Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1904-01-28
TALMAGE
SERMON
By Rev.
FRANK DE WITT TALMAGE, DID,,
Pastor Of Jefferson Park Presby.
terrain Church. Chicago

exposition of an "unwritten sermon,
now given to the world as . sacred
iilial duty, the preacher shows the i'm.
portance Of action as the criterion of q
true and practical Christian life. The
text is Proverbs vi, 10, He winketh
with his eyes, he speaketh with his
feet, he teacheth with his fingers"
This 10 the last text and the last ser.
monte caption my father ever wrote.
When ! was summoned to Washington
during his mortal illness found upon
his study desk a plain sheet Of paper
placed there with these nineteen words
upon 1t. just as he always wrote down
his theme and text before he started
his sermon. That brief memorandum
proved to me that had he not been
quickly summoned away by the mes.
senger Of death the next sermon he
purposed to have written would have
been upon "the language Of action"
There were no indications Of the man.
ner in which he intended to treat the
topic, but know that the subject had
been much in his mind and that he had
been impressed by the mischief that is
often done by gestures and actions
without the utterance of q word.
wish we could have had that sermon
for the warnings ho would have uttered
need to be spoken. have therefore
thought 1t fllial duty to fulfill, as far
as am able, the intention my father
was prevented carving out,
All language is not spoken by the lip.
A few months ago I had this truth en-
phasized in striking way. was Wis
fling in the east. The first night while
there my friend came to me and said,
II want you to 90 and hear what I
consider the finest orchestral playing
In the United States" ooh, no." an
Bwered. Il cannot go. l am tagged
Dut from travel and work. Besides,
am going to have hard day Of preach.
ing tomorrow, and l must stay home
and rest up for it, But you must
co." said my friend. IT not only want
you to hear the sweetest of music. but l
want you to sit in front of Mr.. So-and-
30, the leader, and watch the express.
iveness of his actions while leading his
orchestra. If your ear was as deaf as
that Of a Ludwig Beethoven, who
could not hear the loudest note sound.
ed in his 'Kreutzer Sonata or in bis
Battle Symphony vet you could tell
what the musicians were playing by
watching their leaders gestures"
Language OF Action.
What my friend said was true. !
went to the concert that night and en-
joyed 1t as much in what saw as in
what l heard. The movements Of that
leaders hands and wrists. the gentle
undulations Of his baton, the quick
shake of his head and tossing hair the
fitting expressions upon bis face, the
bending OF his shoulders, the nervous
movement of his feet, the quick lifting
Of both arms, told me whether the or.
chestra was softly signing a lullaby
or whispering a love song or sounding
forth a battle call or playing a waltz
or a wedding march or moaning q re-
QUEEN or sounding forth the defiance
Of the warning elements or singing the
Gong Of a harvest home or making all
the voices of the woods blend in one
sweet chorus. In those swift, sharp or
slow movements Of that impresario I
could see the ever changing spirit of
that musical night.
This orchestral leaders movements
interpreted. IN musical sense. what
every mans Language Of action" &C.
complishes in a moral and spiritual
way. A bad mans tongue may be pal
sled, but he can still speak as do the
deaf mutes in the sign language. All
the evil spirits that are within him can
find their outward expression before an
observant world in what he does as
well as in what he says. His lifting
arms speak. His moving head speaks
His sneeTng smile speaks. His scorn.
full eyebrows speak. would supple
ment my text with the warning words
which King Solomon wrote along the
same line: Let thine eyes look right
on and let thine eyelids look straight
before thee. Ponder the path of thy
feet, and let all thy ways be establish.
left. Remove thy foot from evil"
A wicked mans evil actions are
manifested. in the first place. by the
conspicuous absence from all pure and
noble associates. He does not count
among his daily companions the good
feel so proud Of his Christian friends
as to order, by way Of tribute to one
Of them, such an epitaph chiseled fol
his own tombstone as Lord Brooks hat
cut upon his-"Here lies Sir PL,lir
Sidneys friend" He would not do
as did Sir Thomas Abney, who was de
lighted to welcome to his home such 8
guest as the gentle, consecrntcd. Christ
like brother, Isaac Watts. That Eng
lish nobleman asked the great hyn
nolOgist to visit him for n week at hi!
ancestral manor, and then on accoun
Of Isaac Watts Christian gentlencs,
he persuaded him to prolong his visl
for over a quarter Of century. Blu
rs birds Of q feather flock together ant
buzznrds nest with buszards and dove,
with doves, the wicked man cschew
the company of the good. Tie feels jus
ss uncomfortable nssociatlng with TIT
pure, the true. the noble. as the gooC
inan feels uncomfortable when in tn,
companionship Of the bad. The morn
ing cloud ia either gilded by the risini
sun or blackened by the scowl Of tn
storm. A mans good or bad compan
ionships interpret the character Of tn
inner man In the golden letters Of ligh
or in the black letters of death.