The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-09-27

DR.. Talmage preached a sermon OF I'M
usual interest to vast audience, the
subject being 1.-THE Nineteen Hundredth
Anniversary-A Proposition Concerning
It." The text was taken from Isaiah tx,
6. ITO US 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 descends a very bright morn
ing. One life spared and another given.
All the bells of gladness ring over the
cradle know not why any one should
doubt that of old a star pointed down
to the Savior's birthplace, for star
of JOY points down to every honorable
nativity.
new eternity dates from that hour,
that minute. Beautiful and appropriate
is the custom of celebrating the ami
versary of such an event, and clear on
into the eighties and nineties the re-
currence of that day of the year in an
old mans life causes recognition and
more or less congratulation. So, also,
nations are accustomed to celebrate the
anniversary of their birth and the ami
versary of the birth Of their great heroes
or deliverers or benefactors. The 22d Of
February and the 4th of July are never
allowed to pass in our land without ban
quet and Grafton and bell ringing and
cannonade But all other birthday an
niversaries are tame compared with the
Christmas festivity, which celebrates the
birthday described in my text.
A Continental Chorus.
Protestant and catholic and Greek
churches. with all the power of music
and garland and procession and dOx-
ology put the words of my text into ma
tional and continental and hemisphere
chorus "To us a child is born" On the
25th of December each year that is the
theme in, ST. Paurs and st. Peters and
st. Marks and st. Isaac's and all the
dedicated cathedrals, chapels, meeting
houses and churches clear round the
world. We shall soon reach the nine
teen hundredth anniversary Of that hap
Diest event Of all time. This century is
dying. Only seven more pulsations 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 inn
portant documents. 1900"
It will be physical and moral sensa-
ton unlike anything else you have be-
fore experienced. Not one hand that
wrote 1891" at the induction Of this CEN
fury will have cunning left to write
1901" at the induction of another. The
death of one century and the birth of
another century will be sublime and sug-
gestive and stupendOus beyond all esti-
mate. To stand by the grave of one CEN
fury and by the cradle Of another will be
an opportunity such the whole gen
erations Of the worlds inhabitants never
experienced.
L pray God that there may be no sick
ness or casualty to hinder your arrival
at that goal. or to hinder your taking
part in the valedictory of the departing
century and the salutatiOn of the new.
But as that season will be the nineteen
hundredth anniversary of a Savior's
birth / now nominate that a great inter
national Jubilee or exposition be opened
IN this cluster Of cities by the seacoast
on Christmas day, the 18th 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. 1, 1901,
will it not be time for all nations to
turn aside for a few weeks or months
from everything else and emphasize the
birth Of the greatest being who ever
touched our planet, and could there be
a more appropriate time for such COM
memoration than this elimination Of the
centuries which are dated from his ma
dvity? You know that all history dates
either from before Christ or after Christ,
from B. G. or A. d. 1t will be the year
OF our Lord 1000 passing into the year
1901. We have had the Centennial at
Philadelphia, celebrative Of the one hun
dredth anniversary of our nations birth.
We have had the magnificent expositions
1t New Orleans and Atlanta and Augusta
and St Louis
We have the present worlds exposition
at Chicago, celebratiVe Of the four hum
dredth anniversary Of this continents
emergence, and there are at least two
other great celebrations promised for this
country, and other countries 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 witnessed at
London or Vienna or Paris or any Of our
American cities would be eclipsed by the
enthusiasm that would celebrate the ram
som Of all nations. the first step toward
the accomplishment Of it being taken by
IN infantile foot one winters night about
i've miles from Jerusalem when the
clouds dropped the angelic cantata
GLORY to God In the highest, and on
earth peace, good will to men,"
Its Practical Aspects.
The three or four questions that would
be asked me concerning this nominal
ton of time and place 1 proceed to an
swer. What practical use would come
Of such international celebration? An
swer-The biggest stride the world ever
took toward the evangeIization of all
nations. That is a grand and wonderful
convocation, the religious congress at
Chicago. II will put intelligently before
the world the nature Of false religions
which have been brutalizing the ma
tions, trampling womanhood into the
dust, enacting the horrors of infanticide,
kndling funeral pyres for shrieking vic
tins and rolling Juggernauts across the
mangled bodies of their worshipers.
But no one supposes that any one will
be converted to Christ by hearing Con-
fucianfsm or Buddhism any form of
heathenism eulogized. That is to be
done afterward. And how can It so we'll
be done as by a celebration of many
weeks Of the birth and character and
achievements OF the wOndrous and I'M
precedented Christ? To such an EXPOSE
tion the kings and queens of the earth
would not send their representatives.
they would come themselves. The story
of a Savfor's advent could not be told
without telling the story of his mission.
All the world would say, why this ado,
this universal demOnsration?"
What vivid presentation IL would
be when, at such q cOnvOcation, the
physicians OF the world should tell what
Christ had done for hospitals and the
assuagement of human pain, and when
Christian lawyers declare what Christ
has done for the establishment of good