Connecticut western news. [volume] (Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Conn.) 1871-1970, 1901-04-11
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WASHINGTON. April t. The great
Christian festival celebrated in all the
churches is the theme of DIR. Talmage's
discourse; Corinthians XIV, 20, Now
In Christ risen from the dead and te-
come the first fruits of them that
slept"
On this glorious Easter morning,
amid the music and the flowers, l give
you Christian salutation. This morn
Ing Russian meeting Russian ON the
streets of st. Petersburg halls him
with the salutation, Christ Is risen!'
and is answered by his friend in salu-
tation, He is risen indeed!' In some
parts of England and Ireland to this
very day there is the superstition that
on Easter morning the sun dances in
the heavens, and well may we forgive
such a superstition, which Illustrates
the fact that the natural world seems
to sympathize with the spiritual.
Hail, Easter morning! Flowers!
Flowers! All of them a-voice, all Of
them a-tongue, all Of them full Of
speech today. l bend over one Of the
lilies, and hear 1t say: Consider the
lilies Of the field, how they grow. They
toll not, neither do they spin, yet Solo
mon in all his glory was not arrayed
like one of these" l bend over a rose,
and 1t seems to whisper, Il am the
rose Of Sharon" And then stand and
listen. From all sides there comes the
chorus of flowers, saying, IF God so
clothed the grass of the field, which to-
day Is, and tomorrow Is cast into the
oven, shall he not much more clothe
you, o ye Of little faith?"
Flowers! Flowers! Braid them into
the brides hair. Flowers! Flowers!
Strew them over the graves of the
dead, sweet prophecy of the resurrec-
ton. Flowers! Flowers! Twist them
into a garland for my Lord Jesus on
Easter morning, and "Glory be to the
Father and to the Son and to the Holy
Ghost; as 1t was in the beginning, Is
now and ever shall bev' The women
came to the Saviour's tomb, and they
dropped spices all around the tomb,
and those spices were the seed that
began to grow, and from them came all
the flowers of this Easter morn. The
two angels robed in white took hold of
the stone at the Saviour's tomb, and
they hurled 1t with such force down
the hill that 1t crushed In the door Of
the worlds sepulcher, and the stark
and the dead must come forth.
care not how labyrinthine the mau-
solemn or how costly the sarcophagus
Or however beautifully parterred the
family grounds-we want them all bro
ken up by the Lord of the resurrec-
ton. They must come out. Father
and mother-they must come out; hus-
band and wife-they must come out;
brother and sister they must come
out; our darling children-they must
come out. The eyes that we closed
with such trembling fingers must open
again in the radiance of that morn; the
arms we folded in dust must join ours
In an embrace of reunion; the voice
that was hushed In our dwelling must
be returned. Oh, how long some Of you
seem to be waiting for the resurrec-
ton! And for these broken hearts to-
day I make soft, cool bandage out of
Easter flowers.
Prophecy of Resurrection.
This morning 1 find in the risen
Christ prophecy of our own resurrec-
ton, my text setting forth the idea
that as Christ has risen SO his people
will rise. He, the first sheaf Of the
resurrection harvest. He, 'the first
fruits OF them that slept" Before 1
get through this morning l will walk
through all the cemeteries Of the dead,
through all the country graveyards,
where your loved ones are buried, and
9 will pluck of these flowers, and l
will drop q sweet promise of the Cos
pel-a rose of hope, lily of Joy on ev-
cry tomb, the child's tomb, the hus-
bands tomb, the wife's tomb, the fa-
theirs grave, the mothers grave, and,
while we celebrate the resurrection of
Christ, we will at the same time cele-
brate the resurrection Of all the good.
Christ, the first fruits of them that
slept"
II should come to you and ask you
for the names Of the great conquerors
Of the world, you would say Alexan-
der. Cesar. Philip, Napoleon 1. All!
You have forgotten to mention the
name Of a greater conqueror than all
these-a cruel, a CHASTITY conQueror.
He rode on a black horse across Wa
terloo and Chalons and Atlanta, the
bloody hoofs crushing the hearts of
nations. 1t is the conqueror Death. He
carries a black flag, and he takes no
prisoners. He digs trench across the
hemispheres and fills it with the car
cases Of nations. Fifty times would
the world have been depopulated had
not God kept making new generations.
Fifty times the world would have
swung lifeless through the air-no man
on the mountain, no man on the sea,
an abandoned ship blowing through
immensely. Again and again has he
done this work with all generations.
He Is a monarch as well as a con-
Queror; his palace a sepulcher; his
fountains the falling tears of world.
Blessed be God In the light Of this
Easter morning! see the prophecy
that his scepter shall be broken and
his palace shall be demolished. The
hour Is coming when all who are in
their graves shall come forth. Christ
risen, we shall rise. Jesus, 1.-The first
fruits Of them that slept"
Many Mysteries.
Now, around this doctrine of the res
direction there are great many mys.
teries. You come to me and say, III
the bodies of the dead are to be raised
how Is this and how Is thatT And
you ask me a thousand questions 1 am
Incompetent to answer. But there are
great many things you believe that
you are not able to explain. You would
be a very foolish man to say, II won't
believe anything I can't understand"
Why, putting down one kind of flower
seed, comes there up this flower of this
color? Why, putting down another
dover seed, comes there up flower Of
this color? One flower white, another
dover yellow. another flower crimson.
Why the difference when the seeds
look to no very much 0likp-arp ypry