Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1895-11-01
TALMAGE'S SERMON
INTERESTING THEME IN TIE
INV YORK PREACHER.
Subject: "The Designations Of the
Race Course"

We have recently had long columns ~ in
telligence from the race course. and multi
tudes fiOckedto the watering places 10 wit
ness equine competition, and there IL lively
discussion in all households about the right
and wrong Of such exhibitions OF mettle and
speed. and when there is a heresy abroad
that the cultivation Of ahorse's fieetneSs is
an iniquity instead OF a commenabe virtue
at such a time a sermon is demanded OF
every minister who would like 10 defend
public morals on the one hand. and who is
not willing 10 see an unrighteOus abridg-
ment Of innocent amusement on the other
In this discussion | shall follow no sermOnic
precedent. but will give Independently what
consider the Christian and common sense
view Of this potent. all absorbing and agitat-
ing question Of the turf.
There needs to be a redistribution Of cor
onets among the brute creation. For ages
the hon has been called the king of beasts
l knock OIL its coronet and put the crown
uponthe horse. in every way nObler. whether
in shape. or spirit; or Sagacity, OF intell-
gpncP. or affection. or usefulness. He Is
semihuman, and known how to reason ON u
small scale. The centaur Of Olden times,
part horse and part man. seems to be sug-
gestion Of the fact that the horse is some-
thing more than beast. job in my text
sets forth his strength his beauty. his mai
eStv. the painting Of his nostril. the paving
Of his hOOt and his enthusiasm for the bat
tie What Rosa BOnheur did fo- the cattle
and what LaniSeer did for the dog job with
mighter pencil does for the horse. Eighty
eight times does the Bible speak of him. He
comes into every kinglv possession aud into
every great occasion and into every triumph.
1t is very evident that job and David aud
Isaiah and Ezekiel and jeremiah and John
We're fond Of the horso. He comes intOmuch
of their imagery 4 red horse-ihat meant
war. A black horse-that meant famine. A
pale horse that meant death white
horse-that meant victory. Good Mordecai
months him while Haman hold, the bit. The
churchs advance in the Bible is compared
TO a company Of horses Of PharaOh'S chariot.
Jeremiah cries out. Glow canst thou con-
tend with horses?' Isaiah says. "The horses
hoofs shall be counted A. flint Miriam
claps her cymhals and sings. "The horse and
the rider hath h. thrown into the sea st.
John describing Christ a. coming forth from
conquest to conquest. represents Him as
seated on a white horse. In tn" parade of
heaven the Bible makes US hear tn" clicking
ofhoofs on the golden pavement rs it saws.
"The armies which We're in heaven followed
Him on white horses" | -hOuld'not wonder
if the horse, SO banged. and bruised. and
beaten and outraged on earth should have
some other place where his wrongs shall be
richtcd. I do not assert il, but | say I
should not be surprised if after all st. Johns
des 'rption Of the horses in heaven turned
ont not altogether 20 be !lgurative but some
what literal.
As the Bible makes a favorite Of the horse.
the patriarch. anlthe prophet and the evan
geliSt, and the apostle strokinG his sleek hide
and pattinc his rounded neck, and lenderlv
lifting his eXquisitey formed hoof, aud
listening with thrill to the champ Of his
bit. 50 all great natures in all ages have
spoken Of him in encOmiastic terms. Virgil
in his Georges almost seems to plaCiarjze
from this description in the text, so much
are the descriptions aiike-the description
OF Virgil and the description Of job. The
Duke OF Wellington would not allow any one
irreverently 20 touch his old warhorse Cop
enhagen. on whom he hal ridden fifteen
hours without dismounting at Waterloo.
and when old Copenhagen died his master
ordered a military salute fired over his
grave. John Howard showed that he did
not exhaust all his sympathies in plying the
human race. for when sick he writes home.
HAS nv old chaise horse become sick or
spoiled?" There is hardly any passage Of
French literature more pathetic than the
lamentation over the death OF the war charG-
er Marchegay. Water Scott had SO much
admiration for this divinely hOnorea crea-
ture of God that in st Romans We|l' he
orders the girth sackened and the blanket
thrown over the smoking TANKS. Edmund
Burke. walking in the park ut BearOnsfeld.
musing over the past. throws his arms
around the wornout horse of his dead son
Richard. and weeps upon the horses neck,
the horse seeming to sym pathiZe in the mem
cries. Rowland nill. the great English
preacher was carcatured because in his
family prayers he supplicated for the rec1v-
cry Of a sick horse, but when the horse got
well, contrary to all the prophecies n the
farriers, the PRAYER did not seem quite SO
much of an absurdity
But what shall say OF the maltreatment
Of this beautiful and wonderful creature Of
GOD? If Thomas Chalmers in his day felt
callel upon to preach a sermon against cru
city to animals. how much more in this day
is there a need Of reprehensive discourse.
| All honor to the memory OF Professor Bargh.
the chief apostle for the brute creation, for
! the mercy he demanded and achieved for this
king OF beasts. man who owned 1000
horses aud some say 10000. wrote in the
| Bible. "a righteous man reGardeth the life
| of his beast" Sir Henry Lawreuces care OF
! the horse was beautifully Christian "He
, says: ~ expect we shall lose Conrad, though
| / have taken so much care Of him that he
| may come in cool. | always walk him the
| last four or five miles, and as | walk myself
the first hour. it is only in the middle OF the
| journey we get over the ground" The Eft
| rick Shepherd in his matchless "AmhroSial
| Nights" speaks of the maltreatment OF the
horse as a practical blasphemy. | do not
| believe in the TRANSPORTATION OF souls. but
cannot very severely denounce the idea Tor
| when | see men who cut and bruise ami
whack and welt and strike and maui and out
! rage and insult the horse, that beautiful
servant Of the human race, who carries our
| burdens and pulls our plows and turns our
thrashers and our mills and runs for our
! doctors-when l see men thus beating and
abusing ard outraging that creature, 1t seems
to me that it would be only 1alr that the
doctrine OF transmigratlon OF sous should
! prove true, and that Tor their punishment
they should pass over INTO some poor niiSer, ,
able brute and be beaten ana WiackeG am,
cruelty treated ana frozen ana neat'.' anu
oVerrludeh-lht0 an everlasting stage .i horse
an eternal traVeler on toWPatn: ot tleu ~ ~