Rensselaer Republican, Volume 25, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 May 1893 — GARDEN OF THE LORD. [ARTICLE]

GARDEN OF THE LORD.

Pboplr who are interested in temperance reforms in this country will be interested in the practical; work - ihgs of the Gothenburg system now in force in weden, by which the number of places where intoxicating ! beverages are-soldhasbeen reduced to twentj-aeven in Christina, a citv of 160,000 inhabitants, while Stockholm with 260,000 inhabitants has but 143 such places. An event of great National importance occured at Yale. college, April 22. ; It was the birth of a boy baby tp Mr.apd Mrs. Hauslien, students in the graduate department. It is the first occurrence of the kind in the history of the institution. The fortunate child was not exactly “born with a silver spoon in its mouth,” but the class of ’92 will present it with a beautiful 1500 cup as a souvenir. ' A Norwich, Conn., gooseologist has been investigating and states that wild gray geese will jog on for am unlimited time at a gait of 100 to 110 miles per hour, making tlje trip from Florida to Connecticut, in fourteen hours, when: pushed, although their usual daily jaunt is GOO miles. They prefer to rest ;at night, but have been known to travel for twen-ty-four hours at a stretch. Wild geese have been unusually plentiful on Long Island Sound this spring. A strange case of lost identity appeared at Melbourne, Australia, recently in the person of a man who reported at police headquarters, apparently perfectly rational excepting upon the one point of his own name. He desired to find out who he was. Medical examination disclosed the fact that the man was all right except that he had completely lost his memory of past events. The police named him “Edward Bellamy,” because he could not engage in ■ ‘Looking Backward.” Latest reports in* dicate that no clue has been discovered to his past history and the mystery is likely to remain unsolved. All the Presidents and Ex-Presi-dents who have passed away died in the United States. Andrew Jackson died at the Hermitage. James K. Polk died near Nashville. Andrew Johnson died, while a United States Senator, on his Tennessee farm. Washington, as all know, died at Mt. Yeraua, Jcfibroas -at M<®ti-* cello. James Monroe went to New York City to practice law and died there. Franklin Pierce traveled extensively and passed his later years in Concord, N. H., but died in Richmond. Three Presidents only, died in Washington. John Adams attained the most advanced age of all the Presidents and died at Boston at ninety-one. “The Owl” is the name of a restaurant on wheels which has been placed on the streets of New York by the Woman’s Auxiliary of the Church Temperance Society. It is to be stationed at night in front of the Astor Place Bank, and others of n similar pattern are to follow. The vehicle is fifteen feet long, six feet wide and six feet high, and is handsomely and completely furnished for the business of a restaurant on a limited scale, having a counter across the front end, behind which the waiter in charge serves various refreshments at a uniform charge of five cents for each article. It is gaily painted and has a profusion of windows, which jmake it very conspicuous when all its lamps are lighted. A number of these wagons are in successful operation in Boston, Fall River, Hartford and Worcester. There is a woman in Virginia who can “see” things in the skies, and she has been writing to the New York Sun about it. She is certain that war is impending, for she saw directly after sunset in the last week in March a flaming sword thirty yards long across the evening sky. A few evenings thereafter there appeared to this favored mortal in the same quarter of the empyrean blue a battle field with ah its horrors of corpses, wild beasts and birds of prey, with marchittg .armies of.jpfantry and cay airy. On the third of April this remarkable,woman relates that she saw, abouft ‘4'ji 1 tn.. in large Roman capitals under 'the sun the name of “Christ, 11 and tower down the. figures ‘H893,”,, QnTuqsda.y, Apfil 18, ’an 1 of the Columbian Exposition, across the j f FaJ| August Bth. • She closes her remarkable communication with the ,j?«n|nk “thf, editor will have to interpret the meaning” of the signs in 'heavens, and< km further in--formation that “we are having great

;.4sfrtns‘bere *• The editor, howevcg,; i "has failed to interpret the signs, not-' withstanding the unequivocal com- | mand of hiii fhic correspondent, and ihe waiting world will have to remain in the dark until, in the fullness of time, all things mysterious shall be made clear. Americans are prone to fancy that the rapid spread of Republican ideas throughout the world will soon have the effect of eliminating kingdoms and empires from the maps and geograpies of this fnundane sphere, yet, at no time in history has thfe demand for jeweled crowns been so large,, or potentates so lavish in their expenditures for this relic of what we fondly believe to be a weak survival of the pomp and cruelty of past ages. A manufacturing jeweler of Birmingham, England, makes a specialty of this kind of merchandise, and this insignia of royalty is made of solid gold and crimson velvet,decorated with jewels according to the wealth and taste of the purchaser. There are several hundred petty kings in Africa, and this enterprising manufacturer finds a ready sale for his peculiar output. Time was when an ordinary plug hat adorned with turkey feathers satisfied the savage longings for regal splendor, but the world progresses, and African kings are determined to keep Up with the procession as long as there is a demand for ivory or slaves in any part of the world. For weeks the society circles of New York have been agitated over the prospective conversion of a plain American 'girl of seventeen into an English countess. The daughter of one of the famous Four Hundred was to wed an English earl, and the matter was discussed in all its bearings, from the habits and costume of a noble scion of a noble line to the most infinitesimal detail of the bride’s trosseau. jjjie wedding took place in due course, and the “upper ten” found renewed material for gossip in the faet that the father of the bride, Mr. Bradley Martin, allowed his daughter to be married in a dress that she had worn on a previous oe- ; casion rather than pay duty oil an imported bridal robe. One remarkable feature of this wedding was the fact that the bridegroom, the young Earl of Craven, did not wed his Ijiride for the sake of her fortune, as he has splendid estates and a great income of Ills own. There is plenty of wealth on both sides, The event has served the dilitante swells and swelleses a good turn in having diverted their rambling thoughts, in a new channel, and society has been McA-lfeter-e rest. __________ Jealousy is an all-consuming passion, and the fellow that gets left, if he does not fall into the “sere and yellow leaf” of blighted hopes and withered desires, is liable to make things warm for those who have cast the slight of contumely upon his fondest dreams. One William Kingler, of Camden, N. J., a colored gentleman of infinite resources, has of late shown to the world what may may be done by a man who has endured the contempt of those whose favor and recognition he desired. In fact it may be said that William “got even” for slights of the past, with a large surplus of revenge to his credit for future emergencies. William had not only been rejected by the idol of his affections, but insult was added to injury by the failure of his successful rival to extend an invitation to the heart-broken lover to attend the nuptial ceremony either as best man, as is customary among the elite of colored society, or as qn ordinary guest. This was too much, and the unhappy lover brooded long and hatched a hot revenge beneath his woolly ringlets that was altogether successful and unique. Procuring a supply of red pepper and arming himself with a hand-bellows, he hied him to the festal scene, and though his bodily presence was not' desired, he wafted a hot blast of tropic spice through the key hole that added an unwonted activity to the happy throng. Matters soon reached a climax, and William felt a proud satisfaction as the coughs and gasps of the wedding party reached his ears. His hopes of revenge were fully realized, but his satisfaction did not Ipng endure.' The panic stricken party inside broke for the oilierrair and the pi ale , portion of the company gave; chase to the unbidden guest. Razors flashed and gore might have flowed but for the presence of a policeman—one of those minions of the laif having scented sq firc^JuncH in connection with the wedding liajm Kingler,,with ,the priup op(jujbstTjreifi q-poi** h# Mpnfiling but ‘opa<jW eouutenUrio.e; traslupivhqd to jail . himthft'Sqron o; sate isfaction that oilier colorcl beliqs.Cl Camden will hesitate long before omitting his name from fheir list of guests when their happy’ wedding day y rives.

Beautiful- Imagery \ of" the Bi- ■ ■.. —„■ j. Maytime Thought*—Lessons of the Fields and Woods—l>r. Talmage'* Sermou. Rev. Dr. Talmage was in Philadelphia, last Sunday, participating in the ordination services of his sob, Rev. Frank Talmage. . He dictated the following sermon —subject: “Maytime Thoughts.” Text: Solomon’s Song iv, 15—“ A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters and streams from Lebanon.” Some of the finest gardens of olden times were to be found at the foot of Mt. Lebanon. Snow descended, and winter whitened the top of the mountain. Then when the warm spring weather came the snows melted and poured down the side of the mountain and gave great luxuriance to the gardens at the foot, and you see now the allusion of rny text when lit speaks of the fountain of and streams from Lebanon. Again and again, the church is represented as a garden all up and down the word of God. and it is a figure specially suggestive .at: this season of the year, when the parks and the .orchards are about to put forth their blossom and'the air is filled with bird voices. A mother wished to impress her child with the love of God, and, so in the springtime, after the ground had been prepared in the garden, she took a handful of flower seeds and scattered these seeds in the shape of letters across the bed of the garden. Weeks passed by, and the rains and the sunshine had done their work, and one day the child came in and said, “Mother, come quickly to the garden—come now.” The mother followed the child to the garden, and the little child said: “Look here, mother! See! It is spelled all over the ground in flowers, ‘God is Love.”’ Walter Scott had the great ambition of his life to build Abbotsford and lay out extensive gardens round about it. It,broke hisjheart that he , could not complete the work as he desired it. At his last payment of £IOO,OOO, after laying out those gardens and building that palace of Abbotsford, at that time his heart broke, his health failed, and he died almost an imbecile. A few years ago, when I walked through gardens and I thought at what Vast expense they had been llaid out—at the expense of that , man’s life—it seemed I could see in j the crimson flowers the blood of the i old man’s broken heart. But I have" jto tell you now of q garden laid out ' at vaster expense—who can calculate . that vast expense? Tell me, ye women who watched him hang; tell me, ye executioners who lifted and let i nim down; tell me, thou sun that didst hide and ye rocks that did fall, ' what the laying out of this garden j cost? Thus morning amid the aroma mnd brightness Of the springtime, it is appropriate that I show you how the church of Christ is-a-gardem In this garden of the Lord I find the Mexican cactus, loveliness within, thorns without, men with great j sharpness of behavior and manner, i but within them the peace of God, i the love of God, the grace of God. I They are hard men to handle, ugly men to touch, very apt to strike I back when you strike them, yet within themall loveliness and attraction, while outside so completely unfortunate. Mexican cactus &11 the time. Said a placid elder to a Christian minister, “Doctor, you would do better to control your temper.” “Ah!” said the minister to the placid elder, “I control more temper in five min* utes than you do in five These people, gifted men, who have great exasperation of manner awl seem to be very different from what they Should be, really have in their souls that which commends them to the Lord, Mexican cactus all the time. But I remember in boyhood that we had in our father's garden what we called the Giant of Battle, a peculiar rose, very red and fiery. Suggestive flower, it was called the Giant of Battle. And so in the garden of the Lord we find that kind of flower —the Pauls and Martin Luthers, the Wyclifs, the John Knoxes—giants of battle. What in other men is a spark, in them is a conflagation. When they pray their prayers take fire; when they suffer, they sweat,, great drops of blood; when they preach it is a penteeost; when they fight it is a Thermopylae; whe they die it is martyrdomgiants of battle. You sav, “Why have we not more of them in the church bfGhrist at this time?” I answer your question by asking ahother. “Why have wc not; more Cromwells and Humboldts in the world? 1 ” God wants only a few giants of battle. They do their worfi qnd they do it well. ’ j You have Seen in sotae places per-, hap 3 a-century slant. Ido not suppose there is a person in,this housqn who has ever seen more than ope” century plant in full bloom, and when you see the-century plant ydur . emotions are stirred. You look at, >apd.^ay^Tbia flower lias been gathering up its beauty i(jr a wfrote; century, aWait 1 will not -hlopnr 1 1 hundred years. P ijWtwW; -1 have toftell you that in thiq garden;; iotitheehorclrspoketl of ip jray text there is, a century plant. _ 3 | :i It has‘gatheV*d up its all the ages of eternity, and’nineteen centuries, ago it put forth Its elacy,, It is not onlyb passion flower- 1 -the passion! flower Of Christ, a crimson flower, blood at 1 the root and blood on the leaves, the

passion flower Of Jesus, the century plant of eternity. Gome, O .winds from the north,, and winds from the south, and winds from the east, and winds from the west, and scatter the perfume of this, flower through all nations. I wandered in a garden of Brazilian cashew uut, and. I saw the luxuriance of those gardens was helped by the abundant supply of water. I came to it on a day when strangers were not admitted, but by a strange coincidence, at the moment I got in, the king’s chariot passed T and the gardener wentup on the hill and’ turned on the water, and it came flashing down the broad stairs of stone until sunlight and wave in gleesome wrestle tumbled And so it is with this garden of Christ. Everything comes from above —pardon from above, peace from above, comfort, from above, sanctification from above. Streams from Lebanon! Oh, the consolation in this ; thought! Would God that the gardeners turned on the fountain of salvation until the place where we sit and stand might become Elim with twelve wells of water and threescore and ten palm trees, but I hear his sound at the garden gate. the lifting of the latch of the gate. MTha comes there? It is the Gardener who passes in through the garden gate. He comes through this path of the garden, and he comes to the aged man. and he says: “Old man, I come to help thee; I come to strengthen thee. Down hoary hairs I will Shelter thee; I will give thee strength at the time of old age; I will not leave; I will never forsake thee. Peace, broken heafted old man, I will be thy consolation forever.’ 11 But you have noticed that around every king’s garden there is a high wall. You may have stood at the wall of the king’s court and thoUght, “How I would like to see that garden!” and while you were watching the gardener opened the gate, and the royal equipage swept through it, and you caught a glimpse of the garden, but only a glimpse, for then the gates closed. . .U - . I bless God that this garden of Christ has gates on all sides, that they are opened by day, opened by night, and whosoever will may come in. Ohj how' many there are who are seeking' in the garden of this world that satisfaction which they never call find' It was so with Theodore Hook, who. made all nations laugh while he was living. And yet Theodore Hook oq ' a certain day, when in the midst of his revelry he caught a glitopse of bis own face and his own apparel in the mirror, said: “That is true. I look just as I am—lost, body, mind} soul arid estate, lost!” And so it is 41th Shenstone about his garden, of which I spoke in the beginning of my sermon. He sat down amid all its beauty and wrung his hands and said, “I have lost my way to happiness; I am frantic; I .hate everything, I hate myself as a madman ought to.” Alas! so many in the gardens of "this world are looking for that flower they can never find except in the garden of Christ. How many have tried all the fountains of this world’s pleasure, but never tasted of the stream from Lebanon ! How many have reveled" in other gardens to their soul’s ruin, but never plucked one flower from the garden of our God! I swing open all the gates of the garden and invite you in, whatever your history, whatever your sins, whatever your temptations, whatever your trouble. The invitation comes no more to one than to all. “Whosoever will, let him come.” The flowers of earthly gardens soon fade; but, blessed be God,there are garlands that never wither, and through the grace of Christ Jesus we may eater into the joys which are provided for us at God’s right hand. Oh, come into the garden. And remember, as the closing thought, that God not only brings us into a garden here, but it is a garden* all the way with those who trust and love and serve him, a garden all through the struggles of this life, a garden all up the slope of heaven.