The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1905-11-24
FARMvILLE VA. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER a. 1905.

iTinR open upon tne taDies or rOcK Ol
Yosemite valley do not teach MS thai
God as an author has been living cen
turies upon centuries and millennium,
upon millennlums ago and that he viii
also live and work through the cen
turies and the millenniums to come
then ! say the Yosemite rocks teach
us nothing" Then we have eyes to gee
and we will not see, aud we have ears
to hear and we will not hear Every
step You take. every move you make
presses home the one truth-that the
Creator OF this region Is eternal In his
own life and eternal IN his purposes.
MaripOsa grove, which grows just
outside OF this valley and practically
under the shadow Of III Captain. as
living orators teach the eternal pur.
poses and workings OF the Divine Fa-
ther. My. what big preachers they are
About GOA OF them grow near together,
as though they were ashamed Of hleir
big girths aud ashamed because, like
Saul. they raise their huge bodies not
only head and shoulders above all 9TH
er trees. but because they make other
trees look like pygmies beside them.
Grizzly Bear" columbia" "Haver.
ford" "Marlposa," "WawOna." Cali
fornia." Telescope" The Three
GraceS." are some Of the modern names
given to these famous trees Some OF
them are over 800 feet tall. One is iOi
feet Ia circumference and 33 feet from
side to side one is cut IN the middle
at the base and has square cut ont Of
II so large that a great, three seated
stagecoach with top covering, drawn
by four horses. can be driven through
IT, This tree was on the right OF US. 1t
was 10 the left Of Us, il was above us.
It was underneath us. one Of this same
kind OF trees IN neighboring grove
was cut down a few years ago that its
stump might be used as a dancing
floor by visiting tourists. So huge, so
gigantic is "Oh Grizzly" that it has
one branch. one right arm alone. TWEEN
ty feet in circumference.
The trees OF MaripOSa grove. grand
ohi veterans are they. No other liv-
ing warriors have fought 50 many bat
ties. What mighty tornadOes have
they dehed. What strength Of thou
sand Ilcrrucses is in those iron back
bones. What unconquerabe heights
h.at n
they endured But. after all. the most
impressive fact to me about these trees
is not their great girth nor their great
height. but that they are living trees.
They are not mummifed trees found
among the cemeteries Of dead trees.
What is the greatest fact that inn
presses You about the biz trees |
asked gentleman. That they are
alive" he answered Yes. that iS the
overwhelming fact about MaripoSa
grove. Those big trees are alive. just
as we are alive. lou can 20 and stand
by some Of them and see their sides
wrinkled and scared like the indenta-
tions upon the cheek Of the sphinx OF
the Egyptian desert. but you can feel
that they are alive You can see where
some of their sides have been burned
by forest fires In the Hayerford tree
the wood burned ont Of one side has
left cavity large enough tn shelter
twenty horses or head of cattle from
the winter storms. yet the Ilayerford
tree is alive The great Telescope tree
had forest fires eat into It's sides and
tunnel their way into lis center and
then from the center burn MP until Won
can stand at the bottom of the tree
and look mp through il and see the blue
sky of the heavens above YOU Yet the
Telescope tree is alive and still grow
ing. The six hundred trees ~ Mari
posa grove are emphatically alive.
A thousand years In Gods sight are
but as yesterday. or as watch in the
night. II the trees NJ Mariposa grove
teach ms this. how much more must
the libraries of rock among the shelves
OF Yosemite hills teach the same les
sons. We look with wOnderment upon
some OF the vases or the household
pottery used by the American or Mex.
lcan aborignes. You say, They were
heated in fires thousands Of years ago.
Yes. but have you ever stopped TO think
when the fires were lighted 10y the
hands Of God which hardened yOnder
rocks: Have you ever stopped TO
reckon how old must have been those
pencils OF ice which wrote yonder
chapters upon those hillsides and
which. millennlums ago. ~ glaciers,
polished those walls until today they
reflect the light Of the rising sun as
mirrors? II these rocks teach MS that
thousands and millions NJ years in
Gods sight are rs hut second Of time.
do vou not believe we can trust to his
care the few years We are upon this
planetf II God can use the ages FOR
plavthlngs. may we not he satisfied 10
let him do with Ms as he will for the
short space Of threcScore years and
ten. mans allotted spas upon earthl