The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-04-22

around bec~1In all thumb and finger
and soliloquized, SHALL I smoke and
enjoy these and thus very likely impair
my influence with this man and his
friends and my congregation in gener-
al. or shall l put influence and example
frst?' He laid the cigar back in the
box. closed it with a snap and returned
ii to the sender with this note:
My Dear SIr-I have stopped smoking
quit today. T. d. W. T.
The sudden resolution. acted out in
the spur Of the moment. was typical OF
his whole life.
In 1860. seven years after his settle
ment i'm Philadelphia. DR.. Talmage re
ceived simultaneous calls to Chicago.
Brooklyn and San Francisco. Their
demands spurred him to still higher eff
fort He chose Brooklyn. as he believed
that city needed him most. The call
bore only seventeen signatures, but il
was unanimous, for there were but sew
enteen members in the church. They
had n large building. but the pews
were mostly empty. n though it
stood among q teeming population the
church was exerting little influence In
March, 1860, he preached his first SER
mon there. The transformation that
followed seemed magical. Every serv-
ice was crowded. Within a year it was
decided to erect a new edifice capable
of seating 5000. DR.. Talmage's first
sermon was from the text, compel
them to come in" but it seemed an in
aptitude. for the people came in such
numbers that many were compelled to
stay out.
FRED WINGS OF FIRE"
Two years a%fterward, on a Sunday
morning in December. 1872. DR.. Tai
mage looked from the window Of his
house and saw his beloved church put
ting on red wings of fire. until it swept
the heavens, a lurid mass of con1agra-
ton.
U~ndismayed by the destruction of
their church, the congregation soon be-
gan to build q still larger structure
which would seat 5000. Although the
completed edifice was the largest
church Of it's denomination in America,
it was never large enough to hold the
"HN I'LL ~ AokSh " NhS "
famous preacher. The regular hearers
alone were nearly sufficient to fill the
building, and their number was aug
mented by hundreds from New York.
by many from other states and even by
transatlantic visitors, who had read his
sermons printed in their home journals.
For fully fifteen years the church had
uninterrupted prosperity, which was
rudely broken on Oct. 13. 1889. by the
complete destruction of the second tab
ernacle by fire. A third tabernacle was
built still larger than it's predecessors.
1t was finished in 1891, and its dedica-
ton was a great public occasion. Large
delegations, drawn from every section
of the Union, came. bringing congratu-
lations.
1t was a grand and beautiful temple
OF. worship. rich In ornamentation. vast
in seating capacity and perfect in
acoustics. 81 never could sing a note
or raise a tune" DR.. Talmage would
often ay. Yet the music. the strains
of the great. deep toned thirty
thousand dollar organ, mingiing with
the mighty swell Of voices, led by
Peter Ali's silver cornet, was the
finest inia enable. Three years later,
when q series Of meetings were
held to celebrate the tw~enty-ffth an
niversary Of his passionate in Brooklyn,
the state. the city and he clergy Of the
n~eighborhood united in recognition Of
the eminence DR.. Talmage had achiev-
ed. He was overwhelmed with verbal
congratulations and good wishes. and
kilograms. letters and cable dispatches
came from illustrious ~personages here
and beyond the seas. 1t was. however.
the closing scene in his long succession
of Brooklyn triumphs. for on the fol-
lowing Sunday. May 13. 1894. a fire
broke out in the church at the close Of
the morning service. and the fine build
ing in a few hours became a pile of
smoking ruins.
HIS TOUR OF THE GLOBE.
Saddened by the destruction of his
third and most beautiful tabernacle.
DIR. Talmage for a time ceased active
pastoral work and went abroad on a
tour OF the globe. He preached to large
audiences in Australia. New Zealand.
LOld duu NlVal biilalh II vi bAS
return published an account of his
j~ourneyings in a volume entitled THE
Earth Girdled." which was widely cir
culated. He now devoted himself al
most exclusively to his editorial duties
on The Christian Herald. TO which he
had been \ regular weekly contributor
since 1878. becoming editor in chief in
1890. DR.. Louis klopsch. the proprie-
tor Of that journal. bad been his init
mate friend and business associate for
many years. He had ~syudicated DR..
Talmage's sermons since 1885. furnish
ing them regularly every week to over
1000 newspapers. 1t is estimated that
the total number Of weekly readers
reached by the syndicate and through
other channels was not less han 90
OOO. 600. an audience far more vast than