The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1880-03-11

services to-day, DR., Talmsge read and
expounded a chapter of Job. He also
announced that next Sunday he would
preach his anniversary sermon. The
opening hymn was:
"Rise, my soul, and stretch thy wing,
Thy better portion trace"
SUBJECT THE GOLDEN GALE"
TExT-Exodus 1920: "And he took
the calf which they had made, and burn
ed it in the fire, and ground it to pow.
der, and strewed it upon the water, and
made the children of Israel drink OF it,"
People will have God CT some kind,
and they prefer one of their own making.
Here come the Israelites, breaking off
their golden earrings, the men as well
as the women, for in those times they
wore masculine as we'll as feminine dec.
orations. Where did they get these
beautiful gold earrings, coming up as
they did from the desertP Oh, they
borrowed them of the Egyptians when
they left Egypt. These earrings are
piled up into a pyramid Of glittering
beauty. "Any more earrings to bring"
says Aaron. None. Fire is kindled I;
the earrings are melted and poured into
mold, not of an eagle or a war charger,
but of calf; the gold cools off; the
mold is taken away, and the idol is set
up on its four legs. An altar is built in
front of the shining calf. Then the peo.
pie throw up their arms, and dance and
worship. Moses has been six weeks on
Mount Sinai, and he comes back and be-.
holds the spectacle; and he loses his pa
tienCe and takes the two plates Of stone
on which were written the Ten Com.
msndments, and filings them so hard
against rock they all fly to pieces
When a man gets mad he is very apt to
break all the Ten Commandments. Mos,
es rushes in and takes this Calf-god and
throws it into a hot FIRE, until it is melt.
ed all out of shape, and then pulverizes
it-not by the modern appliance Of nj
tro.muriatic acid, but by the ancient ap.
plisnce of inter, or by the old fashioned
file. He makes for the people most
nauseating draught. He takes this pull
verized golden calf and throws it into
the only brook that is accessible, and
the people are compelled to drink of
that brook or not drink at all. But they
do not all drink the glittering stuff
thrown down on the surface. Some of
it flows down on the surface of the brook
to the river, and then flows on down the
river to the sea, and the sea takes it up
and bears it to the mouth of all the riv.
ers, and when the tides set back, the
remains of this golden calf are carried
up into the Hudson, and the East river,
ard the Thames, and the Clyde and the
Tiber, and men 90 out and skim the gilt.
tering surface and bring it ashore and
make another golden cali, and California
and Australia break off their golden ear.
rings to augment the pile, and in the
fires Of financial excitement and strug.
gle all these things are melted together,
and while we stand looking and wonder
ing what will come Of it, lo We find
that the golden calf of Israelitish wor-
ship has become the golden calf of Eu.
ropean and American worship.
l shall describe to you the God spoken
of in the text, His temple, His altar of
sacrifice, the music that is made in His
temple, and then the final breaking up
Of the whole congregation of idolaters.
Put aside the curtain, and you see the
golden calf of modern idolatry. It is
not like other idols, made out of stocks
or stone, but it has an ear so sensitive
that it can hear the whispers on Wall
street, and Third street, and State street,
and the footballs in the Bank of Eng.
land, and the tlutter of FrenChman's
heart on the Bourse. It has an eye so
keen it can see the rust on the farm of
Michigan wheat, and the rust in the
Maryland peach orchard, and the tram.
pied grain under the hoof of the Rus
sian war'chsrger. 1t is 30 mighty that
it swings any way it will the worlds
shipping. 1t has its foot on all the mer.
chantmen and steamers. 1t started the
American civil war, and under God stop.
ped it, and decided the Turko. Russian
contest. One broker in September, $50,
in New York, shouted "160 for a mil.
lion!" and the whole continent shiyered.
This golden calf of the text has its right
front foot in New York, it's left front
foot in Chicago, it's right back foot in
its left back foot in New Or.
leans, and when it shakes itself it shakes
the world. Oh, this is a mighty god
the golden calf of the worlds worship.
But every god must have its temple, and
this golden calf Of the text is no excep.
tion.
Further, every god must have not only
its temple, but its altar of sacrifice. and
this golden calf of the text is no excep.
tion. Its altar is not made of stone as
other altars, but out of Countingroom
desks and fre.proof safes, and It is a
broad, a long, high altar The victims
sacrificed on 1t are the SwartWouts, and
The KetChams, and the Fisks, and the
Fweeds, and the Mortona, and thousands
Of other people who are slain before
this golden calf. What does this god
care about the groans and struggles Of
the victims before it? Oh, heaven and
earth what an altar what sacrifice of
body, and mind and SOUL The physical
health Of a great many is flung on the
sacrlticial altar. They cannot sleep, and
take chloral and morphine and intoxi-
cants. Their nerves gone, their diges.
ton gone, their brain gone, they die.
The clergyman comes in and reads the J
funeral service, Blessed are the dead
who die in the Lord" Mistake. They !
did not die in the Lord, the golden calf {
Kicked them.
q