The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1892-02-12
LIVING LIKE BRUTES
Or. TALMAGE DRAWS MANY LES
SONS FROM NEBuCHApNEzzAR

"oe" DcSrauc themselves TO ths
Level Of Brutes-Intemperance Drugs
Idieness, Luxury, Unbelief
BRoofLYN, Feb. with d mighty
acclaim the long meter Doxology rose
at the beginning of the service The
nestimable value of Christianity as
In elevating and ennobling influence
pm the nature of man formed the sub
lett of DR.. Talmages sermon this
morning, The brilliant and original
preacher chose as his text the humili
alton of the Babylonish king who be
ing destitute of religion sank to the
level of the brute, Daniel iv, 2S,
"All this came upon the King Nebut
chadnezzar."
Colonel Rawlinson, the oriental
traveller, says that the exhumed
bricks, not only of Babylon but of a
hundred towns in an area of one hun,
dred miles in length and thirty in
breadth, are inscribed with the name
of ACKNOWLEDGMENT. He was great
warrior and at the glance of his
sword nations Frustrated themselves.
He was great king and built d city
reservoir ninety miles in circumfer-
ence and one hundred and twenty
feet deep, and constructed 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 the mosquitoes which afflict
the levels.
think from his character the lat
ter reason may have impelled him as
much as the former. When he con-
auered King Aedehah 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
surrounded by gardens and the
housetops were connected with each
other by bridges, and one day Nebu-
shadnezzar walked out on those sus-
pension bridges and showed per
haps to royal visitor, the vastness
of his realm as the sun kindles the
domes with glistenings almost in
siderable and the great streets thun.
der up their pomp into the ear of
the monarch, and armed towers
stand around adorned with spoiis Of
conquered empires.
Nebuchadnezzar waves his hand
above the stupendous scene and ex-
claims, rs not this great Babylon
that 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 great man
t am. Babylon was not anything
until l adorned it, See those water
works; see those gardens; see those
forts. I did all this l shall never
be forgotten. Why, my name is on
every brick in all those walls. Just
look at me. am more than man"
But in an instant all that splendor
is gone from his vision, for d voice
falls from the heavens, saying, 20
King Northumberland, 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 of 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 whomsoever he will"
One hour from the time he made
the boast he is on his way to the
fields a maniac, and rushing into the
forests he becomes as one of the
beasts, and is after awhile covered
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.
FORMS OF INSANITY.
The mental disaster that seized
him was what the Greeks called ly-
canthropy, by which a man mag
ines himself a beast and prefers to 20 |
out and mingle with brutes. He |
who had been eating pomegranates
and apricots off of plates of gold in
laid with amethyst and diamond,
and drinking the richest wines from
the royal watts, now browsing on grass,
and struck by the horn of the OK as
he contends for a better tuft of the
pasturage, and instead of an orches-
ira on benches of ivory playing the
national airs, now listening to the
moan and below and grunt of the
beasts. This is not hard for me to
believe, for the forms of dementia
are innumerable.
A few years ago, arriving in city
On summer afternoon, while wait
ing for my engagement in the even
ing l sauntered forth into what
seemed to be a park in front of
large public building, the use of
which l knew not. met a gentle
man, with whom l fell into delight
Jul conversation, and he seemed in
'Sh1SShe oli eill StiDJcCUS. AlUGT
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 1
cannot. am made of glass, and if l
should sit DOVE l woIld hreak to
pieces" Then saw that he was in
sane and belonged to the large build
ng just behind u.s.
After such an interview as that
IAN easily believe this account of my
ext. Here is Nebuchadnezzar on all
ours. He once prided himself ON be-
ng more than a man, and now he
5urns out less than a man. The cour-
5iers look out of the windows upon
him as he moves among the royal
herds and cry, "a peast!" Seven
years pass when suddenly his reason
returns and he comes back to Baby
on humble worshiper of the God
IF heaven.
What must have been the excite