The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1894-05-16
At TIE TABERNACLE.
Rev. DR.. TsImage breaches sn Eloquent
Anniversary Sermon.

Anniversary Sermon.
BROOKLYN, May G.--This was
great day in the history of the Brooklyn
Tabernacle. The figures " flowers bacs
of the platform, 1869 and 1894, indicate
Rev. DR.. Talmdge's time # coming tc
Brooklyn and the present celebration
snd were introductory to the great meet
lngs III honor of DR.. Talmage's pa3to'
rate TO take place on the following Thurs
dsy and Friday, presided over oy the
, mayor Ct the city and Ex.Secretary o!
the Navy General Tracy, and to be par
ticipeted il By senators and governors
and prominent men from north, south,
east aud west. The subject Of the SER
mon today was ''The Generations, the
text being Ecclesiastes j, 4, "Ooe gen
Grafton pa8seth away, and another gen
Grafton cOmeth."
According TO the longevity OF people
in their particular century has q genera
ton been called 100 years, or so years,
or 80 years. By common consent II
our nineteenth century a generation Is
Rxed at 25 years.
The largest procession that eve!
moved is the procession Of years, anC
the greatest army that ever marched is
the army of generations. In each
generation there are about nine
full regiments f days. These
e,l25 days II each generation march
with wonderful precision. They De7eI
break ranks. The never ground arms.
They never pitch tents. They never halt.
They are never off or furlough. They
came cut cf the eternity past, and they
move On toward the eternity future.
They cross rivers without. any bridge or
boats. The 600 lmmortala OF the Crlmea
dashing into Them cause 60 confusion.
Teey move as rapidly a5 midnight as a.
midnoon. Their haVersacks are tull OF
good bread anG bitter aloes clusters o.
richest vintage and bottles CT agoniz'ng
tears. With regular tread that no or
der of s'double quick" can hasten, or
obstacle can s!acken, their ramp IS on
and Oh and On and on while mountains
crumble and pyramids die. "U1e gen
Grafton passeth, ard another generation
cometh." :"
Chis is nv twenty fifth anniversary
sermon, 1859 and 1894. It is Is years
slnce | assumed The Brooklyn paslOrate.
a whole generalloa bas passed. Three
generations we have kHogu-.ltat wh!ch
preceded our own, Gheg which is now a.
the trout and the one coming on. We
are at the leels of our predecessors, and
our successors are at our heels. Wha'
q genera1Cn it was that preceded US!
We who are now 10 the front regiment
are the only opas competent to tell the
new gen sralIoD just now coming II slghl
VINO uur predecessors we're. Biography
cannot tell it. Aatobiographies mot
tell it. Biographies are generally wit
len bV SPECIAL friends of the departed,
perhaps by wife or SOD or daughter, anc
they only tell the good things The bio
graphers Of one ct The first presidents et
the United States make no record Of the
presidents account books, now IN the
archives at the capitol. which have seen
telling how much be lost or gained daily
at the gaming. The biographers of one
Of the early secretaries Of the Unlted
States never described the scene that dey
witnessed when the secretary was car.
red dead drunk from the state apart
meuts TO his own home. Autobiography
is written By the man himself, sGd nG
one would record for future times bis
own weaknesses and moral deficits.
Those who keep diaries put down only
thing that read we'll. No man Or WO.
man that ever lived would dare to make
full record Of al the thoughts and words
of q lifetime. We who saw and heard
much Of the generation marching just
ahead of Us are far more able than any
book to describe accurately 10 our sue
cessors who cur predecessors were. Very
much ike ourselves, thank you. Hu-
man nature in them very much ike hu-
man Dalure in Us. At our time Of life
theY were very much ike we now are.
At the time they were in their teens
they were very much ike yCu who are
in your teens, and at the time they were
in their tweDties they were very much
ike you who are IN your twentles. Hu-
man nature got an aWfri twist under q
truit tree Ii Eden, and though the grace
Of God does much 20 strslshteu things
every new generation has the same twist
and the same work Of strengthening out
has to be done over again.
A mother in the country districts ex-
pecting the neighh0rs at her table on
some gaia night had with her own hands
arranged everything in taste,
and as she was about 10 turn from
1t to receive her guests saw her little child
by accident upset pitcher al over toe
white cloth and sol! everything, and the
mother lifted her hand TO slap the child,
but 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
a lamp, which was & matter Of rarity
and pride, she took it il her hands and
dropped it, crashing into pieces, and
looking up il her fathers face, expect
ing chastisemeDt, heard only the words:
It is 2 sad loss. hut nsEer mind. You
did not mean to doit.n History repeats
itself Generations wonderfully alike.
Among that generation that is past, SO
in cur own and as it will be lc the gen.
SE5kIOES lOlLON N-S LAo LECSC ~ iO ScSCCSU
ed became The target, shot at by those
who did uot succeed. In those times,
ss ia ours, z mans hitterest enemies
were those whom he bad beftiended and
helped. Hates, jcalousias and re7eoges
were just as lively in 1869 as il 1894.
Hypocrisy srihaed and looked solemn
then as now. There WAS just as much
agarice among the apple barrels 8s now
among the cotton ba'es, and among the
wheelbarroWs as among the locomotives.
The tallCw candles saw The same sns
that are now found under the electro
lights. Homespun vas just as proud a.
is the modern fasbIon plate. Twenty-
FIVE years-yea, Is centures--haVe not
changed human na.Gre particle. ! say
this for the epcQurge menJ OF these who
think that onr times mOnopolZ9 ell ths
abomjnaunns of the ayes. O2e minute
after Adam got out side OF paradise he
4 ,~n-F h-n OF