The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1895-11-16

Latimer, bethin!1 heel Thou art in
the presence OF thine earthly king,
who can destroy thy body. But be-
think thee, Hugh Lltimer, that thou
art in the presence of the King of
Heaven and earth, who can destroy
both body and soul in hell fire" Then
he preached with appalling directness
at the king's Grim -.
Another lesson that comes to us to-
night: There is a great difference be-
tween the opening of the banquet of
sin and its close. Young man, if you
had looked in upon the banquet in the
first few hours, you would have wished
you had been invited there and could
sit at the feast. On! the grandeur of
said; but You look in at the close of
the banquet, and your blood curdles
with horror. The King Of Terrors has
there a ghastlier banquet; h1man
blood is the wine, and dying
groans are the music. Sin has
made itself a king in the earth. 1t has
crowned itself. 1t has spread a ban
quet. 1t invites all the world to come
to it. 1t hasthung in its b~anqueting
hall the spoils of all Kingdoms, and
the banners Of all nations. 1t has
gathered from all music. 1t has
strewn, from it's wealth, the Ia bles,
and floors, and arches. And vet how
often is that banquet broken up; and
how horrible is its end! Ever and anon
there is e handwriting o n the wall. A
king falls. Agreat culprit is arrested.
The knees of wickedness knock to-
gether. Gods judgment, like a armed
host, breaks in upon the banquet; and
that night is B~elshazzar, the king of
the C~haldeans, slain.
Here Is Q young man who says, 81
cannot see why they make such q fuss
about the Intoxicating cup. Why, it
is e~xhilsrating! 1t makes mi feel we'll.
l can talk better. think better, feel
better. / cannot see why people nave
such a prejudice against it." A few
years pass on and he wakes up and
finds himself in tho clutches Of an
evil habit which he tries to break
but cannot; and he cries out, 'Oh
Lord Godl help met 1t seems as
though God would not hear his prayer;
and In an agony OF body and soul he
cries out: at biteth like q serpent and
it stingeth like an adder" How bright
1t was at the start! How black 1t was
at the last,
Here is q man who begins to read
loose novels. They are charming" he
says; ~ will go out and see for myself
whether these things are So" He
opens the gate of a sinful life. lie
goes in. A sinful spirit meets him
with her wand. She wave her wand.
and It Is all enohantment. Why, II
seems as II the angels Of God had
poured out pitfalls Of perfume in the
atmosphere. As he walks on he finds
the hills becoming more radiant with
foliage, and the ravines more resonant
with the falling water. Oh! what q
charming landscape he seesl But that
sinful sprite. with her wand, meets
him again; but now she reversea
the wand, and all the enchant.
men. is gone. The cup is full OF
poison. The fruit turns to ashes. All
the leaves Of the bower are forked
tongues Of kissing serpents- The flow
ing fountains fall back in a dead pool
stenchful with corruption. The lur'
ing songs become curses and scream
of demoniao laughter. Lost spirits
gather about him and feel for his
heart, and beckon him on with Hail
brother! Hail, blasted spirit. hailr
He tries to get ont. He comes to the
front door whcro he entered and tries
to push It back, but the door turns
against him; and in the jar Of thai
shutting door he hears these words
sThis night Is Belshazzar, the king OF
the Chadeans. slain" Sin may oper
bright as the morning. 1t ends darl
as the night
l learn further from this subjeo
that death sometimes breaks In upon
banquet. Why did he not go down t.
the prison Of Babylon? There wcr'
people there who would like to hav,
died. I suppose there were men and
women in torture in that city VIII,
would have welcomed death; but h
comes to the palace; and just at tn
time when the mirth is dashiug to tn,
tiptop pitch, death breaks in at tn
banquet. We have often seen tn
same thing illustrated. Here il
young man just come from col
lege. He is kind. He is loving
he Is enthusiastic. He 10 slo
quent. BY one spring he may boun'
to heights toward which many me-
have been struggling for years.
profession opens before him. He Is es
tablished in the law. His friend
cheer him. Eminent mon encourag
him. After a while you may see hir
standing in the American senate. q
moving q popular assemblage by hi
eloquence, IA trees are moved in
whirlwind. Some night he retire
early. A fever is on him. Deliriun
like q reckless charioteer, seizes tn
reins of his intellect. Father an
mother stand by and see the tides
his life going out to the great ocear
The banquet is coming to an en-.
~eloquepce are being extinguishet
! The garlands are snatched from til
brow. The vision is gone. Death
, the banquet!
We saw the same thing, on q large
scale, illustrated in our civil war. o.
whole nation had been sitting at o n,
: tional banquet-north, south, east an
west. What grain was there, but W
: grew 1t o N our hills! What inventio
was there, but our rivers must tur
! the new wheel, and rattle the stranp
shuttlel What warm furs, but OF
traders must bring them from Il
D Arctic! What fish, but our nets mt
sweep them for the markets. VIII
music, but it must sing in our hall
What eloquence, but it must speak
+ our ~senates! Ho! TO the national bal
: quet, reaching from mountain to moui
n tain, and from sea to sea! To prepa
that banquet, the sheep folds and Il
h aviarics Of the country sent their be
treasures. The orchards piled upc
I the table their sweet fruits. II
O presses burst out with new wines.
9 To sit at that table came the We
II many of New Hampshire, and u
!, lumbermen Of Maine, and the Car
', linian from the rice plantation, al
the western emigrant from the pin
a of Oregon, and we were all brothers
brothers at a banquet. Suddenly Il
feast ended. What meant tho
IL mounds thrown up at Chickamaug
ne Shiloh, Atlanta, Gettysburg, Sou
Mountain? What meant those gold
10 grain fields. turned into a pastu
Id ground for cavalry horses? VIII
re meant the corn-fields quilted with t
IN wheels OF. the heavy supply trail
w Why those rivers Of tears-those LAX
of blood? God was angry! Justi
a must come. A handwriting on t
Ina WALL The nation had been weigh
,ei and found wanting. Darkness! Oar