National Republican., 1886-08-09

lie TOOK Tor his text, James !, O. NIIe
that wavereth is like a wave Of the sea
driven with the wind and tossed" Hugh
Laumer offended the king by a sermon he
preached, and the king said
"HuRh Latimer, come and apologize"
81 will,n said Hugh Latimer. so the day
was appointed, and the kings chapel was
full of lords aud dukes and the mighty men
aud women OF the country, for Hugh Lati-
mer was TO apologize. He began his SER
mon by saying: "Ilugh Latimer, bethinl
ihetl Thou art In the presence OF thine
earthly King, who can destroy thy body.
but hethink thee, Hugh Latimer, that thou
art In the presence Of tho King Of heaven
and earth, who can destroy both body and
soul In hcllHre. o, king, cursed be thy
II. Another lesson that comes to us
There Is great difference between the
opening Of the banquet Of sin and its close.
Young man, II you had looked In upon the
banquet In the first few hours you would
have wished you had been invited there and
could cit at the feast. "0h, the grandeur
Of Belshazzar's feast" you would have
said; but you look In at the close OF the
banquet and your blood curdles with hor-
ror. The king OF terrors has there a
ghastller banquet; human blood is the wine
and dying groans are the music. Sin has
made itself q king in the earth. II has
10
invites all the world to come to It. Il has
hung in It's banqueting hall the spoIls Of all
Kingdoms and the banners Of all nations. 1t
has gathered from all music. II has strawn
from its wealth the tables and floors and
arches. And yet how often is that BANQUET
broken up, and how horrible is its endl
Ever and anon there is handwriting on
the wall. A king falls. A great culprit is
arrested. The knees OF wickedness knock
lnR EA1f s,..I. a
most, breaks In upon the banquet, and that
night is Delshazzar, the king Of the Chal-
deans, slain.
Here is young man who says: 81 cannot
see why they make such fuss about the
Intoxicating cup. Why, II is exhilarating.
II makes me feel well. l can talk better,
feel better. ! cannot sce why people have
such a prejudice against it." 4 few years
pass on and he wakesup and finds himself
In the clutches Of an evil habit which he
tries to break but cannot, and be cries out
80, Lord God, help meln II seems as
though God would not hear his prayer, and
In an agony of body and soul he cries out:
ut biteth like serpent aud IL stingeth like
an adder" How bright 1t was at the start
how black II was at the lastl
Here is man who begins TO read French
novels. "They are so charming,n he says
~ will go out and see for myself whether
OF sinful life. He goes IN. A sinful sprite
meets him with her wand. She waves her
wand and II is all enehantment. Why, It
seems as II the angels of God had poured
out vials Of perfume In the atmosphere. As
he walks on ne finds the hills becoming more
radiant with foliage, and the ravines more
resonant with the falling water. oh, what
charming landscape he sees But that
sinful sprite with her wand meets him
anafns ha ths
all the enchantment is gone. The cup
is full Of poison. The fruit turns to
ashee. All the leaves Of the hover
are forked tongues OF Kissing serpents.
The flowing fountains fall back in q
dead pool, stenchful with corruption. The
Turing songs become curses and screams
Of demoniac laughter. Lost spirits gather
about him and feel for his heart, aud beclEon
him ON with, "IIail, brother Hail, blasted
spirit, hail |" He tries to get out. BE
comes to the front door where he entered
and tries TO push 1t back, but the door
turns against him; and in the jar Of that
shutting door he hears these words: "This
night is Belshazzar, the king OF the Chal-
desrs, slain,n SIN nav epea bright as the
morning; II closes dark as the night.
III. learn further from this subject that
death sometimes breaks In upon banquet
Why did he not go down to the e-prisons In
Babylon. There were people there that
would liked TO have died. suppose there
were men and women In torture in that city
who would have welcomed death. But hi
comesto palace, and Just at the time wher
the mirth is dashing to the tip-top pitcl
death breaks in at the banquet. We hay,
often seen the same thing illustrated. Her
| is young man Just come from college. II,
Is kind. He is loving. He is enthusiastic
| He a eloquent. BY one spring he ma,
bound to heights toward which many mef
have keen struggling for years. A profes
sion opens before him. He is established
| In the law. His friends cheer him. Eminent
| men encourage i'm. After while you may
see him standing in the American Senate, ol
moving popular assemblage by his elo
| quence as trees are moved In a whirlwind
Some night he retlres early. A fever is OF
him. Delirium, like reckless cbarioteer
seizes the reins OF his intellect. Father ant
mother stand by and sec the tides Of III,
| going out to the great ocean. The banque
| is coming to An end. The lights Of though
and mirth and eloqueDce are being extln
| guished. The garlands are snatehed from
the brow. The vision Is gone. Death a
the banquet
We saw the same thing on larger seal
| illustrated at the last war IN this country
Our whole nation had been sitting at ma
tional banquet--north, south, east, ant
|
| it on our hillsH What invention was ther
| but our rivers must turn the new whee
and rattle the strange shuttle What warn
furs but our Traders must bring them fron
the Arctic2 What fish but our nets mus
sweep them for the marketsP What musi
but II must sing In our hallsP Wha
eloQuence but 1t must speak In our senates
Ho to the national banquet reaching froI
mountain to mountain and from sea to sea
| NI.aNk 4. .I.a HaII a.
the aviaries OF the country sent their bes
treasures. The orchards piled up on Tn
table their sweetest fruits. The presses burs
out with new wines. To sit at that tabl
came the yeomanry of New Hampshire, AM
the lumbermen Of Maine, and the tame,
Carolinian from the rice swamp, and th
harvestcrsof Wisconsin, and the wester
emigrant from the pines Of Oregon, and W
were all brothers-brothers at banquet
Suddenly the feast ended. What mean
those mounds thrown up at Chickahominy
Shiloh, Atlanta, Gettysburg, South Noun
tainp What meant those golden grain field
turned into a pasturng ground for cayalr
horsesf What meant the corn fields gullie
with the wheels Of the heavy supply train
Why those rivers Of tears, those lakes O
bloodP God was angry. Justice must come
A handwriting on the wall The nation ha
been weighed and found wanting. Darl
nessl darknessl Woe to the north! We
to the south Woe to the eastl Woe TO tn
west Death at the banquet
~. have also to learn from the subjec
that the destruction OF the vicious and o
those who despise God will be very sudden
The wave Of mirth had dashed to the
highest point when that Assyrian arm
broke through. II was unexpected. Sud
denly, almost always, comes the doom c
those who despise God and defy the laws {
men. How was II at the delugeS Do yo
suppose 1t came through long northeai
storm, 80 that people Tor days before WEI
morning was bright; that calmness brOode
on the waters; that beauty sat enthrone
on the hills; when suddenly the HEAVIER
burst, and the mountains sank like anchor
into the sea, that dashed clear over Il
Andes and the Himalayas.
Tba Rod aaa VIVA divided Tha Eo-vntIaY