Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1904-11-12

Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaee. d. d.

est Neruure ana tie WOODS now car
peted with the falling leaves the
preacher in this sermon draws n lesson
on the shortness of human life The
text is Isaiah Xiv. q. I'VE all do fade
as leaf"
Is there any time in all the year
more delightful for vacation in the
country than the Indian summer"
or course 10 the lover of nature the
valleys and the mountains have their
destinations ut 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
old. robed in spotless white. Then the
stars. through the keen. biting January
nights. CLEAN brighter than any other
time OF the year. Then the country
roads are echoing with the merrymak-
ings of tie sleighbells. and the lights
from the farmhouses are the beacons
to signal friends 10 enter the home
w
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 tie plowings.
the time when the brooks are rippled
with the trouts' fins. while summer has
her glory of the haymakers and the
harvestings and the vineyards and the
orchards in which we all have reveled
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
rapturous time of all the year in which
to spend few weeks in the country
is during the autumn. for then the
glory of October's pride is the fading
leaf. Never In artists studio were SO
many gorgeous colors mixed together
as God pictures on his canvases of the
autumn foliage.
Here the trees look like n 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
deep crimson. as did the water ut the
wedding feast at Cana when. ut our
Lords word. II was borne as new
made wine to the governor ut the
feast. Under yonder trees it seems as
though aged Jacobs sons We're feast
ing and had hung up Joseph's coat of
many colors upon the tree branches
while they were 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
n prairie fire We can almost hear the
flames cracking amid the underbrush;
we can almost feel the hot air touch
ing our cheeks. We look ut the strange
and wonderful sight of the long grass
es and brushes. changed within few
weeks to Il light red. and we wonder
not rs 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 the beasts and the serpents
fled in wild terror before the onward
rush of the consuming confagration.
The Leaves of Indian Summer.
Oh. the beauty of the autumnal TO-
liage. The fading leaves of the Indian
summer fascinate the eye and WOO
plauditory 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
leaves. There are leaves that are vel
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
lips. There are leaves like the fresh
emerald ones which the picnickers use
for platters when the merrymakers
are banqueting in the woods and
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
assemblages 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 laem and thousands upon
thousands. Lo. this autumn day there
is n host of falling leaves which no
man can number. They have lived
their short lives. they have faded beau
tifully and at last have fallen off and