Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1896-03-12
CHEERING THOUGHTS
REV. DR.. TALMAGe CONFIDENT THAT
AMERICA IS FOR GOD.

He believes That This Continent Was Re-
ferred to In Revelation and Presents a
Glowing Picture of Our Future POSI-
bilities and Prospects.
WASHINGTON, March s.-This discourse
presents a sublime theme ind Is of ma
tional Importance and coming from tho
capital of tho nation must have stirring
effect throughout the land. DR.. Talmage
chose for his text Revelation Kill, II,
"And beheld another beast coming up
out OF the earth, and he had two horns
like lamb, and he spake as dragon"
Is America mentioned In the Biblep
Learned and consecrated mon who have
studied the inspired books Of Daniel and
Revelation more than have and under
stand them better agree in saying that the
leopard mentioned In the Bible meant
Grecia, and tho bear meant Medic Persia,
and tho lion meant Babylon, and the beast
of the text coming up out of the earth with
two horns like lamb and the voice of
dragon means our country, because among
other reasons IL seemed to como up out OF
the earth when Columbus discovered 1t,
and 1t hos been for the most part at peace,
like lamb, unless assaulted by foreign
foe, In which case 1t has had two horns
strong and sharp, and tho voice of dragon
loud enough to make oil nations hear the
roar of Its Indignation Is 1t reasonable to
suppose that God would leave out from the
prophecies Of his book this whole western
hemispherep No, no. ~ beheld another
beast coming up out Of tho earth, and he
had two horns like lamb, and he spake
as dragon"
Germany for scholarship, England for
manufactures, France for manners, Egypt
for antiquities Italy for pictures, but
America for God.
America For God.
start with tho cheering thought that
the most popular book on earth today is
the Bible tho most popular institution on
earth today Is the church, and the most
popular name on earth today Is Jesus.
Right from this audience hundreds Of men
and women would, IL need be, march out
and die for him.
Am too confident in saying america
for God?" II tho Lord will help me, /
will show the strength and cxtont of the
long limo Of fortrosses to DO taken and give
you my reasons for saying It con be done
and will DO dono. Let us decide In this
battle for God whether we are ut Bull Run
or at Gettysburg There is a Fourth Of
Julyish way Of Dragging about this coun-
try, and the most tired and plucked bird
that ever few through the heavens is the
American eagle, so much SO that Mr.. Glad
stone said to mo facotiously at Hawarden,
II hear TINT tho fish In your American
lakes are SO large that when ono Of them
is taken out the entire lake Is perceptibly
lowered" and at dinner given in Paris
an American offered for sentiment
Hero is TO tho United STRAIGHTFORWARD on
the north by the aurora borealis, on the
south by tho procession Of the equinoxes,
ON the east by primeval chaos and on the
west by tho day Of Judgment" The effect
OF such grandiloquenoe Is to discredit the
renl facts which are so tremendous they
need no garnishing. The worst thing to
do In any campaign, military or religious,
is to underestimate an enemy, and will
have no part In such attempt at belittle-
ment.
This land to be taken for God, according
to Hassel, the statistioian, has IA, 219, OCT
square miles, width and length that
none but the Omnisoient oan appreciate
Four Europes put together, and capable Of
holding and feeding, as 1t will hold and
feed, according to Atkinson, the statisti
clan, II the world continues In existence
and does not run afoul Of some other world
or get consumed by the fires already burn
ing In the cellars of the planet-capablo,
say, Of holding and feeding more than
l,0OO, 900, 900 Inhabitants. For you mus
remember 1t must be held for God as well
as taken for God, and the last 800, 900, 900
Inhabitants must not DO allowed to swamp
the religion of the first 500, 600, 900. Not
much use in taking the fortress II We can
not hold 1t. 1t must be held until the
nrohangels trumpet bids living and dead
arise from this laundering planet.
A Nations Morning.
You must remember 1t Is only about
o'clock In the morning Of our nations
life. Great cities are to flash and roar
among what are called the bad Lands
of the Dakotas and the great Columbia
Plains" of Washington state, and that on
which we put our sohoolboy fingers on the
map, and spelled out as the Great Ameri-
can desert" is, through systematic and
concentrating irrigation, to bloom like
Chatsworth park and be made more pro-
ductive than those regions dependent upon
uncertain and spasmodic rainfall. All
thoso regions as we'll ms those regions al
ready cultivated to be inhabitedl That
was sublime thing said by Henry Clay
while crossing tho Allegheny mountains
and he was waiting for the stage horses to
be rested, as he stood on rock, arms
folded, looking of into the valley, and
some one said to him, "Mr. Clay, what
are you thinking aboutY" He replied, II
am listening to tho oncoming tramp of the
future generation OF America" Have
you laid our home missionary schome on
such an infnitude Of soaleP If the work
of bringing one soul to God Is SO great
can 1000, 900, 900 DO captured9 In this
country, already planted and to DO over
come, paganism has built Its altar to
Brahma, and the Chinese are already burn
Ing incense In their temples, and Moham-
mechanism, drunk In other days with the
red wine Of human blood at Lucknow
and Cawnpur, and now fresh from tho
diabolism in Armenia, is trying to get q
foothold here, and from the minarets of
her mosques will yet mumblo her bias
phemies, saying, "God Is groat and Mo-
manned ia his prophet" Then there are
tho vaster multitudes with no religion at
all. They worship no God, they live with
no consolation, and they die with no hope.
No star OF peace points down to the man.
ger In which they are born, and no prayer
Is uttered over the grave into which they
sink. Then there Ia alcoholism, Its piled
up demijohns end beer barrels and hogs
heads Of fery death, q barrioade high and
long as the Alleghanies and Rockies and
Sierra Nevadas, pouring forth day and
night their ammunition Of wretohedness
and woe. When German wants to take
q drink, no takes beer. When an English
man wants to take drink, he takes ale.
When Scotchman wants to take drink,