The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-07-14
THOSE THREE FIRES.
DR.. TALMAeE DISCUSSES THE BURN.
ING OF THE TA3ERNACLES.

First Stage In the Great Preachers Trip /
Around the World.
AT half past O'Clock on the night of |
May IA. 1894, | descended the front |
steps of my home in Brooklyn The sem !
sation OF leaving for journey around |
the world is not all made up of bright
anticipa ion. The miles to be travelled
are so Numerous, the seas to he crossed
are so treacherous the peradventures
are so many, that the solemnities out
number the expectations My family
sccompi ny me to tho railway train.
Will We all meet again? The climatic
changes the ships, the shoals, the hur
ricones, The bridges, the cars, the cpl
denies, the possibilities, hinder any
pos tive ess of prophecy. l come down
the From steps of my home. Will | ever
again a, end them? The remarks made
by Hon. William NJ. Evarts a few even
ing bet re at the public reception-on
the conc .usion of my twenty-tifth year
of Broc ;lyn pastorate-though uttered
in righteousness, We're consolatory. lie
said, Or. Talmage ought to realize
that if he goes around the world he will
come ont at the same place from which
he star; cd " May the God who holds
the winds i'll one fist and the ocean i'll
the hollow Of the other hand protect us!
! leave home while the timbers of
our destroyed church are still smoking
Three great churches have been con
sumed. Why this series of huge calami
ties | know not Had | not made all the
arrangements for departure and been as
sured by the trustees of my church that
they would take all the responsibilities
upon themselves, | would have post
poned my intended four or adjourned it
forever but all whom | have consulted
tell me now is the time to go, and my
face is toward the setting sun.
Six times before this have l crossed
the American continent, and | have
seen the sun rise from the golden cradle
of the eastern sky and seen him buried
beneath the pomp of the western hori-
zon. Three girths have been put around
the American continent-the Northern
Pacific, the Union Pacific and the
Southern Pacific All these girths have
moving ever and anon until the CONT
nent is less and less in circumference.
When ! first crossed it, it took fully
seven days Instead of the elegant din
ing cars of today, we stopped at restau-
rants with table covers Understandable,
for they had on them layers of other
strata Of breakfasts insulting in appear
ance. The first time | ever saw Judge
Field Of the United States supreme
court was at one of these tables on the
Rocky mountains Like myself, he had
dismounted from the Union Pacific
train. We sat opposite each other. The
different courses of food We're put upon
the table, but his appetite and mine de
clined everything presented. Our eyes
met, and we burst into a gutfaw Of
Taught Y that was the introduction of a
friendship that has been valuable to me
ever since. A smile as well as tear
may open u chapter of hearty acquaint-
anceship
WhC. is the meaning of the three
fires? As leave people in many lands
are discussing the question, for tcle'
grams rom across the Atlantic as vel
as from many parts Of this country show
that tn fiery news had leaped every
whithC,. Three vast structures dedicat-
ed to I'd and the work of trying to
make Ie world better gone down, and
all thi within a few years. They We're
well b, lit as to permanence and dura-
bility. All the talk about these build
in IS a mere firetraps is the usual cant,
for there is as much secular cant as re-
lirious cant. Have you heard in the
last 40 years of any church, or any hall,
OF any theater which, after destruction,
was nos called a firetrap? That charge
always makes a lively opening for any
description of a fire.
There have been no better structures,
secular or religious, put up in the last
25 years than the three Brooklyn Taber-
nacles, and the modes of egress from
them so ample that the thousands of
worshipers assembled in any of them
could be put safely on the street inside
of five minutes. The fact is that there is
nothing in this world incombustible.
When The great Chicago and Boston fire.
took place, they burned up stones anC
iron. The human race will go ON build
ing inconsumable churches, and incop
sumable banks, and inconsumable store
houses, and inconsumable cities anC
then all will be consumed in the world
last fire.
Builders who had large experience
and established reputation pronounce,
the Brooklyn Tabernacles perfect struc
lures But what is the meaning of tn
L., l, Il -
ferent lessons learned by "A hundred diff
ferent people, and legitimate lessons
As for myself, | adjourn the most of tn,
meaning to the next world. We vii
learn there in two minutes more than
we can find out here in 80 years. Will
that anticipation, mysteries do not Otter
bother me.
One reason for these consecutive dis
asters may be that the patience Of the
best people in the world, the member,
of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, was to be
perfected. Purified by fire - Mighty
discipline for one of the Lords hosts.
Whether | ever meet them on earth Oh
not, it will be theme of heavenly rem
inisceuce. We shall talk it all over, the
story of the three fires.
Another reason why the last churcl
went down may have been that some o
us were idolizing the building, and th'
Lord will not allow idolatry. Tn,
house was such midsummer Night'i
Dream" Of beauty. Enchantment lifted
in galleries and sprung in arches anC
glorifled in the light that came through
windows, touching it with their deftes
fingers The acoustics so rare thai
thousands Of ears were in easy reach Of
common accentuation. An organ which
was q halleluiah set up in pipes anC
banko in keys, waiting for musician,
manip llation, that would lead the con
gregatioDal song as an archangel might
lead J eaveu. Glorious organ! WheI
il die down into the ashes of that fire,