Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1893-10-02
THE TABERNACLE.
raLmAeE oiscoURsEs ON THE
GARDENS OF THE SEA.

t< 1farvrls OF the Dcop Adord furthar
:.5of Of God's Inhnlte Power and wis
~, --.Jonah's Submarine DiseoverIes--A
e6ct Tieid For investigation.
I5apoKi.YN, Oct. lin his sermon this
~, bon IN tho Brooklyn Tabernacle, as IN
1IG<t other discourses, Rev. T. De Witt
1iiAece took his hcaWra and readers
~sh qh an untried region Of thought and
'tIHtA subject for most practical gospeli-
||h in "'rhc Garden OF the Sea-" The
H.t| ELECTED was Jonah q, 5, THE weeds
\. I,o wrapped about my head"
tI'he Botany OF the Bible; or, God among
MNlowers" lisa fascinating subject. hold
H1ls hand book which brought from
Nitftine, bound in olive wood, and within
ntr pressed flowers, which have not only
1l1ited their color, but their aroma.
1oWers from Bethlehem, flowers from
ofutaleni, flowers from Gethscmane,
ustis from Mount OF Olives, flowers from
iuthany, flowers from Sloan, flowers
,1fn the valley Of Jehoshaphat, rcd anem-
lines i,nd wild mignonette, buttercups. dali
'iea. cyclamens, cainohile, bluebells, ferns,
,osses, grasses nnd a wealth Of fora that
etpf me fascinated by the hour, and every
me open IL IL Is new revelation. II
sthe New Testament Of the fields. But
Nv taxi lends US into another realm of the
otniical kingdom.
Having spoken to you in n course Of ser
aons about God eyerywherc-on 1.-THE As
ronosny OF the Bible; or, God Among the
,t,irs.' "Tho Orthodoxy OF the Bible; or,
;od Among the Birtls;p "rhe IchthyoloRy
f,tle Bible; or, God Among the Fishes;"
jTtA Niueralogy OF the Bible; or, God
lr,.bg tho Amcthysts;" "1he Conohology
ftAe Bible; or, God Among the Shells;"
I4 Chronology OF the Bible; or, God
y 1,song the ccnturiesn--l speak nowto you
-ttss ''rhe Botany Of the Bible; or God
ia M Gardens Of the Sea"
q BOTANY OF THE DIBLE,
qtfthough purposely take this morning
.or. Reconsideration the least Observed and
cod appreciated of all the botanical prod
icts of thc world, we shall find the contem-
,lntion very absorbing In all our theolog-
cal seminnries where we make ministers
,hvfe ought to be professors to give lessons
/ 10 natural history. Physical science ought
phe taught side by side with revelation.
Il Is the same God who inspires the page Of
The natural world as the page Of tho Scrip
tufnl world.
+ What u freshening up it would be to our
scrinons 10 press into them even frng-
ment of Mediterranean seAweedl Weshould
have fewer sermons awfully dry II we imi-
't.tcd our blessed Lord, and in our dis
couueB, like him, we would let a lily
bloom, or crow fly, or u hen brood her
chlckcns, or crystal of salt flash out the
prcservative qualities Of religion. The trout
lblo IL that in many OF cur theological eem-
fnarics men who are so dry themselves
they never could get people to come and
hear them preach arc now trying to teach
foiihg men how to preach, aud the student
hF put between two great presses Of dog
lnatio theology and squeezed until there IL
no BE left in him. Give tho poor victim
..At l.ust one lesson on tho botany OF the
'sible.
That was an awful plunge that the re-
lrennt prophet Jonah made when, dropped
Ssyer the gunwhles OF the Mediterranean
i'hip, he sank many fathoms down into a
sea. Both before and after
hemonster Of the deep swallowed him, he
mas entnngled In seawced. The jungles
i tho deep throw their cOrdage Of vegeta-
jon. around him. Some Of this seaweed
vas anchored to the bottom Of the watery
,byshi, and some Of 1t was afloat and swal-
owed by the great sea monster, so that
While the prophet was at the bottom of the
leep utter he was horribly imprisoned
40 Gould exclhim and did exclaim in the
.worls OF my text, 1.-THE weeds were wrap
ped about my head"
n JoNAn's SUBMARINE DISCOVERIES.
!. Jonah was the FIRST TO record that there
arc grOwths upon the bottom of the sea az
rNell as upon land. The first picture lever
own ed wasa handful OF seaweeds pressed on
nngc, and l called them "the shorn locks
Or Neptune" These products of the deep,
] vtether brown or green or yellow or purple
or red or intershot OF many colors, are most
Matchmaking They arc distributed all over
It'd depths and from Arctic 10 Antarctic
TIM God thinks well Of them conclude
from the fact that he has made 0,000 species
oiithem. Sometimes these water plants
i.re 400 or 700 feet long, and they cable the
fos- One specimen has growth Of 900
I, ton the northwest shore OF our country is
70 seaweed with leaves 80 or 40 feet long,
amid which the sea otter makes his home,
r1stlng himself on the buoynncy of the leaf
and stem. The thickest jupgles OF the
tropics are not more full OF vegetation
than tho depths OF tho sea. There are for
es's down there, and vast prairies all
nbloom, and God walks there MS he walked
IN the garden Of Eden Sin the cool Of the
day." Oh, what enhancement, this sub
laqueous world Oh, the God given won
ders OF the seaweedl Ita birthplace is a
palnce OF crystal. The cradle that rocks 1t
~ the storm. Its grave Is sarcophagus OF
betyl and sapphire. There is no night
! down there.
There are creatures Of God on the bottom
OF the sea so constructed that strewn all
aiSng they make n frmament besprent with
STAN, consultations and galaxies OF impos.
Ing luster. The sea feather is a lamplight-
e.. The gymnotus is an electrician. and hs
/, " surcharged with electricity and makes
the deep bright with the lightning OF the
sea The gorgoniA flashes like jewels. There
afD sea anemoues ableze with light. There
ART the starfsh aud mconlsh, these called
heeanse they so powerfully suggest stellar
and lunar illumination.
Oh, these midnight lanterns Of tho ocean
tn>crns; these professions of flame over the
White door Of the deep; these Illumination
tlfee miles down under the sea; these goi-
6sously upholstered castles ofthe Almighty
m the UNDERWORLD The author Of thetcxt
ffif the pull OF the hidden vegetation OF the
I N1hitcrranean, whether or not he npprcci-
s.ei its beauty, "a he cried out, "rhe weeds
Vefe wrapped about my head"
THE s9PuLcHrR OF TILE SEA.
Let my subject cheer al those who had
tFlends who have Cl,ttni lifil&d at sea or in
Qnr great American lakes, Which of us
Wrought up on she Atlantic SfSast has NOT