The Bossier banner., 1892-04-14
KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR.
Rev. T. Dewitt TaImage Discourses
on the Babylonish King.
The Mighty Monarch whose Scepter was
But as a Reed Before the Will of the
God Whom He Bad De-
splsed and Defied.

y
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage in the Brook
lyn tabernacle from the text.
All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar-
Daniel iv.. %.
Col. Rawlinson, the oriental traveller,
says that the exhumed bricks, not only
of Babylon, but of hundred towns in an
area of one hundred miles in length and
thirty in breadth, are inscribed with the
name of Nebuchadnezzar. He was a
great warrior. and at the glance of his
sword nations prostrated themselves.
He was great king, and built a city
reservoir ninety miles in circumference
and one hundred and twenty feet deep,
and constructed a hanging garden four
hundred feet square and seventy-tive
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 af-
flict the levels. think, from his charac-
ter. the latter reason may have impeled
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 Babylon
was great place; the houses surround
ed by gardens and the house-tops were
connected with each other by bridges;
and one day Nebuchadnezzar walked
out on those suspension bridges and
showed, perhaps to royal visitor, the
vastness of his realm as the snn kindles
the domes with glisterings almost in
sufferable, and the great streets thun-
der up their pomp into the ear of the
monarch, and armed towers stand
around adorned with spoils of con-
quered empires. Nebuchadnezzar waves
his hand above the stupendous scene
and exclaims: us 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 majes.
typ" In other words: what a great
man l am. Babylon was not anything
until 1 adorned it. See those water
works; see those gardens; see those
forts. did all this. / shall never be
forgotten. Why, my name is on every
brick in all those walls. just look al
me. am more than a man" But in
an instant all that splendor is gone
from his vision, for voice falls from
the heavens, saying: 30, King Nebu
chadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; the
kingdom is departed from thee, anc
they shall drive thee from men and thy
dwelling shall be with the beasts
of the field; they shall make
thee to eat grass as oxen, and sever
times shall pass over thee, until thor
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 hi.
way to the fields maniac, and, rush
ing into the forests he becomes as ont
OF the beasts, and is after awhile GOV
cred with eagles feathers for protec
tion from the cold, and his nails grow
to look like birds claws in order tha
he may dig the earth for roots ant
climb the trees for nuts.
The mental disaster that seized hin
was what the Greeks called lycanthro
py, by which man lmagines himself
beast and prefers to go out and mingl,
with brutes. He who had been eatins
pomegranates and apricots off of plate
of gold inlaid with amethyst and dia
mond, and drinking the richest wine
from the royal vats, now browsing OF
grass, and struck by the horn of the o,
as he contends for a better tuft of the
pasturage, and instead of an orchestr;
on benches of ivory playing the ma
tional airs, now listening to the moal
and below and grunt of the beasts
This is not hard for me to believe fol
the sforms of dementia are innumera
bic. few years ago, arriving in
city on a summer afternoon, Will,
waiting for my engagement in tn,
evening, l sauntered forth into wha
seemed to be park in front of larg,
public building, the use of which
knew not. l met a gentleman will
whom 1 fell into delightful converse
tion, and he seemed intelligent on al
subjects. After awhile, / said: lie
us sit down on this bench and res
awhile and enjoy the scene of verdure
and fountains" NO" said he
''You sit down, but / can not
am made of glass, and if l
should sit down l would break tt
pieces" Then 1 saw that he was in
sane, and belonged to the large build
ing just behind US. After such an in
terview as that can easily believe thi,
account of my text Here is Nebu
chadnezzar on all fours. He once
prided himself of being more than &
man, and now he turns out less than &
man. The courtiers look out of the
windows upon him as he moves among
the royal herds, and cry: "A beastr
= Seven years pass, when suddenly his
reason returns, and he comes back to
Babylon a humble worshiper of the
God of Heaven. What must have been
the excitement in the royal court as
this restored maniac emperor walks
Into the palace. What time they had
cutting his nails and his hair, which
had. grown for seven years without be.
ing ,nterfered with by any shears.
What a scrubbing down must hay.
taken place in the imperial Aths.
What n transformation necessey in
order that he who had been hs1iinQ
with camels and goats and swine may
be made 1T to associate with princes.
When see a man Of regal nature