CHRISTMAS SERMON.

THE TABERNACLE PULPIT FESTOONED WITH HOLIDAY GREEN.

Rev. Dr. Talmage's Sermon on Christ the Star--A Living, Speaking, Historic and Evangelistic Star--A Discourse That Glows With Eloquence.

BROOKLYN, Dec. 24.--In the Brook-

lyn Tabernacle today a great audience assembled to participate in the Christ-

mas services. Standing before the or-

gan, festooned with Christmas greens, this sermon was delivered by Rev. Dr. Talmage, after the throngs had sung "The Star of Bethlehem." Text, Rev-

elation xxii, 16, "I am the bright and the morning star." This is Christmas eve. Our attention and the attention of the world is drawn to the star that pointed down to the caravansary where Christ was born. But do not let us forget that Christ himself was a star. To that luminous fact my text calls us.

It seems as if the natural world were anxious to make up for the damage it did our race in furnishing the forbid-

den fruit. If that fruit wrought death among the nations, now all the natural product shall become a symbol of blessing. The showering down of the wealth of the orchard will make us think of him whom Solomon describes as the apple tree among the trees of the wood, and the flowers of tangled glen and cultured parterre shall be the dew glinted garland for the brow of the Lord Jesus. Yea, even the night shall be taxed, and its brightest star shall be set as a gem in the coronet of our holy religion. Have you ever seen the morning star advantageously? If it was on your way home from a night's carousal, you saw none of its beauty. If you merely turned over on your pillow in the darkness, glancing out of the window, you knoe nothing about the cheerful influence of that star. But there are many in this house tonight who in great passes of their life, some of them far out at sea, have gazed at that star and been thrilled through with indescribable gladness. That star comes trembling as though with the perils of the darkness, and yet bright with the anticipations of the day. It seems emotional with all tenderness, its eyes filled with the tears of many sorrows. It is the gem on the hand of the morning thrust up to signal its coming. Other stars are dim, like holy candles in a cathedral or silver beads counted in superstitious litany, but this is a living star, a speaking star, a historic star, an evangelistic star--bright and brilliant and triumphant symbol of the great Redeemer. The telegraphic operator puts his finger on the silver key of the electric instrument, and the tidings fly across the continent. And so it seems to me that the finger of inspiration is placed upon this silver point in the heavens, and its thrill through all the earth. "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. Behold, I am the bright and morning star." The meaning of my text is this: As the morning star precedes and promises the coming of the day, so Christ heralds the natural and spiritual dawn. In the first place, Christ heralded the coming of the creation. There was a time when there was no order, no sound or beauty. No wing stirred. No word was uttered. No light sped. As far as God could look up, as far down, as far out, there was nothing. Immeasurable solitude. Height and depth and length and breadth of nothingness. Did Christ then exist? Oh, yes. "By him were all things made that are made; things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth." Yes, he antedated the creation. He led forth Arcturus and his sons. He shone before the first morning. His voice was heard in the concert when the morning stars serenaded the advent of our infant earth, when, wrapped in swaddling clothes of light, it lay in the arms of the great Jehovah. He saw the first fountain laid. He saw the first light kindled. That hand which was afterward crushed upon the cross was thrust into chaos, and it brought out one world and swung it in that orbit, and brought out another world and swung it in another orbid, and brought out all the worlds and swung them in their particular orbits. They came like sheep at the call of a shepherd. They knew his voice, and he called them all by their names. Oh, it is an interesting thought to me to know that Christ had something to do with the creation. I see now why it was so easy for him to change water into wine. He first created the water. I see now why it was so easy for him to cure the maniac. He first created the intellect. I see now why it was so easy for him to hush the tempest. He sank Gennesaret. I see now why it was so easy for him to swing fish into Simon's net. He made the fish. I see now why it was so easy for him to give sight to the blind man. He created the optic nerve. I see now why it was so easy for him to raise Lazarus from the dead. He created the body of Lazarus and the rock that shut him in. Some suppose that Christ came a stranger to Bethlehem. Oh, no. He created the shepherds, and the flocks they watched, and the hills on which they pastured, and the heavens that overarched their heads, and the angels that chanted the chorus on that Christmas night. That hand which was afterward nailed to the cross, was an omnipotent and creative hand and the whole universe was poised on the tip of one of his fingers. Before the world Christ was. All the world came trooping up out of the darkness, and he greeted them, as a father greets his children, with a "good morning," or a "good night." Hail, Lord Jesus, morning star of the first creation. Again, Christ heralds the dawn of comfort in a Christian soul. Sometimes we come to passes in life where all kinds of tribulations meet us. You are building up some great enterprise. You have built the foundation--the wall--you are about to put on the capstone, when everything is demolished.

You have a harp all strung for sweetest accord, and some great agony crushes it. There is a little voice hushed in the household. Blue eye closed. Color dashed out of the cheek. The foot still. Instead of the quick feet in the hall, the heavy tread of those who march to the grave. Oh, what are people to do amid all these sorrows? Some sit down and mourn. Some bite their lip until the blood comes. Some wring their pale hands. Some fall on their faces. Some lie on their backs helpless and look up into what seems to them an unpitying heaven. Some pull their hair down over

their eyes and look through with a fiend's glare. Some, with both hands, press their hot brain and want to die and cry, "O God, O God!" Long night, bitter night, stupendous night of the

world's suffering! Some know not which way to turn. But not so the Christian man. He looks up toward the heavens.

He sees a bright appearance in the heav-

ens. Can it be only a flashing meteor? Can it be only a falling star? Can it be only a delusion? Nay, nay. The longer he looks the more distinct it becomes, until after awhile he cries out, "A star--a morning star, a star of comfort, a star of grace, a star of peace, the star of the Redeemer!" Peace for all trouble. Balm for all wounds. Life for all dead.

Now Jesus, the great heart healer, comes into our home. Peace! Peace that passeth all understanding. We look up through our tears. We are com-

forted. It is the morning star of the Redeemer. "Who broke off that flower?" said one servant in the garden to another. "Who broke off that flower?"

And the other servant said, "The master." Nothing more was said, for if the master had not a right to break off a flower to wear over his heart or to set in the vase of the mansion, who has a right to touch the flower? And when Christ comes down into our garden to gather lilies, shall we fight him back? Shall we talk as though he had no right to come? If any one in all the universe has a right to that which is beautiful in our homes, then our master has, and he will take it, and he will wear it over his heart, or he will set it in the vase of the palace eternal. "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Peace, troubled soul! I put the balm on your wounded heart tonight. The morning stra, the morning star of the Redeemer.

Again, Christ heralds the dawn of millennial glory. It is night in China, night in India, night in Siberia, night for the vast majority of the world's population. But it seems to me there are some intimations of the morning.

All Spain is to be brought under the influence of the gospel. What is that light I see breaking over the top of the Pyrenees? The morning! Yes, all Italy shall receive the gospel. She shall have

her schools and her colleges and her churches. Her vast population shall surrender themselves to Christ. What is that light I see breaking over the top

of the Alps? The morning. All India shall come to God. Her idols shall be cast down. Her temples of iniquity shall be demolished. What is that light I see breaking over the top of the Hima-

layas? The morning. The empurpled clouds shall gild the path of the con-

quering day. The Hottentot will come out of his mud hovel to look at the dawn; the Chinaman will come up on

the granite cliffs, the Norwegian will get up on the rocks, and all the beach of heaven will be crowded with celestial inhabitants come out to see the sun

rise over the ocean of the world's agony. They shall come from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. These sweltered under tropical suns. These shivered under Icelandic temperature. These plucked the vineyards in Italy. These packed the teaboxes in China. These were aborigines lifting up their dusky faces

in the dawn. And the wind shall waft it, and every mountain shall become a transfiguration, and the sea will become

the walking place of him who trod the wave cliffs of stormy Tiberias, and the song of joy shall rise toward heaven, and the great sky will become a sounding board which shall strike back the

shout of salvation to the earth until it rebounds again to the throne of the Al-

mighty, and the morning star of Chris-

tian hope will become the full sunburst of millennial glory. Again, Christ heralds the dawn of heaven upon every Christian's dying pillow. I suppose you have noticed that the characteristics of people in their healthy days are very apt to be their characteristics in their dying days. The dying words of ambitious Napoleon were, "Head of the army." The dying words of poetic Lord Byron were, "I must sleep now." The dying words of affectionate Lord Nelson were, "Kiss me, Hardy." The dying words of Voltaire were, as he saw one whom he supposed to be Jesus in the room, "Crush that wretch." But I have noticed that the dying words of Christians always mean peace. Generally the pain is all gone, and there is great quietude through the room. As one of these brothers told me of his mother in the last moment: "She looked up and said, pointing to some supernatural being that seemed to be in the room, 'Look at that bright form. Why, they have come for me now.'" The lattice is turned so that the light is very pleasant. It is peace all around. You ask yourself: "Why, can this be a dying room? It is so different from anything I ever expected." And you walk the floor, and you look out of the window, and you come back and look at your watch, and you look at the face of the patient again, and there is no change, except that the face is becoming more radiant, more illuminated. The wave of death seems coming up higher and higher, until it has touched the ankle, then it comes on up until it touches the knee, and then it comes on up until it reaches the girdle, and then it comes on up until it reaches the lip, and the soul is about to be floated away into glory, and you roll back the patient's sleeve, and you put your finger on the pulse, and it is getting weaker and weaker, and the pulse stops, and you hardly know whether the life has gone or not. Indeed, you cannot tell when she goes away, she goes away so calmly. Perhaps it is 4 o'clock in the morning, and you have the bed wheeled around to the window, and the dying one looks out into the night sky, and she sees something that attracts her attention, and you wonder what it is. Why, it is a star. It is a star that out of its silver rim is pouring a super-

natural light into that dying experi-

ence. And you say, "What is it that you are looking at?" She says, "It is a star." You say, "What star is it that seems so well to please you?" "Oh," she says, "that is the morning star--Jesus!" I would like to have my death bed under that evangelistic star--I would like to have my eye on that star, so I could be assured of the morning. Then the dash of the surf of the sea of death would only be the billowing up of the promise, "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and the rivers, they shall not overflow thee." All other lights will fail--the light that falls from the scroll of fame, the light that flashes from the gem in the beautiful apparel, the light that flames from the burning lamps of a banquet--but this light burns on and burns on. Paul kept his eye on that morning star, until he could say: "I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have

fought the good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith."

Edward Payson kept his eye on that star until he could say, "The breezes of heaven fan me." Dr. Goodwin kept his eye on that evangelistic star until he could say, "I am swallowed up in God." John Tennant kept his eye on that evangelistic star until he could say, "Welcome, sweet Lord Jesus--welcome, eternity." No other star ever pointed a mariner into so safe a harbor. No other star ever sunk its silvered anchor into the waters. No other star ever pierced such accumulated cloud, or beckoned with such a holy luster. With lanterns and torches and a guide, we went down in the Mammoth cave of Kentucky. You may walk 14

miles and see no sunlight. It is a stupendous place. Some places the roof of the cave a hundred feet high. The grottoes filled with weird echoes, cascades falling from invisible height to invisible depth. Stalagmites rising up from the floor of the cave--stalactites descending from the roof of the cave, joining each other, and making pillars of the Al-

mighty's sculpturing. There are rosettes of amethyst in the falls of gypsum. As the guide carries his lantern ahead of you, the shadows have an appearance supernatural and spectral. The dark-

ness is fearful. Two people, getting lost from their guide only for a few hours, years ago, were demented, and for years sat in their insanity. You

feel like holding your breath as you walk across the bridges that seem to span the bottomless abyss. The guide throws his calcium light into the

caerns, and the light rolls and tosses from rock to rock and from depth to

depth, making at every plunge a new revelation of the awful power that could have made such a place as that.

A sense of suffocation comes upon you as you think that you are 250 feet in a straight line from the sunlit sur-

face of the earth. The guide after awhile takes you into what is called the "Star Chamber," and then he says

to you, "Sit here," and then he takes the lantern and goes down under the rocks, and it gets darker and darker, until the night is so thick that the hand an inch from the eye is unobservable.

And then, by kindling one of the lanterns and placing it in a cleft of the rock, there is a reflection cast on the dome of the cave, and there are stars

coming out in constellations--a bril-

liant night heavens--and you involun-

tarily exclaim: "Beautiful! beautiful!"

Then he takes the lantern down in other depths of the cavern, and wanders on,

and wanders off, until he comes up from behind the rocks gradually, and it

seems like the dawn of the morning, and it gets brighter and brighter. The guide is a skilled ventriloquist, and he imi-

tates the voices of the morning, and soon the gloom is all gone, and you stand congratulating yourself over the

wonderful spectacle. Well, there are a great many people who look down into the grave as a great cavern. They

think it is a thousand miles subterran-

eous, and all the echoes seem to be the voices of despair, and the cascades seem to be falling tears that always fall, and the gloom of the earth seems coming up in stalagmite, and the gloom of the

eternal world seems descending in the stalactite, making pillars of indescriba-

ble horror. The grave is no such place at that to me, thank God.

Our divine Guide takes us down into the great caverns, and we have the lamp

to our feet and the light to our path, and all the echoes in the rifts of the

rock are anthems, and all the falling waters are fountains of salvation, and after awhile we look up and, behold!

the cavern of the tomb has become a king's star chamber. And while we are looking at the pomp of it an everlast-

ing morning begins to rise, and all the tears of earth crystallize into stalag-

mite, rising up in a pillar on the one side, and all the glories of heaven seem

to be descending in stalactite, making a pillar on the other side, and you push against the gate that swings between

the two pillars, and as the gate flashes open you find it is one of the 12 gates which are 12 pearls. Blessed be God that through this gospel the mammoth cave of the sepulcher has become the illumined Star Chamber of the King!

I would God that if my sermon today does not lead you to Christ, that before

morning, looking out of the window, the astronomy of the night heavens might lead you to the feet of Jesus.

Hark! Hark! To God the chorus breaks From every host, from every gem;

But one alone, the Saviour speaks--Is the Star of Bethlehem.

Plenty of Gold.

In the Witwatersrand goldfield, South Africa, an experimental boring has just

been completed to the depth of 2,500 feet for the purpose of testing the quantity

and quality of the auriferous deposits there. The results are said to be most

satisfactory, and a Mr. Scott Alexander has based on them the following extraordinary calculations: Circumference of basin, 400 miles, diameter, 127 miles; area, 12,580 square miles, or 300,710,272,000 square feet. Taking an average thickness of eight series of blanket beds at 6 feet, equal to 48 feet, equals 16,834,093,-

056,000 cubic feet of reef, or at 15 cubic feet to the ton, 10,521,433,160,000 tons.

At 30 shillings per ton, very low value of gold, equal to £1,578,196,224,000. Tak-

ing the population of Witwatersrand at 40,000 souls, this allows each £39,454,905 12s. 6d.

She Surprised the Board.

Mrs. Stowe Gullen, M. D., of the To-

ronto school board recently surprised that body by showing that the appoint-

ment of four public school supervisors was illegal. She introduced a resolution abolishing the useless office, pointed out

clearly that the law gave the board no power to appoint any such officials, hence that they were spending annually $6,000 of the people's money without legal au-

thority. The board could not gainsay her argument, and so adopted her resolu-

tion.--Toronto Mail.

Conundrum Day. Tailor--Say when are you going to pay me that bill? Chappie--My dear fellow, this ain't my day for answering conundrums. Come around next month.--Detroit Free Press. ODDS AND ENDS. Every man has a right to liberty of conscience. The annual slaughter of cattle includes over 600,000 for beef extracts. These get in the soup. The value of the yeast powders manufactured last year reached $26,000,000, and it is still a rising business. A Denmark old maids' insurance company pays regular weekly "benefits" to spinsters of 40 years and upward. A bank official who "speaks by the card" says that the most costly metal is didynium, worth $4,500 per pound. The bill collector is one of those things that does not want to be put off until to-morrow.--Binghamton Republican. Pope John II, 532, had a "first water diamond of five pennyweights, upon which was carved an exact likeness of Christ." The faith of Islam is based primarily upon the Koran, which is believed to have been delivered to the prophet by the Angel Gabriel. The inhabitants of London each eat every year 65 pounds of apples, 2 of cherries, 40 of pears, 17 of plums, 1 of raspberries and 4 of strawberries.

'Tisn't true that the perfume of flowers is bad for folks' lungs. At least, in

the town of La Grasse, France, where vast quantities of perfumery are made, consumption is almost unknown.

"It always pays a man in my business to take plenty of time," murmured the burglar softly to himself, gently dumping the third tray of gold watches into his capacious bag.--Buffalo Courier. The rushlight or rush candle, which has been the "poor man's light" for many centuries, was prepared by stripping a dried rush of its bark except one small strip, which held the rest together, and dipping it repeatedly in the tallow. St. Paul's cathedral in London, which dates back more than 200 years and which was called finished in 1710, has had much work done on it since that time as part of the original design, and even now statues are being placed in the niches in the dome designed for them by Sir Chris-

topher Wren.

Fred Grant on Diplomacy. Colonel Fred D. Grant, in his address at the dinner in the Brooklyn Union League club, spoke of diplomacy and

concluded by giving his ideas of the qualifications a diplomat should possess.

"First," he said, "a diplomat should be

absolutely loyal to his own government,

for no foreign statesman will respect or trust a man who has not always been

loyal to the country he represents. He must be sufficiently educated in his profession to be able to intelligently discuss the intercourse between nations and pro-

pose honorable and fair dealings for the future, and he should be able to do this in the French, which is the diplomatic language, in the language of the country to which he is accredited, as well as in his own tongue. Second, a diplomat should, upon every possible occasion, show most cordial feelings for the government, customs and institutions of the nation to which he is accredited and make every one with whom he comes in contact feel that he is their friend. Without these qualifications a diplomat can be of little use to his country, and his record will be either inglorious or utterly devoid of importance."--Phila-delphia Ledger.

Why "Annie Laurie" Was Played.

The following was one of the most striking incidents of the day on which

all that was mortal of the late mayor of Chicago was laid to rest:

One of the bands that had marched in the funeral procession when passing the

Auditorium building south on Michigan avenue on its homeward march in the

evening struck up the tune of "Annie Laurie." The music was cheerful and stirring. A large crowd naturally gath-

ered in front of the hotel to see and hear the band and view the regiment of sol-

diers that followed in its wake. Those who at first failed to recognize the fa-

miliar air, and even many of those who did, wondered at the lively strains from a band which had but a few hours pre-

viously been playing solemn funeral dirges in the procession from which they were returning.

Gradually the meaning of it all dawned upon the minds of the people, and the

words, "For my bonnie Annie Laurie I would lay me down and dee," doubtless wre silently spoken by those who re-

called the last word that fell from the dying lips of Carter H. Harrison--"An-

nie."--Chicago Correspondent.

Sixty Miles of Locusts.

The African Steamship company's steamer Winnebah, which recently ar-

rived from West Africa at Liverpool, had a most unusual experience when

steaming between the latitudes of Cape Verde and St. Louis, Senegal. For 60

miles the vessel steamed through locusts, which were so thickly packed together on the top of the water that they com-

pletely covered the surface for miles around; indeed, they appeared to be ly-

ing on the sea as far as the eye could reach. The locusts had, no doubt, been blown from the Morocco coast into the sea. They resembled gigantic grasshop-

pers, and one which was secured was 5 inches in length. Of course all of the locusts had been drowned.--Westmin-ster Gazette.

A Fish Fooler.

The latest triumph of Yankee inventive genius is in an india rubber fishworm. It is said to be a remarkably good imitation of the common earth-

worm, is indestructible and in actual use proves as alluring to the fishes as the

genuine article. The old fisherman will be quick to perceive its advantages. One

can equip himself for a day's sport with-

out digging over a whole garden in his search for bait. A handful of india rub-

ber worms will last him a whole season, and there will be no necessity of pulling

up the line every few minutes to see if the small fry nibblers have left the hook bare.--Columbus (Ga.) Enquirer Sun.

Successful Women.

Wellsville, Alleghany county, in west-

ern New York, has [?] [?] One has a [?] farm. One was a housemaid; her broth-

er failed on the old homestead, she had saved money; she bought the farm a few years since, and all its belongings are re-juvenated.--Exchange.

A Mere Mockery. Father--And I'll give you a nice bit of candy if you'll have the [?]

Tommy (with a wail)--And then I can't eat the candy!--Chicago Record.

OCEAN CITY

A Moral Seaside Resort.

Not Excelled as a Health Restorer.

Finest facilities for FISHING, Sailing, gunning, etc. The Liquor Traffic and its kindred evils are forever prohibited by deed. Every lover of Temperance and Morals should combine to help us. Water Supply, Railroad, Steamboats And all other Modern Conveniences.

Thousands of lots for sale at various prices, located in all parts of the city.

For information apply to E. B. LAKE, Secretary, Ocean City Asso'n, SIXTH ST. & ASBURY AVE.

ISRAEL G. ADAMS & CO., Real Estate and Insurance AGENTS.

2031 ATLANTIC AVE. Atlantic City, N. J.

Commissioner of Deeds for Pennsylvania.

Money to loan on first mortgage.

Lots for sale at South Atlantic City.

R. B. STITES & CO., DEALERS IN Pine, Cedar and Hemlock BUILDING LUMBER

Siding, Flooring, Window Frames, Sash, Doors, Blinds, Mouldings,

Brackets, Turnings, Shingles, Pickets, Lath, Lime, Cement.

A full supply constantly on hand, and under cover. Orders left at No. 759 Asbury avenue will receive immediate despatch by Telephone. Lumber Yard and Office: Cor. 12th St. & West Ave., OCEAN CITY, N. J.

NEW INLET HOUSE, TOWNSEND'S INLET, Sea Isle City, N. J., WILLIAM A. MANAHAN, Prop'r.

All trains stop at the door. Boats always on hand.

GREAT BARGAINS IN FALL AND WINTER CLOTHING, Hats, Caps, and Gents Furnishing Goods, AT M. MENDEL'S RELIABLE ONE PRICE STORE.

1625 ATLANTIC AVENUE, ATLANTIC CITY, N. J. Children's Nobby Clothing a Specialty. A Banjo Souvenier Given Away with every Child's Suit.

We Pay Railroad Fare Present your R. R. Ticket after purchasing a reasonable amount ranging from $10 to $40 Extraordinary Opportunities FOR CASH PURCHASING OUR immense stock--largest in the city--must be sold. Prices lower than ever. Superior Suits and Overcoats $10, $12, $15 and $20 Best ever sold or the money Wanamaker & Brown SIXTH AND MARKET STS. PHILADELPHIA

Y. CORSON, REAL ESTATE AGENT, AND LICENSED AUCTIONEER, No. 721 Asbury Avenue, OCEAN CITY, N. J.

Properties for sale. Boarding Houses and Cottages for Rent in all parts of the city. Correspondence solicited.

WM. LAKE, C. E., REAL ESTATE AGENT, Surveying, Conveyancing, Commissioner of Deeds, Master in Chancery. Sec'y Ocean City Building and Loan Association.

Lots for Sale or Exchange. Houses to rent, furnished or unfurnished. Deeds, Bonds, Mortgages, Wills and Contracts carefully drawn. Abstracts of titles carefully prepared. Experience of more than twenty-five years. Office--Sixth Street and Asbury Avenue. P. O. Box 825. WM. LAKE.

Honesty is the best policy.--B. Franklin. Therefore get the policies issued at the office of H. B Adams & Co., by HONEST, Sound, Liberal, Solid and Successful Fire Insurance Companies. Your choice of 18 of the best American and English Companies. LOTS FOR SALE in all parts of the city. Hotels and Cottages for Sale or Rent. Money to loan on mortgages. H. B. ADAMS & CO., Eighth Street, opposite W. J. R. R. Station, OCEAN CITY, N. J. E. B. LAKE, SUPERINTENDENT OF OCEAN CITY ASSOCIATION From its Organization, and also REAL ESTATE AGENT Having thousands of Building Lots for sale at various prices, Some very Cheap and located in all parts of Ocean City. Now is the time to purchase property before the second railroad comes, as then property will greatly advance. I have a good many Inquiries for Property between 6th and 12th streets. Any one having property for sale might do well to give me their prices. All persons desiring to Buy, or Sell, or Exchange property, would do well before closing any transaction to call on or address E. B. LAKE, Association Office, No. 601 Asbury Ave., Ocean City, N. J.