Milford chronicle., 1904-11-11
Calm1aqe
Sermon
b. Rev.
Frank De Witt TalTnaee, D. D.

Los Angeles. Cal. Nov. 6.-From the
autumna frosts. the stripping of for
est vecdure and the woods now car
peted with the falling leaves the
preacher in this sermon draws Il lesson
ON the shortness Of human life. The
text is Isaiah xiv, g, We all 10 fade
as a leaf"
Is the.e any time in all tie year
mere delightful for u vacation in the
country than the "Indian summer|
OF course to the lover of nature the
valleys and the mountains have their
fascinations at all seasons. Winter
cold, bleak, growing. freezing winter
has her months of glory. Then the
trees. with their long, outstretched
branches, are like the vestal virgins of
Dld, rObed in spotless white. Then the
stars, through the keen, biting January
nights. gleam brighter than any other
time of the year Then the country
roads are echoing with the merrymak-
lngs of the sleighbells, and the lights
from the farmhouses are the beacons
to signal friends to enter the home
where "Welcome" is written over
every door.
Springtime in the country also has
her months of glory. That is the time
we hear the wooings of bird mating
with bird That is the time when the
winds are tossing the white blossoms
every whittier. That is the time of
the seed paintings and of the plOwings,
the time when the brooks are rippled
with the trOuts' fins. while summer has
her glory of the haymakelS and the
harvestings and the vineyards and the
orchards in which we all have reyeled
year by year when off for the August
vacations. But, though winter, spring
and summer may come to us, each with
special forms of enjoyment, the most
rapturGus time of all the year in which
TO spend Il few weeks in the country
is during the nutumn, for then the
glory Of October's pride is the fading
leaf. Never in artists studio were so
many gorgeous cOlors mixed together
ss God pictures on his canvases of the
autumn foliage
Here the trees look like a mighty
river Of blood" as though their ar
teries had been opened by the Mosaic
rod which incarnadned the river Of
Egypt The leaves have blushed a
deep crimson. as did the water at the
wedding feast at Cana when, at our
Lords word, it was borne as new
made wine to the governor at the
feast. Under yonder trees it seems as
though aged Jacobs sons were feast
ing and had hung up JOseph's coat Of
many colors upon the tree branches
while they We're waiting for the Ish-
maelite nOmads to come and take their
younger brother away. There the green
and the yellow, the red and the pur-
pie, the blue and all the cOlors of the
rainbow, are found blending upon the
same hillside. Yonder field looks like
a prairie fire. We can almost hear the
flames cracking amid the underbrush;
we can almost feel the hot air touch
ing our cheeks. We lock at the strange !
and wonderful sight of the long grass |
es and brushes, changed within few
weeks to light red. and we wonder |
not as we see the birds flying away to-
ward the sunny south, for as they fly |
we can almost see the pictures of the |
prairie fires of our youth, when the |
birds and tie beasts and the serpents |
fled in wild terror before the onward |
rush Of the consuming c0nhagration.
{ The Leaves of Indian Summer.
Oh, tire beauty Of the autumnal TO- |
iiaSe! The fading leaves Of the Indian |
summer fascinate the eye and WOO |
eXclamations from all lips. |
AS we go forth today to catalogue |
some of them we find that there are |
big leaves and small leaves. long leaves |
and narrow leaves, rough leaves and |
smooth leaves. thick leaves and thin
deaves. There are leaves that are yell
low, and red. and brown, and crimson,
and green. and saffron. There are
leaves like those which the tired trav-
elers twist into cups and dip into the
cool waters and lift to their parched .
dips. There are leaves like the fresh /
emerald ones which the picnickers use
AOL NluLAtAN W AANA tAAN AAANA 1 y AAAeA-ANA7
are banqueting in the woods and
leaves like those the field laborers wet
when they place them in their straw
hats to cool their aching brOws. There
are leaves which the little children
gather and press straight between the
schoolbook pages. There are leaves
which the maidens collect to fill the
Jars and vases and to decorate the
halls, parlOrs and bedrooms of the
home. There are leaves which the
florist cuts to give an added beauty to
the flowers he is clustering together
for assemblages of Joy and also for
of sorrow. There are
leaves which have hidden the nests Of
the birds while they were rearing their
young-leaves upon the tree branches
leaves in the flower gardens, leaves
which have been tossed by the winds
into the dusty road, leaves overhead,
leaves under foot. There are a hundred
and and forty and four thousand va
rieties Of them and thousands upon
4. Al Q