Connecticut western news., 1900-05-31
THE VICTOR'S SHOUT.
DR. TALMAGE ON THE JOY OF OVER
 COMING DIFFICULTIES.

Successful Outcome of His Earthly
 Lnbors-Balm For Troubled Hearts.
 WASHINGTON, May 27.-In this dis course Dr. Talmage shows in an un- usual way the antagonisms that Christ overcame and finds a balsam for all wounded hearts; text, John xvii, 4, II have finished the work which thou gay est me to do.'
 There is a profound satisfaction in the completion of anything we have undertaken. We lift the capstone with exultation, while, on the other hand, there Is nothing more disappointing than, after having toiled in a certain direction, to find that our time Is vast ed and our investment profitless. Christ came to throw up highway on which the whole world might, if it chose, mount into heaven. He did 1t. The foul mouthed crew who attempted to tread on him could not extinguish the sublime satisfaction which he express ed when he said, q have finished the work which thou gavest me to do."
 Alexander the Great was wounded, and the doctors could not medicate his wounds, and he seemed to be dying, and in his dream the sick man saw a plant with peculiar flower, and he dreamed that that plant was put upon his wound and that immediately it was cured. And Alexander, waking from his dream, told this to the physician, and the physician wandered out until he found just the kind of plant which the sick man had described, brought 1t to him, and the wound was healed We'll, the human race had been hurt with the ghastliest of all wounds-that of sin. It was the business of Christ to bring a balm for that wound-the balm of divine restoration. In carry ing this business to a successful issue the difficulties were stupendous.
 In many of our plans we have our friends to help us; some to draw a sketch of the plan, others to help us In the execution. But Christ fought every inch of his way against bitter hostility and amid circumstances all calculated to depress and defeat
 In the first place, his worldly occupa- ton was against him. I find that he earned his livelihood by the carpen- ter's trade, an occupation always to be highly regarded and respected. But you know as we'll as do that in order to succeed in any employment one must give his entire time to it, and have to declare that the fatigues of carpentry were unfavorable to the ex- 1R x,aio all mental and physical faculties. Through high, hard, dry, husky, insen- sate Judaism to hew a way for a new and glorious dispensation was a stu pendous undertaking that was enough to demand all the concentrated ener- igies even of Christ. We have great many romantic stories about what men with physical toll have accomplished in intellectual departments, but you know that after man has been toiling all day with adz and saw and ham, mer, plane and ax, about all he can do is to rest. A weary body is an unfa- vorable adjunct to toiling mind. You, whose life Is purely mechanical, If you were called to the upbuilding of a kingdom, or the proclamation of new code of morals, or the starting of a revolution which should upturn all na- lions, could get some idea of the inco- iherence of Christ's occupation with his heavenly mission.
 Christ's Humble Apparel.
 In his fathers shop no more inter- course was necessary than Is ordina- rily necessary in bargaining with men that have work to do, yet Christ, with hands hard from use of tools of trade, was called forth to become a public speaker, to preach In the face of mobs, while some wept, and some shook their fists, and some gnashed upon him with their teeth, and many wanted him out of the way. To address orderly and respectful assemblages Is not so easy as 1t may seem, but 1t requires more energy and more force and more con centration to address an exasperated mob. The villagers of Nazareth heard the pounding of his hammer but all the wide reaches of eternity were to hear the stroke of his spiritual up building.
 So also his habits of dress and diet were against him. The mighty men of Christ's time did not appear in apparel without trinkets and adornments. None of the C@sars would have appeared in citizens apparel. Yet here was a man, here was a professed king, who always wore the same coat. Indeed 1t was far from shabby, for after he had worn 1t a long while the gamblers thought 1t worth railing about, but still 1t was far from being an imperial robe. It was a coat that any ordinary man might have worn on an ordinary occa- sion.
 Neither was there any pretension in his diet No cupbearer with golden chalice brought him wine to drink. On the seashore he ate fish, first having ibroiled 1t himself. No one fetched him water to drink; but, bending over the well in Samaria, he begged a drink He sat at only one banquet, and tbat not at all sumptuous, for to relieve the awkwardness of the host one of the guests had to prepare wine for the company.
 Other kings ride In a chariot; he walked. Other kings, as they advance have heralds ahead and applauding subjects behind; Christ's retinue was made up of sunhurned fishermen. 9th CT kings sleep under embroidered can :. opy; this one on shelterless hill, rid ing but once, as far as I now remem Der, on a colt, and that borrowed.
 His poverty was against him. It re quires money to build great enter prises. Men of means are afraid of 8 penniless protector lest a loan be de handed. It requires money to print books, to build institutions to pay in structors. No wonder the wise men of Christ's time laughed at this penniless Christ. Why" they said, "who is to pay for this new religion? Who is to charter the ships to carry the mission aries? Who is to pay the salaries of hn fnn nnh1 JI..I lsIE.