Daily American telegraph., 1852-02-09
Reported for the Daily American Telegraph
The Death OF John the Baptist.

|
The Death OF John the Baptist.
The sermon delivered yesterday forenoon by
the Rev. j. c. Smith, in the Fourth Presbyterian
Church. Ninth street. was based upon the four
teenth chapter of Matthew, wherein is related the
account of the death of John the Baptist In
remarking upon the death Of that servant of God,
the preacher referred to the cause of that death.
beautiful dancing girl, on festal occasion
banquet is a modern term had, by her art, SO
wrought upon the feelings Of Herod, the tetrarch,
that he, in the generosity of his nature promised
with an OATH to give her whatsoever she would
ask. The oath might have been solemn decla-
ration but was more probably such an embellish-
ment Of speech as is often practised in the present
day, alike by exquisite gentlemen and their
equally spirited and vulgar boot-blacks and
menials But whatever was it's form, Herod
felt constrained to fulfil the promise made under
it" for his oaths sake, and them which sat
with him at meat"
1t is stated that Herod would previously have
put John to death, but that she feared the null
titude - and the subterfuge of his oath, the ex
element of the hour, and his feeling of revenge,
might have had combined influence over him.
The daughter of Herodias was instigated by
her mother to prefer the wicked request That
the determination had been preconceived, is not
stated. 1t is not thing unknown at present,
/ for mother to instruct daughter how, by the
exercise of every Establishment that can subdue
and control fathers heart, to win his sanction
and consent to requests that his judgment, not
thus brought too entirely under the control of
parental affection, would prompt him to oppose.
Mothers know if these things are SO, and whether
they are right or not.
| But Herodias had deep revenge to crafty.
John was Of godly piety. His lips had
reproved her, and his eyes, in their every look,
had spoken reproach. For Herod had laid
hold of John, and put him in prison for Herodias'
sake, his brother Philips wife; for John said
unto HIM, 1t is not lawful for THEE to have her. "
Thus, connected with this dance, and with the
murder of John, was a case of adultery, and an
instance of deep strategy.
The dancing, it may also be remarked, was
commemorative of birtLday-the birthday OF
Herod.
1t may be thought that the dance, apart from
this history, has no evil in it. but the chance Of
:, escape from contagion in q journey through a
: hospital where contagious diseases abound, is
quite ample rs in the theatres, halls, saloons,
or whatever the name Of the places, in which this
art is exhibited; and it may be that adultery
cruelty, and other crimes, are still associated
with the same scenes Others, perhaps, knew
as well or better than the speaker; but sure he
was, that we should preserve our wives and our
: daughters from the influences that pervade
such scenes-both the admiring view of the pub
lie spectacle and the imitation of the perform.
:, ances at our own home. The evil was the same
it mattered not whether we were stung by SER
! pent in the wild and savage jungle, or by one
hidden beneath basket Of flowers in parlor OF
our own home
May parties are very generally deemed inno-
cent. Surely they ought to be, for they whe
!, participate in them ought to be free from al
knowledge of the thoughts and feelings that move
the guilty to deeds of evil. In the courts of tn,
great are found duplicity, treachery, deceit anC
cruelty; courtiers are too often but the cringing
fawning and corrupt fatterers of powerful o
heartburnings and all manner of deceitfulness
Those who know much about such things car
{ tell whether the coronation of the Queen of May
ever proves the initiation Of youth and innocence
= into feelings akin to those Observation-Disclosures
rivalry, jealousy, anmosty, malignity, mingle in
the scenes-whether parents look on with admi
n ration and pride, as did Herod-whether these
: feelings induce them to give their sanction Il
things that are wrong, and that tend to the ruiz
of their offspring. They must at least often ex
cite in the minds of the young desire for widel
J and probably less innocent field of display.
In proof that the joyousness and good feeling
pervading the ballroom are not necessarily
II pure and refining, and may not be totally unlik,
9 those pervading the festive hall Of Herod, tn,
speaker alluded to an incident Of public notoriet
. in this District At respectable, though no
very large hotel, dwelt gentleman, his wife anc
= her mother. Arrangements had been made fo
! a splendid ball in that house. The evening came
and the hour; but in that evening, and at tina
hour, and in that house, the husband and tn
mother were bending over the lifeless form Of tn
wife and daughter Yet, in the ballroom, tn
! lights, the music, the dancing, the joy, and tn
t gladness, were none the less enhancing. It wa
( at once the house Of gladness and the house o
q mourning The adjacent prison, and its wretchet
: inmates, and the bleeding head Of John, married
, not the pleasure of the guests Of Herodl
!. The preacher spoke Of John the Baptist, his
death, and his murderers The reporter has
only caught up briefly the remarks relating to an
incidental subject The whole discourse was one
Of the most instructive and suggestive to which
he has ever listened.