Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-09-21
CalrnaSe
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmase, D. d,

Los Angeles. Cal, Sept. 17.--1n this
sermon the preacher takes as his theme
the mountains. now assuming the hues
Of autumn. and finds in them lesson
of Gods strength and providence and
the love and care he has for all his
children. The text Is Amos ", 10, "IIe
that formcth the mountains"
Have you ever visited the Schroon
lake of the Alps7 Have you ever slept
under the shadows Of the snow capped
Rigi, with Its horizon sweep Of 800
miles in circumference Then you
have visited Lake Lucerne. one Of the
most romantic and picturesque lakes
that ever Tapped the foot Of hill or
nestled to sleep like smiling babe in
lap of a gigantic mountain. Tho old
poet sings OF the charms Of Lake &C.
neva. another of Switzcrlands scenic
wonders. with its battle SCARED castle
standing sentinel over 1t. castle
whose walls are scanned with defying
the cannonading Of the elements, as
well as resisting the attacks Of man.
This is his song:
A thousand feet In depth below
The massey waters meet and flow:
90 far the fathom line was sent
From Gibbons snow white battlement
But, though others may sing about
the beauties Of Lake Geneva or Lake
Windermere or Lake SANTA Of Fin.
land or Lake George Of New York OF
the Lake of the Woods of Mime
sofa, all Of them beautiful lakes. I still
believe that Lake Lucerne is the queen
of romantic lakes for many Of us
There we not only saw some Of the
most beautiful Of all scenes, but We
also stood before Thorwaldsen's great
est masterpiece. 1.-The Lion Of Lu
cerne." Most Of you know the history
Of that marvellous piece Of statuary
When the French throne was totterine
amid the upheaval Of the awful revo
luton which has made the names OF
Robespierre and Marat and Barert
infamous for all time. Louis XVI. and
Marie Antoinette dare not trust theil
lives and those Of their children to the
loyalty Of their own soldiers. They
sent across the northern border and
hired some Swiss soldiers to be theil
bodyguard. Eight hundred Of these
were quartered in the Tuileries. Fata
Aug. 10, 1902. came. and the mol
broke loose and started for their roya
prey. They battered down the gates
and doors of the kings residence
They slew the Swiss soldiers wher
ever their hated uniforms were seen as
mercilessly as the Sioux Indians toma
hawked Custer and his little handful OF
followers on the Little Big Horn river
They literally annihilated the whole
band in order to get Mt their hated
rulers. Thorwaldsen, the great Danish
sculptor, to commemorate the death Of
these brave soldiers Of the Swiss
guard, chiseled into the solid rock o.
Lucerne the colossal form Of the dyinf
Swiss lion struck to the heart by {
spear, yet in his death agony still de
Tending the lilied shield Of France
What a wonderful statue is that. which
thousands of tourists every year trave
miles and miles to study!
But as l stood before that marvellous
piece of stone under the shadow Of tn,
overtowering Rigi / said to myself this
Eyes. many Swiss soldiers have beer
struck down by foreign bullets, bu
more, far more, have brooded thei
lives away because their hearts hav'
pinned under homesickness when the.
have been removed from the sight o
yonder hills" When Nebuchadnezza
took his bride. Amytis. to the glorious
capital OF Babylon. she could not &c
pver her longing for the hills of he
childhood. Babylon was built In fla
country. To satisfy her longing 70
the mountain scenes Of her youth he
loving husband erected for his queer
the famous hanging gardens" Blu
what earthly king could erect for hi
loved ones such gigantic hills as thos
which cradle the youth Of the Swis
peasantry? We who were born In tn
mountainous countries Of the ives
or east can sympathize with thos
Swiss peasants II we have been com
PEELED to live on prairie lands and ca
never OVeICOue ouT iOu8iuS iot III
mountains. As the hills, the might
hills, have spoken Of God to Amos. tn
herdsman. they have also spoken to u
living among the mountains Of tn
western hemisphere. l thought toda
would try to find God among tn
mountains.
The Strength of God.
The gigantic bills in the first plac
teach US the omnipotent strength O
the God who created them. They seer
to speak to us something like this: ~
man, why wilt thou not look upon m
even as thou wouldst regard the work
of human hands? When thou standes
before the huge pyramids of Egyp
with their great blocks Of stone tho
dost not say they were built by rae
of pygmies. about whom Homer an
Hesiod wrote. Thou dost not go 1
the moonlight and dream dreams upo
the Acropolis overlooking old Athen
and see there visions OF Its ancier
splendor. with its Parthenon and II
columns and it's statuary and Its maj
BILE of purest white. and say there live
Dot giants In those days. Thou dot
not walk through the corridors of th
Alhambra. with it's mosaic floors an
It's magnificent walls. and say that tn
ancient Moors were not master arch
tects and master designers and maste