The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1903-01-01
TALMAGE
SERMON
BY Rev.
FRANK De WITT TALMAEE, DID,.
Pastor Of Jefferson Park Prenby-
terrain Church, Chicago

discourse, appropriate to the last Sun
day OF the year Rev. r. lie Witt Tai
mage shows IN how many characters.
tics the Biblical comparison OF life to
the creations Of the novelsts genius Is
justified. The text Is Psalm &c, 8,
"We spend our years MS tale that Is
told"
How the years are flying away! Hen
ny Clay once stood upon the top Of the
Allegheny mountains in an attitude Of
listening When some one asked him
to what he was listening. tie great Ken
lucky statesman In his deep powerful,
resonant. OratOriCal voice answered. i
am listening to the mighty tramp Of the
coming genera lions To-day we may
not have an imaginative ear keen
enough to hear the thundrrous echoes
of the moving feet which Shull walk
this earth two centuries or II Thousand
yeas hence. but we can now hear thc
| p1ttcrinE feet Of the nIrlttudcs Of
school children. W" may beer. too the
rumbIing OF In" hcar&rS. which shall
sooner or later carry out our dead bod
! leg to tn" newly Gag graves. We bear
til" inCXUrH!II" warning That in II few
! years or perhaps oven in the coming
year Of lp'G! we shall lock upUn the ris-
ing sun fHr tI' last time" Then our
| hCtrNOmN. Wisj' we have often slept
ard lnuEh"l and cried. shall he called
the chambers uI DEATH Dear old year
Of lHG@. II seemed only yesterday TINT
we welcomed thee into the world. Ina
few days. with thy SHOW white hair
and sIrivClCd form and pNlld check
md trembling limb. we Shall have to
carry thee out and lay thee away until
we meet thy condcmniug Or approving
face at th" Judgment seat of heaven
Th" inspired psalrist. considering
the passing of an earthly life, uses
beautiful siinile. Moses. to whom the
psalm Is nscribcd. was not only Il great
legislator md powerful leader. but a
poet. He not only opened path
across the Red sea with his rod. but he
cut a sure path into the gratitude and
affection OF all good men and women
by the sharp point of his pen. Thus
the ancient author. who was u pioneer
In the making Of books. compared the
earthly existence of every human life
ITO a tale that is told" The seconds
are the letters. The minutes are the
words. The hours are the sentences
The days are the paragraphs. The
weeks are the pages. The months are
the chapters. The years are the books
The whole number of different books
Of the human story OF life. like the i've
different books Of Victor Hugo's great
novel. Les Misera bles." are bound to-
gether IN one big volume with sIat
from the cradle to serve for one cover
and tombstone used for the other
cover. May God help me on this last
Sabbath OF the dying year to interpret
Alright how I'VE spend our years as q
tale that Ia told"
The Begin ming Of the Tale.
Every tale. whether fictitious or no,
has bright or sud beginning. In al
most the first words which the Narrator
speaks he introduces his listeners to the
hero or the heroine. Sometimes he rocks
that hsro's cradle down among tho
Of Louisiana or Georgia,
among the SHOWS Of the New
England hills or In palace Of Europe.
where the prince or princess was born.
But. though many heroes and heroines
Of fictitious tales may have had unhap-
py childhood Influences. do not be-
lieye 1t was thus with us. The bright. |
est passages Of the tale Of fife" when
applied to our own biographies are to
be found for the most part in those frst |
days which we spent in the old home
stead. We never had those huge mon
sters. the sons Of Tartarus and Terra. |
to storm our nurseries: we never had a
murderous guardian. King Richard.
10 incarcerate as Ia a dungeon or a
Iiendish Martha Of Goethe's Faust
FOR nurse. Our infantile playground
was more like the Detachable mountains
If Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress"
Therefore, as most of our lives have
started amid such purified surround
ngs. 1t is no more than right to expect
hat our stories of life should be pure
Ind true and noble tales.
But. alas, no sooner were we born
Ind grown into young manhood and
than the current of our
ives led US away from the purities of
'ur youthful home circle. They led
is into the haunts Of sin and into the
old. damp. dark cayerns of selfishness.
iou know there are books numbered
mong the masterpieces Of literature
which you.s as a wise parent. would
lot allow In your home. You say to
our wife: "'Ch.lde Harold may be
he most wonderful portraiture Lord
,yron ever wrote. but 1t is Il character
t sin and infamy. 1t is character
lowing with poetic imagination. but Il
character with the worm that never II
les sucking at its heart. Our chill I
rem should not be allowed to read its G
ages" There are stories which are {
OF fitted for public ears. Our biogra-
HES cannot be told to the world at 7
arge The beautiful ancient ballad of /
The Marriage of Sir Gawain" de- e
rrihes how the cavalier OF old took G