The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1890-01-18
SAVING A KINGS LIFE.
An Application Of the Saving Of
the Life of Young King Joash.
h Various Efforts to strangis Chris
eiRnity Have Always Resulted In q
Fresh and More Vigor-
Qua Growth.


While on his homeward trip from che
holy Land Rev. 7. Witt Talmage was
announced TO deliver the following SER
mon In Paris, from the text:
Jehosheba, the daughter OF. King Joram;
sister or Ahazlah, took Joash, the son of
Ahaziah, and stole him from among the
Kings sons which were slain; and they hid
him' even hi III and hi- nurse, In the bed
chamber from AthaIiah, 80 that he was not
slain. And he was with her hid In the house
: OF the Lord six years.-II. Kings, H., q, s..
Grandmothers are more lenient with
their children's children than with their
own AT forty years, Of age, II disci-
pllne be necessary, chastisement Is used,
out At seventy the grandmother, look
ing upon the m~isbehavior OF the grand
child, is a~pologetic, and disposed to sub
stitute confectionery for whip. There
Is nothing more beautiful than this mel
lowing of old age toward childhood.
grandmother takes out her pocket
handkerchief and wipes her spectacles
and puts them on, and looks down into
the face of the mischievous aud rebel
ious descendant, and says: 81 don't
think he meant to do 1t; let him of
this time; I'll be responsible for his be-
havior In the future" My mother, with
The second generation around her-a
boisterous crew-said one day: 81 sup
pose they ought to be disciplined, but !
can't do IL. Grandmothers are not at TO
bring up children" But here, in my
text, we have a grandmother of a differ
ant hue.
l have within q few DAYS been in Je-
russlem, whore the occurrence Of the
text took place, and the whole scene
came wildly before me while l was go
Ing over the site Of the ancient temple
and climbing the towers of the Kings
palace. Here In the text 1t is old Atha-
lish, the queenly murderess. She ought
to have been honorable. Her father was
King. And yet we find her plotting
for the determination Of the entire royal
family, including her own grandchil-
dren. The e~xecutioners' knives are
.sharpened. The palace Is red. with
blood of Princes and Princesses. On all
sides are shrieks, and hands thrown up,
and struggle, and death groan. No
mercy Kill! Kill! But while the ivory
floors OF the palace run with carnage,
and the whole land is under the shadow
OF q great horror, a feet-footed woman,
a clergyman's wife, Jehosheba by name,
stealthily approaches the imperial
nursery, seizes up the grandchild that
had somehow as yet escaped massacre,
wrapped 1t up tenderly but in haste,
snuggles II against her, flies down the
palace stairs, her heart in her throat
lest she be discovered in this Christian
.AI,. OF L.. ~.A - A. -.
soon rs you can, for she carries o precious
burden, ever q young King. With this
youthful prize she presses into the room
OF the ancient temple, the church of
olden time. unwraps the young King
and puts him down, sound asleep as he
Is, and unconscious Of the peril that has
been threatened; and there for six years
he Is secreted in that church apartment.
Meanwhile old Athaliah smacks her
lips with satisfaction, and thinks that
all the royal family are dead.
But tho six years expire, n 1t Is now
time for young Joash to come forth and
take the throne, and TO push back into
Disgrace and death old Athaliah. The
arrangements arc all made for political
revolution. The military come and
Ihk0 UOoobhoAOh VI NV tcilDAts oWOh IVY
atty TO the boy Joash and stand around
for his defense. see the s%harpened
swords and the Furnished shields!
Every thing is ready. Now, Joash, half
aifrighted ~ the armed tramp Of his
defenders, scared at the vociferatlon Of
his admirers, Is brought forth in full re.
gala. The scroll OF authority Is put in
his hands, the ~coronet Of government Is
put on his brow, and the people clapped,
and waved, and huzzaed, and trumpeted.
"Whatis that?" said Athaliah." What
IL tina sound over In the temple2"
And abe flies to soc, and OIL her way
they meet her and say: "Why. haven't
you heard3 You thought you had slain
all they royal family, but Joash has
come to light"
Then the queenly m~urderess, frantic
with rage, grabbed her mantle and tore
It 20 tatters, and cried until she foamed
1t the mouth:
"You have no right TO crown my
grandson. You have no right TO take
the government from my shoulders.
Treasonl treason"
While she stood there crying that, the
military started for her arrest, and she
took q short cut through a back door Of
the temple and @ through the royal
stables; but the battle res Of the mill
tary fell on her in the barn.yard, and
for many adsy. when the horses were
being unloosed from The chariot, after
drawing out young Joash. the hery
steeds would sport and rear passing the
place. as they smelt the place OF the
carnage.
The first thought I hand yop from
this subject is that the extermination OF
righteousness is m impossibility. When
q woman Is good. she Is apt TO be very
good. and when she Is bad, she Is apt TO
be very bad, and this Athaliah was one
Of the latter sort. She would extermi-
nate the last scion Of the H1usoo, OF
David, through whom Jesus W 10,
come. There was plenty OF wotNes$'or
embaimers aud undertakers. She would
clear the land OF all God.fearing and
God-loving people. She would put an
end to every thing that could In anywise
interfere with her imperial crimiDality.
She folds her hands and says: The
work Is done: IL IL completely done" is
it7 In the ~swaddling clothes OF that
Cn0ECu Ap1Itl1Out 0TD HNaPPtH
Of God, and the cause OF good govern
ment. That is the scion OF the house
OF David; 1t Is Joash, the Christian re-
former; IL Is Joash, the friend Of God;
IL Il Joash. the domolisher OF Baalittsh
Ido,atry. Rock him tendcriy; nurse
him gently. Athaliah. you may kill all
the other children. but you can not Kill
him. Eternal defenses are thrown all
around him, and this clergyman's wife,
,Johosheba, will snatch him up from the
palace nursery, and will run up and
down with him into the house OF tho
Lord. and there she will hide hun for
six years. and at the end OF that time
he will come forth for your dethrone-
ment and obliteratiou.
Well, my friends, just as poor . botch
docs the world always make OF extin-
gushing righteousness, Superstition
rises up and says: II will just put an
end 10 pure religion" Domitian slew
forty thousand Christians, Diocletian
slew eight hundred and iorty.four thou
aand Chrtstians. And the scythe OF
persecution has been swung through all
the ages, and the flames Kissed, and the
suiiIotine chopped, and the Bastile
0roaued, but,did the foes OF Christianity
exterminate it7 Did they oxtermiuate
Alban. the Arst British sacrifce; or
Zuinglfus. the Swiss reformer; or John
Oldcastle, the Christian nobleman; ar
Abdallah, the Arabian martyr; or Ammo
Aaksw, or Sanders. or Cranmer? Great
work OF determination they made OF It.
Just 1t the time when they thought