Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-08
A KING EATS GRASS.
Not NebuchadneZzar Alone, but All
Who Degrade Their Gifts.
THE MADNESS OF A VICIOUS LIFE.
Cow Rum and the AnaSthetics Debase
Mans Shining Talents.
TICKLE FORTUNE AND ITS LESSONS
ESPECIAL. TELEGRAM TO THE pIsPArcH.l

ESPECIAL TFLbIhAh ~ DlSfATCHl
BROOKLYN, Feb. 7.-Dr. Talmage's text
this morning was Daniel iy. 2S: "All this
came upon the King Nebuchadnezzar."
Colonel RaWIinson, the Oriental traveller,
saws that the exhumed bricks, not only of
Eabylon. but of 100 towns in area of 10J
miles in length and 80 in breadth, are in
scribed with the name of Nebuchadnezzar.
He was great warrior, and at the glance of
his sword nations prostrated themselves.
lie was great king, anG built city reser-
Noir so miles in circumference and l20 feet
deep, and constructed a hanging garden 400
feet square and 75 feet high, some say to
please Amuhia, his wife, who haa been born
among the hills, and others say to get a
pleasure ground free from the mosquitoes,
which affict the levels. L think, from his
character, the latter reason may have inn
PEELED 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 in
capacitating an enemy. But Babylon was
great place, the houses surrounded by gar
dens and the housetops 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.
Nebuchadnezzar's Terrible Fall.
But, in an instant, all that splendor is gone
from his vision. for voice falls from the
heavens, saying. 80. King Nebuchadnezzar,
10 thee it is spoken; the Kingdom is departed
from thee, and they shall drive thee rom
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 kingdomof 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 4 maniac,
and rushing into the forests he becomes one
of the beasts, and is after awhile covered
with eagles feathers for protection from the
cold. and his Lails 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 Lycanthropy. by
which 4 man nnaglnes himself u beast and
prefers to 20 out and mingle with brutes.
lie who had been eating pomegranates and
Apricots off plates Of gold lnlaid with anne
thyst and diamond, and drinking the richest
wines from the royal Yats, 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 orchestra on benches of
ivory playing the national airs, now listen
inw to the moan and below and grunt of the
beasts. This is not hard for me to believe,
Tor the forms OF dementia are innumerable.
The Incongruity of the Picture.
While walking from this Babylonian palace
down 70 the pasture field, and from the past
that impresses me is what an incongruous
thing it is for q king to be eating grass. 1t
Is good for cattle, but not lit for man.. And
tIen for one to prefer it to a royal table
toward whose bounty the orchards, and pad
locks, and streams, and vineyards in all the
earth might cOntibute-what an amaze
ment, And vet the scene is as common as
GavIight.
Wnen l see man of regal nature made to
rule in realms of thought. capable of all
TsaI.a
g, mptinC out of low sensualties to satisfy
his Immortal energies coming down off of
AIS throne of power into brutalities sac
1lhcinS his higher nature to his lower
nature, stopping and stoopIng, coming down
and coming down until all his influence for
good is gone, I cry out, "Thsre is king eat
In- ulass like an OK And there are tens
ot thousands of such NebuchadneZZars.
30 there are queens who dedicate them
selves 70 the same humiliation. w nat power
'1r good God gave that woman. Magnetism
uf personal presence, influence more than
imperial BY her intelligence, by her tender
ness, by her charm OF smile and manner, ca
'abIe Of soothing SO much sorrow, and re-
fpr.uing SO much wavwardness, and WELD
laE 80 much elevated power.
a Woman's Moral Debasement.
Vet at the call of worldliness, coming out
o. the throne room OF good influence, where
Cod nouid have her reign, coming down
over the ivory stairs of moral power, coming
Town and coming down until she has no
more soul than the dead bird transfixed in
her millinery or tie chinchilla that was
Slam tp afford her warmth, or the kid that
furnished her the glove, and finding her
only delight in batteries OF bIainlesS men,
and midnight schottische and debauched
uovclettcs. l say "therc is one who might
HaFC been queen unto God forever, vet
Catiug straw like an OK"
look over the pasture-fields of folly and
sin, and find many =roveling who ought to
I, erect. Oh men and women go back to
. our thrOncsi
The next thought that presses into my
mind from the contemplation of this in
Cilent Is that conviction is not conversion.
~ 10 is this monarch that makes the boast
about Babylon? The very man who, under
the revocation of dreams that Daniel made
from heaven, deeply humbled himself while
lr confessed that God is a God of Gods and
"a Lord OF Lords, yet, behold that the humb-
linz and arousing which he before felt did
mot result in radical change.
There is no mistake mere frequent than of
sunposin- conviction q synonym for CONVEX
son. Conviction is merely a sight of sin:
conversion is Z view OF Pardon. Conviction
l- merely alarm: conversion is confidence.
Conviction is dissatisfaction with deprayity;
conversion is turning away from it.
Seriousness Doesn't Make Christian.
There are multitudes who think that as
soon as man j. serious he is fit for profess
sion oi religion. What if man should only
tE.Hk seriously of being merchant; would
that make him merchant? What if a man
should only tnlnk seriously of being q law.
yer: would that make him q lawyer? What
ID man should only think seriously of
being Christian; would that make him a |
Curistian?
Learn also from my subject that pride is |
tho precursor OF overthrow. Pride is COM
mauder well pluncd and caparisoned, but |
i leads forth a dark and frowning host. \
Pride goeth before destruction, and |
3 l-auThty spirit before a fall" The arrows |
from the Almlghty's quiver are apt to |
strike man when on the wing.
Ne Who Is Down Cannot Fall.
Again learn from the misfortune of the |
king OF BE- G5ylon what terrible thing is the |
loss of reason. There is no calamity that |
can possibly befall us in this world so great |
- the arrangement of intellect-to have the |
cody Of man and yet to fall even be- |
low the instinct OF Il brute. In this world of l
sad sights, the saudest is the idiots stare
IL this world OF awful sounds. the most /
awful is the maniac's laugh
Christ ; heart went out to those who were |
apieptic, falling into the fire, or mauiacs /
cutting themselves among the tombs. We
ere accustomed to be more grateful for phy-
-it-al health than Tor the proper working Of
our mind. We are apt to take it for yranted /
t.1t the intellect which has served ms so
well w:lI always be faithful
Wonderful Engine to Keep in Order.
We forget that an engine with such fire.
plendous power, when the wheels have spcb
v,stness of CIRCLE and such swiftness of mo-
ion and the least impedinent might nut il
5ut OF gear, could only be kept in proner
balance by a Divine hand. No human power
.ould engineer this train of immortal facul- |
.lf.- How strange it is that our memory on |
.t,r-tli,lpS and occurrences OF a lifetime are !
.slac..H suOuld not Oftener break down and |