Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-05-09
DANIELS IN BABYLON.
How Youths Should Conduct Them
selves Out of the Home Nest.
ENVY FIGHTS AGAINST SUCCESS.
peci ion of Character Amid All of the
Worlds Temptations.
TALMAGES REGULAR SUNDAY SERMON
rsrEcrAL TELEGRAM TO THE DISPATCH,

BROOKLYN, May S.-Dr. Talmage took
for his subject to-day the character oi
Daniel His text was Daniel vi, 2: Dan.
iel was first"
Where in romance can you find anything
equal 10 what Daniel was in realty? A
young man, far away from home, intro
duced into the most magnificent and most
dissolutc palace of all the earth. The king,
wishing to make this young man prodigy
in personal appearance. orders his attend.
ants to see that he has plenty of meat
and wine, and Daniel refuses these delica-
Cies and insists on a vegetable diet refusing
everything but pulse and water, waving
back all the inch viands with determined,
"No: l thank YOU"
He surpasses all the princes in briIliancy.
As this sun rises higher and higher in the
armament. it puts out all the stars, and if
there is anything the stars hate it is the
sun. Daniel becomes so much of a favorite
with King Darius that our Young hero is
promoted to be Prime Minister or Secretary
of State-the Frelinghuysen or the Bismarck
of the ancients. But no man ever attained
such high position without exciting the envy
of others.
The meanest and wrathiest passion of the
soul is jealousy. You see it among all pro-
fessions and occupations am sorry to say
other classes of men.
The Envious Demagogues of Babylon.
1t is a passion bitter as hell and it is imme-
diately recognized, and yet though it black
ems the man who INDUCES in it, men will
kindle this fire which consumes only them
selves. There were demagogues in Babylon,
who, highly appreciative of their own
capacity. doubted the policy OF elevating
such q young man as Daniel. They said:
"Why we know more than he does. We could
manage the public affairs better than he can
manage them. The idea of putting Dan in
such a place that" Old Babylon was
afraid of young Babylon. They began to
plot his ruin.
He WAS an illustrfous target The taller
the cedar the more apt to be struck with
the lightning These demagogues asked
Darius to make an unalterable decree that
any man who within 30 DAYS shall ask petit
tiOn OF anyone except the King shall be put
to death. Darius, not mistrusting any foul
play, makes such a decree. The demagogues
have accomplished their purpose. for they
kew that Daniel would not stop sending up
petitions to his God, and Daniel, instead of
being affrighted by the decree. went three
times day to his house-top for prayer. He
is caught in the act. lie is condemned to be
dcYoured by the lions. Such a healthy
Young man will be for the leonine monarchs
the best banquet they ever had. By the
rough executioners of the law he is hurried
away toward the den.
=,
paving of the dust, and as their mouth is
placed to the ground the solid earth quakes
with their below. The door is removed and
Daniel showed into the den, which was all
agleam with fiery eyeballs that seem to roll
and snap in the caverns. They approach
the detenceless man. Their appetite was
sharp with hunger. One stroke of their paw,
one crunch Of thei1 teeth and he would have
been liteless.
The Nature of the Lions Changed
How strange n welcome Daniel receives
from the monsters. They fawn about him.
They cover his feet with their long mane
They are struck with the lock-iaw That
night Daniels sleep is calm and undis-
turhed, with his head nillowed on the warm
neck of the tanned lions. But King Darius
was not so happy. He loved Daniel and he
hated the stratagem by which his favorfte
had been condemned. He Daces his floor all |
night. He cannot sleep At the least sound |
he starts and his flesh creeps with horror |
coward.
He watches eagerly for the dawn, which
seems SO long in tarrying. At the first |
streak Of light, he starts out to find the fate |
of Daniel. The palace gate opens and lars |
heavily behind him While We: the city Is |
asleep. He comes to the den. He looks |
through the crevices but sees nothing He |
dare not speak Expecting the worst, his |
heart stons. Gathering strength he puts his |
mouth to the riffs in the rock and cries: |
"Oh. Daniel. is thy God whom thou seryest |
hOn>e' An answer comes rolling up out of |
the deep darkness: "Oh, King, live forever
Ny God hath sent his angel and hath shut |
tue lions mouths, that thev have not hurt
me. The Young man is brought out and |
the dema@o-ues who made the plot are
thrown in. But they hardly struck the bot
tom of tie den when their flesh rent and |
their bones cracked, and the blood spurted |
through the riffs.
Now. you see from this subject that in the |
eyes OF many the greatest offense You can |
: what ho
yOuug man been guilty, that he should come
under the bitter hatred Of the demagogues? |
" hy, he had got to be prime minister of |
Babylon.
Envy Never Strikes at the Poor Man
Behold in this sketch a touch Of human |
nature. As long rs poverty pinches you |
and YOU run the gauntlet between tax
@Rtherer and landlord, and you have hard |
work 20 educate your children. there will be
mUlttUdes OF men to say: "Poor fellow
He ought to succeed. How sorry 1 am for
him. But. after awhile, you begin to
emerge from the darkness. That was cap
ltli investment. You purchased at just the
ll-ht time. Fortune became good -natured |
and smiled. IOu builded YOUR own house |
ou got to he one of the first men on the
5 ireet- Now, rs you pass, number of those |
lat Sympat hizers stand on the corner of |
the street. They scOwl at YOU from under |
the RIM OF their hats. You have more money |
now than they have, and YOU ought TO be |
scovled at from under the rim of their hats
Before YOU get fully past you hear n word
or two: stuck MP" says one Didn't get
soon. says a third Every stone IN YOUR |
new house was laid their heart. Your
horses Eoots went over their nerves Your
carriage tire cut their neck
success is often Il SYNONYM for scorn Tho
frst thing man wants is religion. The |
second is grit. II you do not want to face |
Wild beasts. you must never get to be prime
minister II you are now, as 4 young man |
rising in any one respect, l bless God for |
your Advancement, but l wish to say before
1 quit this thought, look out for the lions.
Daniers Decision of Character
AGAIN, behold in our subject an exhibition
Of true decision of character. Before Daniel
were condemnation and death, If he con-
Smued faithful to his religion. Yet, just as
before. three times dav he prayed with his
face toward Jerusalem. There is nothing
more fatal for the religious or worldly ad-
tan spirit of indecision. How
often youth is almost gone before the in
i-Fluual has determined upon his profess
There are those who for 30 or 40 years have
accomplished nothing anywhere because
hey have not felt themselves settled. They
."Ne thought OF the law, OF medicine, of |
mere NanGIse, OF mechanism. They have |
"'I.' idea of going West. Perhaps they will |
2" East. Perhaps they won't.
"'I wrote in your brain and engraved on
our brnos what you ought to be. Then be |
,'lj. nothing more or nothing less. In that |
l.Iectipu l. your success. Every other road |
: your ruin. Having adjusted your COM
pas: go ahead. set your teeth together. |
small difficulties do not notice. Great diff |
."'tira. by Gods grace strike them down. |
J"Naiu Let towards skulk. Act you like |
n pi God. Character like the rOldfnch |
d l"uquin, is magnificent when standing |
rIn but loses all its splendor in flight |
mere l. no such thing failure to those /
" 10 trust In God.
A-ain, let this story of Daniel teach us
-L"l me way to future success is through |