The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1902-04-25
THEBIRTH OF CHRIST
An Appropriate Holiday Sermon by
Dr.. Talmage.
Christmas Scene Mt the Mauger In
the Rude Darn-Brute Creation
fIonored-God's Honorcd
Science.

lCopyrlshi 1901. by Louis Kiopsch " "
Washington
This discourse OF DR.. Taima9e ful
OF the nativity and appropriate for th
holidays; text. Luke 2:16: And the.
came with haste and found Mary AM
Joseph, and the Babe lying in a man
ger"
The black window shutters Of De
cember night were thrown open an,
some Of the best singers Of worl.
where they an sing stood there, an,
putting back the drapery Of clou,
chanted a peace anthem until all The
chorus Of hill and valley app,auied an,
encored the halleluiah chorus. Come
let us 60 into that Christmas scene a,
though we had never before worsh'peC
at the manger. Here is a Madonna
worth looking al. ] wonder rot that
the most frequent name In all land and
N all Christian centuries is Mary
And there are Marys in palaces and
Marys in cabins, and, though German
/ and French and Italian and Spanish
and English pronounce II differently
they are all namesakes Of the one
whom we find on bed Of straw. with
her pale face against the soft cheek
OF Christ in the night Of the nativity
All the great painters have tried. on
canvas, TO present Mary and her Child
and the Incidents Of that most famous
night OF the worlds history. Raphael.
in three different masterpieces. cele-
brated them. Tintoretto and Ghrlan-
daio surpassed themselves in the ado
ration Of the magi. Correggio needed
to DO no more than his Madonna 10 he
come immortal. The madonna Of the
Lily" by Leonardo da Ninci, will kndle
the admiration Of all ages. But al the
galleries OF Dresden are forgotten when
| think Of the small room Of that GAL
lery containing the "Sistine Madonna" D"
Yet all of them were copies Of ST. Mat
thew's Madonna and Luke's Madonna.
the inspired Madonna Of the old Book.
which We had put into our hands when
we were infants and that We hope 20
have under our heads when we de.
Behold. in the first place. that on he
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 first cry Of the infant Lord.
Some Of the old painters represent the
oxen and camels kneeling that night
before the newborn Babe. And well
might they kneel! Have you ever
thought that Christ came, among 9TH
er things, to alleviate the sufferincs Of
the brute creation? Was II not appro-
pirate that He should, during the first
few days and nights Of His life on
earth, be surrounded by the dumb
beasts. whose means and plant and
believing have for ages been a prayer
to God for the arresting Of their tor
lures and the righting Of their wrongs?
Not a kennel in all the centuries. not
birds nest, not a worn-out horse on
towpath, not a herd freezing I'm the
poorly built cowpen. not a freight car
in summer time bringing the beeves
10 market without water through a
thousand miles OF agony. not a sur
geon's room witnessing thf struggles
OF fox or rabbit OF pigeon or dog In the
horrors OF vivisection. but has an IN
terest in the fact that Christ was born
in a stable surrounded by brutes.
Standing then. as imagine now 7 90.
in that bethlehem night with an infant
Christ on one side and the speechless
creatures Of God on the other. I cry:
Look out how you strike the rowcl into
that horses side; take of that curbed
bit 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 cage Of that canary; throw out
some crumbs 10 those birds caught TOO
far north in the winters inclemencv:
arrest that man who is making that
one horse draw a load heavy enough
for three; rush in upon that scene
where boys are torturing a cat or
transfxing butterfly and grasshopper;
drive not off that old robin. for her
nest is a mothers cradle and under her
wing there may be three or four mu-
sicians Of the sky in training. in your
families and in your schools teach the f.
coming generation more mercy than /
the present generation has ever shown F..
and in this marvellous Bible picture Of /
the nativity. while you point out to .
them the angel, show them also the I
,amel, and while they hear the ceies-
tial chant let them also hear the cows .
moan.
Behold also in this Bible scene how
IN that Christmas night God honored
Childhood was to be hon.
,red by that advent. lie must have a
,hild's light limbs and a child's dimpled
land and a child's beaming eye and a
,hild's flaxen hair and babyhood was
o be honored for all time to come. and
/ cradle was TO mean more than
rave. Mighty God, may the reflection
Y that one Child's face be seen in all
facesl
Enough have all those fathers and
mothers on hand IL they have child
n the house. A throne. a crown, a
cepter, a kingdom under charge. BE
areful how you strike him across the
iead. jarring the brain. What you say
o him viii be centennial and milienniai.
nd a hundred years and a thousand /
.asre ,,fr ro4 e4on the echo and reocho /