The Monmouth inquirer., 1906-09-20
Caln1aSeN
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaee, d. d.

LOS <1ukcicS, 00I.s A9NPts ~ ~~~'0
timely sermon, appropriate totthe sea
son of the ingathering of fruits,\ brings
to us a breath of the vineyards, The
text is Canticles /, 6, But mine totyn
vineyard have l not kept"
Yes. l have seen neglected vine
yard No man can fully understand
what my text means unless lie has
roamed through one and has seen the
rabbits scurry through tie weeds two
feet high and has lifted up the long
unpruned vines heavy laden with TN
developed grapes. Immature t-iro, II
lack of care, and has seen how the
suckers have shot out from under the
crowns as vipers sappiAg Away tie
strength Of tie vines. and YET, g 4
rule, beariHg no fruit. 1es, | la :
been through such vineyard. haVe
wandered through one. lccon.ls.... ID
By an old vine grower i2aYe sea
him pathetically lift NJ vine after vine.
grened limb of Little child. which de-
composition has been caused by the
malpractice of an ignorant doctor. and
| have. heard him say: ,..Siiaine shame
1t is a perfect shame to leNthis vine
yard go to waste. Why, even after this
neglect, there are at least sixty pounds
of good grapes upon that one vine
alone. Shame, shame, to destroy such
a vineyard as this growing upon such
rich soil" Thus we went through
acres upon acres of these neglected
vines
Perhaps you would like to know how
we came to see this fine vineyard going
to waste. / had turned my steps home
ward My summer vacation in south
ern California was about ended. The
duties of a busy passionate were calling
me back to the city With a compan-
ion, / was taking short cut through
one of the very rarely Travelled can
yons, when suddenly, as night overlook
us, we came upon a deserted farm, or
ranch. 1t was in one of the garden
sEots of the world. For nearly twenty
years It's owner had lived there, battling
against lew htCAsA1-'
before we arrived the end had come,
and hos pain racked body was placed
In the dust from whence it came. For
some years before he died all his
energies were evidently exhausted in
a physical struggle for mere existence.
There were the broad fields stretching
away, practically uneuitivated. There
were the beautiful trees near to his
ranch home just as nature had grown
them. There were the deserted rooms
Of his dwelling, with one of the walls
fallen In upon his empty bed. The
books and weekly periodicals were still
lying around There were ever. some
Of his Cancelled checks lying upon the
floor. There was a farm, or ranch, of
500 acres, 800 of which were tillable,
with their orchards and fields and vine
yards, but with no hand to care for
them. The doves, the quails, the rab-
bits, the bees, were everywhere holding
high carnival. AS we lay for "a few
nights under those trees we could hear
the Wildcats snarIing calls and the
fox's banks and the coyotes yells as
they, were starting out to hunt their
prey. 1t was beautiful, but sad,
sad, sad place. For this place, like
Victor Hugo's Notre Dame, had a
spirit We could see moving every
where the frail, sick form of the late
owner, who, on account of his physical
ailments, had been compelled to neglect
those fields and orchards and vineyards.
A Neglected Vineyard.
There might have been some excuse
for the sick man who owned this
neglected vineyard Of which | have
spoken to have neglected his vine
yard, but there is no excuse for US
to neglect our spiritual vineyards. as
the author of Canticles declares the
church of God has been doing. Now,
as we all, each fall, delight to eat the
rich, luscious grapes which are placed
upon our dining room tables l thought
this morning I would draw my SER
monte illustrations from the vineyard
Industries of the world. My cOmpari-
son will not be found in the grape
FlucS WllCil SOu0 VI US IuioC III Jul
country homes, where we build little
arbor in our back yards and there
allow few vines to grow over 1t,
under which we flee to escape the in
tense heat of the midnoon sun. But
will draw my illustration from the
grape industries of southern Califor
nia and the Holy. Land, where grape
growing Is business upon an en-
Iarged scale. and where the vines, laid
out in long rows 8 by 8 or 8 by 10,
stretch themselves over hundreds and
sometimes thousands upon thousands
Of acres, as the cornfields spread them
selves over the prairies of Kansas or
the wheatfelds grow in the Dakotas.
Many OF the oriental cities like Sa-
maria were nothing more or less than
great centers for this grape industry
The plains of AbehKeramin We're
called 1.-THE Plains of Vine
yards The grapes of the valley OF
Eshcol not only made their vines clam
Der over all the hillsides and the low