The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1885-12-09
DR.. TALAAGE'S SERMON
Drawn AND MUSCLE CONSE.
GRATED.

Samson. The one might administer to the
9rotesJue and the mirthful, but the other side
OF his character is fraught with lessons Of
solemn and eternal import, and it is to these
Graver lessons that I ask your attention. l
suppose that in early life Samson gave init.
nation of what he was to be. 1t is almost
always so. There were two Napoleons, the
boy Napoleon and the man Napoleon; but
both alike. There were two Towards. the boy
Howard and the man Howard; but
both alike. Two Samsons, the boy
Samson and the man Samson; but both
alike. have nc doubt that he gave indica.
ton of his strength, that he was the hero Of
the playground. that nothing could stand be-
fore his exhibition Of youthful prowess.
at eighteen years of age he was betrothed to
the daughter of a Philistine. On his way
down to Timnath q lion calne out to devour
him and the young giant, although weapon
less, took the monster by the mane and shook
it as a hungry hound shakes a March hare,
and left it's bones cracked, and its body bleed
ing by the wayside under the shifting of his
hand and the grinding OF his foot. One time
passing along this place he went into the
thicket to see the remains of the lion that
of that climate all the perishable
parts of the carcase had gone, and under the
washing of the rain and the shining of the
sun the bones of the skeleton were white and
clean and pure and sweet as is a vase of por-
celain. The bees found this skeleton and
made it a hive, and then brought the sweet
ness from the grass tops and the juices from
the pomegrauate and the aroma from the
wild woods where the flowers stood in the
gloom of the forest, like pale nuns in natures
convent. Aftcrward he made a very foolish
riddle about the honey gathered in thiss kele-
ton, a riddle so foolish that it has been re-
corded as a warning to all those who
ATTEMPT Righteousness without any talent
for it. Through the betrayal Of his wife the
riddle was found out, and Samson was so out
ragged that he slew thirty men. Still further
to vent his rage he set on fire 800 foxes, and
these %affrighted creatures ran into the corn
shocks and the hay mows until all tho land
was ablaze with deSolation. One day, sur
rounded by 800 men. Samson took n jawbone
from the roadside and hewed down these
armod men as in q harvest field the full
headed grain trembles under the swing Of a
sickle. There he stands looming up above
other men, q mountain Of flesh, his arms
punched with muscles, strong enough to lift
a city gate-he stands there in an attitude
defiant of everything. His hair has never
seven great pla'ts over the
shoulder, adding f~erocity and terror to his
appearance. The Philistines a to conquer
him and they must find out the secret of his
strength. There is al unprincipled woman
in Sorek, Delilah by name, who is made the
agent in tho case. She coaxes SHIN to tell tho
secret of his great strength. Hesays: well,
If you should take seven green withes such
as they bind wild beasts with and bind mo-, |
should be perfectly helpless" So he is bound
with these seven green withes, and Delilah
elapps her hands and says: They come, the
Philistines!" San. on walks out as though he
had no impeachment. She keeps on
coaxing him, to tell the secret Of his
strength. and lie says: "Well, if you should
lathe seven new ropes that have never been
used, and bind ME fast, | would be in the
hands of my enemies" So he is bound with
these seven ropes, new ropes, and De!ilaa
claps her hands and says: They come, the
Philistines.." Sampson walks out without
to tell the secret of his strength. and he says:
"Well now, If you should take thcS, seven
long plaitS Of hair and with a no !~se-iooln
weave them into a web, l should be just like
other men," So the house-loom is brought up,
the seven long plaits of hair are woven into a
web and Delilah claps her hands and says:
''They come, the Philistines!" Samson
walks out dragging part of the
loom with him. But Delilah after
a while coaxes him to tell the real tr"th,
and be says: eff you should take a razor or
scissors, or shears and cut OF those long
locks all my strength would be gone" Sam
som sleeps, and you know the oriental bar.
bers have such Skill in manipulating the head
that instead of waking one that is asleep they
will put one wide awake sound asleep under
the process. l hear the grinding of the
blades of the scissors, and Isee the falling off
Of the large locks. What the house loom and
the green withes and the new ropes could
not do, has been accomplished now
by the razor. Delilah now claps her
hands and SAYS: "The Pnilis.lnes be upon
thee, Samson!" He struggles to get up. His
strength is all gone. His enemies ru, h in. l
hear the giant groan as they bore out his
eyes, and then l see him going on in his
blindness, staggering on toward GAIA, and a
prison door opens, and he sits down and puts
bis hand on tho mill crank that with hasty
motion goes day after day, and week after
week, and month after month--work, work,
work. The CONSERVATION of the world in
captivity. The giant with his eyes out grinds
corn in GAIA.
Behold first of all that physical strength is
not an index of moral power. That this man
was mighty the lion found out, and the
Philistines found out, and all the people who
had anything to do with him found out, and
yet be was the subject Of petty revenges, and
was ungianted by base passion. I say moth
lpg against physical stamina. do not
think there is any particular glory in a deli
cate and sickly constitution. have not any
special admiration for weak nerves and sick
headaches. | think that all the institutions
which propose to make men and women
athletic ought to meet with the favor of good
citizens, as we'll as good Christians. Gymna-
Sums may have a mission positively religious.
Good people sometimes ascribe to a weak
heart that which belongs to a slow liver.
The body and the soul are such near neigh
h0rS that thav oftap catrh aoph Othar,s die
eases. The man who has a clear head. who
has stout nerves and who in the cradle dis
played the Hercules will have far more to
answer for than all those who all their life
struggled with physical infirmities. That
mar who can lift twice as much as you can,
walk twice as far and endure twice as much
will have just twice the amount Of account
to give. If a clear head is better than one
dizzy with perpetual vertigo, if muscles with
the play OF health in them are worth more
than those drawn up with rheumatism, if an
eye quick to catch a passing object is better
than one dim and uncertain--theni if you have
stout physical health, the greater and more
intense will be your account. Yet how many
there are who have stout physical health,
and it is no indication of moral power with
them Men use their great health in luxuri-
ant ease, when they ought to have their coat
off and their sleeves rolled up, Juggling away
with all their might trying to lift the sunken
wreck of a world. They are like ships we'll
manned and well rugged, and capable of vast
tonnage, and capable of enduring greatstress
Of weather, yet rotting at the docks; when
these men ought to be crossing and recrossing
the great ocean of human suffering
with Gods supplies of mercy. Alas!
that so many OF the stout and healthy men
Of the world arc doing absolutely nothing
for God or the betterment of the worlds con-
dition. Oh! it is a shame that so much of
tho work OF the church and the world has
been done by invalids, while tue stout and the
healthy men, like greet hulks, were rotting
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