The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1892-11-16
@THE GOLDEN CALF"
The Subject Of a Sermon by Rev.
T. Dewitt Talmage, d. D.
How Men Sacrifice Themselves and Thoir
Families In Their Greed for wealth.
Tho Great Temple and Altar Of
tho Golden Calf OF Mod
ern Idolatry.

money making spirit OF tne JineS. ~
was 1.-THE Golden Calf" the text Sc
lected being Exodus xxi, %:
And he took the calf which they had made |
and burnt 1t in the fire, and ground 1t TO powder
and strewed 1t upon the water and made the
children Of Israel drink Of 1t.
People will have god Of some kind,
and they prefer one of their own MAX
ing. Here come the Israelites, break
ing off their golden earrings, the men
as well as the women, for in those times
there were masculine as well as femi-
nine decorations Where did they get
get these beautiful gold earrings, COM
ing up as they did from the desertP 0,
they BORROWED" them of the Egyptians
when they left Egypt These earrings
are piled up into a pyramid OF glitter
ing beauty. "Any more earrings to
bring?" says Aaron. None. Fire is
lindled; the earrings are melted and
pured into mold, not Of an eagle or
war charger, but Of calf; the gold
cools off; the mold is taken away, and
the idol is set up on its four legs An
altar is built in front of the shining
calf Then the people tn row up their
arms, and gyrate and shrek and dance
nightly and worship. Moses has been
six weeks on Mount Sinai, and he comes
back and hears the bowling and sees the
dancing of these goleden-calf fanatics,
and he loses his patience and he takes
the two plates Of stone On which were
written the Ten Commandments and
flings them so hard against rock that
they split all to pieces. When a man
gets mad he is very apt to break all the
Ten Commandments Moses rushes in
and he takes this calf-god and throws 1t
into hot fire, until 1t is melted all out
Of shape, and then pulverizes it-not by
the modern appliances Of nitro-muriatic
acid, but by ancient appliance OF
nitre, or by the old-fasional file. He
makes for the people most nauseating
draught He takes this pulverized gold
en- calf and throws it in the only brook
which is accessible, and the people are
compelled to drink of that brook or not
drink at all. But they did not drink all
the glittering stuff thrown on the sur
face. Some Of il flows on down the sur
face OF the brook to the river, and then
flows on down the river to the sea, and
the seq takes it up and bears it to the
mouth of all the rivers, and when the
tide sets back, the remains Of this gold
en- calf are carried up into the Hudson,
and the East River, and the Thames,
and the Clyde, and the Tiber, and men
go out and they skim the glittering sur
face, and they bring It ashore and they
make another golden calf, and Califor'
mia and Australia break off their golden
earrings to augment the pile, and in the
fires Of financial excitement and strug.
gle all these things are melted together
and while we stand looking and won
dering what will come of it, lol we find
that the golden calf of Israelitish wor
ship has become the golden calf of Eu
ropean and American worship.
/ shall describe to you the god spoken
OF in the text, his temple, his altar OF
sacrifice, the music that is made in his
temple, and then the final breaking NJ
OF the whole congregation of idolaters
Put aside this curtain and you see the
golden calf OF modern idolatry. 1t Il
not like other idols, made out Of stock
or stone, but II has an ear so sensitive
that It can hear the whispers on Wal
street and Third street. and Stat'
street, and the footballs in the Bank o
England, and the hutter Of a French
mans heart on the bourse. II has al
eye so keen that it can see the rust OF
the farm Of Michigan wheat and the in
sect in the Maryland peach orchard
and the trampled grain under the hoo
of the Russian war charger II is 81
mighty that 1t swings any way 1t will
the worlds shipping. 1t has its foot oi
all the merchantmen and the steamers
II started the American civil war, ant
under God stopped 1t, and 1t decides
the Turko-Russian contest. One broke
in September, 1869, in New York
shouted: zone hundred and sixty 70
a millioni" and the whole continen
shiyered. This golden calf of the tex
has It's right front foot in New York, II
left front foot in Chicago, its righ
back foot in Charleston, its left bacl
foot In New Orleans, and when
shakes itself IL shakes the W orld. oh
this is mighty god-the golden calf O
the worlds worship.
But every god must have its temple
and this golden calf of the text is n
exception. It's temple is vaster tina
St Paurs of the English, and St Peter
of the Italians, and the Alhambra G
the Spaniards, and the Parthenon G
the Greeks, and the TAI Mahal Of tn
Hindoos, and all other cathedrals pu
together. Its pillars are grooved an
futed with gold, and its ri bbed archie
are lowering gold, and It's chandelier
are descending gold, and its floors ar
tesselated gold, and It's vaults ar
crowded heaps Of gold, and It's spire
and domes are soaring gold, and It's ol
gan pipes are resounding go Id, and II
pedals aretramping gold, and It's stor
pulled out are flashing gold, Will
standing at the head Of the temple, Q
the presiding deity, are the hoofs an
shoulders and eyes and ears and nostri
of the calf Of gold.
Further Every god must have nc
only It's temple, but its altar Of saoriac,
and this golden calf Of the text Is no Q,
ception. Its, altar is not made out ,
stone as other affairs, but out OF coun
ing-room desks and fire proof safes, an
Il Is broad, a long, high altar. III
victims sacrificed on 1t are innumsrabl
Whatdoes this god care about the groar
and struggles of the victims before 4
With cold, metallic eye II looks on m
vet iefs them suffer. o. heaven an