Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1890-06-06
TALMAGE'S SERMON,
weekly Discourse of the Grea,
Brooklyn Preacher.


here is an Oriental courtier, about the
uo Us onehslve man in Hebrew history.
uainan by name, He plotted for the do
tTuction o, the ISraelitsh nation. and 7
wonder not that in some of the Hebrew
SnAgogueS TO this dav when Hamau's
uanie Is mentioned, the congregation cliucn
eneir hStS, and stamp their feet AMI crr,
Let his name be blotted outp Haman
was prime minister in the magnificent
S9urt OF Persia. Thoroughly ao2reciativs
Sl the honor conferred, he expects every.
i Houy 'nat ne passes to be obseI Iuious. Com.
Jug IN one day Mt the gate OF the Dalaca the
servants drop their heads in honor of hi,
oncei nut Hebrew, namel Moriecqi.
saAeS upon the passing dignitary without
oenaing ms head or taking of his hat He
was good man, and would not have bean
Negligent OF tho ordinary courtesies of life
out nc lett no respect eith,r for Halan or
tue nation from wnicI hc hal come. But
ne could not be hypocritica!: an while o.l
els haae oriental salalm, Getting clear down
oelore thls prime miulst-. when h DasSe l.
-horuecdl, the Hebrew, relaxed not a muscle
u MS necS, AMI kept his cain clear uu. Be-
suss OF that atfront Henal gets a dearas
rom AhasueruS the dastarllv King, for
me nilssacre Of al the Israe,ites, and that,
Oh course will include Mordeva'.
10 MAKE long story short, through
3ueen Esther this whole plot was revs 1led to
her husband, AhasueruS One nigh: Aha.
iieruS, Wuo was afflicted witn ius0 mia, IN
ms sleep!ess hours calls fo' his secretary t.
READ to him few passages of Persian his.
tory, and so while away the night In the
DOCK read tnat night TO the King an account
was gwen pt conspiracy, from which
Mordecsi, the Hebrew. hal saved tue
hings life, and for which kinhne,;
Mordecal had never received any reward.
ihamsn, who hal been tiIin-up nice ga.
lows to hang Morlecai on, was walking out
side the door OF tha Kings sleeping apart
ment and was called in. Ine King told him
that he had lust bal read TO him the a. ount
OF soma one VINO mad Savel his the Kings
iiie, and he asked wnat reward ouyht to D..
given to such one. Self.concaitei Ha,nan,
supposing that he himself was to get tn.
honor, ami not imagining for a moment
tnat the dellverer OF the Kings life was
Mordecai, says; why, your ma 5esty ought
to make a triumph for him, ami pus a
crown on him, AMI set him on a
splendid horse, high stepping and full bloo /
Ell, and then have one nf your princes
lead the horse through the streets, crying:
Bow the Xneh, here comes a man who ha.
saved the Kings hfe.'o Then said Ahas.
uerus in severe tones to Haman: ~ know
all ABOUT your scOundrelism. Now you go
out and MAKE triumph for Moriecai, tn.
Hebrew, wh"m you nate Put tbs oess
saddle on the finest horse, and you, the
prince, hold the stirrup while Mordeca,
gets on, and ta-n lead his horse through tn.
street. Make haster'
What spectacle! A comedy and ira ged,
at one and the sane tima. Tha:e they 90
Mordecai, VINO hal been despisel, non
starred aud rooed, in the stlr.ups, Haman,
the chancellor, afoot, holding the prancins,
rearing, champing stallion. Mordecai bend'
his neck at last, but it is to look down at tls
degraded prime minister walking beneath
hin. HuZza for Mordecai Alas for Hamsn
But what pity TO nave the yalloSs recently
butt entirely wasted! 1t is fifty cubics nign,
ami built with care. And Haman hac
erected 1t for Noriecai by whose stirrups a.
no" walks a. groom, Stranger and NOR,
startling than auv romance there 90 up tn,
steps oi the scatfolding side BY side, tn,
hangman and Ha naA the ex-chsnce!lor ''SS
they hanged Haman on the gsllows that h,
had prepared for Noriecai
Although SO many wears have paSssl
since cowsrdly Abasuerus rsigned, aud the
| beautiful Esther answer ID to MS wlims, aud
Persia perisnel yet from tIe life and deatu
| OF Haman We may draw living lessons OF
warning and instruction. Aud, first. wa
come 10 the practical suggestion td9t
when the hear is wrong, things very in
| significant will destroy our comfort.
| Who would have thought that grea.
| prime minister. admired and applaulei by
| millions OF PerSianS would have beel 50
nettled and harassed by anything trivial!
| What more could the great dlgnitary have
wanted than his chariots and attendants
and palaces and banquets? IL atfluence oi
| circumstances can make a man contentet
and happy surely HamRn should have beer
contented and happy. No. Mordecsi'S re
fusal Of a bow takes the glitter from thi
| gold, and the richness from the purple anc
the speed from the chariots. With hear
| puffed up with every imitation OF vanity an;
revenge, it was impossible for him TO b
happy The silence of Mordecai at the gat
was louder than the brsying of trumpetS II
the palace Thus shall it always be il tn
heart is not right. Circumstances the mos
trivial will disturb the spirit
1t is not the great calamitieS Of life tina
create the most worrlment. nave seen men
| felled byrepested blows OF misfortune, arlsin.
from the dust, never desponllng. But tn,
most Of the dis1uiet which men suffer Il
from insignificant causes as lion attacke-
, by some beast of prey turns easily aroua1
and Stays him, yet runs roarinyly throuSt
| the forest at the alighting on his brawny
| neck of few insects. You meet some Srea,
| loss in business with comparative composure
| but you can think of petty trlckerieS In
ilctedupon you which rouse all your ca
| pacty for wrath. and remain in your heart
an unbearable annoyance. II you look back
upon your life you will find that most OF
! the vexations and disturbances oi
spirit which you felt were produced
! by circumstances that were not
| worthy of notice. If you want to be happy
| you must not care for trities. Do not be toJ
| minute in your inspection Of the treatment
you receive from others. Who cares whether
Moriecai bows when you pass, or stands
| erect and stiff as cedar? Tnat wooIman
would not make much clearing in the forest
who should stop to bind up every little bruisa
and scratch he received in the thicket, nor
| Will tnaJ man accomplish much tor the world
| or the church who is too watchtul and appre-
| c ative OF petty annoyances. There are mul.
| titudeS Of people in the world constantly har
rowed because they pass their lives, not in
searching out those things which are attrac-
| tive and deserving but in spying out with all
| their powers OF vision to see whether they
| cannot find a Morleca
Again: learn from the life Of the man
under our notice that worldly vanity and
sin are very anxious to have piety bow be-
| fore them Hauian was a fair emblem OF
entire worldlness. and Mordecai, the repre-
sentative of unhinching godliness. Such
| were the usages OF society III ancient tiues
that, had this Israeite bowed TO the prime
minister it would have been an acknowledge
ment Of respect for his character and nation.
Mordecai would, therefore, have sinne1
against his religion had he made any obeis-
Ince or dropped his chin half an inch
before Haman When, therefore proud
Haman ATTEMPTED to compel an hom.
| age which was not felt, he only did
what the world ever since has tried TO do,
when it would force our holy religion in any
way TO yield to its dictates. Danel,if he hid
been a man OF religious compromises, would
never have been thrown into the den OF
lions He might have made sons arrange.
ment with King Darius whereby he could
have retained part OF his form Of religion
without making himself 50 completely OBJ
noxious to the idolaters. Paul might have
retained the favor of his rulers and escaped
| martyrdom IL he had only been willing to
mix tlp his Christian faith with few errors.
Uis nnhapdino Christian character was