The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-07-04

SSiS Iiidi IL 10 llluCn wiser 10 uOuse. III
praises Washington and Lincoln as art u
dodgers" and winds up that paragraph {,
follows:
"A mob brought Christ to the top of the rock
back of Nazareth. They did not like his preach
| lns ana they proposed to hurl him down tn
! precipicc. But while they were getting read.
I Tor the massacre, Christ darted into the crowd
ana amid the confusion escaped to Capsrnaum
What good thing he lodged the GROVE
! on the rocks of Nazarcth.'
There are some people who object 10 Cit
fcism of this preacher on the ground that
1t is 'irreverent' TO speak lightly of ort
who makes it his business to expound
! Scripture:
Then he gees on to say:
You know and know men who get wrathfuly
| red in the face and foaining at the mouth and
use the gesture of the clenched fist and PVT
! their feet down with indignant emphasis. and in
I woke all sarcasm and irony and vitupcration and
scorn and spite at the Christian religion
Most people will have to rack their
( brains to remember even one instance of
an un-Christian acquaintance who has be-
/ haved in the manner described, although
I one can generally find exhibitions of that
| sort among rival theoogians discussing
difference of opinion. But it seems a
little absurd, in view of the dancing
dervish style of oratory affected by the
Rev. I. Dewitt Talmage. that he should
blame anybody for getting Unexpectedly
excited about anything Perhaps he may
have mistaken the feelings aroused by his
sermons for anti-Christian feelings When
a lover of pure English and good taste
hnds such an expression as back of Naz-
areth." and sees Christ described as
"dodging'' into a crowd he is apt to
have some emphatic things to say, not
against Christ. but against the theologi-
cal delirium tremens which seems to have
inspired the bad grammar, bad taste, and
utter lack of a sense of propriety which
characterize the discourse.
This interesting dissertation on sacred
music and lodging winds up with a para
graph on what the clergyman calls the
Gospel harp Nobody can tell what Tai
mage means by that expression, but it
sounds nice. This is a part of his apos-
tiophe to the musical instrument in ques-
ton:
washed throng redeemed around the throne May
javelin slay me before fling jsyelin at that
Harp which ii seems almost too sacred for me
10 touch and ! call down from their thrones
these who used 10 finger it and ask them to touch
it Come down, William Cowper. and
yoar fingers over the strings of this harp lie
says. i WILL. and he plays:
e There Is a fountain filed with blood,
Drawn from lmmanuel's veins
g Come down. Charles Wesley, and touch the
strings lie says, 1 WILL and he plays:
- Jesus. lover of my soul,
Let me to Thy bosom fly.
Come down, Augustus Toplady, and sweep
your fingers across this gospel harp lie says,
4 will and he plays:
Rock Of ages, cleft for me-
Let ne hide myself in thee
=" Come down, Isaac Watts, and take this harp
lie says. I WILL and he plays:
% Alas, and did my Saviour bleed.
And did my sovereign die
And this is the grand climax:
"'p. P. Bliss. como down and thrum this Cos
pei harp. He says, 4 WILL and he plays:
'Halleluiah It's dcne.
believe in the Som "
This last melody would render any kind !
of harp about as musical as a tin pan.
We have here the spectacle of Dr. Tai |
mage. as sort of sublirnated schccimas- |
ter. calling all the hymn writer's Of the |
ages to come out after the manner of a /
district school and "spea': their pieces. :
The picture is as dignifei as a game of |
tag and as poetical as mouth organ. 1t
could be conceived only iy a mind utterly
devoid of literary or religious sentiment
Most of the discourse has not even the
sense and continuity of the parts quoted.
1t is mere bombastical balderdash Yet
this rubbish is sent by syndicate all over
the Country, and fed to ignorant and I'M
trained minds in the farm and village as
genuine religious sustenance. 1t is not
much to be wondered at that young peo>
pie with spark OF logic or sentiment or
real reverence i'll their natures are rapidly
that the Church which supports
and endorses a Talmage is illogical ana
absurd. 1t is not the fault of the religion
lr of the age. but of the false delicacy
which leads people of intelligence to re-
rain from open condemnation OF such ir-
-everence and vulgarity of language in the
pulpit.