The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-05-27
DR.. TALMAGE'S SERMON.
REPORTED FOR THE PRESS.

REPORTED FOR THE PRESS.
Text: 'In the morning he shall devour the
prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil"
Genesis, xix, ~.
There is in this chapter such an afiluence Of
simile and allegory, such mingling of meta
phors, that there are a thousand thoughts in
In 1t not on the surface. Old Jacob, dying,
is telling the fortunes of his children. He
prophecies the devouring propensities of
Benjamin and his descendants. With his
dim old eyes he looks OIL and sees the hunters
going out to the fields, ranging them all day
andat nightfall coming home, the game slunS
over the shoulder; and reaching ths door OF
the tent the hunters begin to distribute the
|game, and one TAX es coney and another q
rabbit and another roe, In the morning
he shall devour the prey, and at night he
shall divide the spoil.n Or, it may be ref
erence to the habits of wild beasts that slay
their prey, and then drag it back to the cave
or lair and divide it among the young.
There Is nothing more fascinating than the
life of a hunter. On q certain day in all Eng
land you can hear the crack of the sports
mans gun because grouse-hunting has begun;
and every man that can afford the time and
amunition and can draw bead starts for
the fields. On the goth of October our woods
and forests will resound with the shock Of
firearms, and will be tracked of pointers and
settlers because the quail will then be lawful
prize for the sportsman. Xenophon grew
eloquent in regard to the art of hunting. In
the far East people, elephant. chase
the tiger. The American Indian darts his
arrow at the buffalo until the frightened herd
tumble over the rocks, European mobiles are
often found in the fox chase and at the stag
hunt Francis |. was called the iather OF
hunting Moses declares of Nimrod: He
was mighty hunter before the Lord.n
Therefore, in all ages of the world the imagery
of my text ought to be suggestive whether 1t
means a wolf after a fox or a man after
lion. "In the morning he shall devoJr the
prey and at night he shall divide the s)oil.n
take my text in the first place as descrip.
| tive of those people who in the morning OF
| their life give themselves up to hunting the
world, but aGterward, by the grace OF God,
| in the evening of their life, divide among
| themselves the spoils OF Christian chara ter.
| There are aged Christian men and women in
| this house who, if they gave testimony, would
| tell you that in the morning of their life they
we're after the world as intensely as hound
| after a hare, OF as a falcon swoOpS upon q
gazele They wanted the worlds plaudits
and the words gains. They felt that if they
| could get this world they would have every
| thing. Some Of them started out for the
| pleasures of the world. They thou rht
that the man who laughed louGe5t
was happ.est They tried repartee and
conundrum and burlesque and mad
riga They thought they would like to be
Tom Hoods, or Charles Lambs, or Edgar a,
Poe5. They N ngled wine and music and the
spectacular Tneey We're worshiFers of the
harlequin and the Merry Andrew and the
buffoon and the ies;er, Life wa3 to them
foam and bubble and cachinnation and
registering and grimace They We're
SO full of glee they could hardly
repress their mirth even on sol
emn occasions and they came near burst
ing out hlariously even at the burial be-
cause there was something so dol rous in the
tone or countenance of the undertaken.
After awhile misfortune struck them hari on
the back They found there was something
they could not laugh at.
Under their late hours their health gave
way or there was death in the house, OF
! every green thing their soul was eXfol!ated.
/ They found out that life was more than Il
| Joke. From the heart of Col there blazed
into their soul an earneStness they had never
felt before They aWoke to their sinfulnCs5
and their immortality, and here they sit to-
day at sixty or seventy years of age, as ap-
preciative of ell innocent mirth as they ever
were, but they are bent On style of satisfa2-
tion which in early life they never hunted; :;
the evening of their days brighter than the
morning. In the morning they devoured the
| prey, but at night they are dividing the spoil.
| Then there are others who started out for
| financial success. They SEQ how limbar q
mans hat is when he bows down before some
one transpicuous. They felt that they would
like to see how the world looked from the
window of three thousand dollar turnout.
They thought they would like to have the
morning sunlight tangled in the headgear of
| dashing span. They wanted the bridges in
the park to res)und under the rataplan of
their swift hoofs. They wanted a gided
badrick and so they started On tie dollar
,f.- n,,1
chased it down another They followed it
when it bulTowed in the cellar. They freed
it in the roof. Wherever a dollar was ex-
rec ed to be they were. They chased it
a jss the ocean. They chased it across the
land, They stopped not for the night.
Hearing that dollar even in tho darkne IS
thrill ed them as an Adirondack sportsman is
thrilled by looms laugh. They chased that
dollar to the money vault. They chased it tc
the Government treasury They routed ii
from under the counter. All the hounds were
out--all the pointers and settlers They
leatel the hedges for that dollar AMI they
cried: 'Hark, away! dollar! dollar" and
when at last they came upon it and had astu-
allv captured it, their excitement was like
that of q falconer who had successfully flun9
his first hawk. In the morning OF their life
oh how they deVoured the preYl Bat there
came a better time to their soul. They found
out chat an immortal nature cannot live OF
Government bonds. They took up North
ern Pacific bond and there was q hole in i
through which they could look into the I'm
certainty of all earthly treasures. They saw
some Ralston, living at the rate Of $4,000 {
month, leaping from the San Francisco whar
because he could not continue to live at tn
same ratio They saw the wien and para
lytic bankers, who had changed their soulSin
molten gold, stamped with the image of tn
cath, earthly They saw some eTea5 soul
l,, oyo,icD t,,rua6 into bnr,lvnpl1li and the1
said to themselves: 81 Will seek after highc
treasure From that time they did not car
whether they walked or ro lie if Christ walked
with them; nor whether they lived in Il mal
sion or a hut if they dwelt under the shadow 0
the Almighty; nor whether they were robed il
French broadcloth or in homespun if they
had the robe Of the Saviours Righteousness
nor whether tHey were sandaled with mo
rocco or calf skin if they We're shod with tn
preparation of the Gospel Now you so
peace on their counteuan-e. Now that MAJ
says: "What q fool | was to be enchanted
with this world. Why, have more satiSfac
tion in five minutes in the service of GJd thai
| had in all the first years of my life while
was gain getting. Ike this evening OF M
day great al better than did the morn
ing. In the morning | greedtly dcvoIrei tn
prey; but now it is evening, and am glorl
ously dividing the spoils."
My friends this world is a poor thing tt
Huhv. IL S ntdliHitil W 20 out III thS ~ -
and hunt 1t rekindles the lustre of tn
eye. 1t strikes the brown of the autu ma
leaf into the cheek 1t gives to the rhel
matte limbs a strength to leap like the roe
Christopher North's pet gun, the muckle
mounted meg, going off in the summer il
the forests, had its echo in the winter TINT
in the elo9uence that rang through the Uns
cerSity halls OF Edinburgh. 1t is healthy Il
go hunting in the fields: but | tel you tina
it is beiittling and helwariing and belamin!
for man TO hunt this world. The hamme
comes down on the gun aP and the barre
explodes and kills you instead of that whicl
you are pursuing. When you turn out t.
hunt the world, the world turns ou
TO hunt You; and as many sportsman aim
ing his gun at panther's heart has gonC
down under the striped claws, so while yol
have been attempting to devour this world
the world has been devouring YOU So i
was with Lord Byron SO it was with Cole
ridge. So it was with Catherine of Russia
Henry H. went out hunting for this worlt
and its lances stuck through his heart. Fran
els I. aimed at the world, but the assassin'
dagger put an end to his ambition and his
fife with one stroke. Mary, Queen of Scots
wrote on the window of her castle:
ssI-. Al.