Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1899-06-09
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
JOY UNBOUNDED, LAST SUM-
DAYS SUBJECT.


DAYS SUBJECT.
The Great Divine Discourses to q Null
titude-His Theme. New Springs OF
JOY" Is Graphically Portrayed-''Thou
Hast Given Me . South Land"
The city Of Debir was the Boston
Of antiquity-a great place for brain
and books. Caleb wanted 1t, and he
offered his daughter Achsah as a prize
to any one who would capture that
city. 1t was strange thing for Caleb
to do; and yet the man that could take
the city would have, at any rate, two
elements of manhood-bravery and
patriotism. With Caleb's daughter as
prize to fight for, Gen. Othniel rode
into the battle. The gates of Debir
were Numbered into the dust, and the
city of books lay at the feet OF the
conquerors. The work done, Othnlel
comes back to claim his bride. Hay
ing conquered the city, it is no great
Job for him to conquer the girls heart;
for however faint-hearted a woman
herself may be, she always loves cour-
age in a man. I never saw an excep-
ton to that. The wedding festivity
having gone by Othniel and Achsah
are about to 60 to their new home.
However loudly the cymbals may clash
and the laughter ring. parents are al
ways sad when fondly cherished
daughter goes off to stay; and Achsah'
the daughter of Caleb, knows that now
is the time to ask almost anything she
wants of her father. 1t seems that
Caleb the good old man, had given as
a wedding present to his daughter
piece of land that was mountainous,
and sloping southwark toward the oes-
erts OF Arabia, swept with some very
hot winds. 1t was called "a south
land" But Achsah wants an adoltloi
of property; she wants piece OF lanu
that is we'll watered and fertile. NO"
it is no wonder that Caleb, standing
amid the bridal party, his eyes So
full of tears because she was gong
away that he could hardly see her a.
all, gives her more than she asks
She said to him, "Thou hast given
me south land; give me also springs
Of water" And he gave her the upper
springs and the neither springs.
What suggestive passage! Inc
fact is, that as Caleb, the father, gave
Achsah, the daughter, south land, SO
God gives to us his world. ! am very
thankful he has given it to us. But l
am like Achsah in the fact that want
a larger portion. Trees and flowers
and grass and blue skies are very we'll
in their places; but he who has moth
ing but this world for a portion has
no portion at all. 1t is mountainous
land, sloping off toward the desert OF
sorrow, swept by fiery siroccos; 1t Is
"a south land" poor portion for
any man that tries to put his trust IN
it. What has been your experience?
What has been the experience OF every
man, of every woman that has tried
this world for portion? Queen Eliza
beth. amidst the surroundings Of pomp,
Is unhappy because the painter
sketches too infinitely the wrinkles on
her face, and she Indignantly cries
out: "You must strike off my like
ness without any shadows" Hogarth,
at the very height of his artistic tri-
umph, is stung almost to death with
chagrin because the painting he had
dedicated to the king does not seem to
be acceptable, for George II. cried OUT
"Who is this, Hogarth? Take his
trumpery out of my presenter! Brins-
ley Sheridan thrilled the earth with
his eloquence, but had for his last
words, II am absolutely undone."
Walter Scott, fumbling around the ink
stand, trying to write, says to his
daughter: ooh, take me back to my
room; there is no rest for Sir Walter
but in the grave" Stephen Girard,
the wealthiest man in his day, Or at
any rate, only second in wealth, says:
II live the life of galley slave; when
rise in the morning my one effort is
to work so hard that I can sleep when
it gets to be night" Charles Lamb,
applauded of all the world, in the very
midst OF his literary triumph says:
"Do you remember, Bridget, when we
used to laugh from the shilling gal
lery at the play? There are now no
good plays to laugh at from the
boxes" But why 60 so far as that?
a.
lings-without any religion, and you
know what I mean by successful
worldlings-pick me out ten successful
worldlings, and you cannot find more
than one that looks happy. Care
drags him across the bridge; care
drags him back. Take your stand at
2 o'clock at the corner of Nassau and
Wall streets, or at the corner of Canal
street and Broadway, and see the ago.
nized physiognomies. Your bankers,
your insurance men. your importers,
your wholesalers, and your retailers,
as a class-as a class, are they happy?
No. Care dogs their steps; and, max
ing no appeal to God for help or COM
fort, they are tossed every whittier.
How has it been with you, my hearer?
Are you more contented in the house
of fourteen rooms than you were in
the two rooms you had in house when
you started? Have you not had more
care and worriment since you won that
s50, OO0 than you did before? Some of
the poorest men I have ever known
have been those Of great fortune. A
man Of small means may be put in
great business straits, but the ghast-
Hest of all embarrassments is that of
the man who has large estates. The
men who commit suicide because of
monetary losses are those who cannot