Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-11-26
TALMAGE
SERMON
By Rev.
FRANK DE WITT TALMAGE, DID,,
Pastor OF Jefferson Park Presby.
terrain Church, Chicago


proprlate to the season. the preacher
points out the manifold reasons we
nave as nation for joyful acknowl
edgment of Gods goodness to us on
every hand. The text is Proverbs XIV,
10, lie that is of n merry heart hath n
continual feast"
Thanksgiving day! What does this
American queen of festivals mean 10
the average hungry boy-for the aver
nrn American boy is always hungry! A
feast great big dinner! feast
which is famous for two characteris-
ticS-frSt, quantity-that is the great
essential; second quality 90 this sec
ond characteristic must tread closely
upon the heels of the former Not only
should there be plenty of food and not
only should the soups and the fish. the
turkeys and the ducks and the vege-
tables and the salads and the pies and
the buildings and the ice cream be mar
shaled In courses, but these courses
must all he of good quality. Then the
gardens should contribute their finest
pumpkins, the vineyards their most
luscious fruits and the orchards their
richest juices. Then the cooks must
try to Guido themselves by testing the
scored recipes for the mince pies-these
recipes which the cooks guard as jeal-
ously as the patent medicine men do
the formulas Of their cure alls'' or as
mat famous Delaware family does the
secrets hy which II is able to hold as a
monopoly the making of gunpowder for
the nation. A Thanksgiving day for
hungry boy and no banquet! It would
be farce, an absurdity; wedding
without Il bride, Hamlet" without the
Dane, spring carnival of flowers with
no May queen. an orchestra without
music. comedy, a merrynaking with
empty dishes. Barmecide Toast.
We have never fully outgrown our
early respect for the culinary master
pieces OF the Thanksgiving Kitchen.
We hope that we never shall But to-
day we would interpret our text from
higher standpoint than the hungry
boys stomach We would apply it, in
the flguratlve sense. to the banquet OF
gratitude, the banquet of love- the ban
quet of divine mcrcy-the banquet
which King Solomon described whbi
he wrote these words: HE that is of n
merry heart hath continual feast"
1t Is In order TO recount some Of the
many mcrcies, both national and do
nestle, that | preach this sermon May
our hearts one and all. be joyful on
the coming Thanksgiving day.
Gods G0odness and Mercy
My purpose extends beyond the day
Itself Next Thursday. ny presidential
and gubernatorial appointment we call
TO mind our national ncrcies and as
nation render thanks to him who has
crowned the year with his goodness,
but his blessings to us as individuals
are SO many and so great that they de-
mand what Solomon In my text calls
continual feast. Not alone on the COM
Ing Thanksgiving day but every day
from year TO year as We receive daily
bountios from his hand, should our
hearts beat with love and gratitude to
him whose goodness and mercy follow
us all our days. Thanking him for past
mercios. trusting him for future bless
ings, let us rejoice that We have God
so good and kind, and thus let our
thanksgiving become perpetual and our
sladncss continual feast
Let us rejoice over our national pos
sessions geographical. We have a coun-
try, not little island like England, not
reclaimed sea bottom like Holland
nor collection OF mountain tops like
Switzerland. nor n harborieSs territory
ike Austria, nor Il national chicken
coop like Portugal, nor mcnaccd gov
eminent like France. with the frown-
ing guns Of Metz trained upon her cap
ltal, but We have land stretching
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from
the great lakes to the gulf stream. Our
wheat helds are the Red river valleys
or the DakotaS. our coal mines the mex
haustiblc veins of Pennsylvania and
ohio, our cotton fields the snowike
treasures Of Louisiana and Alabama,
our fragrant gardens the Floridas, or
tho Land of flowers" our vineyards
ana orchards the Michigans and the
Calliornlas, our pools of Bethesda the
health springs of the Nirginias and the
SAratogas and the Arkansas. Our riy-
ers are the mighty Hudson, the Mis-
sIsSlppi and the Missouri. Nature has
given us as affairs at which to worship
the storm riven rocks of Mounts Wash
ington and Shasta and Pixies peak,
which are old enough 10 have heard
God thunder from Mount Sinai and
whose hearts may have been shattered
nj the tragedy Of Calvary. Fertile and
beautiful our land! Yes. II is situated
In the temperate zone, the best OF all
climates The intense fires of the trop-
les cannot burn ", nor the refrigerat-
Ing blast OF the far north freeze II.
truly II is with us ms with the peo-
pie who inherited the promised land:
Into a good land land Of brooks OF
water, of fountains and depths that
spring out OF valleys and hills; land
or wheat and barley and vines and
hg trees and pomegrauates; land
pr oil, olives and honey; land where
IN thou shalt eat bread without scarce
ness -- thou shalt not lack anything
In It., land whose stones are iron.
and out of whose hills thou mayest
dig brass. When thou hast eaten and
nrt full then thou shalt bless the Lord
thy God for the good land which he
hath given thee"
Our National Possessfon~.
Good not only In reference to it's fer
tlity, but also in size. The United