Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1886-08-19
GODS WARNINGS.
DR.. Talmage on Belshazzar's
Feast.

DR.. Talmage on Belshazzar'
Feast.
The Wild Revelry Turned Il
Woe in an Instant.
Sins Pleasant Banquet Followed Fast b,
Death.
The Handwriting on the Wall Away
Most Plain.
Special to the Kansas City Times.
MoNoNA, WIS, Aug S.--A great outdoo
meeting was held here to-day. Thousand.
attended 1t from the city OF Madison, which
| Is only few miles distant. The Rev T. ID,
Witt Talmagc, DID,, lectured here yesterday
and to-day he preached to amounted multi
tudes. The subject of the sermon was ''Tht
Midnight Reyel," and the text was Daniel ".
30: SIN that night was Belshazzar, the king
OF the Chaldeans, slain" DIR. Talmage said
Feastng has been known in all ages: Il
was one Of the most exciting times in Eng
fish history when Queen Elizabeth visited
Lord Leicester at Kenilworth castle. The
moment of her arrival was considered sc
important that all the clocks Of the castle
were stopped, so that the hands might point
to that one moment as being the most signf
cant OF all She was greeted to the gate with
floating islands, and torches, and the thunder
OF cannon, aud fireworks that set the night
ablazc and a great burst of music that lifted
the whole scene into perfect cnchantment
Then she was introduced In a dining hall the
luxsries OF which astonished the world; 400
servants waited upon the guests; the enter.
tainment cost 5000 each day. Lord Leices.
ter made that great supper in Kenilworth
castle
Cardinal Wolscy entertained the French
ambassadors at Hampton court. The best
cooks in all the land prepared the banquet;
purveyors went out and Travelled all the king
dom over to find spolls for the table. The time
came The guests were kept during the day
hunting in the kings park so that their appe-
titcs might be keen; and then in the evening,
to the sound of the trumpeters, they were in
troduced into hall hung with silk and cloth
Of gold and there were tables aglitter with i'm
perial plate and laden with the rarest of
meats, and ablush with the costliest wines /;
and when the second course of the feast came
1t was found that the articles of food had been
fashioned into the shape OF men, bird, and
beasts and groups dancing and jOusting par
tics riding against each other with lances
Lords and princes and ambassadors, out of
cups filled to the brm, drank the health, first
of the king of England and next to the king
Of France. Cardinal Wolsey prepared the
great supper in Hampton court.
THE FEAST OF BELSuAzzAR.
But my text takes us to n more exciting
banquet Night was about to come down apon
Babylon. The shadows of her 250 towers be-
ran 10 lengthen. The Euphrates rolled on,
touched by the fiery spendors of the setting
sun, and gates Of brass, FURNISHED aud glitter
ing, opened and shut like doors Of flame. The
hanging gardens of Babylon, wet with falling
dew, began to pour from scarlet flowers and
dripping leaf fragrance for many miles
around. The streets and squares were lighted
for dance and frolic and promenade. The
thcaters and galleries of art invited the wealth
and pomp and grandeur Of the city to rare en-
tertainments. Scenes of the riot and was
sail were mingled in every street and god
less mirth and outrageous excess and
splendid wickedness came to the kings
palace to do their mightiest deeds of dark
ness
a royal feast tonight at the kings palace /
Rushing up to the gates are chariots up
holstcred with precious cloths from Dedan
and drawn by fre-eyed horses from Togar-
nah, that rear and neigh in the grasp of the
characters, while a thousand lords dis
mount and women dressed In all the
speEdor OF Syrian emerald, and the color
blending OF agate, aud the chasteness Of
coral, and the somber glory Of Tyrian
purple, and princely embroideries brought
from afar by camels across the desert and
by ships OF Tarshish across the sea. Open
Vide the gates aud let the guests come in !
oh ,L,r1 Let, L ~
ready. Hark to the rustic of the silks aud
to the carol of the music! See the blaze of
the jewels! Lift the banners Fill the
cups! Clap the cymbals Blow the
trumpets! Let the night go by with song
and dance and ovation; and let that Baby
lonish tongue be palsicd that will not say {:
80, King BelshaZzar, live fOreverw
CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE BANQUET
All, my friends! 1t was not any common
banquet to which these great people came
All parts of the earth had sent their richest
Iiands to that table. Brackets and chan
Of FURNISHED gold. Fruits, ripe and lus.
| cious in baskets of silver entwlncd with leaves
pIueked from royal conservatories Vases in
aid with emerald and ridged with exquisite
traceries, filled with nuts that were threshed
from forests Of distant lands. Wine brought
and bubbling in the chalices. Tufts of
cassia and frankincense waiting their
sweetness from wall and table.
Gorgeous banners unfolding in the
breeze that came through the opened window,
6ewitched with the perfume of hanging gar
dens. Fountains rising up from Enclosures
Of ivory in jets of crystal, to fall in Gathering
\ rain Of diamonds and pearls Statues OF
mighty men looking down from the inches in
the wa ! upon crowns and shields brought from
subducd empires. Idols Of wonderful work
standing upon pedastals OF precious stones.
IN ST. hn,, tha ind, a
wrapping pillars Of cedar, and drifting on floor
| inlaid with ivory and agate. Music, mingling
the thrum of harps and the clash of cymbals,
ami the blast Of trumpets in one wave of trans.
port that went rippling along the wall and
breathing among the garlands and pouring
down the corridors and thrilling the souls Of
a thousand banqueters. The signal
Is given, and the lords and la:
dies, 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 Belshaz
| Ear, live forever" Bestarred hcadband and
carcanet of royal beauty CLEAN to the up
| lifted chalices, as again and again they are
| empticd. Away with care from the palace
Tear royal dignity to tatters! Pour out more
wine! Give us more light, wilder music,
| sweetcr perfume! Lord shouts to lord, cap
| tain oglcs TO captain. Goblets clash, ocean.
| tiers rattle. There come in the obscene song
and the drunken hiccough, and the slavering
| lip and the gulfaw OF idlotic laughter, bursting
from the lips Of princes, flushed, reeling,
bloodshot; while mingling with 1t all hea-
'Huzza, huzza, for great Belshazzarr'
| THE WRITING on THE WALL
What is that on the plastering of the wall
| Is 1t spirit! Is it a phantomi Is it God
| The music stops. The goblets fall from the
nerveless grasp. There is thrill. There is q
| start There is a thousand-voiced shrek oil
horror. Let Daniel be brought in to read that
| writing. lie comes in. He reads 1t: 'sWeigh
| ed in the balances, and art found wanting
| Meanwhile the Assyrans who for two year:
! had been laying a siege TO that city, took adj
vantage of that carousal and came in. i heal
the feet of the conquerors on the palace stairs
Massacre rushcs in with thousand cleaning
| knives Death bursts upon the scene, and
| shut the door OF that banquctng hall, for
| do not want to look. There is nothing Their,
| but torn banners, and broken wreaths, anC
the slush OF upset tankards, and the blood oil
| murdered women, and the kicked and tumblet
carcass OF a dead king. For sin that nigh
| was BelshazZar slain.n
/ FKst-I learn from this, that when Got
| writes anything on the wall man had better
| read 1t as II Is. Daniel did not misinterpre
or modify the handwriting on the wall. 1t II
| all foolishncss TO expect a minister Of the gos
pei to preach always things that the peopl,
/ ti,n oh. hat hall al