Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1895-03-14

Troubles III lIhithhy ASAN>'
rbo spbiect of Rev. Talmage's lates
mon delivered to a large audience
,he New York Academy OF Music
y "A Snowy Day." the text selected
s'uc |. Chronicles xi, %; He went
,snn and slew lion in pit in .
snowy day."
nave Won ever heard of him? His
.,me was Benaiah. He was a man OF
.out muscle and of great ayoirdupois.
A, father was hero, and he inherited
..0wass. He was athletic and there
rs iron in his blood, and the strong
\ home in his body was backbone. He
Known for other wonders beside
N of the text An Egyptian five
[Ets in stature, or about seven feet
me- inches high, was moving around
bragpadocia and flourishing great
mar. careless as to whom he killed,
nd Benaiah of my text, with nothing
M walking stick came upon him,
matched the spear from the Egyptian,
Ind with one thrust of its sharp edge,
Inf an end to the blatant bully, which
makes us think of the story in our
Greek lesson too hard for us if the
smarter boy on the same bench had not
tslred US out with it, in which Hora-
tus the Macedonian, and Dioxippus,
me Athenian, fought in the presence
h Alexander; the Macedonian armed
with shield and sword and jayelin. and
The Athenian with nothing but a club,
but the Athenian successfully lodged
n and the Macedonian lifted the spear,
but The Athenian with the club broke
ID and The Macedonian drew the sword,
but the Athenian tripped him up before
be could strike with it, and then the
Athenan with his club would have
beaten the life out of the Macedonian,
fallen among his useless weapons, if
Alexander had not commanded: stop!
Stop But Benaiah of the text is about
TO do something that will eclipse even
That There is trouble in all the neigh
borhood. Lambs are carried off in the
hight and children venturing only a
little way from their fathers house are
Ound mangled and dead The fact is,
he land was infested with lions, and
Pew people dared meet one of these
grizzly beasts much less corner or at
tack it.
Asa good providence would have it,
one morning a footstep of lion was
tracked in the snow. 1t had been on
lsdevouring errand through the dark
ness but at last it is found by the inn
preston of the four paws on the white
surface Of the ground, which way the
wild beast came, and which way it had
gone Perilous undertaking; but Bena-
ian, the hero of the text, arms him
sell with such weapons as those early |
days afforded, gunpow6er having been
invented In far subsequent century
by the German monk, Berthodus
|Schwartz Therefore, without gun or
any kind Of firearms, Benaiah of the
text no doubt depended on the sharp
steel edge for his own defense and the
Slaughter Of the lion as he followed
lhe track through the snow. 1t may
nave been javelin, it may have been
only knife; but what Benaiah lacks
u weapons he will make up in strength
y arm and skill of stroke. But where
slne hon? We must not get off his
track in the snow.
The land has many cisterns, or pits,
i0r catching rain, the rainfall being
very scarce at certain seasons, and
aence these cisterns, or reservoirs, are
tslgged here and there and yonder.
LIONS nave an instinct which seems to
w lnem when they are pursued, and
Wy dread monster of which | speak
FueatS into one of these cisterns,
'nca happened to be free of water,
aAa ! there painting from the long run
! auullcking its jaws after a repast of
lallan flesh and after quafing the
'a'age Of human blood.
Deaalah is all alert, and comes cauti-
sSSFon toward the hiding place of
~ error Of the fields. Coming to the
useOi the pit, he looks down at the
Wy w and the lion looks up at him.
,l' moment it was when their eyes
AM sasa But while modern Du
, ,ssa Gordon Cumming, or Sir Sam
IT, %saser' Or David Livingstone would
ss w. At brought the gun to the
hwy, .naa and held the eye against the
d sns4 and blazed away into the
Xxi ga and finished the beast, Benaiah,
,0,, ny the old-time weapon, can do
N 4. until he gets on level with
!, sv !, and SO he jumps into the pit,
4. ue hon, with shining teeth Of
Is n.y. ana claws lifted to tear to shreds
j ts as' vestige of human life, springs
i h0 e man, while Benaiah springs for
Il yeasI But the quick stroke of the
\ cage flashed again, and again,
's ~! until the snow was no long
! " , and the right foot Of triumph
w. Dehalah is half covered with the
t;a name Of the slain horror of Pal
t,s you see how emphatic and tragic
Il. Ne ep1 are the words of my
/. =, ne went down and slew lion
tb p'Y p N a snowy day." Why put that
bla ' nioleF Why put it twice in the
"a !; once In the book of Samuel, and
,c,i - ,'le book of Chronicles? o, the
e., lessons are SO many for you
{ fon me- What a cheer is this sub
~ ail those of vo,, ,vho a,a l., oor.