The Monitor-register., 1897-11-19
FRUIT IN THE BIBLE.
REV. DR.. TALMAGE ON GOD IN MA
TURE.

REV.. DR.. TAlMAGE ON GOD IN MA
The of Adam, of Solomon, of
PLATE and of st. John-The Pomology
of the Bible-The Country Versus the
City.
rCopyright, 1897, by American Press Asso-
c%iation.]
WASHINGTON, Nov. 14-Dr. Talmage
finds the divine hand in all the domin-
ions Of the natural world. and this ser
mon presents religion in it's most radi-
ant attractiveness. The text is Genesis
i, IL, 1.-THE fruit tree yielding fruit aft
er his kind"
1t is Wednesday morning in paradise.
The birds did not sing their opening
piece, nor the fish take their first swim
until the following Friday. The solar
and lunar lights did not break through
the thick. chaotic fog of the worlds
manufacture until Thursday Before
that there was light, bat it was electric
light or phosphorescent light, not the
light of sun or moon. But the botanic
al and pomological productions came ON
Wednesday-irst the flowers and then
the fruits The veil of fog is lifted, and
there stand the orchards, Watch the
sudden maturity of the fruit In our
time pear trees must have two years be-
fore they bear fruit, and peach trees
three years. and apple trees five years,
but here instantly a complete orchard
springs into life, all the branches bear
ing fruit. The insectile forces, which
have been doing their worst to destroy
the fruits for E, 600 years, had not yet
begun their invasion. The curculio had
not yet stung the plum, nor the cater
pillar hurt the apple, nor had the phyl-
loxera plague, which has devastated the
vineyards of America and France, as
sailed the grapes, nor the borer perforat-
ed the wood, nor the aphides ruined the
cherry. nor the grub punctured the nee
tarine, nor the blight struck the pear
There stood the first orchard, with a
perfection of rind, and an eXquisiteness
Of color, and n lusciousness of taste
and an affiuence of production which it
may take thousands of years more of
study of the science of fruits to repro
duce.
The Orchards.
Why was the orchard created two
days before the fish and birds and three
days before the cattle? Among other
things, to impress the world with a les
son it is too stupid to learn-that fruit
49, - l~~lAI.a. AIoa -. 1saA md
that the former must precede the latter.
The reason there are in the world so
many of the imbruted and sensual is
that they have not improved by the
mighty, unnoticed fact that the or
chards of paradise preceded the herds
and aviaries and fish ponds. Oh, those
fruit bearing trees on the banks of the
Euphrates and the Gihon and the Hid
dekell | wonder not that the ancient
Romans. ignorant Of u God, adored
Pomona, the goddess of fruits, and that
all the sylvan deities were said to wor-
ship her, and that groves were set apart
as her temples. You have thanked God
for bread a thousand times. Have you
thanked him for the fruits which he
made the first curse of food in the menu
Of the worlds table? The acids of those
fruits to keep the worlds table from be-
ing insipid, and their sweets to keep it
from being too sour?
At this autumnal season how the Or
chards breathe and glow, the leaves re-
moved, that the crimson, or pink, or
saffron, OF the yellow, or brown may
the better appear, while the aromatics
fill the air with invitation and reminis-
ence. AS you pass through the orchard
on these autumnal days and look up
through the arms of the trees laden with
fruit you hear humping on the ground
that which Is fully ripe, and, throwing
your arms around the trunk, you give a
shake that sends down a shower of gold
and fire on all sides of you. Pile up in
baskets and barrels and bins and on
shelves and tables the divine supply.
But these orchards have been under the
assault of at least so centuries-the
storm, the droughts, the winters, the
lnsectlvora. What must the first orchard
have been? And yet it is the explorer's
evidence that Oh the site of that orchard
there is not an apricot, or an apple, OF
NA -iOpLAhS Out oGSGIu anu uGSO-
iatlon. There is not enough to forage
the explorers horse, much less to feed
his W hunger. In other words, that
first orchard is a lost orchard. How did
the proprietor and the proprietress OF
all that intercolumniation of fruitage
let the rich splendor slip their posses
sion? 1t was as now most of the or
rharHQ gro lnCf-poUno1r INV Uran+i1,o
more. Access they had to all the fig
trees, apricots. Walnuts. almonds, APP
ples-bushels on bushels-and were for
hidden the use of only one tree in the
orchard. Not satisfied with all but one,
they reached for that and lost the whole
orchard.
Go right down through the business
marts of the great cities and find among
the weighers and clerks and subordi-
mates men who once commanded the
commercial world. They had a whole
orchard of successes, but they wanted
Just one more thing-one more house OF
one more country seat or one more store
or M more railroad or one more million.
They clutched for that and lost all they
had gained. For one more tree they lost
o whole orchard. There are business
men all around US worried nearly tc
death. The doctor tells them they ought
to stop. Insomnia or indigestion or ach.
ing at the base of the brain or ungovern'
able nerves tell them they ought to stop.
They really have enough for themselve:
and their families. Talk with then
about their overwork and urge more
prudence and longer rest, and they say
Yes, you are right. After l have &C
complished one more thing that l have
on my mind | will hand over my bust
ness to my sons and go to Europe anC
quit the kind of exhausting life l have
been living for the last so years. Some
morning you open your paper, and, look
ing at the death column, you find he
suddenly departed this life. In trying
to win Just one more tree, he lost Ght
whole orchard.
Forbidden Fruit.
Yonder is a man with many styles o.
innocent entertainment and amusement
He walks, he rides, he plays tenpins il
private alleys. he has books on his ia
BILE, pictures on his wall and occasional,
outings, concerts, lectures, baseball tick
cts and the innumerable delights Of
friendship, but he wants a key to the
place of d~issolute c~onvocation. He wants
association with some member of a high
family as reckless as he is affluent. He
wants, instead of a quiet Sabbath, ONT
of ~carousal. He wants the stimulus Of
strong drinks. He wants the permits
sions of a profigate life. The II mem
bership, the one bad habit, the n ca
rousal, robs him of all the possibilities
,aI ;pnooo,+ op5ovrnaptC and noble in.