The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-09-25
CHRISTIAN JUBILEE.
DR.. Talmage Suggests Another Inter
national Exposition.


Near Brooklyn splendid Prospectus
Outlined by the Eloquent Preacher.
BROOKLYN. Sept. 24-At the Brooklyn
tabernacle this forenoon, Rev. DIR. Tai
mage preached a sermon of unusual in
terest to a vast audience, the subject
being "The Nineteen Hundredth Ami
versary; A Proposition Concerning IT.
The text was taken from Isaiah $50; "To
US a child is born"
That is a tremendous hour in the his
tory of any family when an immortal
spirit is incarnated Out Of a very dark
cloud there desceuds a very bright morn
ing. One life spared and another given. All
the bells Of gladness ring over the cradle. l
know not why anyone should doubt that
of old a star pointed down to the
Savior's birthplace, for a star Of joy
points down to every honorable nativity.
A new eternity dates from that hour, that
minute Beautiful and appropriate is
the custom of celebrating the anniver-
sary of such an event, and clear on into
the eighties and the nneties, the recur
renee of that day of the year in an old
mans life causes recognition and more or
less CONTAMINATION So, also, nations are
accustomed TO celebrate the anniversary
of their birth and the anniversary of the
birth of their great heroes or delivcrers or
benefactors The 22nd Of February 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 festiylty,
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
doXology, put the words of my text into
national and continental and hemisphere
chorus: ITO us a child is born On
Dec %, each year, that is the theme in
St Paul's and st. Peters and st. Mark
and St Isaac's and all the dedicated
Cathedrals chapes, mectng-houses and
churches clear round the world. We shall
soon reach the nineteen hundredth ami
versary of that happiest event Of all time
This century is dying. Only seven more
pulsatons and its heart will cease to
beat. The fingers of many of you will
write at the head OF your letters and the
foot of your important documents, 1900. ~
II will be a physical and moral sensation
unlike anything else you have before eX-
perienced. Not one hand that wrote
I" 1901 at the induction Of this
century will have cunning left to
write 1901" at the induction of an
other 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 genera
tions of the worlds inhabitants never ex-
perienced pray God that there may be
no sickness or casualty TO hinder your ar
rival at that goal, or TO hinder your
taking part in the valedictOry of the de-
parting century and the salutation of the
new. But as that season will be the
nineteen hundredth anniversary of
Saviour'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 at least one
month into the year 1901. This
century closing Dec. 81 1900, and the new
century beginning Jan. l. 1901, will il not
be time for all nations to turn aside for a
few weeks or months from everything
else and emphasize the birth of the great
est Being who ever touched our planet,
and could there be a more appropriate
time for such COmmemOration than this
elimination of the centuries which are
dated from his aativity3 You know that
all history dates either from before Christ
VI tAAlSi AAAlSts libllA d. ~ VI "A u IL
will be the year Of our Lord 1900, passing
into the year 1901 We have had the cen
tennial at Philadelphia, celebrative of the
one hundredth anniversary of our nations
birth. We have had the magnificent ex-
positions at New Orleans. and At
lanta, and Augusta and st. Louis.
We have had the present
worlds exposition at Chicago, cele-
brative of the four hundredth anniversary
of this continents emergence and there
are at least two other great celebrations
promised for this country, and other coun-
tries will have their historic events to
commemorate, but the one event that has
most to do with the welfare Of all nations
is the arrival of Jesus Christ on this
planet, and all the enthusiasm ever wit
messed at London or Vienna or Paris. or
any of our American cities would be
eclipsed by the enthusiasm that would
celebrate the ransom of call nations the
first step towards the accomplishing of it
being taken by an infantile foot one win
ter's night, about five miles from Jerusa-
lem, when the clouds dropped the an
gelic cantata: GLORY to God in the
highest, and on earth, peace, good will to
men"
The three or four questions that would
be asked me concerning this nomination
of time and place, / proceed to answer.
What practical use would come of such
international celebration Answer; the
biggest stride the world ever took toward
the evangelization of all nations This is
grand and wonderful convocation, the
religious congress at Chicago. IL will put
intelligently before the world the nature
of false religions which have been bru-
talizing the nations, trampling woman
hood into the dust, enactiug the horrors
of infanticide, kindling funeral pyres for
shrieking victims, and rolling juggernauts
across the mangled bodies of their wor-
shippers. But no one suppOses that any
one will be converted to Christ by hearing
COnfucianism or Buddhism or any form of
heathenism eulOgized. That is to be done
afterward. And how can it 50 well be
done as by celebration of many weeks
of the birth and character and achieve
ments of the wondrOus and unprece-
dented Christi To such an exposition the
kings and queens of the earth would not
send their representatives they would
come themselves The story of a Sa-
viOr's advent could not be told without
telling the story of his mission All the
world would say, why this ado. this uni
versal demonstration What vivid pre-
sentation it would be, when, at such a
conVocation, the physicians of the world
should tell what Christ had done for hos
pitfalls and the assuagement of human
pain, and when Christian lawyers declare
what Christ has done for the establish
ment of good laws, and Christian con-
querors should tell what Christ has done