Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1904-12-16
JEWELRY OF THE SEA
REV. Or. TALMAGE FINDS LESSONS IN
The CORAL REEFS.
lie breaches Highly Eioouen, Sermon

He Presches n Highly Eloquent Sermon
Upon Sculpture ss Seen at the Bottom OF
the ocean-New Regions OF Contemp,a.
ton.
WASHINGTON, Dea. This mic
tnresque discourse of DIR. Talmage lead.
has hearers and readers through un.
wonted regions of contemplation and i,
iuil OF practical gospel; text, Job xviii
10 NO mention shall be made e
coral"
Why do you say that, inspired dram
atistf When you wanted to see forth the
superior value of our religion, you tossed
aside the onyx, which is used for max.
ing exquisite canoes, and the sapphire,
SKY blue, and topaz of rhombic prism
and the ruby of frozen blood, and here
you say that the coral, which is a mir.
acle OF shape and transport of color to
tnoSe who have studied it, is not worthy
OF mention in comparison with our holy
religion. mo mention shall be made of
coral" At st. Johnsbury, VT, in a
museum built by the chief citizen, as !
examined n specimen on the shelf. ]
nrst realized what a holy of holies God
can build and has built in the temple of
one piece of coral. do not wonder that
Ernst Heckel, the great scientist, while
III Ceylon, was so entranced with the
specimens which some Cingalese divers
had brought up for his inspection that
he himself plunged into the sea and
went clear under the'waves at the risk
OF his life again and again and again
that he might know moro of the coral.
the beauty of which he indicates cannot
even be guessed by those who have ONLY
seen it above water, and after the
polyps, which are it's sculptors and
architects have died and the chief pio-
ries of these submarine flowers have ex-
PRED. Job, in my text, did not mean to
appreciate this divine sculpture in the
coral reefs along the seacoasts.
White Palaces of tho Deep.
No one can afford to depreciste these
white palaces of the deep, built under
God s direction. He never changes his
plans for the building Of the islands and
shores, and for uncouuted thousands of
years the coral gardens and the coral
castles and the coral battlements 20 ON
and up. 1 charge you that you will
please God and please yourself If you
will go into the minute examination of
the corals-their foundations, their pin
nacles, their aisles, their pillars, their
curves, their cleavages, their reticula-
ton, their grouping-families Of them,
towns Of them, cities of them and con-
tinents OF them. Indeed you cannot ap-
preciate the meaning of my text unless
you know something of the coral-laby-
stellar, columnar, floral, dent
ed like shields from battle, spotted like
ieopards, embroidered like lace, hung
like upholstery; twilight and auroras
and sunbursts of beauty. From deep
crimson TO milk white are its colors.
You may find this work of God through
the animalcules so fathoms down or
amid the breakers, where the sea dashes
the widest and beats the mightiest and
bellows the loudest. These sea creatures
are ever busy. Now they build islands
in the center Of the Pacific ocean. Now
they lift barriers around the continent.
Indian ocean, Red sen and coast Of Fan
zibar have specimens of their infinitesi-
NAL but sublime masonry. At the recess
sion of the tides you may in some places
see the top of their Alpine elevations.
while elsewhere nothing but the deep
sea soundings from the decks of the
Challenger, the Porcupine and the
Lightning of the British expedition can
announce them. The ancient Gauls en-
ployed the coral to adorn their helmets
and tho hits of swords. In many lands
it has been used as amulets. The Alge-
rian reefs in ono year (iS7S) had ut
work amid the coral SIl vessels, with
3, $50 sailors, yielding in profit $685.
300, but the secular and worldly value
of the coral is nothing as compared
with the moral and religious as when,
IN my text, Job employs it in compari-
son. i do not know how any one can ex-
anime o coral the size of the thumb nail
bethinking himself of God and
him and feeling the opposite
Of the great infidel surgeon, lecturing
10 the medical students in the disseoting
'oom upon human eye which he held
N his hand, showing its wonders of
and adaptation, when the
dea of God flashed upon him so power
ully be cried out to the students, "Gen-
ilemen, there is God, but hate himr'
Picking up coral, feel like crying
but, There is God, and adore him -
Nothing so impresses me with the
TACT that our God loves the beautiful.
The most beautiful coral Of the world
never comes to human observation. Sun
rises and sunsets he hangs up for ma
lions to look at. BE may green the
grass and round the dew into pearl and
set on fire autumnal foliage to please
mortal sight, but those thousands of
miles of coral achievement think he
has had built for his own delight. In
those galleries he alone can walk. The
music OF those keys, played ON by the
myers OF the wave, he only can hear.
The snow OF that white and the bloom
of that crimson he alone can see. Hav-
Ing garnitured this world to please the
human race and lifted o glorious heav-
en- TO please the angelic intelligences,
am glad that he has planted these gar
dens OF the deep to please himself. But
here and there God allows specimens of
submarine glory to be brought ND and
- oS-S-O uS iOA ouDllluo COuSSlu pldtlOu.
While l speak these great nations of
zoophytes, meandrinas and madrepores,
with tentacles for trowel, are building
Just such coral as we find in our text.
The diamond may be more rare, the
crystal may be more sparkling, the
,hrsyoprase may be more ablaze, but
The coral is the long, deep. everlasting
blush of the sea- Yet Job, who under.
stood all kinds Of precious stones, de-
clares that the beauty and value of the
coral are nothing compared with our
holy religion, and he picks up this COR
ailine formation and looks at it and
tilngs it aside with all the other bean
tiful things he has ever heard Of and
cries out In ecstasy of admiration for
the superior qualities of our religion.
NO mention shall be made of coral. {"
Jewels of the Sea.
Take my hand, and we will wall
through this bower of the sea, while
show you that even exquisite coral is
not worthy Of being compared with the
richer jewels Of Christian soul. The
lirst thing that strikes me in looking AT
the coral is its lon0 oont;nroS 49,