Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1902-10-25
TALNgAGE
SERMON
By Rev.
FRANK DE WITT TALhfAGE. DID,.
Pastor Of Jefferson Park Presby-
terrain OAurch, Chicago

symbol OF the divine love for the hu-
man race IN this sermon on the text
Isaiah Xvi, l3, AS one whom his
mother cOmforteth. so Will | comfort
| YOU"
Washington Irving has aptly been
ture, but among all the writings OF the
! wizard OF Sunnyside there Is not a
chapter more trenchantly powerful
than that Oh The Art OF Bookmak-
ing" In 4, the author pictures him
self asleep and dreaming In the
! library OF the British museum.
His head Is plllowed upon Il pile
Of musty tones. While he dreams
he sees the different authors OF the
present day poring over the manu-
scripts OF the ancient libraries and
making ample notes and verbatim cop
les OF the same aud. indeed. going so
far as to cut entire leaves from the
books OF a Beaumont Fletcher, a
| Pollock and a Ben JonSOn. Then the
dreamer sees these modern authors
pasting together the verbatim excerpts
and the stolen leaves into new vol
umes and printing their own names
upon the title pages. These literary
plracies continue until at last the cry
of Thieves! Thieves ls raised. Then
there Is a great hubbub and scurrylng
among the modern authors because the
ancient writers whose faces and bodies
are pictured within the quaint. old
fashioned frames hanging upon the
walls OF the British museum are
changed into flesh and blood. ready to
snatch the new books out Of the hands
OF the kidnapers and to claim them as
the offsprings OF their own brain. some
of them born centuries upon centuries
ago.
The obvious moral OF the imaginative
tale Is that there Is nothing new under
the sun. No man. woman or child. no
matter how intelligent. can ever lay
claim to true originality. We are all,
physically and mentally. as well as
spiritually. reproductions OF other
! lives. We are all combinations OF other
peoples thoughts and desires and ac-
tions. even as the walls Of an ancient
palace are often huge mOsacs OF many
! different stones cut from many diff
ferent quarrles. While many have
| contributed TO make us what we are,
the largest contribution is the maternal
one. How much Of nll that is good and
10 fn ngIr
mothers. How much OF all the peace
sud comfort we have enjoyed. do we
owe to their wise and loving ministry
1t Is this fact, which we all recognize,
that the prophet uses TO impress on us
the love and kindness Of God No
simile could he have used so effective
as that In my text. LAS one whom his
mother comfOrteth.
The ChristInn Mother.
The words OF my text have for many
of us a very tender and reyerent appli-
cation. The greatest lessons OF sac
rifcing and Il forgiving love have been
learned by most Ct us froE the now 81
lent lips OF our Christian mothers.
| Though your mother may have been
dead for ten or twenty years. yet you
remember as though 1t were yesterday
how tenderly she cared for you when
you were little child. You remember
how she nursed you through that long
| ft Of sickness when you were about
fifteen, and every time she left the
room you would call: Mother, mother!
Where Is motherT You well remem-
Der how she placed her hand upon
your shoulder and looked long and
earnestly into your eyes the day you
left for the great city or college. as
though she were trying TO make up her
| mind whether she could trust you
away from home You also remember
how, when man grown, you had that
great trouble In life. and your chief
desire was to get back to the old home
stead and tell mother And. alas, you
| well remember the dark day when you
/ carried her out to gently let her body
down into the open grave, when you
laid her away to sleep among the
spring flowers or when you covered
her up under the soft quilt OF spotless
snow. the purest. gentlest. noblest.
most forgiving and helpful Of human
| companions was forever taken from
YOUR side. Remembering all this love
| and devotion, we realize the force OF
| the metaphor which Isaiah. the proph
ct, uses when, seeking to show how
tenderly God loves and cares for bis
children. he takes the gentle. maternal
influence which has done so much TO
develop our physical and mental ana
spiritual life aud says. LAS one whom
his mother comforteth. SO will com
fort you"
The Divine Being shows the love OF
a mother In wanting to be the com
forter Of all the young folks who are
preparing for the great struggle Of
life. The mother wants to be the In
spiring friend OF her boys and girls
during the long years Of immaturity,
when the world at large is sneering at
them and laughing at their ambitions
as though they were the mere out
growths Of a foolish and a visionary
brnin. She wants TO be the friend OF
the young men and the young women
during those school days when they
have no earning capacity and when
they are entirely dependent upon
others for financial support The strug'
rie of life even under the best condi'
ttons Is hard one. but that strug'
gle does not commence, as some
people suppose. when the young man
stands with a diploma In hand on the
gradua ting day from school or college
It commences away back in the early
teens" It commences with the young
girls failure who is trying for the
prize In the schoolrcom. 1t commences
with the disappointments OF the play
ground. 1t commences with those III
tie youthful sorrows and trials when
the boy and the girl can tell to no one