Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1889-10-11
TALMAGES SERMON.
Weekly Discourse of tho Great
Brooklyn Preacher.
Subject "The Shorn Locks of Sam.
SON"

TEXT: "Eutice him, and see 1Dherein has
great strength lieth and bV l0hdt means zee
may preUdd against him, that zoe may
bind him TO Gfiict him, and zoe tUiU giUe
thee every one OF us eieUsn hundred pieces Of
SiIUer.n-Judges xvi, 5.
One THOUSAND pounds or about five thou.
sand dollars of our money, were thus offered
for the capture of a giant. 1t would take a
sSillful photographs to picture Samson as
he really was The most facils words are
not supple enough to describe him. He was a
giant and child; the conquoror and the de
teated, able to snap at a lions jaw, and yet
captured by the sigh of maiden. He was
ruler and slave;a commingling of virtue and
vice, the sublime and the ridiculous; sharp
enough to make good riddle, and yet weak
enough to be caught in the
most superficial stratagem honest
enough to settle his debt, and yet out
rageously robbing somebody else to get the
material to pay it; miracle and soothing;
q browning glory and a burning shame.
There he stands, looming up above other
men, mountain OF flesh; his arms punched
with muscle that can lift the gate of a city;
taking an attitude defiant of armed men and
wild beasts. His hair had never been cut,
and it rolled down in seven great paits over
his shoulders, adding TO his terceness and
terror. The PhiIistines want to conquer
him, and therefore they must find out where
the secret of his strength lies.
There Is a woman living in the valley of
Sorek 10y the name of Delilah. They appoint
her the agent in the case. The Philistines
are secreted in the same building, and then
Delilah goes to work and coaxes Samson to
tell what's the secret of his strength. 'Well,"
he says, ''if you should take seven green
withes such as they fasten wild beasts with,
and put them around me, | should be per-
fectly powerless." So she binds him with the
seven green withes. Then she claps her
hands and says: They come--the Philis-
tinesn and he walks out as though there
were no impeachment. She coaxes him again,
and says: Now tell me the secret of
this great strength; and he replies: IF you
should take some ropes that have never been
used, and tie me with them, should be just
like other men, She ties him with the
ropes, claps her hands and shouts: 'They
Fome-the PhilistiheSm He walks out as
aasy as he did before-not single obstruc-
Lon. She cOaxeS him again, and he SAYS:
"How, if you should take these seven long
pbA1ts of hair, and by this house loom weave
Ehau into web. | could not get away" So
Hs house loom is rolled up, and the shuttle
dies backward and forward, and the long
plaits of hair are woven into web. Then
she claos her hands, and says: "They come!
the PhIiistines!'
He walks out as easily as he did before,
dragging a part of the loom with him. But
after awhile she persuades him to tell the
truth. He says: "lfyou should take razor,
Or shears, and cut off this long hair l should
be polverless and liz the hands of my enc
mics" Samson sleeps and that she may not
WAKE him up during the process Of Shearing,
help is called in. You know that the BARRIERS
Of fine East have such skillful way of man
lpulating the head, to this very day they will
put man, wide awake, sound asleep. | hear
the blades of the shears grinding against each
other, and | see the long locks falling off.
The shears, or razor, accompishes what green
t,,it aud nd
not do. Suddenly she claps her hands and
rays: 1.-THE Philistines be upon thee Sam
sonp He rouses up with a struggle, but his
strength is all gone He is in the hands of
his enemies | hear the groan of the giant
as they take his eyes out and then l see him
staggering on III his blindness, feeling his
way as he goes on toward GAIA. The prison
door is opened and the giant is thrust in. He
sits down and puts his hands on 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 is captivity
his locks shorn, his eyes punctured, grinding
corn in GAIA In a previous sermon on this
character learned some lessons, but another
class of lessons are before us now.
Learn first how very strong people are
sometimes coaxed into great imbecilities.
Samson had no right to reveal the secret of
his strength Deilahs first attempt to find
d
will bind me, but it was failure. Then
he says: ga new rope will hold me-" but that
also was a failure. Then he says: Weave
my locks into a web and that will bind me, "
yet that also was failure. But at last you
see how she cosxed it out him Unimportant
actions in life that involve no moral princi-
pie may without injury be subjected to
ardent persuasions, but as soon as you have
come to tho line that separates right from
wrong, no inducement or Establishment ought
TO make you step over it, Suppose man
has been brought up in Christian house
hold and taught sacredly to observe
the Sabbath, Sunday comes; you want
fresh air. Temptation says: Sunday
is just like other days; now don't be
bigoted; we will ride forth among the works
of God; the whole earth is His temple; we
will not go into any designations: come now
have the carriage engaged and we shall bt
back soon enough to go to church i'll the
evening; don't yield to Puritanic notions
you will be no worse for a ride in the coun
try; the blossoms are out and they say every
thing is looking glorious" well, will g
to please you" is the response. And GU
they go over the street, conscience drowned
la the clatter of the swift hoofs and the rusi
of the resoundins wheels. That tempted
man may have had moral character enough
to break the green withes of ten Thousand
Philistine allGrementS, but he has been over
come by coaSing.
Two young men passing down this stree
came opposite drinking saloon with rex
lantern hung out from the door to light mel
to perdition. Let us go in, says one. INC
/ won't" says the other; II never go to sue
places" Now you don't say you are a
weak as that. Why, l have been going Their
for two years and it hasn't hurt me. Come
come now, be man. If you can't stan
anything stronger, take little sherry. Yo
need to see the world as it is. ! don't believ
In intemperance any more than you. ca
stop drinking Just when | want to. Yo
shall go. Now, come right along" Persuasio
has conquered. Samson yields to the coaxin
and there is carnival in hell that nigl
among the Philistines and they shout: "Ha
ha We've got him." Those who have I'll
kindest and most sympathetic natures al
the most in danger Your very dispostio
to please others will be the very trap the
set If you were cold and harsh and sever
in your nature you would not be tampere
with. People never fondle hedgehog. TT
most sentimental Greenlander never kiss
an iceberg. The warmth and SUSCEPTIBLE
of your nature will encourage the SIRE
Though strong as a giant, look out f
Delilah's scissors. Samson, the stronge
man who ever lived, was overcome by Goa
ing
Again, this narrative teaches us the pow,
of an i'll disposed woman. In the portra
gallery of Bible Queens we find Abigail ar
Ruth and Miriam and Vashti and Debora
but in the rogues' gallery of police static
you find the pictures of women as well
men. Delilah's picture belongs to the rogue
gallary, but she had more power than 9
Philistia armed with sword and spear 81
could carry off the iron gates of Samson's res
luton as easily as he shouldered the gates
GAIA. The force that had killed the lion whit
one day plunged out fierce from the thick
utterly succumbs to the slken net Whit
Delilah weaves for the giant He who ht
driven an army in riotous retreat with T.
bleached jaw bone, shifting them hip al