Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1900-02-09
PAST EXPERIENCES.
Or. Talmage Says They Should Be
Our Guides for the Future.
Some Practical and Timely SuGges-
hons as 10 Right Livinlg-Our
Life ms "n 'rnIe TINT
In Told"
copyright. 1899, by l.ows Klopseh,l
Washington,

ulhpe tuhes tue opportunity VI VI
fering some very practical and use
'ul suggestions; text, Psalms, &c, o.
1--WE spend our years us ii tale that is
told"
The lsraelites we're 40 years in the
wilderness, and during 3S years Of the
40 nothing is recorded of them, and |
suppose no other emigrants had Il
duler or more uninleresting time
than they had. So they got to telling
stories stories concerning them
selves or concerning others; stories
about the brick kilns of Egypt, where
they had ,oled in slavery; stories
shout how the waters of the Red sea
piled up into palisades ut their cross
ing; story of how the lantern hung in
the heavens TO guide them by night;
story Of ibises destroying the reptiles
Of the wilderness; stories of personal
encounter. II must have been an aw-
full thing to have had nothing to do
in IS years except to get lost every
time they tried to escape from the
wilderness. So they whiled away the
time in story telling. Indeed, there
were persons whose one business was
TO narrate stories, and they were
paid by such trfles as they could pick
up from the surrounding listeners. 10
such instances our text refers when ii
says: 1--WE spend our years as tale
that is told"
Al this tremendous passage from
the year 1899 to the year 1900 il will
do us all good to consider that our
whole life is story told-a good
story or a bad story; a tragic story or
mirthful story: a wise story oil:
foolish story: clean story or n filthy
story: story of success or story of
failure. 1--WE spend our years as "A
tale that is told"
In the first place I remark that
every persons life is very Inherent
ing story. My text does not depre-
ciare "a tale that is told" We have
all of us been entertained by the
story teller when snow bound in the
rail traiL; or in the group u winters
night in the farmhouse: or gathered
around a blazing hearth with some
hunters at the mountain inn. Indeed.
il is a praiseworthy art to imperson-
nie good story well. II you doubt
The practical and healthful and inspir-
irg use of such story, take down
from the library Washington lrving's
"rales of a Traveller" or Nathaniel
Hawthorne's "1wice Told Tales" But
as interesting as any OF these would
be the story Of many an obscure life.
IL the tale were as well told. Why do
we all like biographies and autobog-
eminent human lives. But the story
of the life of a bnckwoodsman of a
man who looks stupid, of one about
whom You never heard word, must be
just AS thrilling on a small scale as on
larger scale is the life of Cyrus. or
II Caesar. or u Piznrro. or Mark An
tony. or Charlemagne, or the late
Gen. Gordon, who was upon Il parapet
leading his soldiers with nothing but
stick in his hand, and his troops
cried: Gordon. come down. You
will be killed" But he did not come
down, and one Of the soldiers sad
ut is all right. He don't mind being
killed. He is one of those blessed
Christians"
If you get the confidence Of that
very plain man Just come out Of the
bnckwoods and can induce him 10 give
the stirring experiences Of his life, he
will tell you that which will make
your blood curlle and your hair stand
on end. That night when panther
disputed his pathway or the way
home: that landslide when the noun
tans seemed about TO come down on
his cabin: that accident to his house
hold, and no surgeon within Is miles
that long storm that shut them in and
the food was exhaustcd; that contest
at his doorway with bandits who
thought there might be within some.
thing worth taking: that deathbed
with no one but himself to count the
fuitering pulses.
As Oliver Cromwell on the anniver
sary Of his greatest victory followed
his darling daughter TO the grave. so In
the humbest and most unpretending
life there has been commingling Of
gadness and gloom. of triumph and de-
spair. Nothing that David Garricl
ever enacted AT Drury Lane theater II
the way of tragedy or Charles Mat
thews ever played in Coveni Garden il
the way Of comedy excelled thing!
which on a small scale have been seeI
In the life of obscure men and women
Many profound and learned sermon
has put the audience to sleep, Will,
some man whose phraseology could no
bt parsed and whose attire was cut ant
htted and made up by painest house
wife has told the story Of his life in
way that melted the prayer circle int
tears as easily as warm April sun dis
solves the snow of the previous night.
Oh yes. while 1--WE spend our year
as a tale that is told" II is an interesiin.
story. II Is the story Of an immortal
and that makes II interesting. He ]
launched on an ocean Of eternal years
IN voyage that will never terminate
He is striking the keynote of an anthem
or a dirge that will ntver come to 1t
last bar. That is what makes the de
voiional meetings Of modern times s
much more interesting than they use
10 be. They are filled not with dis
courses by lavmen on the subject o
justification and saDctification. whic
lay disconrses administer more TO tn
facetous Than 10 the edifying. hui wit
stories OF what God has done TO
the soul = how everything sad6enI
changed; how The promises b,csm