Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-09-21
TO HIS FLOCK.
vrKENp DOCTOR PREAcHEs
1"' AT THE TABERNACLE.

, Hart PAnteth After the Water
''e LIS. So Pauteth My Soul After Thee,
"o .," A Sermon Suggested by a Visit
1.-The Ahiron,'ac<s.
% %,o Rev. T. De Witt Talmage, d. D..
l .nnunded passages illustrative of Sol
fAlv% acquaintance with natural his
''5 H. text was Psalm xiii. 1: CAS- the
,o n, panteth after the water brooks, so
n'a a,I my soul after the, U God" The
ireat preacher SAID:
p ,"a, hunt. points us here to n hunted
"e, king for the water. The fasci-
s'a .;no animal called in my text the hart,
ns .ha same animal that in sacred and
.aiane literature is called the stag, the
p,'olm,ck. the hind, the gazelle. the rein
l ,sar In central Syria in Bible times
. aes.. " ere whole pasture fields of them.
" wv. Solomon suggests when he says: Il
q ,, ',w,. You by the binds of the field"
s Tna nnntlers jutted from the long grass
10y th,.y law down. No hunter who has
s =. long in John Browns track" will
w u'uu that in the Bible they were
s,0ssed among clean animals, for the
laws, the showers, the lakes washed
,hau as clean as the sky. When Jacob.
ts se patriarch, longed for venison, Esau
.hl and brought home roebuck.
Isaiah compares the sprightliness of
the here restored cripple Of millennial times
TO the long and quick jump of the stag,
saving: The lame shall leap as the
hart" Solomon expressed his disgust
a, hunter who, having shot q deer, is
foo lazy to cook it, saying: The sloth-
uooc< ~ h =, NJ kbo% 1rh ~, no "a ~
in hunting" But one day David, while
IA, from the home from which he had
h en- driven, and sitting near the door
Of lonely cave where he had lodged,
and on the banks of pond or river,
hears pack of hounds in hot pursuit.
Because of the previous silence of the
forest the clangor starts him, and he
saws to himself: II wonder what those
dogs are after" Then there is a crack
ling in the brushwood, and the loud
breathing of some rushing wonder of
the woods, and the antlers Of red deer
repd the leaves of the thicket, and by
instinct which all hunters recognize,
plunges into pond or lake or river to
cool its thirst. and at the same time by
its capacity for switzerland longer swim
ming to get away from the foaming har-
riers. David says to himself: AHA,
that is myself! Saul after me, Absalom
after me, enemies without number after
me, l am chased, their bloody muzzles
at my heels, barking at my good name,
soul Oh, the hounds, the hounds!
But look there" says David, that rein
deer has splashed into the water. It
puts its hot lips and nostrils into the
cool wave that washes the lathered
TANKS, and it swims away from the fiery
CANNES, and is free at last. On, that |
might find in the deep, wide lake of
Gods mercy and consolation escape
from my pursuers! Oh, for the waters
of life and rescue! AS the hart panteth
after the water-brook. so panteth my
soul after thee, o Cod
| have lust come from the Adirondacks
and the breath of the balsam and spruce
and pine is still on me. The Adiron-
dacks are now populous with hunters,
and the deer are. being slain by the
score. Talking few days ago with a
hunter, thought would like to see
whether my text was accurate in its al
fusion, and as heard the dogs baying a
little way off and supposed they were on
the track of reindeer, and said to
the hunter in rough corduroy, DO the
deer always make for the water when
they are pursued?" He said, 20, yes,
mister; you see, they are hot and thirsty
animal, and they know where the water
is. and when they hear danger in the
distance they lift their antlers and snuff
the breeze and start for the Racquet, OF
Loon, or Saranac, and get into ou1
cedar she'll boat or stand by the run
away with rifle loaded ready to blaze
away" My friends, this is one reason
why I like the Bible SO much-its al.
lusions are so true to nature. Its par
tridges are real cartridges, its ostriches
real ostriches, and its reindeer, rea
reindeer. l do not wonder that this
antlered glory of the text makes the
hunters eye sparkle and his cheek glow
and his respiration quicken. 10 sa.
nothing of its usefulness. although it il
licious, its skin turned into human APP
parel, it's sinews fashioned into bow
strings, its antlers putting handles OF
cutlery, and the shavings OF its horn
used as a restorative, taken from tn"
name Of the hart and called hartshorn
But putting aside its usefulness, thl
enchanting creature seems made out o
sracefulness and elasticity. What al
eye. with liquid brightness Us it gath
cred up from hundred lakes of sunset
The horns, a coronal branching int
every possible curve, and after it seem
done, advancing into other projection
OF exIuisiteness, a tree ofpolished bone
uplifted in pride. or swung down TO
awful combat. 1t is velocity embodied
rimidity impersonated. The enchant
ment of the woods. Eye lustrous in Ut
aud pathetic in death. The splendi
animal complete rhythm of muscle
and bone, and color. and attitude. an
locomotion, whether couched IN tn
grass among the shadows, Or a hF!n
bolt shot through the forest, or turning
at bay to attack the hounds, or rearln
Tor its last fall under the bucksho1 o
the taper. 1t is splendid appearane
That the painters pencil fails to ske1e
and only hunters dream on PILLOW, Q
hemlock at the foot of ST. Regis is abb
TO picture. When, twenty miles fro1
any settlement, it comes down at even
tide to the lakes edge to drink anon
the lily pods, and. with its sharp edge
hoof, chatters the crystal OF Long Lake
1t is very picturesque. But only whel
after miles of pursuit. with heavln
sides and rolling tongue and eyes SWIM
ming i'll death the stag leaps from IN !,
ellff into Upper Saranac, can you real real
ne how much David had suffered 1roI
ms troubles and how much he Wante