Daily Republican., 1889-10-01
"TnE sHoRN LOCKS OF SAMSON

BROOKLYN, Sept. 29.-The subject Of
DR.. 1almage's sermon to-day was "The
shorn locks OF Samson" He took for his
text Judges wi. o: "Eutice him, and
see wherein his great strength lIeth, and
by what means we may prevail against
him, that we may bind him TO affiict
MIN; and we will give thee every one of
Us 100 pieces OF silver"
The preacher said: at would take q
akilllul photographer 10 picture Samson
as he really was. The most facile words
are not supple enough 10 describe him.
He was giant and child; the conqueror
and the defeated; able TO snsp q lions
Jaw, and yet captured by the sigh of q
maiden. He was ruler and slave; COM
minGling OF virtue and vice, the sublime
aud the ridiculous; sharp enough to
make q good riddle, and yet weak enough
to be caught In the most superficial
stratagem; honest enough to settle his
debt, and yet outrageously bbing
somebody else TO get the material to pay
1t; u miracle and soothing; a crowning
glory and burning shame There he
stands, looming up above other men, a
mountain OF flesh; his arms punched
with muscle that can lift the gate Of q
city; taking an attitude defiant OF armed
men and wild beasts. His hair had
never been cut, and 1t rolled down In
seven great plaits over his shoulders,
adding to his fiereeness and terror. The
Philistines want to conquer him, and
therefore they must find out where the
secret OF his strength Hes"
DR.. Tslmsge then related the story of
SamsoD's etrayal by the cunning DELI
lab and said:
LEARN first how very strong people
are sometimes ooaxed into great imbecili-
ties. Unmportant actions 10 life that
involve no moral principle may without
injury be subjected TO ardent persuasions,
but us soon as you have come to the line
that separates right from wrong no in
ducement or blandlshment ought to
make you step over it.
again, this narrative teaches US the
power Of an ill-disposed woman. In the
portrait gallery of BiUle queens we find
Abigail and Ruth and Miriam and Vashti
and Deborah, but in tue r0guee' gallery
OF police station you find the pictures
Of women as well as men. Delilah's pic
ture belongs to the rogues' gallery, but
she had more power than all Philistia
armed with sword and spear. She could
carry of the iron gates Of Sameon's reso.
luton as easily as he shouldered the gates
of Gsza. Dtlilah In the Bible stands In
the memorable company of Adah, and
Zillah, aud Bathsheba, and Jezebel, and
Athaliah, and Herodias.
"How deplorabie the influence of such
in contrast with RebeceA and Phoebe, and
Huldah and Tryphona, and Jepbtha's s
daughter, and Mary, the mother OF
Jesus.
"In female biography we fnd the two
extremes of excellence and crime.
Woman stands nearest the gate Of heaven
or nearest the door OF hell. When adorn-
ed by grace she reaches a point OF Chris
tian elevation which man cannot attain
and when blasted OF crime she sinks
deeper than man can plunge. Yet am
glad that the Instances in which woman
makes utter shipwrsck OF character are
comparatively rare.
'The first time l ever saw a eity-it
was the city OF Phiiadelphia-I was q
mere lad. stopped at hotel and re-
member In the eyen-tide corrupt
man piled me with his Internal art. He
saw | was green. He wanted to show
me the sights OF the town. He painted
the path Of sin until Is looked like emer-
aid; but was afraid of him. / showed
back from the basilisk. l made up my
mind he was q baBilisk. 1 remem-
ber how he reeled his chair around
in front of me and made a concentrated
aud diab0lical effort TO destroy my soul /;
but there were good anges In the air that
night. 1t was no good resolution on my
part, but 1t was the all-encompassing <
grace of good God that delivered me.
Bewarei bewarel Oyoung mani
"0h, that the voice of Gods truth
might drown the voice of Delilah. Come
into the >ways of pleasantness and the
paths Of peace and by the grace of a
pardoning God start for thrones Of honor
aud dominion upon which you may reign
rather than travel the road to dungeon,
where the destroyed grind in the mills of
despair, their locks shorn and their eyes
out" +"