The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-02-14

Gle this forenoon the Rev. DR.. Talmage
preached TO q crowded audience that
filed the great building to overlooking.
the subject OF his sermon being. "Ru-
bies Surpassed" and the text. Proverbs
viii. II, Wisdom is better than rubies.'
You have all seen the precious stone
commonly called the ruby IT is Of deep
red color. The bible makes much Of it.
1t glowed in the first row of the high
priests breastplate. Under another
name it stood in the wall of heaven.
jeremiah compares the rudy cheek Of
the Nazarites to the ruby. Ezekiel
points 1t out i'm the robes Of the king
Of Tyre. Four times does solomon use
il as a symbol by which 10 eXtol wis
dom or religion. always settings its value
as better than rubies
The world does not agree as to how
the precious stones were formed. The
ancients thought that amber was made
of drops Of perspiration Of the goddess
&c. The thunderstorm was supposed to
have dropped from storm cloud. The
emerald was said 10 have been made of
the FREELY. The lapis lazuli was thought
10 have been born of the cry Of an In
dian giant. And modern minerologists
say that the precious stones were made
Of gases and liquids To me the ruby
IN stehA n AAfAAA tAiN uAlNAA VI
the setting sun.
The home Of the genuine ruby is Bur
nah. and sixty miles from its capital,
where lives and reigns the ruler. called
Lord of the Rubies." under "A careful
governmental guard are these valuable
mines Of ruby kept. Rarely has any
foreigner visited them. When a ruby OF
large value was discovered il was
brought forth with elaborate ceremony,
= procession was formed. and. with ALI
hammered pomD. military guard and
prlncely attendants. the gem was
brought To the kings palace.
OF great value is the ruby. much more
so than diamond. as Iapideries and jew-
elers will tell you. An expert on this
subject writes. ~ ruby Of perfect color
Weighing FIVE carats is worth the
present day ten times as much as a dia-
mono OF equal weight II was disas-
Ter when Charles the Bold lost the ruby
ne was wearing at the battle of Grand
son. 1t was a great affluence when Ru-
dolph III of Austria inherited a ruby
from his sister. the queen dOwager. 1t
was thought TO have had much 10 do
with the victory of Henry Y, as he wore
IT into the battle Of Agincourt
IL is the pride of the Russian court to
own the largest ruby of all the world
presented by GustavUs III To the Rus
sian empress. Wondrous ruby 1t has
electric characteristics and there are
ightnings compressed in its double six
sided prisms. What shall I call il? Ii
is frozen fire, IT is petrifed blood, In
all the world there is only one thing
more valuable. and my text makes the
comparison, Wisdom is better than
rubies.
Excellence of Religion.
But it is impossible TO compare two
things together unless there are some
points Of similarity as well as Of differ
enece- am glad there is nothing lack
ing here. The ruby is more beautiful i'm
the night and under the lamplight than
by DAY. 1t is preferred for evening
adornment. How the rubies glow and
burn and fash as the lights lift the
darkness, Catherine Of Aragon had on
her finger ruby that fairly lanterned
the night
Sir John Vaudeville. the celebrated
traveller Of 400 years ago. said that the
emperor Of China had d ruby that made
the night as bright as the day. The
probability is that Solomon. under some
OF the lamps that illumired his cedar
palace by night, noticed the peculiar
glow Of the ruby as it looked in the hilt
Of sword or hung in some fold of the
upholstery or beautified the lip Of some
chalice. while he was thinking at the
same time Of the eXcellency Of our holy
religion as chiefly seen in the night of
1870 10 SttT ~ 4-ADiil -
better than rubies.''
Oh. yes. it is a good thing to have re-
liglOn while the sun of prosperity rides
nigh ana everything is brilliant in for
tune, in health. in worldly favor Yet
YOU can at such times hardly tell how
much of it is natural exuberance and
how much Of il is the grace OF God. But
let the sun set and the shadows
avalanche the plain and the thick dark
ness Of sickness or poverty or persecution
al al p lion en-
the house and III the world: then YOU
sit down by the lamp Of Gods word. and
under its light the consultations of the
gospel come out-the peace Of God which
passeth all understanding appears You
never fully appreciated their power nm
I'll i'm the deep night Of trouble the Divine
Lamp revealed their exquisiteness.
Pearls and amethysts for the day. but
rubies for the night
The Christian spirit.
All Of the books Of the bible attempt
in some way the assua cement OF misfor-
tunc. OF the $50 psalms Of David at
least ninety allude to trouble. There are
sighings ia every wind and tears In every
brook and pangs in every heart. II
was originally proposed To call the presi-
dents residence at Washington The
Palace" or The Executive Mansion
but after il was destroyed in the war of
1914 and rebuilt il was painted white 10
cover up the marks OF the smoke and
fire that had blackened the stone walls.
Hence il was called THE White House"
Most of the things now white with at
tractiyeness were once black with disas-
ter.
What the world most needs is Sl,e
consolatOry. and here it comes. oar holy
religion. with both hands full If
anodynes and sedatives and balsams. as
in Daniels time TO stop mouths leonine:
as in ShadTacks time to cool blast
furnaces: as in EZekiel's time TO console
captivity: as in St. Johns time to unrolI
Hear its soothing voice as il declares:
Weeping may endure for a night. but
soy cometh in the morning ''The
mountains shall depart and the hills be
removed. but my loving kindness shall
not depart from YOU Whom the
Lord lOveth ne chasteneth'' They shall
hunger no more. neither thirst any more
neither shall the sun light on them nor
any heat for the Lamb which is i'm the
midst OF the throne shall lead them To-
the living fountains Of water and God
shall wipe away all tears from their
eyes
The most wholesome thing on earth is
trouble If met in a Christian spirit To
make Paul what he was took shfDwrcck
and whipping on the bare back and
penitentisry. and pursuit OF wild mobs,
and the sword Of decapitatiOn. To make
David what he was il took all that
Ahitophel and Saul and Absalom and
Goliath and all the Philistine hosts could
beTs's malformation Of feet 20 make
him the literary ConqueroT.
IT was bereavement that brought Will
lam Haworth Of Wesley's time from