The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1895-11-16
BANQUET OF DEATH.
DR.. Talmage Draws Lessons from
Belshazzar's Warning.
Eloquent .appeai to Those Who Reject the
Gospel and Defy the Law to Beware
of the Fate of the Chai-
dean King.

In n late sermon at Washington Rev.
r. Dewitt TaImage took for his sub
iect the Handwriting on the wall,
the text being frcm Daniel v.3o: In
that night was Belshazzar, the king of
the ~Chaldeans, slain" DIR. Talmage
said:
Night was about to come down on
Babylon. The shadows of her $50
towers began to lengthen. The Eu-
pirates rolled on, touched by the fiery
splendor of the setting sun; and the
rates of brass, FURNISHED and glitter
ing, opened and shut like doors of
flame. The hanging gardens of Baby
lon, wet with heavy dew, began to
pour from starlit flowers and dripping
leaf, n fragrance for many miles
around. The streets and squares were
lighted for dance and frolic and prom
enade. The theaters and galleries of
art invited tho wealth, and pomp, and
grandeur of the city to rare entertain
ments. Scenes of riot and wassail
were mingled in every street.
A royal feast tonight at the kings
palacel Rushing up to the gates are
chariots. upholstered with precious
cloths from Dedan, and drawn by
fiery-eyed horses from Togarmah, that
rear and neigh in the grasp OF the
charioteers, while a thousand lords
| dismount, and women, dressed in all
| the splendors of the Syrian emerald,
and the color-blending of agate, and the
chasteness Of coral, and the somber
glory of Tyrian purple. and princely
embroideries, brought from afar 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 cup-bcarers are all ready. lark
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 cymbals- Blow the
trumpets. Let the night go by with
song, and dance, and ovation; and let
that Babylonish tongue be palsied that
will not say: 30, King Belshazzar,
live forever"
Ali my friends, it vas lot any com
mon banquet to which these great peo-
pie came. All parts of the earth had
sent their richest viands to that taole.
Brackets and chandeliers flashed their
light upon tankards of FURNISHED gold.
Fruits, ripe and luscious. in baskets
of silver, entwined with leaves,
plucked from royal o-onservatories.
Vases, inlaid with emerald and
ridged with exquisite traceries, filled
with nuts that were threshed from for
ests of distant lands. Wine brought
from the royal vats, foaming in the
decanters and bubbling in the chalices.
Tufts of oassia and fr~ankiucense watt
ing their sweetness from wall and
table. Gorgeous banners unfolding in
the breeze that came through the open
window, bewitched with the per
fumes Of hanging gardens. Fountains
rising up from Enclosures of ivory,
In Jets of crystal, to fall in clatter-
ing rain of diamonds and pearls.
Statues of. mighty men looking down
from inches in the wall upon crowns
Land shields brought from subdued EN-
pires. Idols Of wonderful work standing
on pedestals of precious stones. EN-.
broideries STOPPING about the windows
and wrapping pillars of cedar, ant
I uILltlux ou ilOOl WY e4~
agate. Music, mingling the thrum o.
harps, and the clash OF cymbals, sud
the blast OF trumpets in One wave OF
transport that went ripping along thu
wall and breathing among the gar
lands, and pouring down the corridors
and thrilling the souls of o Thousand
b~auqueters. The signal is given, and
the lords and ladies', the mighty mer
and women of the land, come arount
the table. Pour out the wine! LIE
foam and bubble kiss the RIM! Hoisi
everyone his cup and drink to the
sentiment; 30 King Belshazzar, liv,
forever!" Bestarred headband apt
~carcanet of royal beauty CLEAN to thu
uplifted challices, as again. and again
and again they are emptied. Ava,
with care from the palace! Tear roya
dignity to tattersl Pour ont more wine
Give us moro light, wilder music
sweeter perfumei Lord shouts to lord
captain ogles to captain. Gobletl
clash; decauters rattle. There come II
the obscene song, and the drunken hic
cough, and the ~slavering lip, and tn
guffaw of idiotic laughter, bursting
from the lips of princes, flushed, reel
Ing, bloodshot; while mingling with !
all l hear, "Huzzai huzzal for grea
Belshazzar!"
What is that on the pl~astering OF tn
wall? Is 1t a spirit? Is 1t q phantom
Is IL God? The music stops. The got
lets fall from the nerveless grasE
There Is a thrill. There is a start
There is a thousand-voiced shrek @
horror. Let Daniel be brought In I
read that writing. He IN in. II
reads 1t: Weighed in the balance ant
found wanting"
Meanwhile the Modes, who for tw
years had been laying siege to tina
city, took advantage of that carousa
and came in. l hear the feet of tn
conquerors on the palace stairs. Ma!
sacre rushes in with a thousand CLEAN
Ing knives. Death bursts upon tn
scene; and I shut the door of that bar
quoting hall, for ! do not want to lool
There Is nothing there but tori bar
ners, and broken wreaths, and til
slush of upset ~tankards, and the bloc
Of murdered women, and the kicke
and tumbled carcass of a dead kim
For Sin that night was Belshazzar. til
king of the Chaldeans, slain"
] go on to learn some lessons fro
all this. learn that when God write
anything on the wall, q man had bettt
read 1t as 1t Is. Daniel did not misil
terpret or modify the handwriting G
the wall, 1t is all foolishness to q
pect a minister OF the gospel to preac
always things that the people like
the people choose. Young men
! Washington, what shall | preach
you tonight. Shall ! tell you of u
dignity Of human natures? Shall l u
you OF the wonders that our race b
accomplished? 'Oh, no." you SO
"tell me the message that came fro
God" | will. If there is any har
writing on tho wall, it is this lessc
Repent! Accept of Christ and
saved" might talk of n great ma
other things; but that is I
~ message, and SO l declare
10 Jesus never hattered those
G whom He preached. lie S;
to those who did wrong, and who WI
offensive in His sight: "Ye generati
of vipers! We whited sepulchers! h,
can We escape the dnmnation of hel
Paul the apostle preached before
man who was not ready to hear b
preach. What subject did he tai
Did he say: 'Oh! you are n good m
a very fine man, n very noble ma
M No; he preached of righteousness t
w man who was unrighteous: of temp
w ance to a man who was a victim OF
I'M .-~., n Al. ,t 10 nNrn a