Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1906-01-13
Calnage
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaae. d. D.


which Is taken from Acts xvii. 30. And
the times OF this ignorance God winked
at"
What tremor of excitement must
have stirred the minds and the hearts
of his men when Horatio Nelson. the
celebrated English admiral gave the
order To clear the gun deck for action
at Trafalgar. All. YES. we can truly
say the one armed naval hero whose
body now sleeps in 81. Paul's cathedral
by the side of the Waterloo chieftain
was no novice In the art of war. Way
back IN the uprising Of the American
colonies he fought as n young captain
of twcnty-one under Lord Howe. He
was IN the midst OF the British strug-
giles of Cape Vincent in l19S He was
the commander who destroyed the
French fleet In the harbor OF Aboukir
when Napoleon was making his Egyp-
ton conquests. He was part OF the
to the time OF his tragic death. but all
his previous engagements were mere
preparation for his great battle Of Traf
algar. Then he gripped Napoleons
acknowledgements by name-and
grimly said. Thou shalt not make 1t
possible for the conquerors of Prussia
and Spain and Austria and Italy and
Holland and Wcstphalia 10 cross the
channel and fight under the shadow OF
Westminster abbey and Windsor cas-
tie" Truly that Trafalgar order. Eng
land expects every man To do his duty"
must have aroused the heroic In every
British heart. for Trafalgar was the SUI
prcme battle of Horatio Nelson's life.
What the quarter deck of the British
line OF battle ship Victory was to Mel
son ut Trafalgar Mars hill was to the
great gospel warrior Paul. Like Mel
son. Paul was no novice. He had
fought In many Il conflict for Christ.
lie was SCARED veteran OF many
gospel campaigns. In Damascus, at
Jerusalem. over In Corinth in Ephesus,
we can follow his martial footsteps.
But though he had fought many bat
ties for Christ the supreme battle Of
Paul's life was witnessed ut Mars hill.
NO moment In the annals of the
church" wrote the historian, has
larger significance than that In which
the gospel of the living Christ came In
its first contact at Athens with the
worn faiths Of paganism its philosophy
and its science" Here II was that
Paul not only had to grapple with
Plato's philosophy and with the teach
ings of the Stoics and the Epicureans,
but here also he had TO preach Christ
In the home of the drama and preach
Jesus from the roStrum made memora-
bic by the Orations Of the greatest ora
tors of the past. whose silver tongues
had created armies and made laws and
started forth Greece on its conquest OF
the world.
! When Paul looked up and waved his
hand above him he saw the famous
Acropolis crowned with its many tenn
| pies. There Is the Parthenon with its
/ beautiful statue OF Pallas. the guard
ian goddess of Athens. which city was
the home of Demosthcnes and Iysias
and Lycurgus and Acschincs. the ora
tors, aud Of Acschylus and Sophocles.
the dramatists, and OF Thucydides and
Xcnophon. the historians. and of Scion.
the lawyer. and OF Socrates the teach
or. and of Pcriclcs. the poet. and Of
Phidias. the Michael Angelo of the
Greeks. To the right OF this famous
temple was the marvellous colossal
statue of Athanae Promachus. And
there is Il beautiful poem in marble
called THE Temple of Wingless Vic
tory" Every column. every shrine. ev-
cry intricate covering of that citadel
of ancient Athens was chiseled by the
hand Of master. John Keats once
wrote:
Beauty Is truth. truth beauty: that Is all
Ye know on earth and all we need to know.
| IL that Is true, then truth was every
where lntrenched Oh the heights over
topping Mars hill. For beauty In her
most exquisite proportions was there
In imperishable marble
Not Preaching 10 savages.
When Paul ceased to look up and as
u student of the beautiful looked down
his eyes in amazement wandered over
the massive proportions of the great
temple of Jupiter Olympus. which was
I one of the seven wonders of the world.
The few huge columns of this mighty
/ temple still standing inspire more awe
In the minds of the modern students
than do even the gigantic stones of the
pyramids or the ruined foundations OF
the ancient statue OF the god Helios
once bestridng the harbor of Rhodes.
There was also the beautiful temple OF
the Theselum. perhaps the most per-
] fectly preserved temple of all the an
clients. And there before him was the
gigantic temple of Mars. the god OF
! war Paul was not preaching Christ
among Il set of ignorant savages. He
! was preaching Christ TO the greatest
students OF architecture, OF sculpture.
OF poetry and of oratory the world has
ever seen. Wherever Paul's eyes turn
ed he could see the beautiful statues
and shrInes erected not only 10 scores
but 20 hundreds and thousands OF Gre
clan gods and goddesses. The city was
uforaliv Full NJ hnnuttfuI idols Of all