Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1894-05-23
REV. DIR. TALMAGE,
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE,S SIM
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "The Generations.

another generation cometh. ."-EecIes3i,ag%t %us :,
l., 4.
According 10 the longevity OF peonIe ir
thnlr particular century has generation been
caHeu IOO years, or fifty years, or thirt,
years. By common consent in our ninataent I
century a generation is fixed at twenty-fv.
years. "
The largest procession that ever rnoye1 4.
the procession Of years, anI the greatest
army lHat ever marched is the army of gene
ratcnS. In each generation thers are abon,
nine full regiments OF days. These 9t95 dsvs
IN eaeh generation march with wonderful
precision They never break ranks Thay
never ground arms. They never pitch tents
iE'y never halt. They arc never Off on fur
louSh. They came out OF the eternity mat
and they move on toward the eternity fufnre
aa'N cross rivers without any bridge or boats.
me '"O Immortais ofthe Crimea dashfny into
fh'n rRuse no confusion. They move as
TapihIF at midnight as at midnoon. Their
hayersacHs are full of COOL bread and bitter
noes, clusters OF richest vintage and bottles
OF acon,zing tears. With n regular tread
mat no order OF "double quic5" can hasten or
obstacle can slacken. their tramp is on and
ON ana on and on while mountains crumble
HnI pyramids die. Zone generation passetb
and another generation cometh."
Ih's Is my twenty-tlfth anniversary ser-
lAOh-IeO5 and 1894. 1t IS TWENTY-FIVE Years
since assumed the Brooklyn pastorate A
Whole generation has passed. Throe genera
. a
our own, that which is now at the front and
the one coming on. We are at the heels of
our predecessors, and our Successors ara nj
our heels. WHAT a generation it was th1t
lr'r''ei us We who are now in the front
regiment are the only ones cOmpetent TO toll
tine new generation just now COMM, in SIGHT
VINO our predecessors were. Biography cam
rot tell it. Autobiography cannot tell II
Hl"-rap1.es are generally written by special
friends OF the depar. e1-perhaps by wife or
TF IIHIFF = for q . h4v- III.
things. The biocr8phcrs of one of the first
Presidents Of ths United States make no rec
Or ! or the ProSi 'elt's account books now in
II" archives ut the Capitol, which / have
Son, telling how much he lost or gained
cIi.E ~ the gaming table. The bio SraDhers
o one o. the early Secretaries o. the United
states never Gcs"rigel the scene tina. day
witnessed when the Secretary was cHrriei
"3al 'runk from the state apartments TO his
own nome hutDD!O graphy is written by the
man himself, AMI no one would record for
i-tNrr times his own weaknesses and moral
""uets. Those who keep diaries put down
only things that read well. No man or wo-
man that ever lived would dare TO make full
cord OF al the thoughts and words OF a
lifetime. We who saw and heari much OF
tAs generation marching Just ahead OF
H5 are far more able than any book
10 des. rlDs accurately to our Successors who
'Hf predecessors were. Very much ike our
sa.v's. thank you. Human nature in them
NrTf much Ike human nature in us. At our
time o. life they We're very much like we now
are. At the time they were in their teens
they We're very much like you are in your
teens, and at tho time they were in their
lWenties they were very much like YOU are
In your tweuties. Human nature rot an av--
lul twist under n fruit tree in T len, and
though the grace of God does much to
5lrIghten things every new generation has
the same twist, AMI the same work of
strengthening out has to he done over again.
mother in the country districts. expect
ing the neighbors at her table on some gala
night, hal with her own hands arran yed ey-
erythinS in taste, and as she was about to
turn from It 10 receive her guests saw her
little child Ly accident upset a pitcher all
over the white cloth AMI soil everything AMI
tho mother lifted her hand to slap the child,
hut she suddenly remembered the time when
little child herself, in her fathers house,
where they had always before been used to
candles, on the purchase OF q lamp, which
was matter OF rarity AMI pride, sAe took 1t
in her hanis and dropped 1t, crashing into
pieces, and looking up in her fathers face,
expecting chastisement, heard only the
words, at is a sad loss, but never mind;
you did not mean to do it."
History repeats itself. Generations
wonderfully alike. Among that generation
that is past, as in our own, and as It will he
In the generation following US, those who
succeeded became the target, shot at by
those who did not succeed. In those times,
as in ours, mans bitterest enemies were
those whom he had befriendei and helped.
Hates, jealouSIes and rayenges were lust as
lively in 1869 as in 1894. Hypocrisy snifled
and looked solemn then as now. There was
just as much ayarice among the apple bar
rts as now among the cotton bales and
among the wheelUarrOw5 rs among the
locomotives. The taIlow candles SAW the
same sins that are now found under tho
electric lights. HOncspun was just as
proud as is the mOlern fashion plate.
twenty-five years-yea, twenty-five centuries
have not changed human nature a particle.
| say this for the encouragement OF those
who think that our times mOnopol!ze all the
denominations Of the ages. I
One minute after Adam got outside o,
paradise he was just like you, o man! Ond
step after Eve left the gate she was just like
you, o womanl All the faults and vices ara
many times centenlrians. Yea, the cities
S0iOm, GOmorrah, POmpeii, Herculaneum,
HeiiOpOls and ancient Memphis were as
much worse than our modern cities as you |
might expect from the fact that the modern |
cities have somewhat yielded TO the re- |
siraints OK Christianity, while those ancient |
cities were not limited in their abomina- |
tions.
Yea, that generation which passed of with |
in the last twenty-five years had their be- |
reavcmeuts, their temptations their struS- |
giles, their dis appointments, their successes,
their failures, their glIdnosSes AMI their |
grie :, Ike these two generations now in
s. = that in advance and that following.
It nc twenty-five years between 1869 an |
/ elbow much they sawl How much they !
discovered How much they felt! Within
shat time have been performed the miracles |
of the telephone and the phOnOgraph. From |
tho o5seryatOries other worlds have been |
seen to hCaye in sight. SIX Presidents OF I
the United States have been inauSurated.
Transatlantic voyage abbreviated from ten
days to -. Chicago and New York, once
three days apart, now only tHenty-iour
hours by the vestibule limited. Two aidi-
tiOnal railroads haze been built to the Pacific.
france has passed from monarchy to repuo-
licauisn Many of the cities have nearly
doubled their populations. During that
generation the chief surviving heroes OF the
Civil War have gone into the encampment oil
the grave. The chief physicians, attorneys,
orators. merchants, have passed. of the earth
OF are in retirement waiting for transition.
Other men in editorial chairs, in pulpits, in
Governors mansions, in Legislative, Sena-
tOriaI and Congressional halls.
There are not ten men or women on earth
now prominent who were prominent twenty
five vnars ago. The crew OF this old ship OF
a world is all changed. Others at the helm,
others on the lookout" others climbing the.
ratlines. Time is doctor who, with potent
Rnodyne, has put an entire generation INTO
sound sleep. Time, like another CromWell,
has roughly proroSued parliament, and with
icOnoclasm driven nearly all the rulers ex-
cept one queen from their hlSn places. 80
far as l oI served that generation, Tor the /
most part they dli their best. Ghastly sAI 9I !
cpptions, but so far as I knew them they did
quite well, and many OF them gloriously
we'll. They were born at the right time,
and they died at the right time. They lett
the world better than they found 1t. We are |
indebted 10 them for the fact that they pre-
pared the way for our coming. Eighteen
hundred and ninety-foUr reverently and
gratefully salutcs 1869. "Ons generation |
passeth away, and another generation |
Cometh.'
There are fathers AMI mothers here whom
I baptized in their infancy, There is not !
one person IN this churchs board OF session :
or trustees who was here when 1 came. Here
and there In this vast assembly is one person
who heard my opening sermon in BROOKLYN.