The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1892-02-19
WARNING LESSONS.
DR.. Talmage Discourses on Nebu-
.chadnezzar's Experience.
Lessons Drawn From the Monarch's Insan-
ity-Convlction the First step to Conver-
sion-AffiIctions Merely Warnings
-Reiiglon gaInst Infidelity.

|
an elevating and ennobling influence
on the nature of man. His text referred
to the humiliation of the Babylonish
king, who, being destitute of religion,
sank to the level of the brute Daniel,
iv. IS: "All this came upon the King
Nebuchadnezzar The noted preacher
said:
Col Rawlinson, the oriental traveller,
says that the eXhumed bricks, not only
of Babylon but of Que hundred towns,
in an area of one hundred miles in
length and thirty in breadth, are in
scribed with the name of Nebuchad-
neZzar. He was a great warrior and
at the glance of his sword nations pros
| trated themselves. He was a great
king and built city reservoir ninety
miles in circumference and one hun
dred and twenty feet deep, and con-
structed a hanging garden four
hundred feet square and seventy
five feet high-some say to
please Amuhia, his wife, who
had been born among the hills, and
others say to get a pleasure ground
free from mosquitoes, which aflict the
levels l think, from his character,
the latter reason may have impelled
him as much as the former. When he
conquered King Zedekiah, so as to
have no more trouble with him. he put
his eyes out-a most barbarous way of
incapacitating an enemy. But Baby
Ion was great place, the houses sur
rounded by gardens and the house
tops were connected with each other
by bridges, and one day Nebuchadnez-
Ear walked out on those suspension
bridges and showed, perhaps to royal
visitor, the vastness of his realm.
Nebuchadnezzar waves his hand
above the stupendous scene and ex-
claims: ''Is not this great Babylon
that l have built for the house of the
kingdom by the might of my power
and for the honor OF my majesty?" In
other words: "What a great man /
am. Babylon was not anything until
adorned it See those waterworks;
see those gardens; see those forts l
did all this. l shall never be forgotten.
Whv, my name is on every brick in all
those walls. Just look at me- l am
more than man" But, in an instant,
all that splendor is gone from his
vision, for a voice falls from the
heavens, saying: 20, King Nebuchad-
nezzar, to thee it is spoken;
the kingdom is departed from
thee, and they shall drive thee from
men and thy dwelling shall be with
the beasts df the field; they shall make
thee to eat grass as oxen and seven
times shall pass over thee, until thou
know that the Most High ruleth in the
kingdom of men and giveth it to whom
soever He will" One hour from the
time he made the boast he is on his
way to the fields maniac, and rushing
into the forests he becomes as one of
the beasts, and is after awhile CO overed
with eagles feathers for protection
from the cold, and his nails grow to
look like birds claws in order that he
may dig the earth for roots and climb
the trees for nuts.
The mental disaster that seized him
was what the Greeks called lycan-
thropy, by which man imagines him
self beast and prefers to mingle with
brutes. He who had been eating
pomegranates and apricots off of plates
of gold inlaid VITA amethyst and dia-
nond, and drinking the richest wines
from the royal vats, now browsing on
grass, and struck by the horn of the OK
as he contends for better tuit of
the pasturage, and instead of an
orchestra on benches of ivory playing
the national airs now listening to the
moan and below and gruut of the
beasts
A few years ago, arriving in a city
on q summer afternoon, while waiting
for my engagement in the evening,
sauntered forth into what seemed to be
q park In front Of a large public build
ing, the use of which / knew not.
met a gentleman. with whom / fell into
delightful conversation. and he seemed
intelligent on all subjects. After
awhile. said: Let US sit down on
this bench and rest awhile and enjoy
the scene of verdure and fountains"
NO" said he. "You sit down, but
cannot l am made of glass. and il !
should sit down l would break to
pieces" Then, saw that he was in
sane, and belonged to the large build
ing just behind us After such an in
terview as that l can easily believe
this account of my text
Here is Nebuchadnezzar on all fours
He once prided himself of being more
than a man, and now he turns out TO
be less than a man. The courtiers
look ont of the windows upon him as
he moves among the royal herds and
cry: "a beast!" Seven years pass,
when suddenly his reason returns, and
he comes back to Babylon humble
worshiper of the God of Heaven.
What must have been the excitement
in the royal court as this restored
maniac emperor walked into the palace?
While walking from this Babylonian
palace down to the pasture field and
from the pasture field back to
the palace, the first thing that i'm
presses me is what an homogeneous
thing it is for king to be eating grass
1t is good for cattle but not fit for man.
And then for one to prefer it to a
royal table toward whose bounty the
orchards, and paddocks, and streams,
and vineyards in all the earth might
contribute-what an amazementl And
yet the scene is as common as the day
light
When l see a man of regal nature
made to rule in realms of thought
capable of all moral elevation, besot-
ting his faculties, attempting out of
low sensualities to satisfy his immoral
energies, coming down eff his throne
of power into brutalities. sacrificing
his higher nature to his lower nature,
STOPPING and STOPPING, coming down
and coming down until all his influence !