Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1892-11-17
THE RAGE FOR GOLD.
DR.. TALMAGE. FINDS MANY LESSONS
IN AARoN'S GOLDEN CALF.


Time, but Millions Have Suffered since
and Millions Are Suffering Now by
Their Mad Worship of Gold.
BROOKLYN, Nov 13.-The subject of dis
course chosen by Rev. DR.. Talmage for his
first sermon after the national election was
one peculiarly appropriate TO the money
making spirit of the times. 1t was "The
Golden Calf" the text selected being Exc
dus xxi, 90 'And he took the calf which
they Ind made and burnt it in the fire, and
ground il to powder and strewed it upon
the water and made the children of Israel
drink of it,
People will have god of some kind, and
they prefer one of their own making. Here
come the Israelites, breaking off their
golden earrings, the men as well as the wo-
men, for in those times there were mascu-
line as well as feminine decorations Where
did they get these beautiful gold earrings,
coming up as they did from the desert?
Oh, they borrowed" them from the Egyp-
tians when they left Egypt. These ear
rings are piled up into a pyramid of gilt
tering beauty ANY more earrings to
bring" says Aaron None. Fire is kin
died, the earrings are melted and poured
into a mold, not of an eagle or war
charger, but Of IA calf; the gold cools off,
the mold is taken away, and the idol is set
upon its four legs.
An altar is built in front of the shining
calf. Then the people throw up their arms
and gyrate and shrek and dance nightly
and worship. Moses has been six weeks
on Mount Sinai, and he comes back and
hears the bowling and sees the dancing of
these golden calf fanatics, and he loses his
patience, and he takes the two plates of
stone on which were written the Ten Com
mandments and filings them so hard against
rock that they split all to pieces. When
a man gets mad he is very apt to break all
the Ten Commandments.
Moses rushes in, and he takes this calf
god and throw il into hot fire until it is
melted all out of shape, and then pulyerizes
it-not by the modern appliance of nitro
muriatic acid, but by the ancient appliance
of inter, or by the old fashioned file He
makes for the people most nauseating
draft. He takes this pulverized golden
calf and throws it in the only brook which
is accessible, and the people are compelled
to drink of that brook or not drink at all.
But they did not drink all the glttering
stuff thrown on the surface Some of il
flows on down the surface of the brook
TO the river, and then flows on down the
river to the sea, and the sea takes it
up and bears it to the mouth of all
the rivers, and when the tides set back
the remains Of this golden calf are car
ried up into the Hudson, and the East
river and the Thames, and the Clyde, and
the Iiser, and men go out and they skim
the glittering surface, and they bring it
ashore, and they make another golden calf.
and California and Australia break off
their golden earrings TO augment the pile,
and in the fires of financial excitement and
struggle all these things are melted to-
gether, and while we stand looking and
wondering what will come Of it, lol we
4 find that the golden calf of Israelitish wor-
/ ship has become the golden calf Of Eu-
ropean and American worship
THE MODERN IDoLATRY.
] l shall describe TO you the god spoken Of
I in the text, his temple, his altar OF sacri-
] flee, the music that is made in his temple
and then the final breaking up Of the
whole congregation OF idolaters.
I Put aside this curtain and you see the
I golden calf of modern idolatry. II is not
7 like other idols, made out Of stocks or
stones, but it has an ear so sensitive that
+ il can hear the whispers on Wall street
and Third street and State street. and
the footballs in the bank Of England and
the futter of Frenchman's heart on
the Bourse 1t has an eye SO Keen that it
can see the rust on the farm of Michigan
wheat, and the insect in the Maryland
peach orchard and the trampled grain
under the hoof of the Russian war
charger.
IL is so mighty that it swings any way it
will the worlds shipping. 1t has its foot
on all the merchantmen and the steamers.
1t started the American civil war, and I'M
der God stopped it, and it decided the
Turko- Russian contest. One broker in
September. 1869, in New York, shouted,
Zone hundred and sixty for millionr'
ard the whole continent shiyered This
golden calf of the text has its right front
foot in New York, its left front foot in Chi
cago. its rights back foot in Charleston, its
left back foot in New Orleans, and when
it shakes itself it shakes the world. Oh,
this is mighty god-the golden calf Of the
worlds worship!
But every god must have its temple,
and this golden calf of the text is no ex-
ception. Its temple is yaster than st.
Paul's of the English, and St Peters of
tue lAAilAii-s anu AlG 4AAAAuAUAh VI Alt
Spaniards. and the Partbenon of the
Greeks, and the Tai Mahal OF the Hin
docs, and all the other cathedrals put To-
gether It, pillars are grooved and fiuted
with gold, and its ribbed arches are hover
ing gold and its chandeliers are descend
ing gold. and its floors are tessellated gold,
and its vaults are crowded heaps Of gold,
and its spires and domes are soaring gold,
and its organ pipes are resembling gold,
and its pedals are tramping gold. and its
stops pulled out are flashing gold, while
standing at the head Of the temple, as the
presiding deity, are the hoofs and Shout
ders and eyes and ears and nostrils Of the
calf Of gold.
TIE CRUELTY OF AYARlCE.
Further every god must have not only
its temple, but its altar Of sacrifice, and
this goldencalf Of the text is no exception.
Its altar il not made out Of stone. as other
affairs. but out Of counting room desks and
fireproof safes, and it is broad, long,
high altar. The victims sacrificed on it are