Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1888-05-05
The STAR NORWOOD
The Worlds Brilliant Bitter
ness and Baleful Innu-
enceS.
The Great Crime Of Tyranny Com.
mittsd by People Of Power.
Millions Of Geniuses Exerting
Influences Either for
God or Evil.
lis Your Life to Others "a 1enedic'
sion, u Blessing, IA Curse, "A
BaisaIn ora UormWood?

Dew III lal1lage, -. D., preached inns
morning At the tabernacle on the subject:
''Thc S'ar Wormwood, or Brilliant Bit
sisted 10y the organ and cornet. Thou
sands Of voices in the main auditorium
and in lbe adjoining parior and lecture
Don aud corridor, Joined in singing:
"We'll crowa Thy gates with thankful songs,
High as the heavens our voices raise,
While earth " ith her ten thousand tongues
Shall fiji Thy courts with sounding praise"
Professor Browne rendered Sonata num-
Der | in ID minor, by Guillmant. After
DR.. Talmagc hal ~eXpounded the sarcasm
Of Elijah at the Offering Of the Baalities
hc spoke as follows:
Revelation viii. l0and II: There fell
y great star from heaven. burning as it
were IL lamp, and it fell upon the third
part Of the rivers, and upon the fountains
Of waters; and the name Of the star Is
called Norwood"
Patrick and Lowth, thomas Scott, Mat
thew Henry, Albert Barnes and all the
ether commentators agree in saying that
She star Norwood of my text was At
tila, King Of the Huns. He was so called
because he was brilliant as a star, and
like NORWOOD. he cmbittertd everything
he touched We have studied the star of
Bethlehem, a d the Morning star of the
Revelation, and the star Of Peace, but my
subject this hour calls us to gaze at the
star Norwood, and my theme might he
called Brilliant Bitterness.
A more extraordinary character history
does not furnish than this man referred
10 in my tex -.Attila, the king of the
Huns. One day u wounded heifcr came
tmping along through the fields, and a
hcrdsman followed its bloody track on
the grass to see where the hcifer was
wounded, and went on back, further and
further, until he came to a sword fast IN
the earth, the point downward, as though
1t had dropped from the heavens, and
against the edges of this sword the heifer
had been cut. The herlsman pulled up
that sword and presented it to Atttila.
Attila said thai sword must have dropped
from the heavens from the grasp OF the
god Mars. and its being given TO HIM
meant that Attila should conquer and
govern the whole ear n. Other mighty
men have been delighted at being called
liberators or the Merciful, or the Good,
but Attila called himself and demanded
that Others call ham the Scourgc of God.
At the head of zoo, 600 troops, mounted
on C~appadocian horses. he swept every
thing from lhe Adriatic to the Black
sea. lie put his iron heel on Macedonia
and Greece and Thracc. He made Milan
and Pavia and Padua and Verona beg for
mercy which Ii bestowed no.. The BY
Zantine castles, TO meet his ruJnous levy,
nut up at auction massive silver tables
and vases Of solid gold a city captured
by him, the inhabitants were broughto out
and put into three ClasSeS-thc first class,
those who could bear arms, who must
Immediately enlist under Attila or be
butchcred; the second class, the beautifIs
WON, n. who were made Captivcs TO TIE
Huns; the III ri class, the aged mcD and
women, who were robbed Of everything
and let 70 back 10 the city, to pay sheavy
tax.
1t was O common saying tha,the grass
never grew again where the roof of At
tila's horse bad trod. l:'5 armies red.
dened the waters of the Scine and the
Nosellc and the Rhine with carnage, and
fought on the Cataloni"n plains the ferc-
est battle since the world stood, three
hundred thousand dead left on the field.
On and on until al, those who could not
oppose him win arms lay PROSTATE on
their faces in prayer and, a cloud OF dust
seen In the distance, n bishop cried: 1T
Is the aid Of God" and all the people
took up To- cry: 1T is the aid Of God"
As the Gle 1 of dust was blown aside the
banners OF reinforcing armies marched N
to help against Attila, the scourge of
God! The most unimportant occurrences
he used as a supernatural ~esOurce and
after three months Of failure t. capture
:he city of Aquuileia and his army had
given up the siege, the flight OF a stork
and her young from the tower of the city
was taken by him as IA sign that he was
10 capture the city, and his army inspired
with the same occurrence resumed the
siege and took the walls at q point from
which the stork bad emerged. So brilliant
was the conquerOr in his attire that his
enemies could not look at him, but shaded
their eyes or turned their heads.
Slain on the evening of his marriage
by his bride lldico. who was hired for
the assassination. his followers bewailed
him not with tears but with blood, cut
ting themselves with knives and lances.
He was put into three collins, the first OF
iron, the second Of silver. and !he third
Of gold. He was buried by night and in
to his grave were poured the most vaiua-
BILE coin and precious stones, amounting
to the wealth of a kingdom. The grave
diggcrs and all those who assisted at the
burial were massacrcd SO that it would be
known where SO much wealth was en-
toiHbed. The Roman empire conquered
the world but Attila conquered the Roman
empire. He was right in calling himself
q scourge, but instead of being the
scourge of God, he was The s~ourgc OF
hell Because of his brilliancy and bt
terness the commentators were right in