Connecticut western news., 1905-02-02

 SG.-L Sermon
By Rev. Frank De Witt Talnaee, D. D.


 ental marriage custom the preacher in this sermon draws lessons applicable to modern life The text is Psalm xiv, &, All thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces"
 The marriage bells are chiming. The glorious robes of kingly bridegroom and of his bride the daughter of a queen, and the garments of her many bridesmaids are rustling. Royal jew els are flashing. The most skillful of musicians are playing. And as the wedding march sounds forth the mar riage procession is approaching the kings throne room over boulevards of gold. The numberless inhabitants of the metropolis of the universe, with It's walls of jasper and it's gates of pearl and it's palaces of spotless ivory, are making the welkin ring with halle luiahs of never ending joy. The ban quoting house is prepared with the wedding supper for the coming guests, for the Divine Bridegroom of my text Is bringing his Queenly bride to her place at his side, over which hangs the banner that his hands have placed there, the banner of love. Never on earth nor in heaven has been seen and never shall be witnessed d wedding procession like unto this. Gorgeous ness infinite, wealth and power unlim- ited, splendor and magnificence pass ing all understanding, will there be manifested on every hand.
 Earth has beheld some wonderful wedding pageants. When the present Emperor William of. Germany was married to the beautiful Princess Au- gusta Victoria the representatives of all the civilized governments of the earth were there. Among Berlin's guests at that time were the king and queen of Saxony, the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia, Crown Prince Ru- dolph of Austria, the crown prince of Sweden, the present king of England, the late Duke of Aosta of Italy and scores of other notables. The young bridegroom came from Potsdam at the head of his gigantic foot guards to meet his bride. On the day of the cer- emony the homes and the stores and the public buildings were decorated. When the nuptial VOWS were taken the cheers of the people who crowded the streets about the royal palaces echoed the thirty-six salvos of artillery which thundered the news to the world that Prince William and Princess Augusta Victoria were one.
 ;,, do fA the Cathedral of Notre Dame to be united in marriage with Eugenie, the most beautiful woman in Europe, the | progress was one continuous ovation. Seated in the wonderful glass coach that had been built for the coronation of his illustrious uncle, the emperor passed through long lines of his en- thusiastic subjects, who rent the air with their wives. When the young queen of England became the bride of |
 n.e Albert In the royal chapel of St. | James nothing that the money. the | wealth and the love of a nation could | do to make the wedding ceremony i'm | pressive and joyous was left undone. Memorable spectacIcs. i
 Memorable in the annals of the world l are such spectacles, in which all that | human ingenuity could conceive has been done to render the nuptials of the | rulers of nations scenes of overWhelm- | ing magnifcence. But the continuation | has yet to come-not here. but in that | glorious realm in which the Lord of | Hosts has set his throne. The mar riage of the Lamb will be the grandeSt | and most glorious of all unions, when | Christ takes to himself his church. | which he has redeemed with his pre- cious blood, "a glorious church, not | having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, holy and without blemish."
 Human imagination fails to conceive of a spectacle so glorious. Let us in stead of dwelling on the marvellous scene take but one detail of its beauty. the wonderful garments with which the Divine Bridegroom Is to be robed on that glorious occasion. The psalm ist mentions them in the words of my text. They are wedding robes that have the aroma of myrrh and aloes and cassia. Let us try to describe them and to learn few practical gospel les sons from them.
 The royal robes of the Divine Bride groom will be the most expensive of all garments. Costly was the wedding apparel of Louis XIV, which he wore when he was married to Maria There sa of Spain; of Prince Ferdinand when he stood by the side of his bride Isa- bella of Castle; of the dauphin of France, who, as Prince Francis. mar ried the beautiful Mary, queen of Scots; of Emperor Nicholas H., who in 1894 gave his heart and hand in mar riage to the beautiful Princess Alix of Hesse; of Napoleon Bonaparte when in 1910 he welded Marie Louise in the place of the dethroned and exiled Josephine. But the robes of the Heav- enly Bridegroom will surpass all these in their value. How do we know? pThe oriental imagery of the text signi flies it. Fine and beautiful in texture, they are to be perfumed with myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces.
 By the adornments of a robe you can form some estimate of Its value. Let me take you into the Berlin palace, where are guarded the royal jewels of Prussia. l lift before your eyes the beautiful diamonds and pearls which the Hohenzollern queens have worn for generations Then say to you, When the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria married the Crown Prince Frederick, she wore these gems" What would you answer? "Ah," you would reply, ''her wedding dress must have been made of very expensive material to have been appropriate for such adorn- ments as those" Suppose l should tell you that when the noted German ar chaeologist Dr Schliemann made his ex- plorations under ancient Troy he found there the costliest of feminine and masculine adornments. There were wristbands of gold, earrings of gold, bracelets of gold, headbands of gold, kia,.ns. ,f r,nooiNI1r rir.cS.