The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1898-12-08
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
THE CRADLE OF THE TWEEN
TIETH CENTURY.

crom tne Following Bible Text, Chron.1
XII, sa:-"The Children Of Issachar
Had Understanding to Know What
Israel Ought to Do.n
Great tribe, that tribe Of lssachar.
When Joab took the census, there were
l45, 900 of them. Before the almanac
was born, through astrological study,
they knew from stellar conjunctions
all about the seasons Of the year. Be-
tore agriculture became an art they
We're skilled in the raising Of crops.
Before politics became science they
knew the temper of nations; and
. whenever they marched, either for
pleasure or war; they marched under a
three-colored f1ag-topaz, sardine. and
carbuncle. But the chief characters
tic Of that tribe Of Issachar was that
they understood the times They were
not like the political and moral incom-
petents of our day, who are trying to
guide 1898 by the theories of 1928. They
looked at the divine indications in
their own particular century. So we
ought to understand the times, not the,
times when America was thirteen col
onies, huddled together along the At
lantlc coast, but the times when the
nation dips one hand in the ocean on
one side of the continent, and the 9TH.
er hand in the ocean on the other side
the continent; times which put New
York NarroWs and the Golden Horn
of the Pacific within one flash of cleo
trio telegraphy; times when God is as
directly, as positively, as solemnly, as
tremendously addressing us through
the daily newspaper and the quick rev.
olutlon of events as he ever addressed
the ancients, or addresses us through
the Holy Scriptures. The voice of God
in Providence is as important as the
voice of God in typology; for in our
own day we have had our Sinais with
thunders of the Almighty, and Cal
varies of sacrifice, and Gethsemanes
that sweat great drops Of blood, and
gahs of far-reaching vision. The Lord
who rounded this world six thousand
years ago, and sent his Son to redeem
it near nineteen hundred years ago,
has yet much to do with this radiant,
but agonized planet. May God make
us like the children of Issachar, (which
were men that had understanding of
the times, to know what Israel ought
to do l.'-... . ''
The birthday of our nineteenth cen
tury occurred in the time of war. Our
small United States navy, under Capt.
Truxton, commanding the frigate Con-
stitution, was in collision with the
French frigates La Vengeance and
L1nsurgente, and the first infant cries
OF this century were drowned in the
roar of naval battle. And political
strife on this continent was the hot
test, the parties rending each other
With pantherine rage. The birthday
present of this nineteenth century was
vituperation, public unrest, threat of
national demolition, and horrors ma
tional and international. I adjure you,
let not the twentieth century be met
in that awful way, but with all bright
ness of temporal and religious pros
poets. 42a
First, let us put upon the cradle Of
i the new century a new map of the
world. The old map was black with
too many barbarisnss, and red with too
many slaughters, and pale with too
many sufferings. Let us see to it that
on that map, so far as possible, our
country from ocean to ocean is
Christianized continent-schools, coll
leges, churches and good homes in
long line from ocean beach to ocean
beach. On that map Cuba must be
free. The archipelago of the Philip
pines must be free. If cruel Spain
expects by representation and intrigue
to get back what she has surrendered,
then the warships Iowa, and Indiana
and Brooklyn, and Texas, and Vesu-
vius, and Oregon must be sent back to
southern waters, or across to the coast
OF Spain, to silence the insolence, as
decidedly as last summer they silenced
the Cristobal Colon, and Oquendo, and
Maria Teresa, and Vizcaya. When we
get those islands thoroughly under our
protectorate, for the first time our mis-
sionaries in China will be safe. The
atrocities imposed on these good men
and women in the so-called Flowery
Kingdom will never be resumed, for
our guns vii be too near Hong Kong
to allow the massacre Of missionary
settlements.
On that map must be put the 18th
milan canal, begun if not completed. No
long voyages around Cape Horn for
the worlds merchandise, but short and
cheap communication by water instead
of expensive communication by rail
train, and more millions will be added
to our national wealth and the worlds
betterment than have capacity to cal
culate.
On that map it must be made evi-
dent that America is to be the world
civilizer and evangelizer. Free from
the national religions Of Europe on the
one side, and from the superstitions OF
& Asia on the other side, it will have
facilities for the work that no other
continent can possibly possess. AS
near as I can tell by the laying on of
= the hands Of tho T,nrd5 A1mipht,, : = Sc