The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-07-23

cannon,s mouth. as did her son at Prince ton and Brandywine. With unblapenea cheek she would have faced the rides or her country's enemies as did her son when with the colonial troops at his pack ne saved Braddoek's army near old Fort Duouesne of Pittsburg. But Mary Wash ington's cheeks would turn ashen white when she heard thunderstorm signal in the distance. Why? In her early n1e' with a young girl friend, sne was sitting at her fathers dinner tape. SuooeniS there came a flash and a quick detonatlon of thunder. She turned and looked at her friend. In horror she called to her to speak, but that friend never spoke 10 Mary Ball again. She was dead! She was killed by n flash of lightning.
 Glory of the Lightning.
 The raging of a thunderstorm has al- ways impressed me a good deal as it did my only brother. A few weeks before his death there was terrific electric storm in Brooklyn. Crash crash crash went the thunder. It seemed then as though all parts of the heavens became at times great prarie confiagrations, great rivers of fire. great cataracts and shoot" ing tayelins of fire. Father and mother became nervous about the storm. They wanter their children all about them.
 So father went upstairs to my brothers study to bring him down. The room was empty. He began to call; 'De Witt. De Witt, Where are you?' After awhile. amid a lull in the storm he heard a voice calh ing: Here. fatherl What do you want?' Then my father went up into the eupola, which stood upon the top of our house There he found my brother. What are YOU doing here?" said father. Better come down with the rest of the family. You might get struck here Oh an. swered my brother, there is no danger Let us stay up here and watch the storm. Is it not wonderful? Father. is not that play of lightning glorious?" Yes, the light ming Is glorious if you have never been frightened by the touch of It's fingers of fire It has always been to me a glorious spectacle. am thrilled by Its grandeur as I draw for you the symbol of "the coming Christ" in ''the lightning which cometh out of the east ana shineth even unto the vest May God help me in this sermon to impress upon you the ever pres- ent nearness of our Saviour and our Di- vine King.
 Christs second advent in the first place, shall be a glorious spectacle He shall come not as babe to be born in a stable and cradled in svone crib He shall come not as a fugitive in His moth- CTS arms upon the back of humble beast of burden. fleeing into Egypt; He shall come not as a carpenter, with the soiled garments of toll: He shall come not as an outcast. a condemned culprit. stag gering toward Calvary's heights under the oppressive weight of tho cross upon which He has to be crucifed.
 But he shall come in all the splendor of the kings of old. The glittering spears shall be by his side. The furnished hel- nets and the flashing shields and the waving swords shall be refecting tho lights of his millenial approach, The white steeds of victory then shall be champing their bits and stamping their golden hoofs The rumbling wheels of myriads of chariots and the vociferating cheers of the charioteers and horesemen shall be making the we1lxin ring with their halleluiahs of joy. The clouds shall be his chariots. The white horse of vlc- tory shall be his brightly caparisoned charger The armies of the heavens shall follow him clothed in fine linen. And on his thigh shall be written. King of kings and Lord of lords' The sublime pano- rama of the flashing lightings of my text symbolize it.
 The Heavns Sheets of Fire.
 Could we find more resplendent page- antry for the second coming of Christ than in the chariots of clouds, with the flashlights of dazzling lightnings? "Gird the sword upon thy thigh, most mighty, with thy glory and thy majestyl" cries the psalmist Yes, we have seen Christ in symbol girding on his sword and cloth ing himself in the glory and in the maj esty of the storm.
 Some years ago we took long drive of some fifty miles over the Michigan hills. Before we got back to our sum- mer cottage an awful storm overlook us. The night settled in. The black clouds ec1ipsed for us the light of every star. It was as black as the plague of darkness in Egypt.
 From an adjacent farm house we bor- rowed a lantern. The way became SO black that even the horses could not see the road. The little children in the stage crept up close to their mothers in fear. The silence became as still as the famous half hour of silence in heaven when the celestial hosts, horror struck. could not utter whisper immediately after the dying agony of Cavalry's trag- edy was ended. Then came the rushing of mighty winds. It semed as though all the spirits demoniac as well as celes- tial were sweeping past me and meeting in mighty conflict. Then the whole heav- ems became sheets of fire. North, east, south and west. everywhere the heavens were ablaze. The flames seemed to mount higher and higher. as though they were climbing up thousand story build ing Then it seemed as though the clouds with their mighty Niagaras rushed to- ward them and drowned out those hiss ing furnaces of Nebuchadnezzar, seven times-aye. seventy times-heated. Then the huge trees alongside the road would bend and groan like shuddering Laocoon in death grip of huge monsters Ahead of the horses I walked with the lantern to show the way Now could see the big stage following after me. Now. after the thunders had rolled and swel1ed and died away, I could hear the faint cry of "a child or the soothing tones of a mother trying to quiet her babe. she. the mother. just as frightened as the child. Then suddenly every tree. every rock, every hillside would come out as clear in outline |.as d,rin1 fhe day. Then midnnon in an