Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1892-12-24
REV. DR.. TALMAGE
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S Sun
DAY SERMON.

the field By ntght."-I Samuel xxi, 10.
Tragedy that beats anything Shake
spearean or Victor Hugoian. After return
Ing from the Holy Land briefly touched
upon II, but | must have a whole sermon for
that scene. The explosion and fash of gun
powder have driven nearly all the beasts
and birds Of prey from these regions. AMI
now the Shrek Of the locomotive whistle
which is daily heard at Jerusalem will for
many miles around clear Palestine of cruel
claw and beak. But in the time Of the text
those regions were populous with multituieS
Of jackals and lions. S. ven sons Of Saul
had been crucifed On a hill. Rizpah was
mother to two and a relative to five of the
boys What had these boys done that they
should be crucifieds Nothing except to have
a bad father and grandfather. But now
that the boys were dead, why not take them
down from the gibbetst- No. They ara
sentenced to hang there.
So Rizpah takes the sackclot1-a rough
sha"l with which in mourning for her dead
she had wrapped herseif-and spreads that
sackclOth upon the rocks near the gibhetS.
and acts the part Of a sentinel. WATCHING
and defending the dead Yet every other
sentinel Is relieved, AMI after being on
guard for a few hours some one else takes
his place. But Rizpah is on guari both
rav and night AMI for half a Year. One
hunirei AMI. eighty days AMI night, Of
obsequies. What nerves she must have had
u stand that. An. do you not know that a
mother can stand anything
Oh, if she might be allowed to hollow a
place in the side of tie hill and lay the
bodies of her children TO quiet rest! If in
some cavern of the mountains she might
find for them Christian %sepulturel Oh. it
She might take them from the gibbet of dis
grace and carry them still farther away
from the haunts of men. ard then lie Bessie
them in the last long sleepl Exhausted ms
ture ever ana anon rails into slumber, but III
n n,ra -E@ 49, - 49,
herself as though she had been crual. AMI
leaps up on the rock shouting at wild Lea, t
CARING from the thlcket ana at vuituroiIs
broo wheeling IN the sky. The thrilling
story OF Rlzpah reaches David and he comes
torta to hide the nice nncy. The cOrp>cs
had been chained to the trees. The chains
are unlocked with horrid cIank, and the
skeletons are let down. All the seven are
buried, and the story ends
But 1t hardly ends before you CRY out.
'W hat a hard thing that those seven boy,
should suffer for the crimes of a father and
grandfatherF Yes. but it IS always SO.
Let every one who does wrong know that M
war, not on Y, as in this case, against two
generations, culljreu and grandchildren tut
against all the generations OF coming tina.
l nat Is what makes dissipation and unc1ean-
ness so awful. 1t Invertebrates in other
times. 1t may skip one generation, but it j,
apt to come up in the third generation, a, is
suggested in the len Commandment.
which say, Visiting the iniquities of the
father upon the children unto the third and
fourth generatlon.'
Mind you, it says nothing about the sec
ond generation, but mentions the third amt
the fourth. That accounts for what you
sometimes ee-"ery good parents with Very
bad children. 90 far enough back in the
ancestral line and you find the source of all
the ~turpi'ude. Visiting the iniouities OF
the fathers upon the children unto the third
an fa,,rtk r,ar,,ya+,o~N If yrha~ So,ri Aid
the consequences of his iniuuity could have
died with him it would not have been so
sad. Alas. no. Look on that hill a few
mile, out from Jerusalem and see the
CHASTITY burdens Of those seven glbbets and
the wan and wasted Rizpah watching them.
Go to-day through the wards and aims
houses and the reformatory institutions
whore unfortunate children are kept and you
VIII tiud that min out of ten had drunken or
VICIOUS parents. Yea, day by day on the
stree S OF our cities you find men and women
wrecked of evil parentage. They are moral
corr Ses. Like the seven sons OF SAUL, though
dea', unburied! Alas for Rizpah, who. not
for six months, but for years and years, has
watched them She cannot keep the vul-
lures and the jackals off.
Furthermore, this strange incident in the
Bible story shows that attractiveness of
person and elevation Of position are no Sc
CurIty againt trouble.
no Is this Rizpah sitting in desolat!on2
One of Sauls favor;tes. Her personal at
fractions had won his heart. She had been
cares>ed Of fortune. With a mothers pride
She looked on her princelv children. But
the sSane changes. BehO,t her in Danish
ment and hereave nent-Rjzpah on the rock ,
Some Of the worst llstresseS have come t.
scenes of royalty anu wealth. What por-
ter at the manSion'7 gats has not let III
chanplug ana latleret >teai brin Tin. evil
dispatchs On WHAT te>Setlatei hall has
there not stood the solemn bier? Tn
der what exqu site tresco has there
not been enacted a tragedy of dis
aster> that curt2lp"t couch hath heard
nocry OF pam " hat harp hath never thrilled
with sorrow What lordIy nature hath
never leaned against carved pillar and made
utterance of woe? Gall is not less bitter
when quaffed from a golden challce than
often attended by running rootmen anc
laced iackevS ~Bluuntal behind. Queen Anne
Boieyn Is desolate IN the palace OF Henry
VIII.
Aaolphus wept in German castles over
the hypocrisy OF friends. Pedro /. amons
Brazilian diamonds shlverei with fear O
massacre. Stephen of England sat on
rocking throne. And every mast of pride ha
been bent in the storm. and the highes
mountains of honor and fame are covere
with perpetual snow. Sickness will frost til
roslest cheek, wrinkle the smootheSt brow
and stiffeu the %sprightliest step. Rlzpal
quits the courtly circle and sits on the rock
Perhaps YOU look back upon scenes differ
ent from those IN which now from day Z
day YOU mingie. You have exchanged tn
plenty AMI luxurlauce OF your fathers hous
tor privation aud trial known toGod an / you
OWL heart. Tine morning of life was hushe
with promise. Troops Of GAIA sine
then have made desperate charge upon you
Darkness hae come sorrows hav- swoope
like carrier. birds from the sky and barre
like lackals from the thlcaet. You stan
amid your Slain angulshe1 and woe strucs
Ilzpah on the rOc0.
so 1t has been - al s-ae Eeshti n"s
ioff ,n- >psnG.t ~ teS y fna Persian cour
and 20 forth blasted tro tn4 pa.ace CAT
HaCar exchanges oriental comfort for IN
wilderness ri Bee Snaba. Mar. queen Q
Scots must pass out from fattery an
polnp to suffer ig~nonsnious death IN II
castle OF Fotherincay. The wheel OF fortui
keeps turning. an mansions AMI hutS =
change. AMI lie who role the chariot pG>a'
the barrow. and instead OF thu -lars
feStal llghts IS the s:Fnuetlng O the =
fr and n UIaca - Sat. = nalac ~
a-'te colo rock. +nn ts>plata roc
but that * the piace - wAlca Col ran &
jacob, Win his head on q stone, sax =
shining ladder. Israeli n The desert teaes
+ fha III ar@pa ~, = ~ -ta Far- ta.o .