Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1891-01-31
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u $ r. :, X : 81 .
and dying groans are the music
Sin has made itself a. king:si

strseWns from its wealth the tables and
the floors and arch And yet how
often is that banqu let brokensup and
:ss;howiho lis its end Eyer.and anon
there is: hand writing on the wal A
king falls. "a great iculp rit is arrested.
Tho knees Of wick edness knock to
gether: GOD IS ndgment; Like armed
host breaks insup on the bang uet, and nd
shat light is Be lshazzar, the king ofsthe
s. hald deans, slain. So
Here is o young man. who says: - |
cannot see why thoy make such: afuss
.about5the oxicating cur. Why tits
exhilarating It Inalicssne feel well
can staI K. bett think better feel
better can aot.gee So! ~ people have
such 81 pre- ndice ag;linst - ASfeW
ssearsS pass on aud ]; no lscs aid
ssiinds EhfIse elatch ass6 anse1il
ee*slia6it which he tries to break, bnf ca n
rot, and lie cries out, . Oh, ord God,
help mo-" It seems as though God
would not hear his prayer, and in an
agony CT body and soul he cries out,
'..It bitctlllize a serpent and it stingeth
like an adder How bright it was at
the startl How black it was at the
lastl
: Here is n man who begins to. read
corrupt novels. 'They are SO charm
ing" says lie, II will 60 out and see
for myself whether oil these things are
So" IIc opens the gate of a sinful life
He gees in. A sinful sprite meets him
with her wand She waves her wand,
and it is al cnchantlnent Why, it
seems as if the angels of God had
poured ont phials Of perfume in the
atmosphere AS he walks. on he finds
the hills becoming more radiant will
foliage, and the ravines more resonant
with the falling water. Oh, What a
charming landscape he sees! But that
sinful sprite with her wand meets him
again; but now she revcrses the wand,
and all the cnchantinent is gone. The
cup is full of poison. The fruit turns
to ashes. All the leaves of the bower
are forlSed tongues of Kissing serpents.
The flowing fountains fall back in a
dead pool, stonchful. with corruption.
I'he Turing songs aeco!ne curses and
screams Of demoniac laughter. Lost
spirits gather about him, and feel for
lis heart. and bcckon him on with:
Hail, brother! Hail, blasted spirit,
llail!" IIe tries to get out He comes
to tho front door where he entered, and
tries to push it back, buttho door turns
against him, and in the Jar of that
shutting door he hears these words.
This night IS Belshazzar, the king of
the Chaldeans. slain" Sin may open
bright us the morning. 1t ends dark
as the night
DEATH AT TIE FEAST.
learn further from this subject that
Death sometimes breaks in upon a ban
quet. Why did .le:not so down to the
prisons in Babylon? There were people
there that would like to have died. |
suppose there were men and women in
torture in that city who would have
welcomed Death. But he comes to the
palace, and just at the time when the
mirth is dashing TO the tiptop pitch
Death breaks in at the banquet. We
have often seen the same thing illus
trated. Here is young man just come
from college He is kind. He is low
ing. lie is enthusiastic. He is elo-
qucnt. By one spring he may bound
to heights toward which many men
llavc been struggling for years. a pro-
fession opens before him. lie is estab-
lishcd in the law. His friends cheer
him. Eminent mon encourage him.
After willie you may see him stand
ing in tho United States senate OF NOV
ing popular assemblage by his clo-
uucnce, as trees arc 1noved in whirl-
wind. Some night he retires early. A
fever is on him. Delirium, like recll-
less chariotcer. scizes the rcins of his
intellect. Father and mother stand
by, and see the tides of his life going
out to the great ocean. The banquet
is coming to an end. The lights of
thought and mirtll and eloquencc are
being cxtinguished. The garlands are
snatched from the brow. The vision is
gone. Death at the banquet.
We saw tho same thing, on q larger
scale, illustrated ut the last war in this
country. Our whole nation had been
sitting at national banquet-north,
south, cast and west. What grain was
there but we grew it on our hills.
What invention was there but our
rivers must turn the new wheel and
rattle the strange shuttle. What worth
f,lrs but our traders must bring them
from the Arctic What fish but our
nets must sweep thcn for the markets.
What music but it muse sing in our
balls. What eloqncnce but it must
speak in our senatcs.
Ho! to the national banquet, reach
ing from mountain to mountain, and
from sea to sea! To prepare that ban
quet the sheepfolds and the aviaries OF
the country sent their best treasures.
The orchards piled up on the table
their sweetest fruits. Tine presses
burst out with new wines. 10 sit at
that table came the yeomanry of New
Hampshire, and the lumbornen OF
Maine, and the Carolinian from the
rice fields, and the western cnligrant
from the pines of Oregon, and We were
ali brothers-brothers at q banquet.
Suddenly the feast ended.
What meant those mounds thrown
up at Cl,ickamauga, Shiloh, Atlanta,
Gettysburg, South Mountain? What
meant those golden grain fields, turned
into a pasturing ground for cavalry