Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1904-09-22

man Of you shall chase thousand. for
the Lord your God he 1t Is that tight
eth for you, az he hath promised you.
Take good heed. therefore. unto your
selves that ye love the Lord your God"
81. Marks of Venice.
The symbol of the dove which isaiah
uses to describe the church could not
be better illustrated than by the spec
tacle in the great square OF Venice,
which is flankcd on tho one side by the
famous Cathedral OF St Mark. With
but few exceptions / have seen all the
great cathedrals Of the world. have
seen some as white as that Of St Pc
tere. whose walls, even though they
may be hundreds Of years old seem to
be as white as the whftest Of alabas
ter. ] have seen some dark az an Afri
cans skin, others red ms an Indians.
! have seen some cathedrals which i'm
pressed me by their gigantic size. The
higher climbed on the roof Of MIL
ans greatest structure the more my
awe and bcwildcrment have seen
some that were perfect poems In stone.
But. take II ali in ALL though 1t cost
not nearly as much ms some others, the
most impressive cathedral l ever saw
was st. Marks of Venice.
Like unto natural scenery, st. Marks
is the Yellowstone park, not the 70.
semitic or the Gothard pass, among the
cathcdrals. 1t impressed me not with
It's size so much as It's exquisite color
tngs. its roof. it's walls, its arcades
all blended as the colors OF rainbow
frozen in stone. The tops Of its lofty
columns were not hideous with grimy
garROylcs. They were chisclcd into
flower gardens. which grow at your
feet or with their leaves hung down
from above. These different flower
gardens were so perfectly chiselcd that
1t seemed as II the winds. sweeping up
from the Venetian canals were gently
swaying them as the rosebushes bend
ed under the touch Of summer breeze
in your fathers garden.
Over the front doorway We're the
four massive bronze horses which Nm
poleon carried away to Paris after his
conquest in Italy. but which the over
throw of the Bonaparte dynasty re-
stored To their places. With arched
neck and sinewy limb like creatures Of
life they seemed just ready for bat
tlei1eld charge or run over the hills
after the hounds or gentle caress by
mistress or chivaric knight There,
within those walls, the chancel and au
ditorium blend in such perfect hnr-
mony that when | stood before the al
tAr's picture of the dying Christ felt
for the first time in European cathe-
dral that ! was in the presence Of God
and In the place Of prayer
Gods Fenthered Loved Ones.
But. though | saw many places in
the Venice cathedral that entranced
me, after ALL my greatest lesson learn
cd there was outside the cathedral
walls, and not within. | learned that
lesson there not from the cold stones
pf 4 building. hut from the warm
hearts " living doves. There. from
behind tho towers and from within the
recesscs down from the roof and tho
four great bronze horses. from pillars
md vestihules. the doves gather around
you by tie hundreds. They came az
fearlessly to my side as my little chill
drcn might ONE. They perched on my
shoulder on my hat. They huttered
over my head. They crowded by the
hundreds at my feet to eat Of the food
| had ready for them. AS they flutter-
I'd about me ! said to myself, Would
that Gods sinful children might here
gather about these church doors AS
ice my Gods little feathered loved
ones When spoke tllese words in
voluntarily ! started. I said 10 myself,
why will rot Gods sinful children
thus come 10 Gods sanctuaries?" Did
not Isaiah in vision sac them coming?
Shall thoy not come? Will they not
| rome now II the Christian church men,
! bers feed them with the bread Of
! life,' rs am feeding these birds with
lttle crumbs? Yea, they will. They
will. II we Christian church members
only live right and offer to the outside
suffering world the right kind of di-
church members by our examples and
welcome and gospel food, make Isai-
abs vision a possibility now? VIII not
you and !. rs followers of Christ. beck
On the sinners to him, and they will
rome rs doves como to their windows.
! TCo-,v-rlpht ION H.. outs X lopsrh