Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-08-23
Calmase

By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaee, D. D.

ScfmO Ine preacher SHOWS us John,
the beloved disciple, In Il new light
and as a model of strcngt0, courage
and hcroism for Christians of every
age. The text Is John xiii, 90, "Now
there was leaning on Jesus bosom one
of his disciples, whom Jesus loved,
No art student feels that he has truly
studied to the best advantage unless
he has sat ut the feet of the old mas
tiers. What Mecca is TO the Moham-
medans and Benarcs to the Hindoos
and Jerusalem to the Christians, Rome
and Venice and Florence and Milan
and Paris aud Antwerp are to the
young artists and sculptors. So over
come was Michael Angelo when he
first looked upon the wonderful figure
Of st. George carved by the sculptor
Donatello on the outside of the church
of San Michel at Florence that for n
time he could not speak. Then as he
studied the magnificent proportions of
that greatest Of all the great works Of
the Florentine sculptor he raised his
hand majestically and cried, "Now.
march, In these two simple words
the architect Of st. Peters, the sculp-
tor Of David" and Moses and the
artistic creator of 1.-The Last Judgment"
and of the frescoes of the Pauline
chapel affirmed that the statue of st.
George was perfect in its physical pro-
portions and had everything in its
makeup but a human soul.
NJ, u.arlyo nf fIa oJl ,,netnro orn
almost overpowering; hence we find
that the greatest art schools of the
world are near TO the galleries in which
are preserved the immortal pictures
and the statues Of the greatest artists
and sculptors of past centuries. The
Louvre has more to do with attracting
art students to the Latin quarter" of
Paris by the hundreds and thousands
than any other cause. Not n day pass
es but you can see scores of young stu
dents, with their e%asels. copying Mu-
rillo's Holy Family or his "Assump-
ton of the Virgin" which hang upon
the Louvre's walls. There Rubens and
Rembrandt and Nelasquez and Fra
Bartolemeo and Da Ninci are still as
much art professors as though they
were alive in the flesh. What is true
of Paris is equally true Of oil the Ital-
Ian cities. So much are the models Of
the ancient artists sought after for
copying purposes that the Italian gov
eminent has forbidden any Of its sub
jects to sell any of these old master
pieces to any buyer outside of the
country. The king of Italy knows that
the loss of the works of the old mas
tors would be irreparable, and II they
were scattered one OF the greatest glO-
ries of Italy would have vanished for
ever.
What Raphael's Madonnas are to
the young art students as models, the
characters of Moses and Joshua and
Samuel and Nehemiah and Daniel and
John the Baptist and Peter and Paul
and John, the beloved disciple, are
to young Christians. These Bible char
acters are not perfect, any more thar
the artistic works Of the old masters
are perfect. Paul Neronese, n Of the
greatest of Venetian artists. painted
his female characters of The Family
of Darius at the Feet of Alexander
After the Battle of lssuS' in the hoop
skirts and low bodiced waists of thu
Venetian costumes Of the sixteenth
century. although the battle Of Issus
was fought n third of a millennium be
fore Christ was born. There is only
one perfect being mentioned in thu
Bible, and that person is Jesus Christ
: But though the best Bible character.
are not perfect. yet, many Of them are
rightly held up as prototypes for youns
Christians to copy after, Today l wan
to speak about one of the best ant
noblest of the apostles for us 10 emu
late. I want to show how st. join
I was strong, and how he was one o.
the most influential and perhaps thu
best beloved of all the disciples whC
gathered about the table at the last
supper, just preceding the crucifixion.
, St. John n Model.
, The model of my text, in the frs
: place, was, l believe, a Christian o
] superb physical proportions. He wa
e not, as some people suppose, a physical
weakling. He did not have his heat
pillowed upon Christ'S breast at thu
banquet table of the last supper be
cause he was a suffering Invalid. oh
40. Far from that. OF all the stal
wart young men gathered about thi
i TABLETOP at that time they were prob
ably all youngest. John, I believe, hat
the best and the strongest .physica
frame. His eye, like David's, the shep
neri boy, must have been clear ant
quick. His limbs must have been sup
pie and sinewy. His chest must hav
been broad and deep. His skin mus
have been aglow with health. II
must have had the body Of an athlete
He must have been a young mar bub
bling over with fun and good humol
Oh account Of the resiliency Of hi
strong physical constitution. He mus
have had all the advantages which at
,rue from good health, because tn
Bible indirectly affirms it.
How does the Bible assert this? YOl
must read between the lines. The hi
BILE implies that John lived to be
very old man. You must not study 81
John the young man at the foot of tn
cross unless you study st. John an oil,
man on the island Of Patmos. Their
be was supposed to have lived to
rery advanced age. Albert Barnes dc
III l ~ w.