Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1886-05-28
DR.. TALMAGE'S SERMON
REPORTED FOR THE PRESS.


smile and aliegory, such a mingling of meta
phors, that there are a thousand thoughts in
in it not on the surface. Old Jacob dying,
is telling the fortunes of his children. He
prophecies the devouring propensities of
Benjamin and his dCsC endants With his
dim old eyes he looks OFF and sees the hunters
going out to the fields, ranging them all day
andat nj htfall coming home, the game slung
over the shoulder; and Toa ehing the door of
the tent tie hunters begin to distribute the
game, and one tax es a CCney and another q
rabbit and another roe. "ln the morning
he shall devour the prey, and at night he
shall divide the spoil" Or it may be a ref
erence to the habits of wild beasts that slay
their prey, and then drag it back to the cave
OF lair and divi q it among the young.
There Is nothing more fascinating than ths
life of a hunter. On a certain day in all Eng
land you can hear the crack of the sports
mans gun because grouse hunting has begun;
and every man thaC can afford the time and
anu ition aud can draw a bead starts for
the fiells. On tie Goth of October cur 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 ,oplc, elephant mounted, chase
the tiger. The American Indian darts his
arrow at the buffalo until the frightened herd
tumble over the 10 ks. European mobiles are
often found in the fox chase and at the stag
hunt Francis !. was Callt d the father OF
hunting. Moses declares of Nimrod: HE
was a mighty hunter before the Lord. i
Therefore, in all ages of the world the imagery
of my text on ght to be suggestive whether iG
means wolf after a fox or a man after
lion. "In ths morning he shall devolr the
p. ey, and at nignt he shall divide the spoil. "
| take my text i'll the first place as descrip-
tive Of tho,e people who in the morning of
their life i've them spiNpS 70 hmm iOJ the
world, but terward, 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 i'll
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 a hound
after hare, or as a falcon swoops upon
gaze le. They wanted the WORLDS plaudits
and the wOr Il gains. They felt that if they
could get this world they would have every
thing. Some Of them sta; ted out for tie
pleasures of the world. They thou hit
that the man who laughed louCeSt
was happ est, They tried repartee and
conundrum and burle5que and mad
Iigal. They thought they would like to be
Tom Hoois, or Charles Lambs, or Edgar \.
PCeS. They N ngle1 wine and music and the
speota euar. They were worshis erS of the
harlequin anil the N TRY Andrew and the
buffoon AID the jes or. life was to them
registering and grimace They were
so full of glee they could hardly
repress their mrth even on sol
emn occa ions, and they came near burst
ing out j laIiouSly even at the burial, be-
cause there was something so dol rous in the
tone or counenance Of the underta ter.
After avn IL misfortune struck them hart on
the back They found there was something
they could not laugh at
Under their late hours their health gave
way or there was a death in the house. OF
every green thing their soul was exfolated.
They found out that life was more than a
joke From the heart of God there blazed
into their soul an earnestneSS they had never
felt before They awoLe to their sinfuness
and their immortality, and here they sit to-
day at sixty or seventy years of age, as ap-
preciative of all innocent mirth as they ever
were, but they are bent on a style of satisfac-
ton 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 see how timber a
mans hat is when he bows down before some
one transp;cuous They felt that they would
like to see how the world looked from the
window of a three thousand dollar turnout.
They thought tlcY would like to have the
morning sunlight tangled in the headgCar of
da,hilg span. They wanted the bridges in
the park to reS0und under the Tataplan of
their swift hoofs Tney wanted a gilded
baldrick, and so they started On the dollar
hunt They chased it up one street and
chased it down another. They followed it
when it burrowe1 in the celia. They freed
it in the roof. VIII 'revcr a dollar was ex-
Iec,ed to be they were. They chased it
d SIS the OCEAN They chased it across the
land. They stopped not for the night
Hearing that dollar even in the darkne S
thrill ed them as an Adirondack sportsman is
thrilled by looms laugh. They chased that
dollar to the money vault. They chased it to
the Government treasury. They routed it
from under the counter. All the hounds were
out--all the POINTERS and settlers. They
LEAF ell the hedges for that dollar and they
cried: "Hark, away dollar a dolarh and
when at last they came upon it and hal a ttu-
ally captured it, their excitement was lie
that of a falconer who had successfully flung
his first hawk In the morning OF their life,
oh how they devOured the prey! But there
came better time to their soul. They found
out that an immortal nature cannot live or
Government bonds. They took up North
ern Pacific bond and there was hole in il
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
Lecause he could not continue to 1--we at tn
same ratio They saw the wien and para
lytic bankers, who had changed their soulSin
molten gold, stamped with the image of til
Ia tn, earthly. They saw some grea5 soul
by avarice turned into homunculi, and the
sal / to themselves: Il will seek after highc
trea3uren From that time they did not car
whether they walked or role if Christ walked
with them nor whether they lived in a MAJ
sion or nut if they DIVE under the shadow o
the Aim ghty; nor whether they were robed il
French broadcloth or in hOmeSDun if III sy
had the robe of the Saviour's righteousness
nor whether they Were sandael with mo
rocco or calf skin if they were shod with tn
preparation of the Gospel. Now you So
peace on their counteIane. Now that ma
says; "What fool | was to be enchanted
with this wo Id Why, have more salts ac
ton in five minutes in tle service of G d THAI
| had in all the first years Of my lie while
was gain getting. ] Ii this evening o. III,
day great al bett + tran | did the morn
ing In the morning greed ly devolrod TIN
prey; but now it is eve ring, and | am glori
oasly dividing the SpoilS."
My friends, this world is a poor thing {,
hunt. 1t S beautiful to go ouG in the woo (
and hunt. 1t re&iudl2S the lustre of til
eye. 1t strikes the brown of the ltu ma
leaf into the CHEEK 1t gives to tn, rhe /
matlc limbs strength TO leap Ii ;e tn roe
Christopher North's pet gun, the muckl
mounted meg, going off III the sum ner il
the forests, hal itS echo i'll the winter t M
in the eloluence that rang through the Uri
7ersity halls OF Ediablrgh. II is healthy t,
go hunting in the fields: but I tel You tina
it is be.ittling and lie lwarfng and lelamin,
for a man to hunt thi worll. The hamme
comes down on the gun a. and the bure
explode and kills you inst, al of that whicI
you are pursuing. When you turn out t.
hunt the world, the world turns ou
to hunt you and az many sportsman aim
iuT his gun at a panther's heart ha gone
down unter thg striped claws 50 whil5 yol
have bce1 ate upting to devour this world
the word h1s been dcyo9ring YOU 50 i
was with Lord Byron so it was with Cole
u.