Vicksburg weekly herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1868-1883, 1878-05-31

ly tnat II was nard TO believe tt was not
then for the first time emanallng from
his mind aud finding expression In
words not previously written down,
Another song and then The text.
And that night Belshszzar was
slain"
l may miss the exact Language but l
give the substance. The old debauchee
fell q victim to death amid bis revel.
ings. But how was this mere boy to
fnd q sermon In such text Of sufficient
length to pay for the trouble Oflighting
up the church aud ringing the bell !?
The question was answered by the boy
himself. He began by giving a history
Of Babylon. He told It's size, the length,
the breadth aud the height Ofits walls,
aud how many towers there we're. He
had the statistics of the place 90 com.
pletely at his tongues end, and was 60
minute aid Circumstantial in the detail
of then, that one AlmoSt fancied a recent
survey of the place had been made for
the purpose of asCertaining II its river
front was in danger by the diversion OF
the stream into some other channel. lie
pictured the great feast in all its brilliant
hues, with the mighty king aud his
host In fancied security, and oblivious
TO the fact that Cyrus was getting up an
artificial ~sluice.way to carry Of, In sn-
other dlrectlen, the river which fed the
city. He made Cyrus's cutoff more
successful than Grants, aud left the
doomed city an inland town. lie
marched the %conquering forces IN, and
after having narrowed up the Devil.
dered participants of the feast by the
famous handwriting on the wall,
WHEREIN old BslshazzAr is declared to
have been pat upon the scales and
found not to be up to the standard)
closed the scene which has furnished
80 many painters a subject for extrava.
CANT illustration, by looping of the
head OF the leading spirit of the Occa-
sion.
| remember Babylon. I remember
BelshSzEsr and his big lunch. They
once furnished me with what | consid.
cred q winning card. l was a boy
then, at least three years younger than
my preacher OF Sunday night. | dab.
Oled some in rhetoric, and wrote
speeches full of hiEh.sounding words.
Sometimes | burned oil away along to.
ward dav racking my brain and wear
ing out Webster ia search OF summers.
| grew in fame 10 such an extent that
hey heard of me in an adjoining town.
ship aud invited me to deliver on ad-
lress on Temperance. OF course no
press Of business or previous engage
ments prevented my accepting. Oh
the labor, and thought, and time spent
that address! Aud how much Of il
| did steal and patch up and string to-
gether. Il was as motley In the char.
acler of tie arrangement and The sty lie
Of its composition as al old-fashioned
patchwork quilt. Every little sentence
Or paragraph that | could find any.
where that sounded nicely to me aud
that could be distorted into any con.
ceivable application TO my subject, |
worked in. Perhaps | operated on the
same theory that clearinghouse keep.
ers do In serving up 40 much hasb-the
theory that II went TO Oil up. But Baby.
ion and Belsbazzar aud the feast we're the
sweet morsels 10 me. | worked them,
and | worked them unsparingly. |
gave statistics-at q time, too, when
cut.otis were not a subject agitating
any city OF modern times-and | floor.
ed the big wine.bibber as did my
young friend the other night. And 80
great indeed was the similarity 10 our
efforts when l heard him high up on
the towers and battlements of the city,
that | fancied perhaps the young min
lister had gotten into NY mothers old
chest and stolen my manuscript. |
shall write home and inquire about II;
| fear If l should hear the young man
again l might be greeted, in some ten.
der part of his discourse, with quota.
tons from a love sick piece OF poetry,
written at an earlier day than the ad.
dress cited, entitled "Old Salt River"
and dedicated to my first love, and who
dwelt on that classic stream. | couldn't
stand II. / would have to retire. |
have been run out OF my own house by
lie recitation by members of my family
who surreptiliously memorized II. So
l will 20 TO hear my boy preacher no
more.
But my charming young friend did
not stop when he had finished up Baby.
ION and BelsbazAr. He at once branch.
ed out upon a field so boundless that |
became apprehensive he would wander
so far away as to lose himself aud not
be able to find his way out. My fears
we're groundless. | did not know the
material of which be was composed.
lie dug among the buried cities of
H%erculaneum aud Pompeii for illuslra.
lions, He visited ancient Rome, as all
iledglings do, aud had Nero tiddling at
the conf Igration. lie went over TO
Egypt aud paid a visit to Egypts
Queen-renowntd in story and III song
and he laid her cold iu death. He
took a look around Athens aud march.
ed 10 aud out the ruins of the wonder.
full Acropolis, and pictured the mighty
race who were required to erect II. lie
hung an immense cutlass over Damo-
Giles by a very tender thread, and stood
by with scissors in hand ready to sever
II the moment that individual should
bat his eye. lie got up a powerful