THE WATER BROOKS, DR. TALMAGE TELLS OF GOSPEL REFRESHMENT. Shovra How We May Elude Ike Pur suing? Honndi of Trouble -nd Sale ly Reach tbe Uke of Divine Solace ' ud Reicae. " i CopvrUfht, Louis Klopsch, 1899. - .' Washing-tow, Oct. 15. The gospel as a great refreshment is here Bet forth by Dr. Talmage, under a figure which will be found particularly graphic by those who have gone out as hunters to find game in the mountains; text. Psalm xlll, 1. "As the hart panteth after the water brooks," , David, who must some time, have seen a. deer bunt, points us hereto a hunted stag making for the water. The fascinating animal, called In my text the hartj is ttie sameTanimal that 'Tn sacred and profane literature is call ed the stag, the roebuck, the hind, the tho rpfndeer. In central Syria In Bible times there were whole pas- ture fields of them, as aoiomou uS gests when he says, "I charge you by the hinds of the field." Their antlers Jutted from the long grass as they lay down. No hunter who has been long In 'John Brown's tract" will wonder that in the Bible they were classed among clean animals for the dews, the showers, the lakes, washed them as clean as the sky. J When Isaac, the patriarch, longed for venison, Esau shot and brought home a roebuck. Isaiah compares the.'sprightliness of the restored cripple of millennial times , to the long and quick Jump of the stag, saying, "The lame shall leap as the hart" Solomon expressed his disgust at a hunter who, havlngshot a deer, is too lazy to cook it,; saying, "The sloth ful man roasteth not that which he took In hunting." But one day David, while far from the home from -which he had been driven and sitting near the mouth of a lonely cave where he had lodged and on the banks of apond or river, hears a pack of hounds in swift pursuit. Be cause of the previous silence of the. for est the clangor startles him, and he says to himself, MI wonder what those dogs are after.,r Then there is a crackling in the brushwood and the -loud breathing of some rushing won-v der of the woods, and the antlers of a , deer rend the leaves f the thicket, and by an Instinct which all hunters y recognize "It plunges into a pond or lake-or river to cool its thirst and at the same time, by Its capacity for swifter and longer swimming, to get away from the foaming harriers. ' ' True to Nature David says to himself: "Aha! That Is myself! Saul after me, Absalom after me, enemies without number aft er me. I am chased, "their bloody muz zles at my heels, barking at my good name, barking after my body, barking after my souL Oh, the hounds, the 'houndsr But look there!" says David. "That bunted deer has splashed Into the water. It puts Its hot lips and nostrils into the cool wave that washes the lathered flanks, and It swims away from the fiery canines, and It Is tree at : last. Oh, that 1 might find in the deep, wide lake of God's mercy and consola tion escape from my pursuers! Oh, for the waters of life and rescue! As the hart panteth after the . water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, 0 God!" 1 Some of you have Just come from the Adirondacks. and the breath of the balsam and spruce and pine Is still on you. The Adirondacks are now populous with hunters, and the deer are being slain by the score. Once while there talking with a hunter I thought 1 would like, to see whether my text was accurate In its allusion, and as I heard the dogs baying a little way off and supposed they were on the track of a deer I said, to the hunter In rough corduroy,, "Do the deer al ways make for the water when they are pursued ?' He said: "Oh, yes, mis ter! You see. they are a hot and thirsty animal, and they know where the wa ter is, and when they hear danger in the distance they lift thelrantlers and snuff the breeze and start for Racquet or Loon or Saranac, and we get into our cedar shell lxat or stand by the . runway with rifle loaded ready to blaze away." , My friends, that Is one reason why 1 like the Bible so much. Its allusions are so tru.e to nature. Its partridges are real partridges, its ostriches real ostriches and its reindeer real reindeer. 1 do not wonder that this antlered glory of the . text makes the hunter's eye sparkle and his cheek glow and bis respiration quicken, to say-nothing of its usefulness, although It is the most t useful of all game. Its flesh delicious. Its skin turned Into human apparel, its sinews fashioned Into bow strings, Its antlers putting handles "on cutlery and - the shavings of its horns used as a re storative, its name taken frointhe. hart and called hartshorn. By putting aside its usefulness this enchanting creature seems jnade out of gracefulness and elasticity. What an-eye, with a liquid brightness as if gathered up from a hundred lakes at sunset! The horns a coronal branching Into every possible curve, and. after It seems done, ascend ing into other projections of exquisite ness, a tree of polished, bone, uplifted in pride or swung down for awful combat! It is-velocity embodied, ti midity impersonated, the enchantment of the woods, ye lustrous in life and pathetic In death, the-splendid animal a complete rhythm of muscle and bone and color and attitude and locomotion, whether couched In the -grass among the shadows or a living bolt shot through the forest or turning at bay to attack the hounds or rearing for Its . last fall under the buckshot of the trapper. : - j It Is a splendid appearance, that the painter's pencil falls to sketch, and only a hunter's dream on a pillow of hemlocks at the foot of St. Regis is able to picture. When, 20 miles from any settlement. It comes down at even tide to the lake's edge to drink among the Hlypads, and, with its sharp edged hoof, shatters the crystal of Long lake, it is very picturesque. But only when, after miles of pursuit, with heaving sides and lolling tongue , and eyes .swimming In death, the stag leaps 'from cliff to cliff into Upper Saranac can you realize how much David had suffered from his troubles and how much he wanted God when be. express ed himself In the words, "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." Well, now, let all -those who have coming after them the lean hounds of poverty or the black bounds of perse cution or the spotted hounds of vicis situde or the pale bounds of death or who are In any wise pursued run to the wide, deep, glorious lake of divine solace and rescue. The -most of the men and w9J0Jn whom I happen, to know, at different times, if not now, have had trouble after them, sharp muzzled troubles, swift troubles, all devouring troubles. Many of you have made the mistake of trying to fight them. Somebody meanly attacked you, and you attacked them. They depre dated you. and you depredated them, or they overreached you In a bargain, and you tried, in Wall street parlance, to get a corner on them. Or you have had a bereavement, and Instead of be ing submissive you are fighting that bereavement. You charge on the doc tors who have failed to effect a cure, or you charge on the carelessness of the railroad company through which the accident occurred. Or you are a chronic Invalid, and you fret and wor ry and scold and wonder why, you can not be well like other people, and you angrily charge on the neuralgia or the laryngitis or the ague or the sick headache. The fact Is you are a deer at bay. Instead of running to the wa ters of divine consolation and slaking your thirst and cooling your body and soul In the good cheer of the gospel and swimming away Into the mighty ; deeps of God's love, you are fighting a j Whole kennel of harriers. ; Some time ago I saw In the Adiron-j dacks a dog lying across the road. and he. seemed unable to get up, and 1 said to some hunters, "What is the matter! with jthat dog?" They answered, "A deer hurt him." and I saw he had a great swollen paw and a battered head, -showing where the antlers struck him.j And the probability is that some of you might give a mighty clip to your pursuers. You might damage their business, you 1 might worry them Into 111 health, you might hurt them as much as they hurt you; but, after all. it is not worth while. You only have hurt a hound. Better be off for the Upper Saranac into which the moun-j tains of God's eternal strength look! down and moor their shadows. As for, your physical disorders, the worst strychnine you can take Is fretfulnessi and the best medicine Is religion. I know people who were only a little disordered, yet have fretted tbem- selves into complete valetudinarianism; while others put their trust In Go4 and came up from the very shadow oi death and have lived comfortably 25 years with only one lung. A maii with one lung, but God with him. is better off than a godless man with two lungs. - Some of you have been for a long time sailing around Cape Fear when you ought to have been sailing around Cape Good Hope. Do not turn back, but go ahead. The deer will ac complish more wth its swift feet than with its horns. j There are whole chains of lakes ;n the Adirondacks. and from one height you can see 30 lakes, and there are said to be over 800 in the great wilder ness. So near are they to each other that your mountain guide picks np and carries the boat from lake to lake, the small distance between them for that reason called a "carryVV And the realm of God's word is one long chain of bright, refreshing lakes, each prom ise a lake, a very short carry between them. and. though for ages the pursued have been drinking but of them, they nnvfull up to the top or the green banks, and the same David describes them, and they seem so near together that In three different places he speaks of them as a continuous river, saying, "There is a river the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God;" "Thou shalt make them drink of the rivers of thy pleasures;" Thou greatly enrlchest it with the river of God, which is full of water." i Be Wlae as tbe Deer. ! But many of you have turned your back on that supply and confront your trouble, and you are soured with your circumstances, and you are fighting so ciety, and you are fighting a pursuing world, and troubles, instead of driv ing you into the cool lake of heavenly comfort, have' made you stop and turn round and lower your head, and it is simply antler against tooth. 1 do not blame you. Probably under the same circumstanced I would have done worse. But you are all wrong. You need to do as the reindeer does in Feb ruary and March it sheds its horns. The Rabbinical writers allude to this resignation of antlers by the Stag when they say of a man who ventures his money in risky enterprises he has hung It on the stag's horns, and ja proverb in the far east tells a man who has foolishly lost his fortune to jro and find where the deer shed his "horns. My brother, quit ,'the antag onism of your circumstances, quit misanthropy, quit complaint, quit pitching into your pursuers. Be as wise as next spring will be the deer of the Adirondacks. Shed your horns. But very many of you who are wronged of the world and if In any assembly between the Atlantic and Pa cific oceans It were asked that all who had been badly treated should raise! both their hands," and full response should be made, there would be twice as many hands lifted as persons pres ent I say many of yon would declare, "We have always done the best - we could and tried to be useful, and why we become the victims of m alignment or Invalidism or mishap is inscruta ble," Why, do you not know that the finer a deer and the more elegant its proportions and the more beautiful its bearing the more anxious the hunters and the hounds are to capture It? ( Had that roebuck a ragged fur and broken hoofs and an obliterated eye and a limping gait the hunters would have said: "Pshaw! Don't let us waste our ammunition on a sick deer." And the hounds ; would have given a few sniffs of the track and then darted off In another direction for better game. But when they see a deer with antlers lifted In mighty challenge to earth and sky, and the sleek hide looks as if it had been smoothed by Invisible hands. and the fat sides inclose the richest pasture that could be nibbled froin the bank of rills so clear they seem to have dropped out of heaven, and the stamp of its foot defies the Jack shoot ing lantern and the rifle, the horn and the hound, that deer they will have if they must needs break their neck hi the rapids. 'So if there were no noble stuff in your make up, if you were a bifurcated nothing, if you were a for lorn failure, you would be allowed to go undisturbed, but the fact that the whole pack Is In full cry after you is proof positive that you are splendid game and worth capturing. Therefore sarcasm draws on you its "finest bead;" therefore the world goes gun ning for you with its best Winchester breechloader. Highest compliment is it to your talent or your virtue or your usefulness. You will be assailed in proportion to your great achievements. The best and the mightiest Being the world ever saw had. set after him all the bounds, terrestrial and diabolic, and they lapped his blood after the Calvarean massacre. Tbe world paid nothing to Its Redeemer but a bram ble, four spikes and a cross. j Pursuing? Dosra. Many who have done their best to make the world better have had such a rough time of it that all their pleas-' ure is In anticipation of the next world, and they would, if they could, express their own feelings in the words of the Baroness of Nairn, at the close of her long life, when asked If she would like to live her life over again: Would you be young again? So would not L One tear of memory given Onward I'll hie. Life's dark wave forded o'er, All but at rest on shore. Bay, would you plunge once more With home so nigh? iiv- ': If you might, would you now v- Retrace your way, Wander through stormy wilds. Faint and astray? Kight's gloomy watches fled; Morning, all beaming red; Hope's smile around us shed. Heavenward, away 1 Yes, for some people Id this world there seems no let up. They are pur sued from youth to manhood and from manhood Into old age. Very distin guished are Lord Stafford's hounds and the Earl of Yarborough's bounds and the Duke of Rutland's hounds, but all of them put together do not equal. In number or speed or power to hunt down, tbe great kennel of bounds of which Sin and Trouble are owner and master. t , But what Is a relief for all those pur sued of trouble and annoyance and pain and bereavement? My text gives It to you In a word of three letters, but each letter Is a chariot If you would triumph, or a throne If you want to be crowned, or a lake if you would Slake your thirst yea, a chain of three lakes G-o-d, the one for whom David longed and the one whom David found. You might as well meet a stag which, after its sixth mile of running at the topmost speed through thicket and gorge and with the breath of the dogs on its heels, has come In full sight of Schroon lake and try to cool Its pro jecting and blistered tongue with a drop of dew from a blade of grass as to attempt to satisfy an Immortal soul, when flying from trouble And sin, with anything less deep and high and broad and Immense and Infinite and eternal than God. His comfort why. It em bosoms all distress. His arm It wrenches off all bondage. His band it wipes away all tears. His Christly atonement It makes us all right "with the past, and all right with the future, and all right with God. all right with man. and all right forever. Lamartine tells us that King Nim rod said to bis three sons: "Here are three vases, and one lsof clay, another of amber and another of gold. Choose now which you will have." The eldest son, having the first choice, chose the vase of gold, on which was written the word "Empire," and when opened it was found to contain human blood. The second son, making the next choice, chose the vase of amber, in scribed with the word "Glory," and when opened It contained the ashes of those who were once called great. The third son took the vase of clay and, opening it, found it empty, but on the bottom of it was inscribed the name of God. King Ximrod asked bis court iers which vase they thought weighed the most. Tbe avaricious men of his court said the vase of gold, the poets said theone of amber, but the wisest men said the empty vase, because one letter of the name of God outweighed a universe. For him I thirst, for his grace I beg. on his promise 1 build my alL With out him I cannot be happy. I have tried the world, and It - does well enough as far as It goes, but it is too uncertain a world, too evanescent a world. I am not a prejudiced wit ness. I have nothing against-this world. I have been one of the mostJ forunate or. to , use a more Christian word, one of the most blessed of men blessed In my parents, blessed In the place of my nativity, blessed In my :aukiii 10 Mi s Make mm, 300 SALES MEM: J. STROUD health, blessed in my fields of work, blessed in my natural temperament, blessed In my family, blessed In my opportunities, blessed In a jcomfortable livelihood, blessed in the hope that my soul will go to heaven j through the pardoning mercy of God, and my body, unless it be lost at sea or cremated in some conflagration, will lie down among my kindred and friends, some already gone and others to come after me. Life to many has been a disap pointment, but to me it has-been a pleasant surprise, and yet I j declare that if I did not feel that God was now my friend and ever present help I should be wretched and terror struck. But I want more .of him. j I have thought over this text and preached this sermon ' to myself until with all the aroused energies of my body, mind and soul I can cry out, "As the hart panteth after the water; brooks, so panteth my soul after thee1, O God!" Through Jesus Christ make this God your God, and you can withstand any thing and everything, and. that which affrights others will inspire you as In time of earthquake, when j an old Christian woman,, asked whether sho was scared, answered, "No; I Jam glad that I have a God who can shake the world," or as in a financial panic, when a Christian, merchant, asked If he did not fear he would break, answered, "Yes, I shall break when the! Fiftieth Psalm breaks In the fifteenth verse, 'Call upon me In the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou 'shalt glorify me " O Christian men and women, pursued of annoyances and exaspera tions, remember that this hunt, wheth er a still hunt or a hunt In full cry, will soon be over. If ever a whelp looks ashamed and ready to sink out of sight. It Is when in the Adirondacks a deer by one long, tremendous plunge , into big Tupper lake gets away from him. The disappointed canine swims In a little way, but, defeated, swims out again and cringes with humiliating yawn at the feet of his master. And how abash ed and ashamed will all your earthly troubles be when you have dashed Into the river from under the throne of God and the heights and depths of heaven are between you and your pursuers! Eternal Water Brooks. We are told In Revelation jxxii, 15, "Without are dogs," by which I con clude there Is a whole kennel of hounds outside the gate of heaven, or, as when a master goes In a door, his dog lies on the steps waiting for him to come out, so the troubles of this life may follow us to the shining door, but they cannot get In. "Without are dogs." I have seen dogs and owned dogs that I would not be chagrined to see In the heavenly city. jSome of the grand old watchdogs who are the constabulary of the homes in solitary places and for years have been the only protection of wife and child. some of the shepherd dogs that drive back the wolves and bark away the flock from going too near the precipice and some of the cs whose neck and paw Land seer, the painter, has made immortal would not find me shutting them out from the gate of shining pearL Some of those old St. Bernard dogs that have lifted perishing travelers out of the Alpine snow; the dog that John Brown, the Scotch essayist, saw ready to spring at the surgeon, lest, in re moving the cancer, he too much hurt the poor woman whom the! dog felt bound, to protect, and dogs jthat we caressed in our childhood days, or that In later time lay down on the rug In seeming sympathy when our homes were desolated I say If some soul en tering heaven should happen to leave the gate ajar and these faithful crea tures should quietly walk Inj It would not at all disturb my heavenj But all those human orxbrutal hounds that have chased and torn and lacerated I Cent, 10 Cents Make I Dime, 10 Dimes Make I Dollar AND- Jtelaii lied Sit! Seyed with Fast Dye Silk, the buttons guar anteed to remain in place. These garments are cut by perfect pat terns, made by experienced labor, and are all in all one of the best values of the season. EXAMINATION FREE. mn SOUTH ELM ST., GREENSBORO. I 1 W. Crawford, W. II, Reea, II. B. Donnell, Will It. Rankin, J. T. Kecs. the world yea, all that now bite or worry or tear to. pieces shall be pro hibited. "Without are dogs." No place j there for harsh critics or backbiters or j despoilers of the reputation of others. Down with you to the kennels of dark ness and despair! The hart has reach ed theeternal water brooks, and tbo panting of the long chase Is quieted In still pastures, and "there shall be noth ing to hurt or destroy In all God's holy mount." j Oh, when some of you get there jit will be like what a hunter tells of when be was pushing his canoe far up north In the winter and amid the Ice floes and a hundred miles,; as he thought, from any other human beings. TTt TXrn a atn -tlor1 rnn Hot? n o tin knn ...1 ; -. -- wu uuj c9 a. Dttryyiug vu me ice, ttUU U9 COC&eu the rifle; ready to meet anything that came near. lie found a man, barefoot ed and Insane from long exposure, ap proaching him. Taking him Into his canoe and kindling fires to warm him, be restored him. found out where he had lived and took him to his home and found all the village In great ex citement. A hundred men were search ing for this lost man. and his family and friends rushed out to meet him, and. as had been agreed at his first ap pearance, 'bells were rung and guns were discharged and banquets spread and the rescuer loaded with presents, Well, when some of you step out of this wilderness, where you have been chilled and torn and sometimes lost amid the Icebergs, into the warm greet ings of all the villages of the glorified, and your friends rush out to give you welcoming kiss, the news that there Is another soul forever saved will call : the caterers of heaven to spread the j banquet and the bellmen to lay hold of the rope In the tower, and while the chalices click at the feast and tbe bells ciaug i rum iae turrets it will DO a licene so uplifting I pray God I may i be there to take part in the celestial j merriment. And now do you not think the prayer in Solomon's Song where be compared Christ to a reindeer ! in the night would make an exquisitely appropriate peroration to my sermon, "Until the day break and the shadows flee away be thou like a roe or a young )art upon the mountains of Betber?? Parental Hove. " Papa and mamma speak of their child. ' . j I "She is twenty-seven years old to-morrow," sighs papa. 'Yee," sighs mamma. "I suppose she weighs 250 pounds at least," falters papa, and mamma falters, ' "At least." Tve been thinking," says papa, with an effort, "that we perhaps ought now to give her some other name than Babe. How would Girlie do?" "It seems so cold and forma exclaims mamma, and burst into tears. , 1 After' all, there is nothing like parental love, which is, perhaps, in some respects fortunate. j On the 10th of December, 1897, Rev. S. A. Donahoe, pastor M. . Church. South. Pt. Pleasitnt. W Va., contracted a severe cold which was attended from tbe beginning by violent coughing. He says: "After resortine to a number of so- I called Specifics', usually kept i in the house, to no purpose, I pur chased a bottle of Chamberlain's Cough Remedy, which acted like a charm. I most cheerfully recom mend it to the public." For sale by C. . Holton, Druggist. -1 him, CHOOSE YOUR DRUGGIST CUE! A dm trjnst can 1o more harm rr ru iuudi fivopio jrive mm rreiii nr. i mr r . ferent qualities in inig. ju-t an then ?:r itocMis, and to t he outsider alt uiaM.r- r f ftnroc name. The diffprpnco Umcm ulii: grade drugs and c heap, inferior !ricft pa me name, nteaod me iiiunvnce i-tm;-! ing Hick and getting well. Whrn a vtri a rcHcripnon, iie jnearH w. ju;iiii'. some uruggisis uu a jui'ihtiihiud, vjh . onr about big profit. Cbooee your urutrgifit carefully. &. W. WAED WEALTH IDEAS ....IN Tc-.rtdui: Mtj zij trf js Wuhirrtca City ie:t frtt s rr- " copp A CO.. rtt Attirl; Southern Railway it-, rr:- IN EFrKCT;it:CESUtB formation and U subject to rtai.. notice to tbe public. Trains Icare Greenaboro, N. C: 7:05 a. m No. 37 daily. W.hif' f. i" 7:24 p. m.-No 'l.', 1 '" 'j i Mail for Chailr.tte. A ...... : ' oiiih and Sotitbw -t. ' , Usr,Jimiliii. Auirii'-ta. ' ;., il and local tt"V';", n"": r-;-Jtuffet bleejr Nt-w ) -r t; T.f , . r. York to Jark.nvili.-. t-j.-.a-;, bam; Charlo-te to !..,'. . t t , Sleeper' Wednr?day cim:o C ' ,, .j 5 POint. "v. !:. . S:loa.m.-No.,;'v:V,,;.;i- for Tai l-i o. N -rf ! " u'j u . K Lorof..rcwU-rnan.lVM t, Kaleifh.i'l,n,nl 10 -SO IV. til. .. ,: . 1.1 .1. and M-iutr . i 1 ' . i ! i to Norfolk. ,-o: i. i'T. . u and b--al l""n' 4f J t, , j 12:20 p. Win.-ton-Salcm. ; s f w.r.-t kmj a. in- if ":Z2 p.ni .-No. iiv u ... rr r lion of a a!-' " Virat Mf r.,ri;.T to m . - ' Johv M. Cr,L.r. s.i - p? W. A. Tt RK. en. I CWU. C?A w-r v. X. VvJ -'.t ( JET I mx? til, western Limiteu ir i,niii" , , mingbara, Memphis, Moououiuj. Orleans and all Jit . l j--ConnecU at i.barlottc for -'';: rV Savannab. Jacksonville and T".. Pullman Hleeir New k t 'jj Sew York to iiemilu: ,' iV- Dining Car and etibue ..& to Atlanta. i 7:37 a.m.-Vo.lldailr.f.ratr. and all joints Nuih. , : i Abbeville. Know.lle an I tlutut- , I uleeper New i'iirk tu-hv'- t 1 8 :10 a. in. No. s daily, for I ar,y -andlcMml station.-. ,!'.' lJ:C6i;m.-No. V. Mail for Vahingti. h !;., r. Ncttb. Carries xlrA I v,' . i .11 ... Vi.u- 1 11 k- ' . . .T JUCkCIH lilt; ... rHI . .KU...iiintrCaron Mondu ...,w.-J 10:43 p. m. . i c s- Southwestern i: tintn North. I,'"!""'" ! ' WasbiiiRton and M 1 6:,vm.-No.7.H!!y.fr!lJ-

Page Text

This is the computer-generated OCR text representation of this newspaper page. It may be empty, if no text could be automatically recognized. This data is also available in Plain Text and XML formats.

Return to page view