Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1900-05-17
ETERNAL FELICITIES
DR.. TALMAGE ON THE SPLENDORS OF
THE NEW JERUSALEM.



Comprehension of the Finite Mind.
There VIII De No Parting There.
WASHINGTON, May 13.--In this dis
course DR.. Talmage lifts the curtain from
eternal felicities and in an unusual way
treats OF the heavenly world; tcXs j
Corinthians ii, 8, Eye hath not seen nor
rar heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man, the things which God hath
prepared for them that love him"
The city Of Corinth has been called
"the Paris OF antiquity" Indeed, for
splendor the world holds no such wonder
today. 1t stood on an isthmus washed by
two seas, the one sea bringing the COM
merce of Europe the other sea bringing
the commerce Of Asia. From her wharfs,
in the construction of which whole king.
doms had been absorbed, war gallcys
with three banks OF oars pushed out and
COMPOUNDED the navy yards of all the
world. Huge handed machinery, such as
modern invention cannot equal, lifted
ships from the sea on one side and trans
ported them on trucks across the isthmus
and set them down in the sea on the 9TH
er side.
The revenue officers Of the city went
down through the olive groves that lined
the beach to collect n tariff from all ma
tons. The mirth of all people sported in
her isthman games, and the beauty Of all
lands sat in her theaters walked her por-
tcoes and threw itself on the altar of her
stupendous designations. Column and
statue and temple bcwildcred the behold
err There were white marble fountains
into which from apertures at the side
there rushed waters everywhere known
for health giving qualities. Around these
basins, twisted into wreaths Of stone,
there were all the beauties Of sculpture
and architecture, while standing, as if to
guard the costly display, was a statue Of
Hercules of FURNISHED Corinthian brass.
Vases OF terra Gotta adorned the ccme-
teres of the dead-vases so costly that
Julius Caesar was not satisfied until he
had captured them for Rome. Armed Off
Gals, the Corintharii, paced up and down
to see that no statue was defaced, no
pedestal overthrown, no has relief touch
ed. From the edge of the city hill arose,
with its magnificent burden of columns,
towers and temples 200 slaves waiting
at one shrine), and a citadel so thorough
ly impregnable that Gibraltar is n heap
of sand compared with it. Amid all that
strength and magnilicence Corinth stood
and defied the world.
Oh, il was not to rustics, who had
never seen anything grand, that Paul ut
tered this text. They had heard the best
music that had come from the best instru-
ments in all the world; they had heard
songs floating from morning porticoes
and melting in evening groves; they had
passed their whole lives among pictures
and sculpture and architecture and Cor
inthian brass, which had been nodded
and shaped until there was no chariot
wheel in which it had not sped, and no
tower in which it had not glittered, and
no gateway that it had not adorned. All,
it was n bold thing for Paul to stand
! there amid all that and say: "All this is
nothing. These sounds that come from
the temple of Neptune are not music
compared with the harmonies of which
speak. These waters rushing in the basin
of Pyrene are not pure. These statues
| OF Bacchus and Mercury are not ex-
quste. Your citadel of Acrocorinthus is
not strong compared with that which
offer to the poorest slave that puts down
his burden at that brazen gate. You
Corinthians think this is splendid city
You think you have heard ell sweet
sounds and seen all beautiful sights, but
L
heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man, the things which God hath
prepared for them that love him"
beyond Our Present Conception.
You see my text sets forth the idea
that, however exalted our ideas Of heav
en-, they come far short of the reality
Some wise men have been calculating
how many furlongs long and wide is tn,
new Jerusalem, and they have calculated
how many inhabitants there are on tn,
earth, how long the earth will probably
stand, and then they come to this est
mate: That after all the nations hav,
been gathered to heaven there will be-
room for each soul, a room Is feet Ions
and II feet wide 1t would not be large
enough for you. 1t would not be large
enough for me. l am glad to know tina
no human estimate is sufficient to TAXI
the dimensions. Eye hath not seen
nor ear heard" nor arithmeticians cal
culated.
| first remark that we can get no idef
of the health Of heaven. When you were
child, and you went out in the morning
how you bounded along the road or stree
you had never felt sorrow or sickness
Perhaps later you felt glow in you
cheek and a spring in your step and al
exuberance of spirits and a clearness o
eye that made you thank God you wer'
permitted to live. The nerves were harI
strings and the sunlight was doxology
and the rustlng leaves We're the ruStlini
of the robes of great crowd rising up t.
praise the Lord. You thought that yo'
knew what it was to be well, but there /
no perfect health on earth. The disease
of past generations came down to us
The airs that now float upon the cart
are not like those which tioated abov
paradise. They are charged with impu
rites and distempers. The most elasti
and robust health of earth, compare
with that which those experience befor
whom the gates have been opened,
nothing but sickness and emaciation
Look at that soul standing before IA
throne. On earth she was Il lifelong in
valid. See her step now and hear he
voice now. Catch, if you can, one breat
of that celestial air. Health in all tn
pulses-health of vision, health of spirit:
immortal health. No racking cough, II
sharp pleurisies, no consuming fevers, n
eXhausting pains, no hospitals of wounc
ed men, Health swinging in the ali
health flowing in all the streams, healt
blooming on the banks. No headaches n
side aches. no back aches. That child tina
died in the agOnies of Group, hear he