The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-02-27
TALMAGE IN HIS PULPIT.
HR BREACHES ON ONE OF THH
sIMILRs OF THE BIBLE.

the Reasons That May Account for
the Use OF the Comparison.
BROOKLYN, Feb. 26.-Prsvious to the
sermon in the Brooklyn Tabernacle. this
morning, Rev. DIR. Talmage in giving out
number OF notices, dwelt upon the fact that
certain picture-maksrs OF Brooklyn had
used his name as a reference in their ad-
vertisements and circulars without his
authority. Thousands OF letters Of tom.
plalnt have come TO him in this respect, aud
he wanted it distinctly understood that he
knew nothing Of these people or their bust
ness methods The text selected for the
morning sermon was: Matt xxiii., 81:
"As hen gathereth her chickens under her
wings. and We would not"
Jerusalem was in sight as Christ came 20
the crest of Mount Ohyet, "a hight OF
seven hundred feet. The splendors of the
religious capital Of the whole earth irradi-
aued the landscape. There Is the temple.
Nonder is the kings pala g. Spread out
before his eyes are the pomp, the Wealth,
the wiekedness and the coming destruction
OF Jerusalem, and he bursts into tears at
the thought of the obduracy Of place that
he would gladly have saved, and apostro-
phizes, saying; go Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
how often would l have gathered thy chil-
dren together, even as hen gathers her
ohickens under her wings aud ye would
not
Why did Christ select hen and chickens
as a similel- Next to the appositeness of the
comparison, think it was tc help all pub
lilo teachers IN the matter OF illus tra-
ton TO get down off Z tneir stills aud
use comparisons that all can uuder-
staud. The plainsst bird on the earth is the
barnyard fowl. Its only RdOrnments are
the red comb In its head-dress and the wat
ties under the throat. II has no grandeur
OF RenealoRY. sAll we know is that its ances-
tors came from India, some Of them from
hight OF four thousand feet on the sides Of
the Himalaysas It has no pretension OF
neat like the eagles eyrie. 1t has no luster
OF plumage like the goldfiu ch. Possessing
anatomy that allows flight, yet about the
last thing it wants TO do is 70 fly, and in
retreat, uses foot almost as much as wing.
Musicians have written out in musical scale
the song OF lark and robin red-breast and
nightingale. yet the hen OF my text hath
nothing that could be taken for a song,
but only cluok and cackls. Yet Christ,
in the text, uttered while looking upon
doomed Jerusalem, declares that what
he had wished for that city was like what
the hen does for her chickens. Christ was
thus simple in his teachings. and yes
how hard 1t Is for u.s. who are Sunday
ntiAbtl AilaAAu uIboEb huu bllkbAh anu lEthGntEe
and Teformers, and those who would gain
the ears OF audiences, to attain that
heavenly and divine art of simplicity. We
have to run a course OF literary disorders aa
children course Of physical disorders.
We come out of school and college loaded
down with Greek mythologies, and out OF
the theological seminary weighed down
with what the learned fathers said, and wa
fly with wings of eagles aud haminRoes aud
albatrosSes, and 1t takes a good while be-
fore we can come down to Christs simili-
tude the candle under the bushel, the selu
that has lost its SAVIOR, the net thrown into
the sea, the spittle on the eyes of the blind
man, the hen and chickens There is not
much poetry about this winged creature Of
God mentioned In my text, but she is moro
practical and more motherly aud more sug-
Restive OF good things than many that fly
higher and wear brighter colors.
She is not prima donna OF the
skies, nor strut of beauty in the
aisle Of the forest. She .does not cut
circle under the sun like the Rocky montaiu
eagle, but stays at home to look after family
affairs. She does not swoop like the condor
of the Cordilleras to transport a rabbit
from the valley to the top OF the crags, bub
just scratches for living. How vigorously
with her claws she pulls away the ground
to bring up what ia hidden beneath When
the breakfast or dining hour arrives she
tegins 20 prepare the repast and calls all
her young 10 partake.
am In sympathy with the uDpretentious
old-fashioned hen because, like most of us,
she has 70 scratch for living. She knows
at the start the lesson which most people OF
good sense are slow to learn-that the gains
ing OF livelihood implies work, and that
successes do not lie on the surface, but arc
to be upturned by positive and continuous
effort. The reason that society and the
church and the world are so full OF failures,
so full Of loafers, so full of dead
beats ia because people are not wise
enough TO take the lesson which any hen
would teach them, that IL they would find
for themselves and for those dependents
upon them anything worth having they
must scratch for IL. Solomon said: ''Go to
the ant thou sluggard.n | say, Go TO the
hen thou sluRgard. In the Old Testament
God compares himself to an eagle stirring
up her nest, and in the New Testament the
Holy Spirit is compared TO she descending
dove, but Christ, in a sermon that begun
with cutting sarcasm for hypocrites and
ends with the paroxysm Of pathos in the
text, compares himself to e,hen.
One day In the country we saw a sudden
CONSERVATION IN the behavior Of old Domi-
nick. Why the hen should be 80 disturbed
we could not understand. We looked about
to see II a neighbours dog were invading the
tue kATu1s We lOOkou up W s63 IL u SbOrm
cloud were lowering. We could see
nothing on the ground that could ter
rorize, and we could sec nothing
In the air 20 ruffie the feathers of the hen,
but the loud. wild. affrighted cluck which
brought all her brood at full run under her
feathers made US look again around US and
above us, when we saw that high up and
far away there was raphcious bird wheel-
ing round and round, and down and down,
and not seeing us as we stood In the shadow
IL came nearer and lower, until we saw Its
beak was curved from base 30 tip, and 10
bad two flames Of fire FOR eyes, and it was a
hawk. But all the chickens were under old
Dominiok's wings, and either the bird OF
prey caught glimpse OF US, or not able to
find the brood huddled under wing, darted
back into the clouds. So Christ calls
with great earnessness TO all the
young. Why, what is the matterl
II is bright sunlight and there can be no
danger. Health is theirs. A good home is
theirs. Plenty Of food is theirs. Prospect
Of long life is theirs. But Christ continues
TO call, calls with more emphasis and urges
haste, and says not aseoond ought TO be lost.
., do tell US what is the matter. Ah, now
l see; there are hawks Of temptation Ia the
air, there are vutures wheeling for their
prey, there are beaks of death ready to
plunge, there are claws OF Alluremens ready
to clutch. Now l see the peril. Now l
understand the urgency. Now see the
only safety. Would that Christ might this
day take our Sons and daughters into bis
RhaIkar ssaa a han Oetharath har chfckAna