Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1889-10-05
SA.nsoN1S LOST STRENGTH.

SAMSUNS LOST STRENGTH.
HIS MISFORTUNE DUE TO A BAD
sW@SMAN's. WlLEs.
Dr.. :Tailnnge rrenchea on tho Various
Ways Good Men Are Sometimes shorn
Of. Their strength-rull Text of Ills Dis
course Sept. 90.
BROOKLYN. Sept. 29.-After ex-
pounding tile appropriate passages of
Scripture in tho brooklyn Tabernacle
this morning. the Rev. T Dc Witt
Talmpge, DND., gave out the hymn:
80 let our lips and lives express
SsThe holy gospel wr profess;
So let ourworks and virtues shine
To prove the doctrine oil divine
The subject Of DR.. Talnmge's sermon
was :s"Tlle1 shorn locks of Samson
He took for his text Judges xvi. 5:
''Entfce him, and see wherein his
great strength ietl, and by what
a:eaiis we may prevail against him.
that we may bind him 10 alflict him;
and we wiligiye thee every one of us
eleven hundred pieces OF silver. The
sermon was as follows:
SSYIEssr9ENciTH OF SAMSON.
Oncsthou si,sI pounds OF a bout i've.
Thousand, 4dpllars ofeour money, were;
thuselfereds Gor:the capture Of a giant.
II nltl:hke. asslsillful photographer
TO ptslurc Samson as he really was.
Theirio facile words are not supple
enough To describe him. He was a
giant and a child; the conqueror and
the defeated; able To snap u lions jaw,
and yet captured by tic sigh of a
maidens lie was ruler and slave;
commingliny of virtue and vice, the
sublime and the ridiculous; sharp
enough to make a good riddle, and
yet weak enough to be caught in the
most superficial stratagem; honest
enough to settle his debt, and yet out
ragebusly Tobbing somebody else to
get tl:e-material to ply it; a miracle
and soothing; Il browning glory and
q burning shame. There he stands,
looming up aboTe other men, d noun
tainiof flesh; his arms bunclicd with
muscle that can lift the gate of Il city;
taking AN attitude defiant Of armed
mcn'and wild be;lsts. His hair had
never been cut, and it rolled down in
seven great plaits over his shoulders,
adding ITO his Iicreness and terror.
TheIPhilistines want to conquer linn,
and therefore they must find out
where the secret of his strength lies.
There is Il woman living in the val
ley OF Sorrls by the name Of Dclilah.
They appoint her the agent in the
case. The, Philistines arc secrcted
in the same building. and then
Delilalr goes to work and coaxcs
Samson TO tell what is the secret of
his strength. We'll" lie says, III
you should take sevNi green withes,
such US they fasten wild beasts with,
and put thcll around me. should be
perfectly powerlcss So she binds
him with the seven green withes.
THEN she claps her hands, and says.
''They comc-thc Philstines!" and lie
walks out as though there were no
impediment. SHE coaXes him again,
and says, Now tell me the secret Of
this sgreut strength" and he replies,
IF you should take some ropes that
have never been used, and tic inc with
theirs. should be just like other
men. She tics him with the ropes,
claps her hands and shouts, They
cone-the sPhilistines!r He walks
out IS easy as lie did beforc--not sill
gle obstruction. She coaxes him
again, and lie says, NOW, if you
should take these seven long plaits of
hair, and by this house loom weave.
them into web, could not get
away" So the house loom is rolled
up, and the shuttle flies backward and
forward, and the long plaits of hair
are woven into a web. Then she
claps her hands, and says. They
come! the PLilisLincs!"
He walks out as easily rs lie did be-
fore, dragging 4 part Of tho loom with
him. But after awhile she persuades
him to tell the truth. lie says: II
you should take Il razor, orshcars, and
cut off this long hair, | should be pow
erlcss, and il tho hands of my enc.
mics" Samson sleeps, and, that she
may not wake him up during the pro
cess of shearing, help is called in. You
know that the BARRIERS of the cast have
such skillful way of manipulating
the head, to this very day they will
put man. wide awake, sound asleep.
Ihcar the blades of the shears grind
ing against each other, and see the
long locks falling off. The shears, or
razor, accomplisIes what green wthcs
and new ropes and house loom could
not do. Suddenly she claps her hands
and says: The Philistincs be upon
thee, Samson!" He rouses up with a
struggle, but his strength is all gonc
He is in the hands Of his cnemics
hear thr groan OF the giant as they
take his eyes out, and then l sec him
staggering on in his blindness, feeling
his way as he goes on toward GAIA.
The prison door is opened and the
giant is thrust in. EIe sits down and
puts his hands OH the mill crank,
which, with exhausting horizontal
motion, goes day after day, week after
week, month after month = work,
work, work. The CONSERVATION of
the world in captivity, his locks shorn,
his eyes puncturcd, grinding corn in
GAIA In q previous sermon on this
character learned some lessons, but
another class of lessons are before us
now.
Learn first low very strong people |
are sometimes. coaxed into great imbe-
cilities. Samson had no right to re-
veal the secret. of his strength. Deli
lall's first attempt 10 find out is a
failure. He says: Green withes will
bind me-" but it was a failure Then
lie says, ~ new rope will hold me-
but that also was q failure. Then he
says, Weave my locks into web and