The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1892-11-30

the actions OF IOlk on tn6 EIoch E4Cu1uBe,
Indeed 1t is a scene sometimes that para
lyzes description, and Is beyond the im1g-
ination Of any one who has never looked In.
What swapping Of finger and thumb and
widest gesticulation, and raving like hyenas,
and stamping like buffaloes, and swaying
to and fro. and running one upon another,
and deafening uproar until the President
of the exchange strikes with his mallet four
or five times, crying, "Order! orderP
And the astonished spectator goes out into
the fresh air feeling that he has escaped
from pandenonium. What does 1t au
meana I will toll you what It means. The
deyotees of every heather temple cut them.
selves to pieces and yell and gyrate. This
vociferation and yration Of the Stock ex-
change is all Inappropriate. This is the wor.
ship Of the golden calf.
But my text suggests that this worship
must be broken up, as the behavior Of Moses
in nv teKt indicated. There are those who
say that this golden calf spoken Of In my
text was hollow, and merely plated with
gold: otherwise, they say, Moses could not
have carried it. do not know that, but
somehow, perhaps by the assistance OF his
friends, he takes up this golden calf, which
Is an insult to God and man, and throws. it
into the fire, and it Is melted, and then it
comes out and is cooled OF, and by some
chemical appliances, or by an old fashioned
file, it is pulverizsd, and It Is thrown into
the brook, and as punishment the people
are compelled to drink the nauseating stuf.
So, my hearers, you may depend upon 1t
that God will burn and BE will grind to
pieces the golden calf of modern idolstry.
and he will compel the people In their agony
TO drink it. If not before, it will be 50 on
the last day. 1 know not where the fire will
begin, whether at the Battery or Central
Park, whether at Brooklyn Bridge or at
Bushwick; whether at Snoreditch. London
or West End, but it will be avery hot blaze
All the Government securities of the United
States and Great Britain will curl up In the
first blast. All the money, safes and depos
iting vaults will melt under the first touch
The sea will burn like tinder, and the ship
ping will be abandoned forever. The melted
gold io the brokers' window will burst
the street. but the flying population will not
stop to scoop itup. ly. ~,
The cry of "Firen from the mountain
will be answered by the cry Of "Firs' in the
plain. The conhagratipn win burn out from
the continent toward the sea, and then burn
in from the sea toward the land. New York
and London with one cut Of the red scythe
OF destruction will 20 down. Twenty-Five
thousand miles Of confsgrationil The earth
will wrap itself round and round In shrouds
OF dame and Lie down to perish. What then
will become Of your golden calf? Who then
30 poor as to worship it, Melted or between
the upper and the neither millstone offalling
mountains ground to powder. Dagon down.
Moloch down. Juggernaut down. Golden
calf down. 81
But, my friends every day Is a day Of
Judgment, and God is ali the time grinding
to pieces the golden calf. Merchants OF
Brooklyn and New York and London, what
Is the Characteristic Of this time In which
we hves "Bad,n you say. Professional
men, what Is the characteristic Of the times
in which we lvei fBad," you say. Though
should be In a minority Of one,
venture the opinion that these are tho
best times we have had, for the reason
that God is teaching the world Is never be.
fore that old fashioned honesty Is the only
thing that win stand. We have learned as
never before that forgeries Will not pay;
that the spending Of fifty thousand dollars
on country seats and palatial city resi:
dollars income, will not pay; that the ap.
OF trust funds to our own pri-
vate speculation viii not pay.
We had q great national tumor In the
shape Of fictitious prosperity. We called It
national enlargement Instead OF calling 1t
enlargement we might better have called it
a swelling. It has been tumor, and God Is
cutting It out-has cut It out-and the
nation will get well aud will come back to
the principles of our fathers and grand
fathers, when twice three made six instead
Of sixty, and when the apples at the bottom
of the barrel were just as good as the apples
on the top Of the barrel, and silk hand.
kerchief was not half cotton, and man who
woro five dollar coat paid for swas more
honored than q man who wore dfty dollar
coat not paid for.
The golden calf Of our day, like ths,one Of
the text. is very apt to be made out6f bor-
rowsd gold. These IEaelites Of the text
borrowed the earrings of the Egyptians
and then melted them into god. That
is tho way the golden calf Is made nowadays.
A great many housekeepers, not pay
ing for the articles they get, borrow OF the
grocer. and the baker. and the butcher,
and tho dry goods seller. Then the re-
taller borruws OF the wholesale dealer.
Then the wholesale dealer borrous OF the
capitalist and we borrow and borrow and
borrow until the community Is divided into
two classes-thoSs who borrow and those
who are borrowed of-and after awhile the
capitalist wants his money and he rushes
upon the wholesale dealer, and the wholesale
dealer wants his money and be rusnes upon
the retailer, and the retailer wants his
money and he rushes upon tho consumer,
and we all 60 down together.
There Is many man inthis day who rides
In a carriage and owes the blacksmith for
the tire, and the whealwright for the wheel,
and the trimmer for the curtain, and the
driver for unpaid wages and the harness
maker for the bride, and the furrier Tor the
robe. while from the tip OF the carriage
tongue clear back to the tip at the shawl
6uttering out Of the back Of the vehicle
everything Is paid for by notes that have
been three times renewed.
Il Is this temptation to borrow and bor-
row and borrow that keeps the people ever
lastingly. praying to the golden calf for
help, and just at the minute they expect the
help the golden calf treads on them. Tho
Judgments Of God, like Moses In the text
will rush In and break up this worship; and
I say. let the work 20 on until every man
shall learn to speak truth with his neighbor,
and those who make engagements shaH 1eel
themselves bound to keep them, and when
a man who will not repent Of his business
but goes on wishing to satists his
cannibai appetite by devouring widows
houses shall by the law ofsths land be COM
PEELED to exchange his mansion Tor Sing
Sing. Let the golden calf perishl
But, my friends. il we have made tnis
world our god, when we come to die we viii
ace our idol demolished. How much OF this
world are you going to take with you into
the nexti VIII you have two pocksts-one
in each side Of your shrouds Will you
cushion your coffin with bonds and mort
pages and certificates of stock? Ah, mol The
ferryboat that crosses this Jordan takes no
baesage-nothing heavier than spirit.
You may perhaps take five hundred dollars
with you two or three miles, In the shape OF
viii have to leave them there. It would not
be safe for you to lie down there with gold
watch or q diamond ring 1t would be
temptation to the pillagers.