Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-04-25
Caln,aSe
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmade. d. D.

the opening spring the preacher re-
turns to the book OF nature and finds q
gospel lesson In the wonders Of the
awakening insect world The text is
Proverbs Xxx, -. 1.-THE locusts have
no king, vet 60 they forth all of them
by bands"
The more l study the Bible in con-
nection with the revelations which
science has given to us in the natural
world the more wonderful and marvel
Gus the omnipotence and omnipresence
Of God appear to me. There are some
people who never study the goodness
and mercy Of God outside OF the leaves
of the holy book. When you begin to
talk to them about the wonders of God
in nature. they reply. "Why don't you
preach the old gospel instead of talk
ing about tadpoles and snakes and
bugs and beetles and such stuff?' The
reason talk so much about nature,
H., friend IS because I find the char
acter Of God revealed there and the
gospel preached there, and I am sus-
tanned by the example of the Bible IT.
self which Is full Of such sermonic
themes. have also the authority Of
the wisest Of men, who bids us watch
the comics building their houses In the
rocks, and the ants providing food for
| the winters storm, and the spider
swinging her silken hammocks in the
kings palaces. and the locusts march
ing forth to their conquests in great
bands.
It is amazing how much our love and
reverence for God will grow If we only
study closely the marvellous conforma-
! tons and habits of the lowest and most
despsed Of his creatures. If we do not
see God in the natural world, then It is
because we have eyes that are blind,
and it is about time we scattered the
darkness Of ignorance by letting in the
! light Of investigation and study. When
q new student entered one Of Professor
Agassiz's classes, the great teacher OF
natural science would place before him
the skeleton OF an ordinary fish like the
black bass. Study that" would be his
first command. and then come and tel
me what you see" The student in
amazement would sit down and look
ut those dried bones for little while
and then he would go to the professor
desk and say: Why. teacher. I see the
skeleton Of a fish. That is all" Then
the professor would show him how the
fish's skeleton Is joined together by Que
big backbone. like the skeleton Of man
how the fishs tail and his fms are used
by the fish as mans hands and fec
are used when he swims; how the tisl
has a series Of spines above and be
meath 1t to keep it in perpendicular,
position, so II can cut its way through
the water. The professor would poin
out that the head Of the fish is made o.
strong bony substance. like the iror
prov of a boat. There the strength ol
the fish must be very great. Thus the
new student learned how the bone
We're fitted together and how the jaws
were set for catching the prey. After
he had spoken thus for a long time
Professor Agassiz would say: "My son
never say again that q bone is simpl,
q bone. When you study bone yol
must notice how it joins with othe
bones and learn what IS the purpose o
that bone. Now you are ready to be
gin your scientific studies as one OF m,
students" Thus, in my text. Solomon
bids us study the locust. that marvel
Gus little insect whose ravngeS are tn
dread Of the farmer. He would hav
US observe how 1t is constructed, nov
IT is adapted for the work it has to d
and how it co-operatos with its fellows
like soldier in an army. This open
= ing spring season Is an appropriat
, time for following Solomon's advc
and considering the locusts, who hav
no king, but who so forth in bands"
Tho Helpless Locust.
r In the first place, when | began (
study the little creature OF my text
was surprised to find ont what an in
significant insect it was individually
God seems to have given it no mean
Of self protection. 1t has no rapie
, with which to stab like the hornet n
, sting like the bee, no cruel beak lli
the hawk. no deadly claw like tn
= tiger no deadly poison like the tarar
d tula or the snake, no viselike jaw, n
S has the alligator, and no powerful win
y like the wing of he albatross. 1t
so helpless as an individual that til
smallest kind Of in, ects can attack
with impunity. 1t Is the prey of IL
T. Vulnerable destroyers. Wherever til
t swarms of locusts 60. there fly grea
. focks of greedy birds feeding upo
q them. When the locusts are in the CO
70 or the larvae state, they are destroye
by the millions, yet these seemingl
y helpless insects have been the mos
feared OF all the insects OF the worl,
: No plague Of Egypt struck more terrC
i to the hearts Of Pharaoh and his sui
I jects than this plague of clawless, bSal
less, poisonless, stingless iocusts, bl
= when this thought dawned upon me
said, rs 1t not fact that the men an
:, the women in this world who have a
q complished most for God have carrie
n no antlers, whose jaws concealed L
n poisonous fang, whose >tongue nevt
d gave a rapier thrust and whose han
Y was never the murderous claw of Il
y wild beast:"
But there is another fact to which
" want to draw your attention in refe
ence to these Insignificant insect
n They are Insignificant as to Il
strength of their bodies. 1t seems /,