Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1896-10-10
HIS UNIQUE SERMON
REV. DIR. TALMAGE breaches ON
DIVINE CHlROGRAPHY.

DIVINE CHIROGRAPHY.
| Character In handwriting Letter From,
uome-Namcs Written In the Book OF
Eternal IIfe-Inlk Made From the Cal
vary Sacrifice.
WASHINGTON, Oct. I've send out
this, one of the most unique sermons
DIR. Talmage ever preached. 1t is as
novel as wido sweeping and practical.
His subject is Divine Chirography, "
tho text being Luke K, 30, "Rejoice
because your names are written III
heaven.
Chirogruphy, Or the art of handwrit-
ing, like the science Of acoustics, is in
very unsatisfactory state. While con-
structing church. and told by some
architects that the voice would not be
heard in building shaped like that
proposed, 1 came III much anxiety to
this city and consulted with Professor
Joseph Henry Of the Smithsonian insti-
tuition about the law of acoustics. He
said: go ahead and build your church
in the shape proposed, and | think it
will be all right. 1 have studied the
laws of sound perhaps more than any
man of my time, and have come 80 far
rs this: Two auditoriums may seem to
be exactly alike and in one the acoustics
may be good and in the other bad. "
In the same unsatisfactory stage is
chirography, although many declare
/ they have reduced it to q science. There
are those who say they can read charac-
ter by handwriting. 1t is said that the
way one writes the letter ''1'' decides
his egotism or modesty, and the way
one writes the letter 80" decides the
height and depth of his emotions. 1t is
declared a cramped hand means n
cramped nature, and an easy. flow .ag
hand facile and liberal spirit. But if
there DO anything in this science, there
must be some rules not yet announced,
for some of the boldest and most ag-
gressive men have delicate and small
penmanship, while some Of the most
timid sign their names with the height
and width and scope of the name CT
John Hancock on the immortal docu-
ment. Some CT the cleanest in person
and thought present their blotted and
spattered page, and some of the rough
est put before rs an immaculate chirog-
raphy. Not our character, but the copy
plato set before rs in our schoolboy day
decides the general style of our hand
writing. So also there is a fashion i'll
penmanship, and for one decade the let
tiers arc exaggerated and III the next
minified, now erect and now aslant,
now heavy and now fine. An autograph
album is always Il surprise, and you
find the pennianship contradicts the
character of the writer's But while the
chirography Of the earth is uncertain,
our blessed Lord in our text presents
the chirography celestial. When adj
dressing the 70 disciples standing before
him, he said, "Rejoice because your
names are written in heaven. y
The Book of Life.
OF course the Bible. for the most
part when speaking of the heavenly
world. speaks figuratively while talk
ing about book. and about trumpets, and
about wings, and about gates, and
about golden pavements, and about
orchards with - crops CT fruit-one
crop each month-and about the white
horses Of heavens cavalry. But we do
we'll to follow out these inspired m eta
phors and reap from them courage and
sublime expectation and consolation and
victory. We arc told that in the heaven
ly library there is book of life. Per-
haps there are many volumes in it.
When we say book, we mean all writ
ten by tho author on that subject. /
cannot tell how large those heavenly
volumes are, nor the splendor of their
binding, nor the number of their pages,
nor whether they are pictorialized with
some exciting scenes of this world. l
only know that the words have not been
impressed by type, but written out by
some hand, and that all those who, like
the 70 disciples to whom the text was
spoken, repent and trust the Lord for
their eternal salvation surely have
their names written in heaven. 1t may
not be the same name that we carried
on earth. We may, through the incon-
sideratcness of parents, have d name
that is uncouth, or that was afterward
dishonored by one after whom we were
called. I do not know that the 70 en-
frances of the names of the 10 disciples
correspond with the record in the genoa
logical table. 1t may not be the name
by which wo were called on earth, but
it will be the name by which heaven
will know us, and we will have it an
nounced to US as we pass in, and we
will know it SO certainly that we will
not have to be called twice by it, as in
the Bible times the Lord called some
people twice by name: Saul, Saul!''
"Samuel, Samuel" Martha, Martial"
When you come up and look for your
name in the mighty tones of eternity
and you are so happy as to find it there,
you will notice that the penmanship is
Christ's and that the letters were writ
ten with a trembling hand-not trem-
bling with old age, for he had only
passed three decades when he expired.
1t was soon after the thirtieth anniver-
sary of his birthday. Look over all the
business accounts you kept or the letters
you wrote at 80 years of age, and if you
wore ordinarily strong and well then
there was no tremor in the ohirography.
Why the tremor in the hand that wrote
your name in heaven? Oh, it was o
compression of more troubles than ever
smote any one else, and all of them
troubles assumed for others. Christ was
prematurely old. He had been exposed
to ali the weathers of Palestine. re had
slept out of doors now in the mig dew,
and now in the TEMPEST. He hat been