Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1904-06-13
Ca(n1aQe
sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmace. D. D.

which he fits them for the battle Of life
are graphically described under the
similitude of the eagle and its young.
The text is Deuteronomy xxi. IL, "As
the eagle stirreth up her nest"
The war goddess has crowned the ca
gle monarch of the air" His throne
is the inaccessible cliff. his diadem the
nOontide sun, his footstool the morn
ing clouds, his playground the vast ex-
panse Of infinite space. His keenness
Of eye, boldness of fight, sharpness of
claw, merciless desructiveness of beak,
cause him to be dreaded in mountain
Gus lands, as the huge jaws and pow
erful claws of the lion cause him to be
dreaded in the African forests.
But. though the eagle has been called
the monarch of the air. as the lion has
been called the monarch of the fields,
yet the eagle, like the lion, never had
royal pedigree BY that word royal
/ mean a noble, brave and fearless an
cestry. The eagle Is not of heroic
mold. He is a cringing, fawning, con-
temptible coward. Though he is a
raptorial bird and loves to banquet off
the quivering flesh Of a newly slain
carcass, the blood which flows through
his own arteries is pumped from a era
ven heart. In terror this mighty wing
ed flier will fee before the little king
bird, hardly larger than a bedwarfed
English sparrow. Confined in a cage
with a small barnyard fowl, the do
nestle bird has been known to make
the eagle beg for mercy as school
yard bully will whine before an OUT
ragged youth half his size.
Many regulations are undeserved al
together" once wrote an observant
naturalist. Let us not in this con-
nection trouble now about statesmen,
poets or authors, but take from natural
history a familiar illustration, that of
the eagle. The great strength of the
eagle enables it to prey upon creatures
that have no power of defending them
selves from his terrible swoop, but we
must not allow ourselves S0n this ac-
count. as our fathers did, to magnify
him into a type of n1agnanimity and
courage. In true courage he is not
and certainly inferiorsto the falcons,
which will drive away this so called
monarch of the air, when he ap-
prOaches too near their nests. So that.
really, when we remember what a
fame the eagle has always had for
magnanimity and&.for courage it is
obvious, in view Of the facts, that he,
like many other birds and men, has
obtained a reputation which is unde-
served"
Eagle Protects His Young.
But, though the eagle is a cowardly
bird in reference to his own life, no
sooner does heTbecome a parent than
he is transformed into daring, valiant
protector of his young. No sooner are
the dull white coIored eggs deposited
In the nest which the twain have build
ed upon the tops of the dizzy heights,
or upon the ledge of a precipice, than
the parent birds are ready to protect
those nests at any cost. l remember
years ago seeing a powerful picture
called "The One Strand" A noun
tadeer of the faroff northeast had.
been lowered over the side of a cliff to
rob an eagles nest of it's eggs. No
sooner was he lowered by a rope over
the cliff and dangling in midair, with
the surging sea hundreds of feet be-
meath him beating its waves upon the
jagged rocks, than the father and
mother birds saw the would be de-
stroyer of their home. They started
FOR their enemy. Aye, it was a royal
battle-a battle for life. The eagles
were circling about his head. Tie
sturdy mountaineer was swinging his
knife round and round over his head.
But once he swung the knife too far.
The keen edge of the blade cut the
rope. all but one strand. With horror
stricken eyes he saw that strand grad
ually unraveling. The whole scene
was so realistically portrayed that l
could almost hear the triumphant
screams of the parental birds as their
human enemy was about to be dashed
npon the rocks below.
Yes, yes; parental affection trans
forms the craven bird into a fierce, in
trepid champion. capable of sublime
self sacrifice in defense of its offspring
Yet in our text we find him, in spite
Of that tender affection, disturbing
the young birds and turning them out
of their home. What does the Bible
mean by comparing this strange con-
duct with Gods providential dealing?
WHY does God. as a loving Father,
treat his children in this seemingly
rough way as the eagle bird pushes her
offspring? For you must remember
that we do not have to go entirely to
This figure of the eagle bird to be
taught the lessons that Gods hand
sometimes smites loving blow, as
well as gives a loving caress. In the
enistle TO the Hebrews we are taught
that chastisement is one of the proofs
God gives us of his affection. Whom
the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and
hourgeth every son whom he re-
seiveth." In his famous sermon upon
the mount Christ says there is a bless
Ing in falling tears and in prosecutions
onI al afFiicriOO