The Nicodemus cyclone. [volume] (Nicodemus, Graham County, Kan.) 1887-1888, 1888-04-27
TALMAGE.
THERE FELL A GREAT STAR
FROM HEAVEN.

A4F0ty Lu1nB he 1Ouched.
Special to the Kansas City Times.
BROOKLYN, April 22-The Rev. T. De wit,
Ialmage, d. D., preached this morning a,
tne tabernacle on the subject. 1.-THE Stal
NORWOOD, or Brilliant Bitterness The
musical exercises were assisted by the organ
anu corneG Thousands of voices in the main
auditorium and in the adjoining parlor and
lecture room and corridor, Joined in singing,
we IL crowd Thy gates with thankful songs,
Hlgh as the heavens our voices raise
Nhlie earth with her ten thou sand tongues
snail fill Thy courts with sounding praise"
PROFESSOR Browne rendered Sonata number
1 in ID minor, by Guillmant After DIR. Tai.
: mage mad expounded the sarcasm of Elijah
at the offering Of the Baalites he spoke as
follows
Revelation viii. 10 and II: There fell a
! great star from heaven, burning as it were a
lamp and it fell upon the third part of the
rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; and
! Ine name OF the star is called Norwood A"
fatrlck and Lowth, Thomas Scott, Matthew
J henrX Albert Barnes and all the other com
mentators agree in saying that the star
, NORWOOD of my text was Attila, King of the
Huns He was so called because he was
brilliant as star, and, like wormwood, he
emolttered everything he touched. We have
! studied the Star Of Bethlehem, and the morn
ing Star OF the Revelation, and the Star of
Aeace' OUT my subject this hour calls us to
gaze at the star Norwood, and my theme
might be called Brilliant Bitterness.
a more extraordinary character history does
HoC Iurnlsn than this man referred to in nv
text AttlIa, the King of the Huns One day
a. "ouhqed hel1er came limping along through
/ tlelNS hard foIlo -
crack on the grass to see where the heifer was
wounded, and went on back. further and
4urtner, until he came to a sword fast in the
earth, the point downward as though it had
u5oppeu from the heavens and against the
cages OF this sword the heifer had been cut.
Inc herdsman pulled up that sword and pre-
sented II to Attila. Attila said that sword
must nave dropped from the heavens from
the grasp of the god Mars, and its being given
10 MIN meant that Attila should conquer and
govern the whole earth Other mighty men
nave been delighted at being called liberat0rs
or the Merciful or the Good, but Attila called
himself and demanded that others call him
Tue ScOurge Of God. AL the head of seven
hundred thousand troops, mounted on Can
Rauocian horses, he swept everything from
the Adrlatlc to the Black Sea. He put his
iron heal on Macedonia and Greece and
1hrace. He made Milan and Pavia and Padua
ana verona beg for mercy which he bestowed
not. The Byzantine castles to meet his ruin
gus levy put up at auction massive silver ia
pLes ana vases of solid gold A city CAPTURED
Dy MIN the inhabitants were brought out and
put luto three classes: "The first class. those
VINO could bear arms, who must immediately
enlist under Attila or be butchered: the sec
ond class, the beautiful women, who were
maue captlVes to the Huns; the third class
Tue aged men and women, who were robbed
OF everything and let go back to the CITY to
pay heavy tax.
1t was common saying that the grass
never grew again where the hoof of
Attila's horse had trod. His armies
t te len the waters of the Seine and
the Moselle and the Rhine with carnage. and
iought on the CatalOnian plains the fiercest
battle since the world stood, three hundred
thousand dead left on the field. On aud on
uhtll an those who could not oppose him with
arms lay PROSTATE on their faces in PRAYER
and cloud of dust seen in the distance, a
Dlshop cried: 1T is the aid of God;" and all
the people took UP the cry: ''It is the aid of
God" AS the cloud Of dust was blown aside
Inc banners of reinforcing armies marched in
~ ~ nelP against Att1la, the scOurge of God.
Inc most unlmpOrtant occurrences he used
as supernatural resource and after three
InonLhs OF failure to capture the CITY of
Aoulleia and his army had given up the siege
the hight OF stOrk and her young from the
tower OF the city was taken by him as a sign
; ;nat lie was 10 capture the city, and his army
inspired with the same occurrence resumed
the siege and took the walls at a pCint
from which the stOrk had emerged So brill
maui was the cOnqueror in attire that his
enemies could not look at him, but shaded
their eyes or turned their heads
Slain on the evening of his marriage bv his
pride lldIcO who was hired for the assasina-
ton, his followers bewaiIed him not with
tears, but with blood, cutting themselves with
knives and lances. lie was put into three
colllns, the first of iron, the second of silver,
ana the third of gold. He was buried nv
night and into his grave were poured the
most valuable coin and precious stones,
amounting to the wealth Of a kingdom, The
grave diggers and all those who assisted at
the burial were massacred so that it would
never DE known where so much wealth was
entombed. The Roman Empire conquered the
world but Attila conquered the Roman empire.
lie was right in calling himself scOurpe
put instead of being the scOurne of God,
ne was the scourge Of hell. Because of his
brilllancy and bitterness the commentators
were right in believing him to be the star
NORWOOD of the text. AS the regions he
devastated were parts most Opulent with
fountains and streams and rivers. YOU see
how graphic my text is: There fell a great
star IRON heaven, burning as it were a lamp,
ana IL 1ell upon the third part of the rivers
and upon the fountains OF waters; and the
name OF the star is called Norwood -
Have you ever thought how many embitter-
Gu liVes there are all about US, msanthropic,
morbid, acrid, saturnine! The European
Artemlsia Absinthium, is a perennial plant
ana all the year round it is ready to exude its
OIL And in many human lives there is a per-
ennlal dlstlation of acrid experiences. Yea.
there are some whose whole work is TO shed \
baletul influence on others. There are Atti.
las OF the home, or Attilas of the social circle
or AttilaS of the church, or Attilas of the
State, and one-third of the waters of all the
world, If not two-thirds the waters. are pois
oned BY the falling of the star Wormwo0d. It
Is not complimentary TO human nature that
most men, as soon as they get great power.
become overbearing. The more power men
have the better, if their power be used for
good The less power men have the better. if
fhey use it for evil
Birds circle round and round and round be-
lore they sWoOp upon that which thew are
aiming Tor. And if my discourse so far has
been swinging round and round, this moment
1t drops straight on your heart and asks the
question: Is your life to others a benedic-
ton or an enlightenment, a blessing or a
curse, baISam or a wOrmwOOds
Some OF You, know, are morning stars and Won
are making the dawning life of your children
bright with gracious influences and YOU are
beaming upon all the opening enterprises of
phllanthropic and Christian endeavor and
you are heralds Of that dav of g0spelization
which will yet flood the mountains and val
leys OF our sn-cursed earth. Hail, morning
tn H .a .N