The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1886-09-10
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
A Rural Sermon on the Babylon
ian Midnight Revel
The Handwriting on the Wall Interpreted
Under Modern Light-Death an In
truder at the Feast Death
Also at Our Feasts.

Rev. T. De Witt Talmage addressed an
immense thrcng on a recent Sabbath at
Monona, a rural suburb of Madison, Wis,
taking for his subject the Babylonian
midnight revel. The text was:
In that night was Belshazzar the King of
the Chaldeans slain.-Daniel ", 80
DIR. Talmage said: Feasting has been
known in all ages. 1t was one of the most
exciting times In English history when
Queen Elizabeth visited Lord Leicester at
Kenilworth Castle. The moment of her
arrival was considered so important that
all the clocks of the castle were stopped,
SO that the hands might point to that one
moment as being the most significant OF
all. She was greeted at the gate with
floating islands, and torches, and the
thunder OF cannon, and fireworks that set
the night ablaze, and a great burst Of
music that lifted the whole scene into per-
feet enchantment. Then she was intro
duced into dining-hall the luxuries of
servants waiting upon the guests; the en-
tertainment cost 5000 each day. Lord
Leicester made that great supper in Ken
ilworth Castle.
But my text takes us to q more exciting
banquet. Night was about to come down
upon Babylon. The shadows of her s56
towers began to lengthen. The Euphrates
rolled on touched by the fiery splendors of
the setting sun, and gates of brass. burn
ished and glittering, opened and shut like
doors Of fame. The hanging gardens of
Babylon, wet with heavy dew, began
to pour from starlit flowers and dripping
The streets end squares were lighted for
dance and frolic and promenade. The
theaters and galleries of art invited the
wealth and pomp and grandeur of the city
to rare entertainments. Scenes Of riot
and wassail were mingled in every street,
and goddess mirth and outrageous excess
and splendid wickedness came to the
Kings palace to do their mightiest deeds
Of darkness. A royal feast tonight ut
the Kings palacei Rushing up to
the gates are chariots upholstered
with precious cloths from Ocean and
drawn by fire-eyed horses from Togarmah
that rear and neigh in the grasp of tn 9
charioteers; while . thousand lords dis
mount, and women dressed in all the
eplendor Of Syrian emerald. and the color
blending of agate, and the chasteness OF
coral, and the somber glory of Tyrian pur-
pie, and princely embroideries brought
from afar by csmels across the desert and
by ships Of Tarshish across the sea. Open
wide the gates and let the guests come in
The chamberlains and the cup-bearers are
all ready. Hark to the rustic Of the silks
and to the carol of the music! See the
blaze of the jewelsi Lift the banners!
Fill the cups! Clap the cymbalsi Blow
the trumpets! Let the night go by with
song and dance and ovation; and let that
Babylonish tongue he palsied that win
ever"
All, my friends. II was not any COM
mon banquet to which these great people
came. All parts Of the earth had sent
their richest viands to that table. Brack-
cts and chandeliers flashed their light up
on tankards OF burn ished gold. Fruits,
ripe and luscious, in baskets Of silver en-
Conservatives. Vases inlaid with emer-
aid and ridged with exquisite traceries,
filled with nuts that were threshed from
forests of distant lands. Wine brought
from the royal watts, foaming in the decan-
tiers and bubbling in the chaIices. Tufts
Of cassia and frankincense waiting their
sweetness from wall and table. Gorgeous
banners unfolding in the breezs that came
through the opened windows. bewitched
with the perfume of hanging gardens.
Fountains rising up from Enclosures Of
ivory in jets Of crystal, to fall In clatter-
Ing rain of diamonds and pearls. Stat
mes of mighty men looking down from
inches in. the wall upon crowns and
shields brought from the subdued em-
pires. Idols of wonderful work standing
on pedestals Of precious stones. Embroid-
cries dropping about the windows and
wrapping pillars Of cedar. and drifting on
floor inlaid with ivory and agate. Music,
mingling the thrum of harps, and the
clash OF cymbals, and the blast of trum-
pets In one wave Of transport that went
ripping along the wall and breaking
among the garlands, and pouring down
the corridors and thrilling the souls of .
thousand banqueters. The signal is given.
and the lords and ladies, the mighty men
and women Of the land. come around the
table. Pour out the wine! Let foam and
bubble kiss the rim! Hoist every one his
cup and drink to the sentiment: 30, King
Belshaxxar. live foreverW Bestarred
headband and carcanet of royal beauty
gieam to the uplifted chaiices, As again
and again and again they are emp
tied. Away with care from
the palace. Tear royal dignity
TO tatters. Pour out more wine! Give MS
more. light, wilder music, sweeter per-
fume! Lord shouts to lord, captain ogles
to captain. Goblets clash, decanters rat
tie. There come in the obscene song and
the drunken hiccough. and the slavering lip
and the Ruffaw of idiotic laughter, burst
ing from the lips Of princes, flushed, reel
ing, bloodshot; while mingling with It all
hear: .Huxza, huxza, for great Belshax-
xarm
What is that on the plastering Of the
WALTZ Is 1t . spirit! Is it . phantom? ID
It God? The music stops. The goblets
fall from the nerveless grasp. There is .
thrill. There is . start. There II :
thousand-voiced shrek Of horror. Let
Daniel be brought in to read that writing.
He comes In. He reads It:
Weig he'd In the balance and found want