach that morning i'll my own church,
tho text concerning the precious ala
baster box broken at the feet of Christ,
and sure enough we had one very pre-
cious brohan that day. We were, as q
church, obliterated. "But arise and
build said many voices. Another
architect took the amphitheatrical plan
of a church, which, in the first instance,
was necessarily somewhat rude, and de-
veloped it into an elaborate plan that
was Immediately adopted. But how to
raise the money for such an expensive
undertaking was the question expensive
not because Of any senseless adornment
proposed, but expensive because of the
immense size of the building needed to
ncstss -urs- aggregation.
1t was AZ chat time when for years our
entire count y was suffering, not from a
financial panic, but from that long con-
tinued financial depression which all
business men remember, as tho cloud
hung heavy year after year and COM
mercial establishments without number
went down. Through what struggles
we passed the Eternal God and some
bravo souls today remember. Many n
time would have gladly accepted calls
to some other field, but l could not
leave the flock in tho wilderness. AT
last, after in the interregnum having
worshiped in our beautiful Academy Of
Music, on tho morning Of Feb. %, 1874,
the anniversary of the Washington WHIT
conquered impossibilities and on thu
Sabbath that always celebrates the res
direction, DR.. Byron Sunderland, chap
lain of the United States senate, thrilled
us through and through with a dedica
tory sermon from Haggai ii, 0, "ThC
glory of this house shall be greater THAI
that of the former, saith the Lord o
Hosts"
The corner stone of that building hat
been laid by the illustrious anu Row en-
throned DR.. Irenmus Prime. On tn
platform on dedication day sat, among
others, DR.. Bowling, of the Baptis
church; DR.. Crook, Of the Methods
church; Mr.. Beecher, of the Congrega