The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-02-21

DR.. Talmage preached an unusually at
tractiye and eloquent gospel sermon to
a crowded audience. who listened with
rapt interest The subject was. The
Lightning of the Sea" the text selected
being Job XII. %. He maketh q path 10
being Job XII, -. lie maketh a path 10
II for the next thousand years minis
tiers OF religion should preach from this
bible, there will yet be texts uneX-
pounded and unexplained and unappre-
ciated. What little has been said con-
corning this chapter in job from which
my text is taken bears on the contrOver-
sy as to what was really the leviathan
described as disturbing the sea. What
creature it was l know not. Some say
II was a whale. Some say it was a
crocodile. My own opinion is it was a
sea monster now extinct. No creature
now floating in Mediterranean or Allan
tic waters corresponds TO Jobs dcscrip-
ton
What most interests me is that as it
moved through the deep it left the wa
tiers flashing and replendent. In the
words OF the text. lie maketh a path 10
shine after him" What was that il
lumined path 1t was phosphOrescence
You find il i'm the wake of a ship in the
night. especially after rough weather
PhOsphorescence is the lightning of the
sea. That his figure of speech is correct
I'm describing its appearance 1 am certified
by an incident. After crossing the At
lantic the first time and writing from
Basic. Switzerland to an American mag
azine an account of my voyage, in which
nothing more fascinated me than the
phosphorescence In the ships wake
called ii the lightning Of the sea Re
turning To- my hotel I found a book Of
John RuslSin. and the first sentence my
eyes fell upon was his description OF
phosphorescence. IN which he called II
the lightning of the sea.
Down 10 The postoffiCe ] fastened To
get the manuscript and with great labor
and some expense got possession Of the
magazine article and put quotation
marks around that one sentence, al
though IL was original with me as with
John RuSkin. ] suppose that nine-tenths
of YOU living SO near the seacOast have
watched this marine appearance called
phosphorescence, and ] hope that the
other one-tenth may some day be so
happy as To witness it, IL IS the waves
of the sea diamonded. IL is the inflores-
cence of The billows-the waves of the
sea crimsoned. as was the deep after the
sea on FIRE
There are times whom from horizon
10 horizon the entire ocean seems in con-
fiagratiOn with this strange splendor as
IL changes every moment 10 tanner or
more dazzling color on all sides Of you.
You sit looking over the taffrail Of the
yacht or ocean steamer. watching and
waiting TO see what new thing the God
OF beauty viii do with the Atlantic 1t
is the ocean in trasfguTation; il is the
marine world casting its garments Of
glory in the pathway Of the Almighty as
lie walks the deep; it is an inverted
armament with all its stars gone down
with IL. No picture can present il, for
photographer camera cannot be sue
cessfully trained 20 catch il. and before
It the hand of the painter drops its pen
Gil. overaWed and poWeTlCss.
This phospOrescence is the aDDearance
or myriads of the animal kingdom rising
falling. playing flashing. living. dying.
These luminous auimalcules for nearly
$50 years have been the study of natu-
ralists and the fascination and solemni-
zatiou OF all who nave brain enough to
think. Now. God. who puts IN His hi
bic nothing trivial or useless. calls the
attention of job the greatest scientist
or his day. To this phosporescence, ard
as the leviathan of the deep sweeps past
points out the fact that he maketh a
path 10 shine after him.
What Wake VIII You Lenve:
Is that true Of us now and will it be
true OF us when we have gone? VIII
there be subsequent light or darkness?
VIII there be a trail of gloom or good
cheer? Can any one between now and
the next 100 years say Of us truthfully
as the text says of the leviathau OF the
deep. He maketh "A path To shine after
him. For we are moving on While
we live in the same house. and transact
business in the same store. and write on
the same table. and chisel i'm the same
studio. and thrash in the same barn. and
worship in the same church we are i'm
motion and are in many respects NOV
ing on, and we are not where we were
ten years ago, nor where we viii be ten
years hence. Moving on,
Look at the family record. or the alma
nae, or INTO the mirror. and see If any
one Of You are where you We're. An i'm
motion. Other feet may trip and stun
Die and halt, but the feet Of not one mo-
ment FOR the last sixty centuries has
tripped or stumbled or halted. Moving
on. Society moving ON The world NOV
ing on Heaven moving on, The mi
verse moving ON. Time moving on
ETERNITY moving on, Therefore. il Is
absurd a. think that we ourselves can
stop. as we must move with all the rest
Are We Ike the creature Of the text
making our path 10 shine after u.s. IN
may he peculiar question. but my text
suggests IT..
What influence viii we leave in this
world after We have gone through it9
None ansUri aJndreds u voices: "wc
are not one Of the immortals Fifty
years after we are out ~ the world III
viii be as though we never inhabited IT.
You are wrong in saying that I pass
down through this audience and up
through these galleries. and I ann looking
for some one whom ] cannot find
] am looking for one who will have no
influence in this world 100 years from
now. But I have found the man who
has the least influence. and I inquire
into his history. and I find that by yes
OF no he decided some ones eternity. Iu
time 81 temptation he gave au atIirma-
tive or negative 20 some temptation
which another. hearing Of. was induced
u decide In the same way.
Clear on the other side Of tho next
million years may De the first YOU hear
or the long-reaching influence Gf that
yes or no but hear Of b. YOU viii VIII
that father make path 10 shine after
him. Will that mother make "a path 10
shine after her? You viii be walking
along these streets. or along that conn
try road 200 Years from now in the
character or your descendants. They
Will he affected by your courage or
your cowardiCe your purity or your
depravity. your holiness or your sim
You will mako the path - shine after
yoV or hl8ckcn after Won.
WHY should they point out 10 MS on
some mountain two rivutets. one 10
which passes down into the rivers which
pour out into the Pacific ocean. and tho
a. a. 1T a..