The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-12-29

Washington, Dec. 22.-This discourse ot Dr. Talmage Is full of the nativity ana appropriate for the holidays; text. LUKE Il. is -And they came with haste ana ,a, found Mary and Joseph, ana tne paDe S ing In manager. po-
 The black window shutters .. cember night were thrown open ana sonse of the best singers of world WnSIe .. they all sing stood there, ana pusuns back the drapery of cloud cnan.eu |, is peace anthem until all the echoes oi M nIli and valley applauded and encored the halleluiah chorus. Come, let us go ihto that Christmas scene as tnoush we nao never before worshiped pr,S SA ,ooSin9 oae a at' i wonder not that the most trequenl name in all lands and in all Christian centu- ries Is Mary. And there are sd MaryS ,ho,,sh sh German and French and Italian and Spanish and English pronounce 1t differ ently, they are all namesakes Of the one whom we -fnd on bed or straw. with her pale face against the soft cheek of Christ in the night of the nativity. All the great painters have tried. or and the incidents of that most famous night of the worlds history. Raphaci. in three different masterpieces. celebrat- ed them. Tintoretto and Ghirlandalo sur passed themselves in the adoratton Of th? magi. Correggio needed to- do no more than his Madonna to become immortal. The Madonna of the Lily" by Leonardo da vinci will kindle the admiration or all ages. But all the galleries of Dres- den are forgotten when I think of the small room of that gallery containing the copies of St. Matthews Madonna and Lcke's Madonna. the inspired Madonna of the old book, which we had put into our hands when we were infants ana that we hope to have under our neaos
 Behold, in the first place, that on the night of Christ's life God honored the brute creation. You cannot get into that Bethlehem barn without going past the camels, the mules. the dogs. the oxen. The brutes of that stable heard the nrst cry of the infant Lord. some of the oid kneeling that night before the neWporn babe. And we'll might they kneei! Have you ever. thought that Christ came among other things, to alleviate the sut- ferings of the brute creation? Was 1t not appropriate that he should, during the first few days and nights of his life beasts, whose moan and plaint and bel lowing have for ages been prayer to God for the arresting of their tortures and the fighting of their wrongs? Not kennel in all the centuries, not a birds nest, not a wornout horse on towpath, not herd freezing in the poorly built COW pen. not freight car in summer times bringing the beeves to market without water through a thousand miles of agony, not surgeons room witness ing the struggles of fox or rabbit or pig con or dog in the horrors of Vivisection. but has an interest In the fact that Christ was born in stable surrounded by brutes.
 Care of Gods Creatures.
 Standing then, as I imagine now do, in that Bethlehem night with an infant Christ on one side and the. speeches. creatures of God on tue other. 1 cry: Look out how you strike that rowel into that horses side; take off that curbed hit from that bleeding mouth; remove that saddle from that raw back; shoot not for fun that bird that is too small for food; forget not to put water into the crumbs to those birds caught too far north in the winters inclemency; arrest that man who is making that one horse draw a. load heavy enough for three; torturing a cat or transfixing a butter fly and grasshopper; drive not off that old robbin, for her nest is a mother cradle and under her wing there may be three or four musicians of the sky in training. In your families and in your schools teach the coming generation more mercy than the present generation has ever shown and in this marvellous Bible picture of the nativity. while you point out to them the angel show them also the camel, and while they hear the celes- tial chant let them also hear tho cows
 Behold also in this Bible scene how on that Christmas night God honored child hood. Childhood was to be honored by that advent. He must have child s light limbs and a child's dimpled hand and a child's beamIng eye and child's haxen hair, and babyhood was to be honored for all time to come, and a era de was to mean more than grave. Mighty God, may the reflection of that one child's face be seen in all infantile
 Enough have all those fathers and mothers on hand if they have a child in the house. A throne, a crown, scep- ter, a Kingdom, under charge. Be care ful how you. strike him across the head Jarring the brain. What you say to him will be centennial and nillennial. and a hundred years and a thousand, years will not stop the echo and re-echo. Do not say, Tt Is only child Rather say, Tt is only an immortal" It is only a masterpiece of Jehovah. It is only a being that shall outlive sun and moon and star and ages quadriennial God has infinite resources, and he can give pres to give the richest possible gift to household he looks around all the worlds and all the universe and then gives a childhood. He makes almost every pie ture 0 failure unless there be a child either playing on the floor or looking through the window or seated on the lap gazing into the face of the mother.
 It was a child in Naaman's kitchen that told the great Syrian warrior where he might go and get cured of the leprosy. which at his seventh piunge in the Jor- dan was left at the bottom of the river. It was to the cradle of leaves In which a child was laid. rocked by the Nile. that Gou caIed tne attention ot history U was a sick child that evoked Christ s curative sympa .hies. It was a child thas Christ set in the midst of the squab- bling disciples to teach the lesson of hu- miIity. A child decided Waterloo, show ing the army of Butcher how they could take short cut through the fields when if the old road had been followed the Prussian general would have come up too late to save the destinles of Europe. It was a child that decided Gettysburg, ho having overheard two Confederate gem erals in conversation in which they decided to march for GettYshure instead of Harrisburg. and, this reported to Gov ernor Curtin. the Federal forces started to meet their opponents at Gettysburg. And today the child is to decide all the great battles. make all the laws settle all the destinieg and usher in the world salvation or destruction. Men, women, ,------S-sssaa-l2 -sslaa -l2aE,ta.--s------.-... l2aEta