Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1897-02-22
FOR THE SKEPTICAI:.
REV. DR.. TALMAGE BREACHES ON "a
SHATTERED FAITH"

De FUNIAK SPRINGS, Fla, Feb. al
After many years of invitation DR.. Tai
mage breaches today ut this great Chau-
tauqua- From all parts Of the south the
people are assembled. The sermon is
nightly helpful for those who find it
hard to believe everything Dr. Tai
mage returns this week to Washington.
The subject of this sermon is ga Shat
tered Faith and the text Acts xvii,
A, 'tAnd some on broken pieces of the
Ship
Never off Goodwin sands or the Skier
ries or Cape Hatteras was a ship in
worse predicament than, in the Mediter-
ranean hurricane, was the grain ship on
which 276 passengers were driven on
the coast of Malta, five miles from the
metropolis of that island, called Citta
Vecchia- After a two weeks tempest,
when the ship was entirely disabled and
captain and crew had become complete
II demoralized, an old missionary took
command of the vessel He was small,
crooked backed and sore eyed, accord
ing to tradition. 1t was Paul, the only
unscared man aboard. He was no more
afraid of a Euroclydon tossing the Med
iterranean sea, now up to the gates of
heaven and now sinking it to the gates
of hell, than he was afraid of q kitten
playing with a string He ordered them
all down to take their ratiOns, first ask
ing for them blessing. Then he insur-
ed all their lives, telling them they
would be rescued, and, SO far from los
ing their heads, they would not lose SO
much of their hair as you could cut off
with one click of the scissors-nay, not
a thread of it, whether it were gray
with age or golden with youth. tThere
shall not q hair fall from the head of
any of you.
Paul In Command.
Knowing that they can never get to
the desired port, they make the sea on
the fourteenth night black with over
thrown cargo, SO that when the ship
strikes it will not strike SO heavily. At
daybreak they saw creek and in their
exigency resolved to make for it. And
so they cut the cables, took in the two
paddles they had ON those old boats and
hoisted the mainsai1 SO that they might
come with such force as to be driven
high up on the beach by some fortunate
billow. There she goes, tumbling to-
ward the rocks, now Prov foremost,
now stern foremost, now rolling over
to the starboard, now over to the lar
board; now Il wave dashes clear over
the deck, and it seems as if the old craft
has gone forever. BIT up she comes
again. Paul's arms around mast, he
cries: "Al is we'll. e ID has given me
all those that c2il with me- Crash
went the PROV, with such force that it
broke off the mast. Crash went the
timbers till the seas rushed through
from side to side of the vessel She
parts amidships, and into thousand
fragments the vessel goes, and into the
waves 276 immortals are precipitated.
Some of them had been brought up on
the seashore and had learned to swim,
and with their chins just above the
waves and by the strokes of both arms
and propulsion of both feet they put
out for the beach and reached it. But
alas for those othersl They have never
learned to swim, or they were wounded
by the falling Of the mast, or the nerv-
GUS shock was too great for them. And
others had been weakened by long sea-
sickness.
Oh, what viii become of them?
stake that piece of rudder, - says
Paul to one. ''Take that fragment of a
SPAR says Paul to another. "Take
that image of Castor and Pollux''
stake that plank from the lifeboat' -
s'Take anything and head for the
beach. - What struggle for life in the |
breakersl Oh, the merciless waters,
how they sweep over the heads of men,
women and children! Hold on therei |
Almost ashore Keep up your courage.
Remember what Paul told you. There
the recedirg wave ON the beach leaves
in the sand a whole family. There
crawls up out Of the surf the centurion.
There another plank comes in, with
life clinging fast to it There another
piece of the shattered vessel, with it's
freightage of an Immortal soul. They
must by this time all be saved. Yes;
there comes in last of all, for he had |
been overseeing the rest, the old mis-.
sionary. who wrings the water from his
gray beard and cries out, "Thank God,
all are here!''
How They Escaped.
Gather around fire and call the |
roll Paul builds fire, and when the |
bundle of sticks begin to crackle, and,
standing and sitting around the blaze,
the passengers begin to recover from
their chill, Snd the wet clothes begin to
dry, and warmth begins to come into
all the shivering passengers, let the
purser of the vessel go round and see if
any of the poor creatures are missing.
Not one of the crowd that were plunged |
into the sea. How it relieves our anxiety
as we read: 'iSome ON broken pieces of |
the ship. And SO it came to pass that
they escaped all safe to land. -
Having on previous occasions looked
at the other passengers, I confine myself |
today to an examination of those who |