The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1892-02-19
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
Lesson Taught by the Life OF King
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.
The Great Warrior and the Great King
Whose Power and Prestige VAN
ished nc the Behest of an
Offended God.

Dau1ei w.. =.
Col. Rawlinson, the oriental traveller.
says that the exhumed bricks, not only
of Babylon, but of a hundred towns in an
area of one hundred miles in length and
thirty in breadth. are inscribed with the
name of NebuchadnezZar. He was q
great warrior, and at the glance of his
sword nations Frustrated themselves.
He was great king, and built city
reservoir ninety miles in circumference
and one hundred and twenty feet deep,
and constructed hanging garden four
hundred feet square and seventy-fve
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-
fict the levels i 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 barbaro1s way of
incapacitating an enemy. But Babylon
was a 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 a royal visitor, the
vastness of his realm as the SIM kindles
the domes with glisterings 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 spoils of con-
quered empires. Nebuchadnezzar waves
his hand above the stupendous scene
and exclaims: lis 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 males
typ" In other words: What a great
man i am. Babylon was not anything
until / 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 at
me. / am more than 81 man." But in
an instant all that splendor is gone
from his vision, for a voice falls from
the heavens, saying: 80, King Nebu-
lchadnezzar, 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 whom
soever He will" One hour from the
time he made the boast he is on his
way to the fields a maniac, and. rush
ing into the forests he becomes as one
of the beasts, and is after awhile COW
cred with eagles feathers for protec-
ton 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
The mental disaster that seized him
was what the Greeks called lycanthro-
py, by which a man lmagines himself a
beast and prefers to go out and mingle
with brutes. He who had been eating
pomegranates and apricots off of plates
of gold inlaid with amethyst and dia-
mond, 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 better tuft of the
pasturage, and instead of an orchestra
on benches of ivory playing the ma
tional 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 innumera-
bic. A few years ago, arriving in
city on n summer afternoon, while
waiting for my engagement in the
evening, sauntered forth into what
seemed to be park in front of large
public building, the use of which |
knew not. i met gentleman with
whom 1 fell into delightful converse
ton, and he seemed intelligent on all
subjects. After 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 can not.
am made of glass, and if /
should sit down I would break to
pieces" Then 1 saw that he was in
sane, and belonged to the large build
ing Just behind u.s. After such an in
terview as that can easily believe this
account of my text Here is Nebu-
chadnezzar on all fours. He once
prided himself of being more than a
man, and now he turns out less than a
windows upon him as he moves among
the royal herds, and cry: "A beastP'
Seven years pass, when suddenly his
reason returns, and he comes back to
Babylon 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 lnterfered with by any shears.
What q scrubbing down must have
taken place in the imperial baths
What tran sformation necessary in
order that he who had been herding
with camels and goats and swine may
be made fit to associate with princes
What a change from sty to throne
rooml
When ! see a man of regal nature
made to rEle in realms of thought,
capable of all moral elevation. be-
sotting his faculties, attempting out of
low sensualities TO satisfy his immortal
energies. coming down off his throne
of power into brutalities, sacrificing
his higher nature TO his lower nature,
stopping and STOPPING, coming down
and coming down until all his influence
for good is gone, cry out: There is N
king eating grass like an oxP' And
there are tens of thousands of such
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. So there are queens
who dedicate themselves to the same
humiliation. What power for good
God gave that woman. Magnet
ism of personal presence. Influence