The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1895-11-22
THE HANDWRITING
Rev. DR.. Talnage Talks Upon the
Feast OF Belshazzar,
And Points Out Lessons TO he Learned
From the ExcrsSes and Untlmely
Fate of Belshalzar, the King
or the1 Chaldeans-

The following discourse on the sub
feet Of ''The Handwriting on the Wall''
was delivered by Rev. 4. Dewitt Tal'
mage to his Washington congregation
the text:
In that Night was Belshazzar. the king OF the
| Chaldeans, slain.-Daniel w.. 90
Night was about to come down on
Babylon. The shadows of her two
hundred and fifty towers began TO
lengthen. The Euphrates- rolled on,
touched by the fiery splendors of the
setting sun; and gates of brass, bur
nished and glittering. opened and shut
like doors of flame. The hanging gar
dens of Babylon, wet with the heavy
dew, began TO pour. from starlit flow
ers and dripping leaf. fragrance for
many miles around. The streets and
squares were lighted for dance and
frolic and promenade. The theaters
and galleries of art invited the wealth
and pomp and grandeur OF the city to
rare entertainments. Scenes Of riot
and wassail were mingled In every
street; and goddess rAirth, and outra-
geous excess and splendid wickedness
came TO the kings palace. to do their
mightiest deeds Of darkness.
A royal feast tonight at the kings
palacel Rushing mp to the gates are
chariOts, upholstered with precious
cloths from Dedan, and drawn by fire.
eyed horses from TOgarmah, that rear
and neigh in the grasp of the chariot
GERS, while thousand lords dismount,
and women, dressed in all the splend-
ors OF Syrian emerald, and the color
blending of agate, and the chasteness
of coral, and the somber glory of
Tyrian purple, and princely efnbroid-
eriez, brought from afaF by camels
across the desert, and by ships Of
Tarshish across the sea-
Open wide the gates and let the
guests come in. The chamberlains and
cupbearers are all ready. Hank to the
rustic of the silks, and to the carol OF
the music! See the blaze of the jewelsl
Lift the banners. Fill the cups. Clap
the eymbals. Blow the trumpets. Let
the night 60 by with song, and dance
and ovation; and let that Baylonish
tongue be palsied that will not say:
20, King Belshazzar, live forever"
ALI my friends, it was not any COM
mon banquet to which these great
people came. All parts of the earth
had sent their richest viands to that
table. Brackets and chandeliers
flashed their light upon tankards of
FURNISHED gold. Fruits, ripe and ltis-
trous. in baskets of silver, entwined
with leaves, plucked from royal con-
servatories. Vases, inlaid with emer-
aid and ridged with exquisite trace
ries. filed with nuts that were
threshed from forests of distant lands.
Wine brought from the royal watts,
fuaming in the decanters and bubbling
In the chalices. Tufts of cassia
and frankincense waiting their
sweetness from wall and table.
Gorgeous banners unfolding in
the breeze that came through
the open window, bewitched with the
perfumes of hanging gardens. Foun-
tains rising up from Enclosures of
ivory, in jets of crystal, to fall in
Gathering rain of diamonds and pearls.
Statues of mighty men looking down
from inches in the wall upon crowns
and brought from subdued empires.
|
pedestals of precious stones. Elm
broideries STOPPING about the windows
and wrapping pillars of cedar,
and drifting on floor inlaid with
ivory and agate. Music, mingling the
thrum of harps, and the clash of GYM
balls, and the blast of trumpets in one
wave of transport that weht ripping
along the wall and breathing among
the garlands, and pouring down the
corridors, and thrilling the souls of
thousand banqueters. The signal is
given, and the lords and ladies, the
mighty men and women of the land,
come around the table. Pour out the
wine. Let foam and bubble kiss the
riml Hoist every one his cup and drink
to the sentiment. "0l King Belshaz-
gar, live foreverI" Bestarred head band
and carcanet of royal beauty CLEAN to
the uplifted chalices, as again. and
again, and again they are emptied.
Away with care from the palace!
Tear royal dignity to tattersl Pour
out more winel Give us more light,
wilder music, sweeter perfumel Lord
shouts to lord. Captain ogles to cap
tain. Goblets clash; decanters rattle
There come in the obscene song. and
the drunken hiccough, and the SLAYER
ing lip. and the guffaw of idiotic
laughter, bursting from the lips OF
princes, flushed, Keeling. bloodshot;
while mingling with it all hear,
"Huzzal huzEa! for great Belshaz-
gar"
What is that on the plastering of the
wall? is it a spirit2 Is it phantom?
Is it God? The music stops. The COB
lets fall from the nerveless grasp
There is a thrill. There is a start.
There is a thousand-voiced shrek OF
horror. Let Daniel be brought in to
read that writing. He comes in. He
reads it: Weighed in the balance and
found wanting"
Meanwhile the Modes, who for two
years had been laying siege to that
city, took advantage of that carousal
and came in. 1 hear the feet of the con-
querors on the palace stairs. Massacre
PUSHES in with a thousand cleaning
knives Death bursts upon the scene,
and shut the door of that banqueting
hall, for do not want to look. There
Is nothing there but torn banners,
and broken wreaths and the slush of
upset tanlEards, and the blood of muir
dered women, and the kicked and tum-
bled carcass of dead king. For ''in
that night was Belshazzar, the king of
the Cbaldeans, slain"
go on to learn some lessons from
all .his. / learn that when God writes