Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1905-09-25
Calnnase
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmase, ID. ID.

sermon the preacher takes as his theme
the mountains, now assuming the hues
of autumn, and finds in them a lesson
of Gods strength and providence and
the love and care he has for all his
children. The text is Amos iv, 10, "He
that formeth the mountains"
Have you ever visited the Schroon
lake Of the Alps? Have you ever slept
under the shadows of the snow capped
Rigi, with its horizon sweep of 300
miles in circumference? Then you
have visited Lake Lucerne, one of the
most romantic and picturesque lakes
that ever Tapped the foot of a hill or
nestled to sleep like a smiling babe in
lap Of a gigantic mountain. The old
poet sings of the charms of Lake Ge-
neva, another of Switzerland's scenic
wonders, with its battle SCARED castle
standing sentinel over it, a 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;
So 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 or
the Lake of the Woods of Mime
sofa, all Of them beautiful lakes, 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 tOttering
amid the upheaval of the awful revo-
luton which has made the names of
Robespierre and Marat and Barere
infamous for all time, Louis XVI. and
Marie Antoinette dare not trust their
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 their
bodyguard. Eight hundred Of these
were quartered in the Tuileries. Fatal
Aug. 10, 1892, came, and the mob
broke loose and started for their royal
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 at 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 of
Lucerne the colossal form of the dying
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 travel
miles and miles to study!
But as 1 stood before that marvellous
piece of stone under the shadow of the
overtowering Rigi said to myself this
"Yes, many Swiss soldiers have been
struck down by foreign bullets, but
more, far more, have brooded their
lives away because their hearts have
pined under homesickness when they
have been removed from the sight OF
yonder hills" When ACKNOWLEDGMENT
took his bride, Amytis, to the gloriou:
capital OF Babylon, she could not ge
over her longing for the hills of be-
childhood Babylon was built in a fla
country. To satisfy her longing TO
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 If we have been com
PEELED to live on prairie lands and ca
never overcome our longing for tn
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 hills in the first place
teach us the omnipotent strength Of
the God who created them. They seen
70 speak to US something like this: &C
man, why wilt thou not look upon me
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 thol
dost not say they were built by rae
of pygmies, about whom Homer ant
Hesiod wrote. Thou dost not go i
the moonlight and dream dreams upo
the Acropolis overlooking old Athen
and see there visions Of its ancien
splendor, with its Parthenon and II
columns and its statuary and its ma
BILE of purest white, and say there live
not giants in those days. Thou do:
H. e .