Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1893-05-11
IN FIELD AND WOOD.
REV. Or. TALMAeE's THOUGHTS sUe-
GESTED BY MAYTlME.


Beautiful Imagery Of the Bible Drawn
From the Woods and FIelds-The Gar
den OF the Lord Open to All Who Will
Enter.
PHILADELPHIA, May REV DR.. Tai
mage is in this city today, participating in
the services at the ordination of his son,
Rev. Frank Talmage, to the ministry. he
has dictated the following sermon on a
timely and seasonable topic, "Maytime
Thoughts" the text selected being the
beautiful words of Solomon's Song iv, 15,
"A fountain Of gardens, well OF living
waters and streams from Lebanon"
Some of the finest gardens of olden times
we're to be found at the foot of Mount Leb-
anon. Snow descended, and winter whit
ened the top Of the mountain. Then when
the warm spring weather came the SHOWS
melted and poured down the side of the
mountain and gave great luxuriance to the
gardens at the foot, and you see now the
allusion of my text when it speaks of the
fountain Of gardens and streams from Leb-
anon.
Again and again the church is repre-
sented as a garden all up and down the
word Of God, and it is a figure specially
suggestive at this season of the year, when
the parks and the orchards are about to
put forth their blossom and the air is filled
with bird voices
MOTHERS DEVICE.
A mother wished to impress her child
with the love of God, and SO in the spring
time, after the ground had been prepared
In the garden, she took handful of flower
seeds and scattered these seeds in the shape
of letters across the bed of the garden
Weeks passed by, and the rains and The
sunshine had done their work, and one day
the child came in and said, Mother, come
quickly to the garden-come now" The
mother followed the child to the garden
and the little child said: Look here
motherl SeeI It is spelled all over the
| ground in flowers, God Is Love-"
Oh, my friends, if we only had faitf
enough, we could see gospel lessons al
around and about us-lessons in shells OIL
the beach, lessons in sparkles on the wave
lessons in stars on the sky, lessons in flow
ers all over the earth.
| Well, my friends, you know very wei
that there have been some beautiful gar
dens created There was the garden o
Charlemagne, and you remember that thii
king ordered gardens laid out all through
the realm and decided by decree of govern
ment what kind of flowers should be planted
in those gardens. Henry Nv at Montpel
lier decreed that there should be flower
planted throughout his realm and garden
laid out, and he specially decreed that ther
should be Alpine pyrena and French plants
ShenStone, the poet, was more celebrated TO
his gardens than for his poetry. Hispoetr,
has faded from the ages for the most part
but his gardens are immortal. To all tn
beauty of his place he added perfection o
art. Palisade and arch and arbor and foun
tain and rustic temple had their most won
derful specimens, and the oak, and the hazel
and the richest woods Of the forest wer
planted in that garden. He had genius. an,
he had industry, and all his genius and al
his industry he applied to the beautificatioI
of that garden. He gave for it 81 800, an,
he sold it at last for $s5,00O, OF what wa
equal to that number of dollars. 1t was al
expensive garden, laid out with great elat
Grafton. And yet have to tell you now @
q garden of vaster expense, the garde
spoken of in my text, a fountain of garden
with the streams from Lebanon.
AFFECTING STORY OF WALTER SCOTT.
Walter Scott had the great ambition G
his life to build Abbotsford and lay out ez
tensive gardens round about it. 1t brok
his heart that he could not complete tn
work as he desired it. At his last paymen
of a100,00O, after laying out those garden
and building that palace of Abbotsford, a
that time his heart broke, his health failed
and he died almost an imbecile.
A few years ago, when walked throug
those gardens and thought at what vas
expense they had been laid out-at the e1
pense of that mans life-it seemed coul
see in the crimson flowers the blood of th
old mans broken. heart. But have to te
you now Of garden laid out at vaster e1
pense-who can calculate that vast expense
Tell me, ye women who watched him hans
tell me, ye executioners who lifted and le
him down; tell me, thou sun that dds
hide and ye rocks that did fall, what th
laying out of this garden cost? This mor1
ing, amid the aroma and brightness of th
springtime, it is appropriate that l sho'
you how the church of Christ is garden.
remark first it is garden because {
the rare plants in it. That would be
strange garden in which there were no flow
ers. If you cannot find them anywhel
else, you will find them along the path
and you will find them at the gateway.
IF there be no especial taste and no esp
cial means, you will find there the holl,
hook, and the daffodil, and the dahlia.
there be no especial taste and no especi,
means, you will find the Mexican cactu
and the bluebell, and the arbutus, and tt
clusters of oleanders.
THE GARDEN OF THE LORD.
Flowers there must be in every gardel
and have to tell you that in the garden
the church are the rarest plants. Som
: times you will find the violets, inconspicl
GUS, but sweet as heaven-C Christian SOU
with no pretense, but Of vast usefulnes
: comparatively unknownon earth, but to |
, !, glorious in celestial spheres. Violets an
Q violets all the time. You cannot tell whel
these Christians have been save by I'll
: Frightening face of the invalid, or the stean
ing tureen on the stand near the sick pi
. low, or the new curtain that keeps out ii
! glare of the sun from the poor mans CO
} oucn cudrdcteES afe perhaps pe1Uer oypIns
by the ranunculus which goes creeping b
tween the thorns and the briers of this lif
giving kiss for sting, and many q ms
has thought that life before him was
black rock of trouble and found it cover,
Z all over with delightsome jasmine of Chr
tian sympathy.
In this garden of the Lord I find the Me
ican cactus, loveliness within, thorns wit
! out men with great sharpness of behavi
5 and manner, but within them the peace
! God, the love Of God, the grace of Go
Z They are hard men to handle, ugly men
touch, very apt to strike back when "
strike them, yet within them all loveline
: and attraction, while outside SO complete
unfortunate. Mexican cactus all the tim
L Said placid elder to a Christian min