The Dickinson press., 1892-03-26
a GIANTS COUCH.
The Iron Bedstead Used by King Og
Was Certainly a Mammoth
Affair.
Dr.. Talmage Argues in Favor Of Sleep
as Necessary for the Well Being
of the Human Race.

U1s AoAuA0SO AA6uOo Ia AuvVA VI 0AVVP |
as Necessary for the Well Being
Of the Human Race.
BROOKLYN, N. Y, -special-Dr.
Talmage's text was Deut. iii;
IL. "Only Og, king of Bashan, re-
manned of the remnant of giants; be-
hold, his bedstead was a bedstead of
iron: is it not in Rabbath of the chill
dren of Ammon? Nine cubits was the
length thereof and four cubits the
breadth OF it."
The story OF giants is mixed with
myth. William the Conqueror was
said to have been of overtowering
altitude, but when, in after time, his
tomb was opened, his bones indicat-
ed that he had been physically OF
only ordinary size. Roland the Hero
was said to have been of astounding
stature, but when his sepulchre was
examined his armor was found only
large enough to fit an ordinary
man. Alexander the Great had
helmets and shields OF enormous size
made andle among the people whom
he had conquered, SO as to give the
impression that he was a giant, al
though he was rather under than ove
the usual height OF a man. But that
in other days and lands there werereal
giants is authentic. One OF the guards
OF the duke of Brunswick was 81 feet
high. In a museum in London is the
skeleton of Charles Brine, 8 feet 4
inches in stature. The Emperor
Maximin was over 8 feet. Pliny tells
OF giant 8 feet high, and two other
giants 81 feet. So l am not incredu-
lous when l come to my text and find
King Og a giant, and the size OF his
bedstead, turning the cubits OF the
text into feet-the bedstead OF Og,
the king, must have been about 13b
feet long. Judging from that, the
giant who occupied it was probably
about IL feet in stature, or nearly
twice the average human size. There
was no need of Rabbincial writer's
trying to account for the presence of
this giant, King Og, at they did, by
saying that he came down from the
other side OF the flood, being tall
enough to wade the waters beside
Noah's Ark, or that he rode on the
top OF the Ark, the passengers inside
the Ark daily providing him with
food. There was
NOTHING SUPERNATURAL
about ,.hlm. He was simply a mon
ster in size.
Cyrus and Solomon slept on beds of
gold, and Sardanapalus had $50 bed
steads of gold burned up with him,
but this bedstead of my text was Of
iron-everythings acrificedf for strength
to hold this excessive avoirdupois,
this Alp of bone and flesh. No Won
der this couch was kept as a curiosity
at Rabbath, and people went fromtar
and near to see it, just as now people
: go to museums to behold the armor
of the ancients.
A land of indescribable opulence
comes into their possession, and all
that is lett of the giant king isthe iron
bedstead. "Nine cubits was thelength
it."
Why did not the Bible give us the
size OF the giant instead of the size of
the bedstead? Why did it not indi-
cate that the man was II feet high in
stead of telling us that his couch was
13h feet long? No doubt among
other things it was to teach us that q
man can be Judged by his surround
ings. Show me a mans associates,
show me a mans books, show me q
mans home and / will tell you what
he is without your telling me one word
about him. You cannot only tell a
man according to the old adage, ''by
the company he keeps" but by the
books he reads, by the pictures he adj
mires, by the. church he attends, by
the places twists. Moral giants and
MORAL PIGMIEs,
intellectual giants and intellectual
pigmies, like physical giants or physi-
cal piglnies may be judged bytheir sur
roundings.
When a man departs this life you
can tell what has been his influence in
a community for good by those who
mourn for him and by how sincere
and long continued are the regrets of
Installing of. There may be no pomp
or %obsequies and no pretense at cpl
tapheolog y, but you can tell how high
he was in conservation, and how high
in usefulness by how long is his shad-
ow when he domestic lie down. What
is true Of individuals is true OF cities
and nations. Show me free libraries
and schools Of a city, and Twill tell
you the intelligence OF its people.
Show me it's gallery of painting and
sculpture, and 1 will tell you the ar
tistic advancement of it's citizens.
Show me it's churches, and I will tell
the moral and religious status Of the
place.
Notice furthermore that even giants
must rest. Such enormous physical
endowment on the part of King Og
across ali fatigue and omit slumber.
No. He requiSes an iron bedstead.
Giants must rest, Not approaching
yearly break down. Giants in bust
ness, giantsin art, giants in eloquence,
giants in usefulness. They live not
out more than halt their days. They
try to escape the consequence of over
work by a voyage across the sea Or a
summer yacht, or call on physicians
for relief frominsomnia orrestoration
Of unstrung nerves or the arrest OF
y apoplexies, when all theyneed is what
this giant OF my text resorted to-an
iron bedstead. Let no one think be-
cause he has great strength Of body or
mind+lat he can afford to trifie with
his unusual gifts. The commercial
world, the literary world, the artistic
world, are all the time aquake with
THE CRASH OF FALLING ANT
King Og, no doubt, had a throne but
the Bible never mentions his throne
King Og, no doubt, had q crown, but
the Bible never mentions his crown
King Og, no doubt, had a sceptre, but
the Bible does not mention his scep
tire. Yet one Of the largest verses OF
the bible is taken up in describing his
bedstead. More sleep is what the
world wants. Economic in every.
thing but sleep. William H. Seward,
the renowned secretary of state, III
the midst of his overmastering tolls
longed for the capacity to rest, writ