The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-26
 3 DIR. TALMAGF'S SERMON o.S.O.o0.oo.c BY TALMAGE, D. D.
os ANGELES. CAL, May l9.-In this
 sermon the preacher shows that we

sermon the preacher shows that we 1 are not sufficiently appreciative of or thankful for the blessings we enjoy and that to make life sweeter and better we should bear these constantly in mind. The text Is Ps. ciii, ?, Forget not all his benefits"
 Memory's grip is not always firm. Her pen IS not necessarily a chisel Her me- morial tablets are not always cast in bronze or iron or steel. Her death masks 1 are not impervious to time. They crum- bie and decay like the bones and the flesh and the life they represent Her thoughts are not always recorded upon the leaves Of solid rock by the sharp pencil of the lightning Her broad manuscripts are often like the sands of the seashore, washed clean at least once a day by the infowing tides They are the blackboards Tn the school room of little child. The written words of the morning are oblit- erated by the teacher, to make room for the arithmetic class and the figures or the afternoon. What we do and say to- day may be swallowed up in the great, deep, impenetrable abysses of oblivion of what we will do and say tomorrow.
 Indeed, if l might the illustration, memory has always seemed to me to be like a French bastile. It is similar to great walled in castle of chvalric times. It is filled with secret closets and secret
 
 It has its treasure vaults, where are con- cealed the precious stones and the gold and the silver no one knows anything about. It has its cedar chests where the fabled brides have hidden their wedding robes and where families hide their de- composed grinning skeletons, so that no one may find them, yet there memory | stands a huge castle with her watch towers and her meats and her draw bridges and her banquet halls and her ball rooms and her cellars and also with her secret chambers, about the contents of which even the owners themselves have forgotten.
 Perhaps I can illustrate my thought even more simply than this. A very dear friend of mine is the owner of one of ! the most historic of Virginia mansions. Every one conversant with the history l of Washingtons commonwealth knows about Westover, the home of the famous Col. William Byrd of James river. One day some few years ago my friend was making some repairs in his cellar. Sud- I denly the pick of the workman went through the wall. A large opening was made through the wall. Lights were brought. Then my friend entered and found a secret tunnel, which old Colonel Byrd had built, leading from his man. sion down to the river bank, through which if necessary in times of danger he and his family could have escaped and 1 fled by water to the coast or to England. Thus memory's castles have their secret halls and secret chambers and secret | subterranean passages. We ourselves have built them. But after we have built them we have shut the secret doors which lead to them and have then forgotten their very existence. What we said and l did as boys, where we went as young men, the warnings and advice we have received in the past, may be swallowed up in the great sea of forgetfulness. | Memory held these in tight grip for q little while, but memory's viseke hold after a time grew less and less strong. Now they have slipped out of her hands. l They will be lost to us forever unless | some one opens for us memory's secret chambers and says Brother look in. Sister, here are your treasurers."
 Even David Forgot.
 David in my text realized how easy it is to forget. Especially by bitter experi- ence he had learned how easy it was to forget the mercies and kindnesses with ] which God had surrounded him in his past life No sooner had God rescued him from Saups javelin than the shenr herd boy fled to King Achish's court, thinking he would be safer with his couE- trys enemies than with Saul. Hardly l had God seated him firmly upon the He brew throne than David forgot all of
 
 home from his country's wars He made love to Bathsheba, another mans wife. He then murdered her husband. Accord ing to Nathan's parable, he killed the poor mans lamb. An, yes, David knew what it was in his prosperity to forget the love and the mercy and the protec- tion of God. Today we find him opening the One Hundred and Third Psalm with practically these words, 70 God. do not let me forget what thou hast done for me" He thus bids us study gospel memonics," or the laws by which we l shall be able to hold in tighter grip the remenbrances of the benefits with which God surrounds our lives now, as He has done during our past years. Bless the l Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, l my soul, and forget not all His bene- | fits"
 How Is the psalmists prayer to be an- swered in my life? First, by clearly and distinctly and emphatically getting an im- pression deep enough upon my mind and | heart so that I can remember the bene- 1 fits of what God has done for me and my dear ones. By clearly and distinctly | grasping in the first place that God IS good, and God is just, and God is gentle and kind and forgiving. By having my | consciousness aroused so that the thoughts which are peopling the temple 1 of my brain today, as gospel messengers may be recognized as individuals next week, next month, next year, as l go about my daily occupations. If Gods | blessings do not make deep impression upon the mind and heart, then memory, even though strong, will have nothing to remember.
 Monograph Method.
 | If l might use a familiar illustration, | we must deal with the scrolls of mem- | ory as the phonograph maker or owner | makes the records for his instruments. You have often seen him do it. He takes a round cylinder of wax. Then on the | surface of this cylinder of wax he places a little needle. Then attached to this | needle he has a huge trumpet. Then | the orator or singer or the orchestra l starts the waves of sound. These waves | of sound surge into the open mouth of | that trumpet and drive the needle into l the revolving wax, and the impression Is made Then by these indentations the phonograph is able to sound forth for you l the sorgs of Gadsky or a Melba, the l stringed instrument playing of Theo- | dore Thomas orchestra, the oration of a Depew or a Bryan and the vociferous | laughter of happy child. The deeper | the indentaton upon the wax the louder the photographic voice. The deeper the 1 impressions which are made upon the 1 mind and the heart, as a rule, the longer | memory will hold these records and re- | peat them when wanted.
 You must make the first impression 1 dpen ar eI Nou pan have no vivid