Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1895-11-22
God'sjudgment, like an armed most ~ Rel.

md
wears mass on, and he wakes up ana H9us
himself in the clutches Of an evil haDlt Wnlo1
he tries to break, but cannot. ana no clios
out 80 Lord God, help mel! IL seens a.
though God would not hear his prayer, anu
in an agony OF body and soul ne cries ill., Tr'd,
siIt biteth like serpent. and stlngelh nhT
an adder" How bright it was az tne S'"i"
How black it was at the last! 80, ,ooso
Here is a man who begins 10 reau loOs S
novels. "They are so charming, ne sHySS i
ar will 60 out and see for myself Whe'n0i "i'
these things are So" He opens the gate Oh
a sinful life. He goes in. A sinful sprlte
meets him with her wand. She waves neI
wand, and it is all enchantment. why,
seems as if the angels OF God had poured out
vials 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 a charming landscape ne
sees! But that sinful sprlte, with her wand,
meets him again, but now she reverses the
wand, and all the enchantment is gone. Inc
cup is full Of poison. The fruit turns TO
ashes. All the leaves ofthe bower are foTkei
tongues Of Kissing serpents. The hoWlng
fountains fall back in dead pool stenchtul
with corruption. The Turing songs become
curses and screams of demoniac laughter.
heart and beckon him on with "Hail brother!
Hail, blasted spirit, hail" He tries to get
out. He comes to the front door where he
entered aud tries to push it back, but the
door turns against him, and IN the jar Oh
that shutting door he hears these WORDS,
'sThis night is Belshazzar, the king OF the
Chaldeans, slain" Sin may open bright as
the morning. It ends dark rs the night:
LEAN further ftom this subject that death
sometimes breaks in upon q banquet why
did he not &c down to the prisons In BABY,
lon? There were people there that would
like to have died. suppose there were men
and women in torture in that city VINO
would have welcomed death, but he comes
70 the palace. aud Just at the tire when the
mirth is dashing to the tiptop pitch death
breaks in at the banquet. we nave
often seen the sane thing illustrated. Hero
Is young man just come from college: no
is kind. He is loving. He is enthusiastic.
He is eloquent. By one spring he may
bound to heights toward which many men
have been struggling for years. A proIes'
sion opens before him. He is estaollsneu I'D
the law, His friends cheer him. Eminent
men encourage him. After awhile you may
see him standing in the American Senate or
moving a popular assemblage by his elo-
nnenpe. AS trees are moved in whirlwind.
| Some night he retires early. A fever is on
him. Delirum, like reckless charloteer.
seizes the reins of his intellect. Father and
mother stand by and see the tides OF his life
going out to the great ocean. The banquet
IL coming to an end. The lights o. thought
and mirth and eloquence are being extln-
guished. The garlands are snatched from
the brow. The vision is gone. Dean az tne
banquet!
We saw the same thing on a larger scale
illustrated in our Civil War. Our whole Ma
ton had been sitting at National oan4uet
North, South, East and West. What gram
was there but we grew it on our bill 81 What
invention was there but our rivers must
turn the new wheel and rattle tho strange
shuttle? What warm fur5 but our traders
innst bring them from tho Arctic? what
| fish but our nets must sweep them for the
markets? What music but it must sing III
our halls? What eloquence but it must
sneak in our senatesl Ho to the Ma
tional banquet, reaching from noun,
tain to mountain and from sea to sea
To prepare that banquet, the sheepfoids
and the aviaries of the country sent thelr
| best treasures. The orchards plea up OIL
the table their sweet fruits. me preSse;
burst out with new wines. 10 SIT AT .tna'
table came the yeomanry OF New hamp
shire, and the lumbermen OF Maine, ano
the Carolinian from the rice plantation
and the Western emigrant from tnS
pines of Oregon, and we were III
brotbers-brothers at u banquet. Sud
denly the feast ended What meant tnos'
mounds thrown up at Ccckamauga
Shiloh. Atlanta, Gettysburg, Soutl
Mountain? What meant th95e golden grain
fields turned into q parturing ground iol
cavalry horses? What r6ant the cornhelds
gullied with the wheels of the heavy supply
train? WHY those rivers of tear5-:hose lake.
of blood? God was angryl Justice mus
come. handwriting on the wall! Inc Ma
ton had been weighed aud found wanting
Darkness! Darkness: Woe to the NVrtu
Woe to the South Woe to the East! Wo|
to the West! Death at the banquet.
I have also to learn from the subject tnaT
tbe destruction of the vicious and OF thost
who despise God will be very sudden; In'
wave of mirth had dashed to the higneS
noint when the invading army DroH'
through. 1t was unexpected. suddenly
almost ALWAYS. comes the doom OF those Wh'
dpsnise God and defy the laws OF men. How
was it at the deluge2 Do you suppose
came through long northeast storm, >
} that people for days before were sure II wa
coming? No. suppose the morning Wa
bright: that calmness brooded on the waters
that beauty SIT NA Wv
Suddenly the heavens burst and the noun
/ tains sank like anchors into the sea ina
doehe1 clear over the Andes and tho Hlmala
yas.
The Red Sea was divided. the Egyptian
0 tried to cross if. There could be no danger
7 THE Israelites had Just gone through. Wher
1 thew had gone. why not the Egyptians Va
D If was such q beautiful walking place!
I pavement OF tlngel shells anl pearls, an
| on either side two great walls OF water,
solid. There can be no danger. Forward
| great host Of the Egyptians! Clap III
[ cymbals and blow the trumpets OF victory
3 After them. We will catch them yet, an
thev shall be destroyed. But the walls DeSl
a 70 frembleI They rock They fall! Th
: rushing waters! The shrek Of drownin
= men! The swimming of the war horses ]
| vain for the shore! The strewing OF tn
: great host on the bottom OF the sea,
!. pitched by the angry wavc on the beach
i battered. bruised and loathsome wrecl
@ Suddenly destruction came. One hall boz
t before they could not have believed it. D.
t stroyed. and without remedy.
q 1 am Just setting forth fact, which 70
o have noticed as we'll as L. Auanias com'
5 to the apostle. The apostle says, I'D yo
: sell the land for 50 much?' h. says, yes
J. If was a lie. Dead. rs. quick as tina
n Sannhira, his wife. comes in. "Did you Sc
> the land for 30 much?" eyes" It vas
0 lie, and quick as that she was dead! G I2c
II judgments are upon those VINO oe;plse Ill
o and DEFY Him. They come suddenly.
It The DESTROYING angel went through EgyI
y Do Won suppose that any OF the people kne
9 that He was coming2 Did they hear the fl
h of His great wing? No! No! Suddenly; u
: expectedly, He came: TO-.
K Skilled sportsmen do not like to shoot
h bird standing on sprig nearby. II they
10 skilled, they pride themselves on taking it
ID the wing, and they wait till it starts. Dea
10 isan old sportsman and he loves to take m