The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1893-09-29
A MONSTER JUBILEE
AN INTERESTING PROPOSITION FROM
DR.. TALMAGE.

! Tabernacle this forenoon Rev. DIR. Tai
image preached a sermon Of unusual in
terest' to vast audience, the subject
being 1.-THE Nineteen Hundredth Ami
Hersary. A Proposition Concerning tt"
The text was taken from Isaiah tx, @,
ITO us child is born"
That is tremendous hour in the his.
tory of any family when an immortal
spirit is incarnated. Out Of very dark
cloud there descendsa very bright morn
ing. One life spared and another given.
All the bells of gladness ring over the
cradle. know not why any one should
doubt that Of old a star pointed down to
the Saviour's birthplace, for star of joy
points down every honorable nativity.
"A new eternity dates from that hour,
! that minute.
Beautiful and appropriate is the GUS
/ tom of celebrating the anniversary of
such an event, and clear on into the
that day of the year in an old mans life
causes recognition and more or less con-
graduation. So also nations are ac-
customed to celebrate the anniversary
pf their birth and the anniversary of
the birth of their great heroes or de-
liverers or be nefactors. The 22d of Feb
ruary and the 4th of July are never
allowed to pass in our land without
banquet and Grafton and bell ringing
and cannonade. But all other birthday
anniversaries are tame compared with
the Christmas festivity, which celebrates
the birthday described in my text.
Protestant and Catholic and Greek
churches, with all the power of music
and garland and procession and doxol-
ogy, put the words of my text into ma
| tioAal and continental and hemisphere
chorus, 10 us child is born" On
the 25th of December each year that is
The theme III st, raurs and st. Peters
and st. Marks and st. Isaac's and all
the dedicated cathedrals, chapels, meet
ing houses and churches clear round the
world.
We shall soon reach the nineteen
hundreth anniversary of that happiest
event of all time. This century is dy-
ing. Only seven more pulsations, and
| its heart will cease to beat. The fingers
of many of you will write it at the head
of your letters and the foot Of your i'm
portant documents, 1900" 1t will be
| h physical and moral sensation unlike
anything else you have before expert
| enced. Not emo hand that wrote "1801''
at the induction of this century will
have cunning left to write 1902 at the
| Induction of another.
The death of one century and the birth
of another century will be sublime and
suggestive and stupendous beyond all
Estimate. To stand by the grave of one
century and by the cradle of another
will be an opportunity such as whole
generations Of the worlds inhabitants
never experienced. pray God that there
may be no sickness or casualty to hinder
your arrival at that goal or to hinder
your taking part in the veledictory OF
the departing century and the salutation
| of the new.
But as that season will be the nine.
teen hundredth anniversary of Say.
iouE's birth, | now nominate that great
| international jubilee or exposition be
opened in this cluster Of cities by the
seacoast on Christmas day, the 25th Of
| December, 1900, to be continued for al
least one month into the year 1901. This
century closing Dec. 81, 1860, and tbs
new century beginning Jan. l, 1901
| will it not be time for all nations tC
| turn aside for few weeks or months
from everything else and emphasize tbs
birth of the greatest being who ever
! touched our planet, and could there be
a more appropriate time for such com
| memoration than this elimination Of
| the centuries which are dated from his
| nativity? You know that all history
dates either from before Christ or aftel
| Christ, from B. G. or A. D. 1t will bt
the year of our Lord 1900 passing int,
the year 1901.
| We have had the Centennial at Phila
| helphia, celebrative of the one hundredtl
anniversary of our nations birth. w,
have had the magnificent expositions a
| New Orlean. and Atlanta and Augustt
and St. Louis. We have the presen
| World exposition at Chicago. celebratiy,
pf the four hundredth anniversary of thi
continents emergence, and there arr
ut least two other great celebration
promised for this country, and 9th
er countries will have their historii
events to commemorate, but the ON
went that has most to do with the vel
| fare of all nations is the arrival of Jesu
Christ on this planet, and all the enthu
siasm ever witnessed at London or Wien
| ha or Paris Or any of our American cite
| would be eclipsed by the enthusiasm tina
would celebrate the ransom of all ma
lions, the first step toward the accom-
plishing of it being taken by an infan
tile foot one winters night about fiv
miles from Jerusalem, when the cloud
dropped the angelic cantata, GLORY t,
God in the highest, and on earth peace
| good will to men,"
| The three or four questions that woult
be asked me concerning this nomination
of time and place proceed to answer
What practical use would come of sucl
| INTERNATIONAL CeleDTdu1Ou! AuSWeF-l0
biggest stride the world ever took to
ward the evangelization Of all nations
That is grand and wonderful convoca
tion, the religious congress at Chicago
It will put intelligently before the worl
The nature of false religions which hav
been brutalizing the nations, trampin
Momanhood into the dust, enacting til
horrors of infanticide, kindling funera
pyres for shrieking victims, and rollin
6uggernauts across the mangled bodie
of their worshipers.
But no one supposes that any one vii
be converted to Christ by hearing Cor
fucianism or Buddhism or any form G
heathenism eulogized. That is to b
done afterward. And how can it SO we
be done as by celebration Of man
weeks of the birth and character an
achievements of the wondrous and VI
precedented Christ? To such an expos
ton the kings and queens of the cart
would not send their representatives
they would come themselves.
The story of "a Saviour's advent coul
not be told without telling the story {
his mission. All the world would sa.
| = =.