The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-04-24
A BROOKLYN PASTORATE.
Talmage'S TWenty-iOur Year in the
City Of Churches.

Brooklyn April 23.-Rev. DR.. Talmage
to-day preached his oath anni-
versary sermon. Subject; "A Brooklyn
Pastoratc." The occasion was an un-
usually interesting one, and the great
audience was visibly impressed during
the services. Over the pulpit in flowers
were the figures, 1859" and "ls99" The
text was, Rev. iv. 4: And round about
the throne were four and twenty seats,
and upon the seats ] saw four and
twenty elders"
This text 1 choose chiefly for the nu-
merals it mentions, namely four and
twenty. That was the number of elders
seated around the throne of God. But
that is the number of years seated around
my Brooklyn ministry, and every pulpit
is a throneO OF blessing or blasting a throne
of good or evil. And to-day in this my
twenty-fourth anniversary sermon,
twenty-fOur years come and sit around
me, and they speak out in "reminiscences
of gladness and tears Twcnty-four years
ago | arrived in this city to shepherd such
flock as might come, aud that day z
carried in on my arms tho infant son who
III two weeks from to-day ] win help to
ordain to the ministry hoping that he'
Will be preaching long after my poor work
is done.
We have received into our membership
thousands Of souls, but they | think are
only a small portion of the mutitudes
who, coming from all parts Of the earth,
have in our house Of God been blest, and
saved Although we have as church
raised million and one hundred thous-
and dollars for religious purposes, yet we
are IN the strange position Of not know
ing whether in two or three months we
shall have any church at all, and with
audiences Of thousands of people crowded
into this room and the adjoining rooms,
we are confronted with the question
whether / shall go on with my work here
or go to some other field What an awful
necessity that we should have been OBJ
liged TO build three immense churches,
two Of them destroyed by fire,
A misrepresentation is abroad that the
financial exigcncy of this church is past.
Through journalistic and personal friends
a breathing spell has been afforded us,
but before US yet are financial obligations
which must promptly be met or speedily
this house of God will 90 into worldly
uses and become theatcr or a concert
hall, The twelve thousand dollass
raised cannot cancel "a floating debt
OF one hnndred and f0stV th0ueand
dollars. Through the kindness Of those
10 whom we are indebted, sixty thou
sand dollars would set us forever free.
am glad to say that the case Is not hope
less We are daily in receipt of touching
evidences Of practical sympathy from all
classes of the community and from all
sections Of the country, and it was but
yesterday that by my own hand ] sent,
for contributions gratefully recei we'd,
nearly fifty Acknowledgements, cast, west,
north and south
Our trust is in the Lord who divided
the Red sea and made the mountains
skip like lambs" With this paragraph
dismiss the financial subject, and return
to the spiritual. This morning the great
ness of Gods kindness Obliterates every-
thing, and If / wanted to build groan, I
do not know IN what forest | would hew
the mber, or from what quarry would
dig the foundation stone, or who would
construct for me an organ with a tremolo
for the only stop; and so this morning I
occupy my time in building one great mas
sive, high, deep, broad, heaveu-piercing
halleluJah. In the review of the last
twenty-four years ] think it may be use
full to consider some Of the characteristics
Of Brooklyn pastorate.
In the first place / remark that Brook
Ign pastorate is always a difficult pastor-,
ate. No city under the sun has q grander
array of pulpit talent than Brooklyn
The Methodists, the Baptists, the Con-
gregationalists, the Episcopalians, all the
denominations send their brightest lights
here. He who stands in any pulpit in
Brooklyn preaching, may know that he
stands within fifteen minutes walk Of
sermons which a Saurin and a Bourda-
loue, and John NJ. Mason, and a George
Whitfield would not be ashamed Of No
city under the sun where a poor sermon
is such drug on the market.
For forty years Brooklyn has been sur
charged with hOmiletics, an electricity OF
a. a 4
flashed, from the old pulpits which
quaked with the powers of Bethune,
and q Cox, and Spencer, and Spear,
and a VintOn, and "a Farley, and Beecher,
not mentioning the names of the mag
nifcent men now manning the Brooklyn
pulpits. So during all the time there has
been something to appeal to every mans
taste, and to crafty every mans prefer
ence.
Now, let me say to all ministers of the
gospel who are ambitious for Brooklyn
pulpit, that it is always "A difficult pastor
ate. If man shall come and stand be-
fore any audience in almost any church
in Brooklyn he will find before him men
who have heard the mightiest themes dis
cussed in the mightiest way. You viii
have before you, If you fail in an argli-
ment, fifty logicians in a 6dget. If YOU
make a slip in the use of a commercial
figure of speech, there win be five nun-
dred merchants who viii notice it. IL
you throw out an anchor or furl sail in
the wrong way, there will be ship cap
tains right Off who will wonder if YOU are
as ignorant of theology as you are of navi-
cation. So it viii be a place Of hard
study. If you are going to maintain YOUR
self, you will find a Brooklyn pastorate o
dif1cult pastorate.
remark still further, Brooklyn pas
torate is always a conspicuous pastorate.
The printing press of the country has no
greater force than that on the scacoast.
Every pulpit word, good or bad, wise or
ignorant, kind or mean, is watched. The
reportorial corps Of these cities is an or
ganized army. Many of them have coll
legiate education and large culture, and
they are able to weigh oration or address,
or sermon. If you say a. silly thing you
Will never hear the end of it, and If sou
say a wise thing it will go into perpetual
multiplication. There is no need of de-
crying that fact. Men whose influence
has been built by the printing press
spend the rest Of their lives in denounc-
ing newspapers. The newspaper is the
pulpit on the wing. More preaching done
on Monday than on Sunday The om-
niverous, alleged printing press is ever
vigilant.
Besides that, a Brooklyn pastoratc Is