DR TALMAGE ON THE DISASTER.

Clutha Leader, Volume VI, Issue 338, 2 April 1880, Page 7

DR TALMAGE ON THE DISASTER.

. . • •< „. , ~ — ~7* Cprrietisi AH') who has taken Arbuckle's 'place in the Brooklyn Tabernacle, mounted his rostrum on Sunday, January 4 J , dragging T a .music : stancl after him. His white 'necktie arid ; 'Bl6iide r inousfaolieV'i'-were; adjusted to a nicety, and his dark dress suit ..fitted „13.13^person, with mathematical accuracy.' J " There 3 was art 'unusual* ? 6rowd. Ali toyed for ,a ; moment the key's of his shining' silver' iiiatrunieritV^nd then placing it* firmly against his lips, he blew a clear,' sonorous blast, while the vast audience sang — _ l( For O ! we stand on Jordan's strand, „„.,„-.....O urJriends are. passing „,°.y^>,,,,,.,,.,^,. <„,.,, And just before the shining shore ■""":"..■■ We may almost discover." Se.ven thousand voices joined in the chorus with" s *an .-emphasis ttliat; mad^|th,e floor tremble. " Nahum, second chapter^ Jfourth verse," said Mr Talmage abruptly, when the noise ; had- ceased. "Chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall jostle one., against \ another, -, and ,m, the^ .broad ways". Tliey shall seem like 'torches ;' they shall run. like the lightnings." "If that be hot an express train iurider. f ull- headway at night," exclaimed the preacher slowly and deliberately, it 1 Why, you can hear the" ;clash?ofolie". car couplings, the roar of. the " whe'elsj-Vthe clattering, clattering, clattering that /goes on perpetually, between sN;ew York;? and 1 Buffalo; Chicago and. Cincinnati, \ Edinburgh, and Dundee !" Ali described 'the . River Tay. as he beheld ,it t last summer from the deck of the little Scattish steamer Star of Gowrie..- He had seen, the Hudson and the Rhine, but the bea\ity and magnificence of > the Tay impressed- him more deeply. Its banks were -'crowded .with ..flower^ orchards, snug farms, and < noble^''xnansi6Hs.p.'•The"/sight ; ;of Elcho Castle, Lindores Abbey, the Round Tower of Abernethy, Balnabreck Castle, and other historic seats, brought up thick memories of the past, until, in the imagination, ; one, could almost see the flashing, of the" claymore, "and hear th'e'battle-shout •off Robert Bruce and, Wallace, and the, old Scottish' heroes of langsyrie. ■ ; But tiie present rivalled the, past, and the bridge rivalled'tne river. * A ruddy Scotchman standing, on the deck asked him proudly, " Have you any bridges like, that gin America?"' He (Talmagn) admitted that 'they Had not.. There, stretching away for two miles, it lay, the delicate tracery of its fourscorespans resting aa softly on the bosom of the "stream: as : though it floated. , jTherewas nothing to indicate a* coming calamity; .nothing in/fche glee of the passengers, nothing in the clouds of cyrstalline, or thewater- opaline: ;Mr Talmage here resolved? himself into a "metaphorical Scotch Express, gliding through the plains, dashing ■ through- the villages, whistling through the tunnels, until he approached perilously near to the fatal Bridge of Tay.. 'Would' not <'some ;i -v6ice' crylstopj? 'Would not some voice of the night halt the downward procession ? Stop that tram ! Stop ■4-^that — train ! He paused for a moment,, aiid' Organist Morgah r m6vled !':"u*rieasily on, his treadles' 1 , but no one spoke. Mr Talmageyconcluded tp; let , the ■ f train_. go on. "On. it goes tillit : puts" its iron 'foot on the^fatalabutement, more noted than that of Norwalk or Astabula. Men standing .qn-;.the-brink, ? say,they ; saw, a, shower of; sparks, L heard* a' crasii?"and all was over.: Till the last day it will probably never be ; {know^nj iwhetbei]- the, sparta ...gaye ?way and ' the cars ch*ased Well other 'down into thei "dark waters, or- what is more likely, the' structure swung to and fro in the storm; with a lurch 'wKiciifmakps the blood curdle, | till (the train slipped the irack,.till driver,! passengersVand guards 1 were' Hurled' down, ! down— ,crash.!,, crash- 1 All dead ! Some> by frignt^'some'iDy- browning, but all dead !i Death" captured that-train,-put -his foot on the brakes, s cplle:i|ted;:the,.tickets, stoppedf the royar^ails'l^arrestVdi'the^speed, andj shocked «alf Ohristejadom^TfiS. Queen'sj telegram'-'-tt) of '^DXiMee ex-j jessed L i^\symp^fiy;^^ell^ug%pm| millions bfrlie^rt's in^Kngfand and Arffe'mca) — hearts ,tliat^|eltj ;f^faffeers r husbands,) brothe.rst^,m^^^ fatal niglit(;2:^6fweeti'.;tne-rn^n^|^ tions^f jGfcistinl^tideVaii^ th«- happy salu -> tatio i ns^pf l ttie;ppemng.yea^ 300j disap^earpUj'^ and morbicl : people';sayj^Hat- r^^ for. Sabb^k);h, i breating^B^ : :.b^e^ a strict 1 Sabbath'/to^ that the ;Eo7dESthuride^ jh4ndl|ng.;^(A t pplausi30 1 4? > ppiß ; Eord knows•if - wej ali^^■^a&.iojirf] UstJ^esert^there^pXild be brSken BHiig^s^en'ough^to^-piisn^us? all down to a'iwateryjsepjilchrei^ Look at the flash ? of. .lights as they ,go"down T .Leani from^his fataVraJilway plunge.dnr Scotland ;,that : Giodi. is, 3 mightier than^human, r inven|tipn, aii'd' science musfrbW'very^'wbrshiplulL 'Sir/.fhpma^'Boncffi ttioughVthatt bfidge coiird :! kny in hurrican'e. •:.<-"* Qeneral »'Hut'chihson. r - thought .-.it ..safe, b,eypnd o^a]i'! ;ne'cessity.n ..Yet r .under th^bl^^fi^God'k nostrils 2000 feet of this "massy iroiiwbrk f disappears at ; Qne t breath. '^ay# rfc can,., do^"anytHng^ it "pibows' 'the'Cre'atbf ' -out' of 1 , ; and declares^ihat'reverythipgiia.fiiaafdlefby a r f ortitudiis rconcourse.Lof atoms.- %^ V^e, s.tart ; put ; an,Ufe f wia^4mnJ^;|a^g hopes, desires, and ambitions; and rthe Lpr.d.. B .blowa^upon and N the^S&k. God'bef ore usaacfivemon'anaf Agaasiz were ■ not^ashmeay{to.lboTO,ilfram of heav ( ens.a*Hiricpl^aggered"'|aclf,, .jdazed with the magnificence^ His wpryi^'A'nathtl'totfVaugh^iby^Ms/dis--aster^y^tliSt' a r *bridge 'Which d'oesnttDjeach'- ] clear :across4's ofmb u3e.j nt? TJx^ta^^jty r of^ ! the Fifeshire" ab.utmetfWas,^what tempted^ .the o doomediram f tOgo- on, ./It ; is-lika/too-. I' man^plin^'tJrio^^^^lia^darlyus, •%'ari'nera ! an'a"g6od'intentiona^an^^ but which cant standee -tfMfoMtffi |4perie.npeHp Hpw,d#erent foom . abutment Dlasted from .the•£"s& Calvary, and put together by the-naifej >fj structure 1 No givingnmatfi^ud^nly* in

the night ! And the Scotch men an/Two-^ men oif'tHafe* train— where did fthey.go to t"' SdmeT'went* down into- the- deep j—dark,^ swiftly flowing riper, andy others did notSome went direct'*toVth6> blessed company of John Knox,. an4|>;?P,hn Brown, the^ Ayreshire martyrjj •.■and-thei other saints <• persecuted of old, Hy 1 * Bloody Claverhonse, and his* fellows?/ They didn'.fcland in Dun- • dee, but they landed in heaven. Theyj had lived so that they> were \prepared to» die. Robert Burns v had written of -, some * one.:— „ , , • ' I ' If there "be anotherworld, lie Hves'in'oHsß •""' i Jf there be no other, he niakes-fche best offthia.i'X* pChat was-as good; a religion.on the'banks 1 ; ,of 'theyiTay. as on- those/ , of .-the.. Hudson. - All travellers, ought to have spiritual in-r; siu;ancei; : The world goes on wheels, and'i ;th*ey "turn- fastei* 'and faster.^ ' I' asked 'a.. flagman on the Erie track the other dayi* hq.w.j.many trains, passed there t in a day. iHe 'said ,125 or 150. 1! "What ! 'miiltituUe3s. !are shot in ahcl'duVdf this great city everyiq 1 - ;24 hours S^lri. Tthis country 150,000,000 are paid every year, for passenger tickets, and. in, Great Britain -L 28,000 ,000. ' On the Obiitinerit of Europe thei*e are : 52, 000 miles of , iron, road." They^are even* istretching ' o'ut ( 'to, \tlie IHbly Land, ' Ispon- we will, hear; the'^Syrian conductor! ~ isiioutin^g, '' All ; abbard 'for* vre'ru^alem lJ jTwenty minutes for. dinner at : Damascus ! jand Change *cars\ for ''the'^Dea'cV Sea !'"' ;(Laughtor.) ' " I- have beeiioh three railway trairisj,'' continued^ Mu'-Talmage- Avhent'^ ■ the ' laughter. 'had ; - su bsided , >. '• •' Vvhicli , ran .: ofif' the^ track. I found; that the;; excite— .. ment of tlie occasion, precluded?; any: at-;;. tempt, at spiritual adjustmbnt. Therereally ia c not time in two ; minutes, or ; -one . mihwte,''or : one-tenth' of: a- iriintu'e.foivany-ji thing like inward prayer 'or self-examina-* tion;" You must.be prepared beforehand, and -avoid; if possible^ .the ; danger... > im r J mortal soials should -never be" imperilled^ by rotten spans, .conductor^ timepieces,/ { or storms, or; freshetsj,- or i •. tornadoes. From the top ofthat.bi'iclge.'to the surface- ■ of the river there is- not time to prepareone of- those souls for five.hundred'thousand million billion of centuries of heaven !"— American Paper. „ v , ;.