The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1893-01-06
HOLY DAY.
Christmas Sermon By Rev. 7. De
Witt Talmage.
The IIlustrious Birthday-Annusl Deca-
dence Cannot BE Stopped-The New
Year and what 1t May Bring
to the World.

Iaimage preached at brooklyn ser
mon appropriate to the holiday season.
The text was from Colossians ii. 10:
tIn respect of a holy-day." DIR. Tai
mage said:
What the Bible here and elsewhere
calls holy-day, we, by change of one
letter and change of pronunciation, call
holiday. But by change of spelling
and accentation we cannot change the
fact that holidays have great signifi-
canoe. As long as the world stands
Christmas Day and New Years Day and
Easter Day will be charged and sur
charged with solemn suggestive
ness and holy mirth- Whether
you take the old style of my
text and call them holy-days or
the modern style and call them holt
days, they somehow set all my nerves
a-tingle and my deeper emotions into
profoundest agitation. l am glad that
this season we have the holidays COM
pletely bounded. For years Christmas
Day, starting in the midst of one week
and New Years Day starting in the
midst of another week, we have been
perplexed to know when the holidays
began and when they ended. and per-
haps we may have begun them too soon
or continued them too long. But this
year they are bounded by two branches
of gold, Sabbath, December %, 1892,
and Sabbath, January 1, 1898. The one
Sabbath this year commentaries the
birth of the greatest being that
ever walked the earth; the other
celebrates the birth of that which
is to be one of the greatest
years of all time. The one
day supernatural because of an I'M
hinged star and angelic doxology. and
the other day natural, but part of
procession that started with the worlds
existence and will go on until the world
is burned up; both the first and the last
days of these holidays coming in with
Sabbatical splendor and solemnity, and
girdling all the days between with
thoughts that have all time and all
eternity in their emphasis
propose that we divide this holiday
season, the two Sabbaths of the holiday
and the six days between, into three
chapters The first part a chapter of
illustrious birthday; the second part
chapter of annual decadence; the third
part a chapter of chronological intro
duction.
First, then, a chapter of illustrious
birthday. Not day of any year but
has been marked by the nativity of
some good or great soul Among dis
coverers the birthday of Humboldt was
September IA, and of David Livingston
March 10. Among astronomers the
birthday of Isaac Newton was Decem-
Der %, and of Herschel November II.
Among orators the birthday of Cicero
was January 8, and of ChrysostOm
January IA Among prison reformers
she birthday of John Howard was Sep
7tember 2, and of Elizabeth Fry May /.
Among painters the birthday of Raphael
was March 2S, and of Michael Angelo
March G. Among statesmen the birth
day of Washington was February
%, of Hamilton May s, and of
jefferson April 9. Among con-
secrated souls the birthday of Mrs. He
mans was September %, of Lucretia
Mott January and of Isabella Graham
July %. Bat what are all those birth
DAYS compared with December %, for
on or about that day was born one who
eclipsed all the great names of all the
centuries-Jesus of Bethlehem, Jesus
of Nazareth. Jesus of Golgotha, Jesus
of Olivet Jesus of the heavenly throne2
The greatest pictures have been made
about scenes in His lifetime. The great
est sacrifices on field of battle, or in
hospital. or on long march, or in mar
tyrdom have been inspired by His self
abnegation The finest words of elo-
quence ever spoken have been ut
tered in the proclamation of His
gospel. The grandest oratorios that
have ever rolled from orchestras
were descriptive of His life and
death. There have been other orators,
but none like Him who ''spalle as never
man spake" There have been other
reformers. but none like Him who will
never have completed his mission until
the last prison is ventilated and the last
blind eve opened, and the last deaf ear
unstopped and the last lame foot bounds
like a roe, and the last case of dementia
shall come to its right mind. There
have been other discoveries, but nCne
like Him, able to find how man nay be
lust with God There have been other
deliverers. but none like Him, the
rescuer of nations. There have been
other painters, but none like Him, who
put the image of God on lost soul No
wonder we celebrate His birthday
Elaborate and prolonged efforts have
been made to show that the star that
pointed to the manager in which Christ
was born was not what it appeared to
be. but conjunction of Jupiter and
Saturn. Our wise men of the west say
that the wise men of the east were mis-
taken. Astronomers, You know, can
calculate backward as well as forward,
and as they can tell what will occur a
hundred years from now among the
heavenly bodies so they can calculate
backward and tell what occurred 1900
or 1900 wears ago. And it is true that
seven years before Christ, in Chaldea,
about three hours before day dawn, there
wasa conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn.
Standing in Jerusalem and looking over
toward Bethlehem, those two stars
would have seemed to hang over that
village. and 1t is suggested by a learned
professor that the Magi may have had
weak eyes, so that the two stars may
have looked like one. In order to take
everything supernatural out of the
story we have TO blind the eyes of the
Magi and introduce a second to help
out the idea of the one star. But pre-
fer the simple story of the Bible, that a
light of some kind-stellar or meteoric
pointed from the sky to the straw
cradle. am not surprised that, at the
birth of the Son of God, there was
celestial agitation; and my only won