The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1895-11-01
PLEA FOR THE HORSE.
DR.. Talmage Talks on .The Dissi-
pations of the Race Course"
The Splendid Creation OF God Being
Daily Made an fundamentally fNr
Atrocious EVIL Through
out the Land.

In MS sermon b6lcCCeQ IOr pu ulICaClO
this week Rev. Il. Dewitt Talmag
deals with "The Designations of tn
Race Course" basing his words on tn
text:
Hast thou given the horse strength? has
chou clothed his neck with thunder He paw
eth in the valley, and rejaioeth; he goeth on
meet the armed men, He saith among tn
trumpets, ha, hal and he smelleth the battl
afar on, the thunder Of the captains and tn
shouting.-Job xxx. 10. 81. Is.
We have recently had long columns
of intelligence from the race course
and multitudes flocked to the water
ing places to witness equine competi
tion, and there is lively discussion In
all households about the right and
wrong of such exhibitions of mettle
and speed, and when there is heresy
abroad that the cultivation of horses
Heetness is an iniquity instead of a
commendable virtue-at such time a
sermon is demanded of every minister
who would like to defend public
morals on the one hand. and who is
not willing to see an unrighteous
abridgement 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-absorb-
ing and agitating question of the turf.
There needs to be a redistribution of
eoronets among the brute creation.
For ages the lion has been called the
king of beasts. l knock off its coronet
and put the crown upon the horse, in
every way nobler. whether in shape,
OR spirit, or sagacity, or intelligence,
or affection, or usefulness. He is semi
human, and knows how to reason on
a small scale. The centaur of olden
times. part horse and part man, seems
to be a suggestion of the fact that the
horse is something more than beast.
Job in my text sets forth his strength,
his beauty, his majesty. the painting of
his nostril. the paving of his hoof, and
his enthusiasm for the battle. What
Rosa Bonheur did for the cattle, and
what Landseer did for the dog,
Job with mightier pencil does
for the horse. lightweight times
docs the Bible speak of him.
He comes into every kingly pro-
cession, and into every great occasion,
and into every triumph 1t is very
evident that Job. and David, and
Isaiah. and Ezekiel. and jeremiah and
John were fond of the horse. He
comes into much of their imagery. A
red horse-that meant war. A black |
horse-that meant famine. A pale |
horse-that meant death. A white |
horse-that meant victory. Good |
Mordecai mounts him while Hannah |
holds the bit. The church's advance
In the Bible is compared to company
of horses of Pharaoh's chariot. Jere- |
~ iah cries out: "How canst thou con-
tend with horses?" Isaiah saws:
1.-THE horses hoofs shall be
as flint" Miriam claps
her cy mbals and sings: 1.-THE horse and
the rider hath He thrown into the
sea" St John describing Christ as
coming forth from conquest to con-
quest represents Him as seated on
white horse. In the parade of Heaven
the Bible makes us hear the clicking
Of hoofs on the golden pavement as it
says: 1.-The armies which were in
Heaven followed Him on white horses"
[ should not wander il the horse, so
banged, and bruised. and beaten. and
on earth: should have some
other place where his wrongs shall be
lighted do not assert 1T, but say
| should not be surprised if, after all.
ST Johns descriptions of the horses
n Heaven turned out not altogether
% be fgurative, but somewhat literal.
AS the Bible makes favorite of the |
morse, the patriarch. and the prophet.
md the evangelist. and the apostle
,troking his sleek hide and patting
ais rounded neck, and tenderly |
fitting his exqu!sitely formed hoof,
md listening with a thrill to the
.hamp of his bit, so all great natures
n all ages have spoken of him in en-
,omiastic terms. Virgil in his Geor-
yics almost seems to plagiarize from
his description in the text, so much
IRE the descriptions alike-the de-
of Virgil and the description
" Job. The duke OF Wellington would
rot allow any one irreverently to
ouch his old war horse Copen-
lagen, on whom he had ridden
fifteen hours without dismounting
It Waterloo, and when odd Copenha-
ZEN died his master ordered military
aIute fred over his grave. John
Toward showed that he did not ex-
aust all his sympathies in plying
he human race. for when sick he
writes home: HAS my old chaise
Iorse become sick or spoileds" There
5 hardly any passage Of French litera-
ure more pathetic than the lamenta-
ion over the death of the war charger
Walter Scott has SO
much admiration for this divinely
,ouored creature of God that 70