The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-10-25

subjects and being closely followed by
the printing press for about twenty-five
years, the Rev. Dr. Talmage still seems
10 find new subjects that have never
been preached on. This forenoon he
chose for his subject Unsafe Life
boats" the text being Acts xvii. 80,
Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of
the boat and let her fall Off"
While your faces are yet somewhat
bronzed by attendance on the interna-
tional boat contest between the Vigilant
and the Valkyrie 1 address you. Good
things when there is no betting or dis
sipation, those outdoor sports We want
more fresh air and breeziness in our
temperaments and our religion. a stale
and slow and lugubrious religion may
have done for other times, yet will not
do for these. But my text calls our at
tentIon to boat of a different sort, and
instead of the Atlantic it is the Medi-
terranean. and instead of not wind
enough, as the crews OF the Vigilant and
Valkyrie the other day complained,
there is too much wind and the swoop
of a Euroclydon.
l am not calling your attention so
much to the Janus ship on which Paul
was the distinguished passenger, but to
the lifeboat of that ship which no one
seems to notice. For a fortnight the
main vessel had been tossed and driven
For that two weeks. the account says.
the passengers had continued fasting"
I suppose the salt water. dashing over
had spoiled the sea biscuit and the pas
sengers were seasick anyhow.
The sailors said. cit is no use; this
ship must go down." and they proposed
among themselves to lower the lifeboat
and get into IL and take the chances for
reaching shore. although they pretended
they were going to get over the sides
OF the big ship and down into the life
boat only TO do sailors duty. That was
not sailorlike, for the sailors that have
known were all intrepid fellows and
would rather go down with the ship than
do such a mean thing as those Jack
Tars of my text attempted.
When on the Mediterranean last June
the Victoria sank under the ram of the
Camperdown, the most majestic thing
about that awful scene was that all the
sailors staid at their posts doing their
duty. As a class all over the world sail
ors are valorous, but these sailors of the
do duty while they were really prepar-
ing for flight in the lifeboat. But these
marines on board-sea soldiers-had
In especial charge a little missionary
who was turning the world upside down,
and when these marines saw the trick
the sailors were about to play they lifted
the cutlasses from the girdle and chop!
chop! went those cutIasses into the
ropes that held the lifeboat, and splash!
1t dropped into the sea
My text describes 1.-THE soldiers cut
off the ropes of the beat and let her fall
on" As that empty lifeboat dropped
and was capsiZed on a sea where for
two weeks winds and pillows had been
in battle. think that many on board
the main vessel felt their last hope of
ever eaching home had vanished In
that tempestuous sea a,>small boat could
not have lived five minutes.
A Tribute 10 Sailors.
Ny subject is Unsafe Lifeboats" We
cannot exaggerate the Importance of the
lifeboat. All honor to the memory of
Lionel Lukin. the coach builder of Long
Acre, London. who invented the first
lifeboat. and do not blame him for or
the inscription that you may still read
there:
This Lionel Lukin was the first who
built lifeboat, and was the original
inventor of that principle of safety by
which many lives and much property
have been preserved from shipwreck,
and he obtained for it the kings patent
in the year 1885,
All honor TO the memory to Sir Will
fam Hillary. who. living in the Isle of
Man, and after assisting with his own
hand in the rescue of 305 lives of the
shipwrecked. stirred the English parlia-
ment to quick action In the construction
of hfeboats. Thanks to God for the
sublime and pathetic and divine mission
of the Hfeboat. No one will doubt it's
important mission who has read of the
wreck OF the Amazon in the Bay of
Biscay, of the Tweed running on the
reefs of the Gulf of Mexico, or of the
Ocean Monarch on the coast OF Wales,
or OF the Birkenhead on the Cape of
Good Hope. or of the Royal Charter on
the coast Of Anglesea, or of the Ex-
mouth on the Scotch breakers. or of the
Cambria on the Irish coast, or of the
Atlantic on the rocks OF Nova Scotia, or
Of the Lexington on Long Island sound.
To add still further to the Importance
of the lifeboat, remember there are at
least 100000 men following the sea, to
say nothing OF the uncounted millions
at this moment ocean passengers. We
land lubbers," as sailors call u.s. may
not know the difference between a mar
linespike and ring bolt, or anything
about heaving a log, or rigging out a
flying jibboom, or furling a topsail, but
we all realize to greater or less extent
the Importance of a Hfeboat in every
marine equipment.
The Souls Lffeboat.
But do we feel the Importance Of a
lifeboat in the matter Of the SOULS
rescue? There are times when we all
feel that we are out at sea, and as many
disturbing and anxious questions strike
us as waves struck that vessel against
the sides OF which the lifeboat of my
text dangled. Questions about the
church. Questions about the world.
Questions about God. Questions about
our eternal destiny. Every thinking
man and woman has these questions
and In proportion as they are thinking
people do these questions arise There
is no wrong in thinking. II God had
not intended US to think, and keep on
thinking, he would not have built under
this wheelhouse of the skull this think
ing machine, which halts not in it's revO-
luton from cradle to grave. Even the