Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-08-15
TALMAGE SERMON.


and crew to board her. They broke
one of the rudder chains and let the
anchor drop into the sea and strung
their chain between the two ships.
Again and again some OF the ropes
would snap, but always another rope
was flung over the chain, and at last
the chain was bound to the Elder by n
stool rope.
All this took hours. The engines
would sturt and stop. The vessel
would roll and pitch In the path of the
sea. Mnny Of the people were grum-
bling. grumbled, as did the others.
Thon It suddenly occurred to me:
Those men are making a fearful fight
to save the ship because II means
salvage for the crew that lows the San
Pedro ns well as for the company
They were fighting for that money, just
as l am struggling to earn bread for
my wife and babies. That vessel In
tow nNans bread It means clothing
1t means education. We may have to
go slower, but let us be patient for the
plucky fight these sailors are making
TO provide for those who are dependent
upon thorn"
Lastly. MS look upon the floating
boats and the pleading. upturnc1 faces
Of that fatal day Of July 90 am i'm
pressed with the rap!dity with which
denth can strike down its victims Like
bolt ont Of n clear sky the summons
may come. II may come to us ~ any
time. In any place. II can come TO us
ns quickly as It hurled into watcry
grave the I05 mcu, women and chit
dren when the san Pedro crashed into
the Columbia, sending them TO the bot
tom Of the cruel and untathomnble sea.
The marine entoE bmcnt which came TO
the Columbia might have come TO us
In an instant, in The twinkliug Of an
eye. the summons may como. Death
comes gud1onlv to our n"ighhors. ANA
death may come suddenly 10 us. Let
us, then. hced The warning which
Christ gave to the rich man Of bis
time Thou fool. this night thy soul
shall he required Of thee
On the night of July 20 not one Of all
the passengers and crew aboard the
Elder bad to be told how near death
was. We all felt his presence. We
We're all saying to ourselves: How
would have been prepared to meet
my God if my summons had come rs it
did to the passengers of the Columbia :?
Am living the right life. and will my
dear ones beyond by Jesus side, lie
able TO greet me if | should now hear
the call, This night. this night thy soul
shall be required of thee|
An Impressive. Service.
In the evening hours Of that day
some of the survivors of the Colum-
bia came to me and asked with sad
faces. will you hold service tonight
In the saloon for us?' do you want
it?' l asked. Are not the people too
high strung and overwrought and sor-
rowful to meet at this time?" NO"
they answered I'VE want it. and we
want you to lead it," well. l will"
Never was there gathering exactly
like it, Most of us had eaten but lit
tie that day Many of us had not even
washed. We were unshaved and uE-
kempt But, oh, the solemnity Of it.
Some had no clothes except a blanket.
Some had lost babies and husbands or
wives and mothers and fathers. There
we met aud prayed and sang. I read
the twcnty-first chapter of Revelation
and talked about heaven and our dear
ones. There we were Catholics and
Protestants. in that strange audience
and perhaps some who had never yet
spoken the name Of Christ in rover
ence. There we prayed and sang and
wept. and we consecrated our lives
, anew to God and our fellow men.
1t Is so easy to think of death com
ing to those thousand miles away.
But that day it came near TO us Can
you not feel that death may this mo-
mcnt he ready for you? Why not now
| surrender your heart to Gods work,
as we did on that sabbath night which
followed tho awful catastrophe of the
sinking Columbia? Then indeed we
may say in the words Of the psalnist
| of Old: God is our refuge and
strength. very present help in trou-
| BILE: therefore will we not fear, though
| the earth be removed and though the
mountains he carried into the midst Of
the sea, though the waters thereof roar
shake with the swelling thereof
Copyright 1907. by Louis Klopsch.l