mendous lesson He ever gave to New York was in the
conflagration of 1835; to Chicago in the conflagration of 1871; to
Boston in the conflagration of 1872; to my own congregation in the fiery
downfall of the Tabernacle. Some saw in the flames that roared through
its organ pipes a requiem, nothing but unmitigated disaster, while
others of us heard the voice of God, as from Heaven, sounding through
the crackling thunder of that awful day, saying, "He shall baptise you
with the Holy Ghost and with Fire!"

It was a very different state of public feeling which met the disaster
that came to the Tabernacle on that early Sabbath morning of October 18,
1889. I had a congregation of millions all over the world to appeal to.
I stood before them, accredited in the religious course I had pursued,
approved as a minister of the Gospel, upheld as a man and a preacher.
The hand of Providence is always a mysterious grasp of life that
confuses and dismays, but it always rebuilds, restores, and prophesies.

The second Tabernacle was destroyed during a terrific thunderstorm. It
was crumpled and torn by the winds and the flames of heaven. I watched
the fire from the cupola of my house in silent abnegation. The history
of the Brooklyn Tabernacle had been strange and peculiar all the way
through. Things that seemed to be against us always turned out finally
for us. Our brightest and best days always follow disaster. Our
enlargements of the building had never met our needs. Our plans had
pleased the people, but we needed improvements. In this spirit I
accepted the situation, and the Board of Trustees sustained me. Our
insurance on the church building was over $120,000. I made an appeal to
the people of Brooklyn and to the thousands of readers my sermons had
gained, for the sum of $100,000. It would be much easier to accomplish,
I felt, than it had been before.

At my house in Brooklyn, on the evening of the day of the fire, the
following resolutions were passed by the Board of Trustees:--

"Resolved--that we bow in humble submission to the Providence which this
morning removed our beloved Church, and while we cannot fully understand
the meaning of that Providence we have faith that there is kindness as
well as severity in the stroke.

"Resolved:--That if God and the people help us we will proceed at once
to rebuild, and that we rear a larger structure to meet the demands of
our congregation, the locality and style of the building to be indic