Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-12-21
THE DIVINE SYMBOL.
PILLARS OF SMOKE TYPlFY GODS
POWER AND MERCY.
Or. Tnlmngc speaks of the Trials
Through Witch Truth Has Tri-
umphnntiy struEpIcd-Thc Church
10 lie the Ar5itcr of Nations.

. To He the AEOitcr OF Nations.
copyright, Louis Klopsch 1891
WAsuINGToN, Dec. 1.-THE trials
through which the truth has struggled
are by DR.. Talmagc here set forth under
q Bible symbol Of great suggcstvcncss
and power; text, Solomon's Song iii, 6,
"Who is this that comcth out of the will
derucss like pillars of smoker
The architecture of the smoke is Won
drous, whether God with his finger
curves it into cloud, or rounds it into a
dome, or points il in Il spirc, or spreads
it in wing, or, rs in the text, hoists it
in pillar. Watch it winding up from the
country farmhouse In the early morning,
showing that the pastoral industries have
hcguu. or see it ascending from the CHM
ucys of the city, telling Of the homes fed,
the factories turning out valuable fabrics,
the printing presses preparing book and
newspaper and all the ten thousand
wheels OF work in motion. On Il clear
day th's vapor spoken Of mounts with
such huoyancy and spreads such a deli
cato veil across the sky and traces such
graceful lines of circle and scmicirclc
and waves and losses and sinks and scars
aud scattcrs with such anluCnce of shape
md color and suggcstiycncss that if you
have never noticed it you are like n man
who has all his life lived in Paris and yet
never seen the Luxembourg, or all his life
n Rome aud never seen the Vatican, or
NIL his life at Locllpurt and never seen
Niagara. Fortyfour times the Bible
speaks Of the smoke. and it is about time
that somebody preached a sermon rccog-
nizinE this strange, weird, beautiful, elias
o. 4 Z, .,.r
vapor. Across the Bible sky floats the
smoke of Sinai, the smoke of Sodom, the
smoke Of Al, the smoke of the pit, the
smoke Of the volcanic hills when God
touches them, and in my text the glorious
church of God coming mp out Of the will
dcrncss like pillars of smoke.
In the first place. these pillars Of smoke
in my text indicate the suffering the
church of God has endured. What do
mean 10y the church, ! mean not build
ing, not sect, but those who in all ages
and all lands and Of all beliefs love God
and are trying to do right. For many
centuries the heavens have been black
with the smoke Of martyrdom. If set
side by side. you could girde the earth
with the fires of persecution-Rowlan
Taylor burned mt IIadcigh. Latimer
Mt Smithfeld, John Hooper burned at
Gloucester, John IIuSS burned Mt Con-
stance, Lawrence Saunders burned at
Coventry, Joan of Arc burned at Roucn
Protestapts have represented Catholics
ms having monopoly of prosecutors. but
both Protestant and Catholic have prac-
ticed Infamous crueltics. The Catholics
during the reign of IIunncric were by
stripped Of their clothing. hoistcd in the
mir by pulleyS with weights suspended
from their feet then let down, and ears
and eyes, nose and tongue We're amputat-
ed, and rcd hot plates Of iron were put
against the tcndcrcst part of their bodies.
George Bancroft, the historian. says of
the state of Maryland; In the land
which Catholics had opened to Protcs-
tants mass might not be said publicly, no
Catholic priest or bishop might utter his
faith in a voice of persuasion, no Catholic
might teach the young. If n Maynard
child of papst would but become an
apostate, the law wrestcd for him from
his parents share of their property.
Such were the methods adopted TO pre-
vent the growth Of popery."
Martyrs 10 Faith.
Catholicism as well as Professionalism
has had its martyrs. 1t does seem as if
when any one sect got complete dominan-
ny in any land the devil of persecution
and cruelty took possession of that sect
Then see the Catholics after the Huguc-
note. Soc the genties after the Jews in
Tourainc where a great pit was dug and
IRE lighted at the bottom of the pit, and
100 Jewish victims were consumed. See
the Presbyterian parliament Of England,
more tyrannical in their treatment Of OPP
poncnts than had been the criminal
courts. Persecution against the Baptists
10y PWdo-BaptiStS. Persecution of the
Established church against the Methodist
church. Persecution against the preshy-
terians. Under Emperor Diocletian H.
900 Christians were massacrcd, and 700
600 more of them died from Punishment
and exposure.
Witness the sufferinGs Of the Wal
denses, of the Albigonses, Of the Nesto-
rians. Witness ST. Bartholomew's mas
sacro. Witness the Duke of Alva driving
mt of life $4,000 Christians Witness
Herod ana Nero and Docius and Hide
brand and TorQucmada and Earl Of
Montfort and Lord Clavcrhouse, who,
when told that he must give account for
MS ~ LtIlltS' Su4b. 1 nave no Ietl 10 aC-
rount 10 man. and as for God. will take
him in my own hands," a red line runs
through the church history Of 900 years,
line Of blood. Not by the hundreds Of
thousands, but by the millions must we
count those slain for Christ's sake. No
wonder John Milton put the groans Of tie
martyrs to an immortal tune, writing
Avcngc, 0 Lord. thy slaughtered saints, whose
bones
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold.
The smoke Of martyrs homes and mar
tyrs' bodies if rolling up all at once
would have eclipsed the MONDAY sun and
urned the brightest day the world over
saw into midnight. "Who is this that
rometh up out of the Wilderness like pill
lars Of smokeY'
Has persecution ceased? Ask that
young man who is trying TO be a Chris
ian in store or factory. where from
morning to night he is the butt of all the
mean witticiSmS of unbelievng employ
PES. ASK that wife whose husband makes
ler fondncSs for the house Of God and
wen her kneeling prayer by the bedside
derlsion and is no more fit for her holy
rompanionship than a filthy crow would
he fit companion for a robin or golden
oriolc Compromise with the world and
surrender to its conventionalities ana it
may let you alone. but all who will live
cody in Christ Jesus must suffer pcrSccu-
ton he theater going. card playing,
wine drinking, round dancing Christian,
and you may escape criticism and social
pressure. But be an up and down, out
and ont fOllOWpr Of Christ and Uorldlin 9,