St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-11-21
TALMAGE's SERMON.
Reflections Induced BY the Fading
OF Natures Verduro.


antry Of the Woods" before his WASH
ton congregation. taking for his text:
We all do fade - leaf. Isaiah lxiv..A
It is % hard for rs TO understand re-
ligious truth that God constantly re-
iterates. As the schoolmaster tskes .
blackboard. and puts upon 1t figures
and diagrams, 50 that the scholar may
not only get his lesson thu ough the
ear, but also through the eye, y, God
takes all the truths Of His Bible. and
draws them out in diagram on the nat
ural world. Champollion, the famous
Frenchmau, went down into Egypt to
study hieroglyphics on monuments
and temples. After much labor he do.
ciphered them. and announced TO the
learned world the result Of his investi-
cations. The wisdom. goodness and
power of God are written in hero
glyphics al over the earth and all over
the heaven. God grant that we may
have understanding enough to de-
cipher them! There are scriptural
passages, like my text, which need to
be studied in the very presence Of
the natural world. Habakkuk says,
Thou makest my feet like kinds
feet;" passage which means nothing
save to the man that knows that the
feet of the red deer. or hind. are Pc
culiarly constructed, 90 that they can
walk among slippery rocks without
falling. knowing that fact, we I'M.
derstand that, when Habakkuk says,
''Thou makest my feet like kinds
feet" he sets forth that the Christian
can walk amid the most dangerous
and slippery places without falling.
In Lamentations We read that THE
daughter Of my people il cruel, like
the ostriches of the wilderness" .
passage that has no meaning save to
the man who knows that the ostrich
leaves its eggs in the sand to b
Matched out by the sun. and that the
young ostrich goes forth unattended
by any maternal kindness. Knowing
this. the passage is slgnifcant-"The
daughter Of my people is cruel, like
the ostriches Of the wildernesa."
Those know but little Of the mean
ing Of the natural world who have
looked 1t it through the eyes Of 9TH
their impression. There are some
faces 80 mobile that photographers can
not take them: aud the face Of nature
has such. . flush, and sparkle. and life,
that no human description can gather
them. No one knows the pathos Of .
birds voice unless he has sat 1t sum-
mer evening-tide 1T the edge Of wood
and listened to the cry of the whip
p0Or.will.
There is to-day more glory in one
branch of sumsch than . painter
could put on = whole forest OF naples.
God hath struck into the autumnal
leaf . glance that none see but those
who come face to face-the mountain
looking upon the man, and the man
looking upon the mountain.
For several autnmns have made =
tour to the far west, and one autumn.
about this time. saw that which l
shall never forget have seen the
autumnal sketchsa Of Cropsey and 9TH
er skillful pencils. but that week l saw
. pageant 1000 miles long. Let artists
stand back when God stretches His
canvas! A grander spectacle was
never kindled before mortal eyeA
Along by the rivets, and N nd down
the sides Of the CREST hsnk HID by the
banks of the lakes, there was an in.
describable mingling Of. geld. and
orange. and crimson. and saffron.
now SOLDERING into drab -aads maroon,
now flaming iptos0lferiaoapd scarlet
Here and thers the trees looked Is If
inst their tips had blossoPed into fire.
In the morning light the forests
seemed - II they had teen transag-
ured, and, in the evening. hour they
looked Is IL the sunset had burst and
dreppsd upon eno.. 1ro,:, h.
been hindered ID trlleir work. wc saw
the first kindling of the flames Of
color in = lowly sprig; then they
rushed up from branch to branch.
until the glory of the Lord sub
merged the forest. Here you would
end = tree just making up its mind to
change, and there one looked rs il,
wounded 1t every pore. It stood bathed
in carnage. Along the banks Of Lake
Huron there were hills over which
there seemeS pouring cataracts oftire,
tossed up and down and every whittier
by the rocks. Through some Of the
ravines we saw occasionally foaminR
stream. as though it were rushing TO put
out the conhagration. If 1t one end
Of the woods = commanding tree would
set up ito CRIMSON banner, the whole
forest prepared to follow. 1t Gods
- s~A
swamp that saw along the Maumee
would have exhausted il forever. II
seemed ~ il the sea of Divine glory
had dashed its surf to the tip-top Of
the Alleghanies. and then Il had come
dripping down TO lowest leaf and deep
est cavern.
Most persons peaching from this
text find only in it . vein Of sadness.
find that I have two strings to thi,
gospel harp-a string Of sadness and
= string Of joy infinite.
I'VE al do fade n Leaf"
First, like the foliage, We fade grad
ually. The leaves, which. week befor,
last, felt the frost have day by day
been changing in tint and will foI
many days yet cling to the Dough
waiting for the list Of the wind Il
strike them. Suppose you that ths
pictured leaf you hold in your hand
took on it, color In an hour. or in Z
day. or in . week7 No. Deeper and
deeper the flush, till all the veins o.
its life now seem obened and bleeding
away. After awhile, leaf after leaf
they fall Now those on the outel
branches, then those most hidden, I'M
Ill the last spark Of the cleaning forgs
shall have been quenched.
So gradually we pass away. Frou
day to day We hardly sec the change
But the frosts have touched %. Thu
work Of decay il going on. Now ,
Slight cold. Now . season Of over
fatigue. Now . fever. Now = stitcl
in the side. Now . neuralgic thrust
Now . rhematic twinge. Now . fall
Little BY little. Pain BY pain. Les
steady of limb. Sight not % clear
Ear not SO alert. After awhile W
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