The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1895-12-06

lNH HHHAN DIS SERMON NN .ifinft HhsH
Lntlmer. hethink theei Thou arc in che
presence of thlno earthly king who can de-
Nroy ihy body But belhlnk thee. Hugh
Laumer, that thou arc 81 the presence of the
King of heaven and earth. who can destroy
both body and soul ln bell nre.H Then he
preached with appalling dlrecincss az the
kings crimes.
Another lesson that comes 90 as tonight
there ls % great difference between the OPEN
ing oi the banquet of SIN and iis close.
Young man. N you had looked in upon the
banquet Ia the nUt few hours you would
have wished you had been Invited there and
could slt at the feast. "Oh the grandeur
Of Boahazzars FEAST" YOU would havs
said, but you look ia at tho close OF the
banquet and your blood curdles with hor-
r0r The king OF torror has there a gh1st-
Her banquet. Human blood is the wine aud
dying gr0ans are the music STA has made
Itself q King In the earth. II has crowned
itself Il has spread n banquet. IL invites
all the world 10 come 10 Il. IL has hung In
lts banquotlng hall the spoils OF all king
d9ms and the banners Of all Nations. 10 has
gathered from al music. 1t has strswn
from its wealth the tables and floors aud
arches. And yet how often Is that banquet
broken up and how horrible IS its endl Ever
and anon there Is % handwriting on the wall
A king fails. A great eulprit is arrested.
The knees Of wickedness knock together
Gods Judgment like an armed host. breaks
in upon the banquet. aud that night "a Bel
shazzar. the king OF the Chaldeans, slain.
Here Is a young man who says; 81 cannot
see why they make such fuss about the in-
toXicating cup. Why it is exhilaratngl II
makes me feel well. can talk better, think
better. feel better. cannot see why people
have such n prejudice against II" A few
years pass on, aud no wakes up and finds
himself I'm the clutches OF an evil habit which
he tries TO break. but cannot. and he cries
out, 20 Lord God, HELM mel" II seems as
though God would not hear his prayer and
In an agony OF body and soul he cries out.
ut blteth Ike a serpent. and stingeth Ike
an adder" How bright Il was al the start!
How black Il was at the last
Here Is a man who begins TO read loose
novels. "They are so charming he says.
81 viii 90 out and see for myself whether ah
these things are So" He opens tho gate OF
a sinful lite He goes in. A sinful sprite
meets him with her wand. She waves her
wand. and II Is all enchantment. Why. It
seems as II the angesof Col had poured ont
vlals 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 he
seesl But that sinful sprite. with her wand
meets him again. but now she reverses the
wand. and all the enchantment is gone The
cup Is full OF poison. The fruit turns TO
ashes. Allthe leaves ofthe bower are torlej
tongues Of Kissing serpents The flowing
fountains fall back in dead pool stenchful
with corruption. The Turing songs become
curses and screams Of demoniac laughter
Lost spirits gather about himand feel for his
heart and beckon him on with "Hail brotherl
Hail, blasted spirit, hall" He tries to get
out He comes to the front door where h
entered and tries to push It back, but the
door turns against him, and in the jar OF
that shutting door he hears these words,
"This night Is Belshazzar, the king Of the
Chaldean,s, slain" Sin may open bright as
the morning. Il ends dark as the night.
lean further from this subject that death
sometimes breaks in upon a banquet. Why
did he not go down to the prisons in Baby
Ion? There we're people there that would
like to have died. suppose there were men
and women in torture in that city who
would have welcomed death but he comes
to the palace, and Just at the time when the
mirih is dashing to the tiptop pitch death
breaks in at the banquet. We have
often seen the same thing illustrated. Here
is young man just come from college, He
is kind. he is loving. He is enthusiastic
oound to heights toward which many men
have been struggling for years. A profess
sion opens before him. He is established in
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-
| quence. as trees are moved in whirlwind.
| Some night he retires early. A fever is on
! him. Delirium, like reckless charioteer.
seizes the reins Of his intellect. Father and
mother stand by and see tho tides of his life
! going out to the great ocean. The banquet
! is coming to an end. The lights Of thought
and mirth and eloquence are being extin-
guished. The garlands are snatched from
the brow. The vision is gone Death at the
banquet!
We saw the same thing on larger scale
illustrated in our Civil War. Our whole Ma
ton had been sitting at National banquet
| North, South, East and West. What grain
was there but we grew it on our hills? What
invention was there but our rivers mus
turn the new wheel and rattle the strange
shuttle? What warm furs but our traders
must bring them from the Arctic? VIVA
fish but our nets must sweep them for the
markets. What music but 1t must sing il
our halls? What eloquence but it mus
speak 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 sheepfold
aud the avlaries of the country sent theil
best treasures. The orchards piled up OIL
the table their sweet fruits. The presse
burst out with new wines. To sit at tina
table came the yeomanry of New Hamp
shire. and the lumbermen OF Maine, ant
the Carolinian from the rice plantation
and the Western emigrant from tn
| mines of Dragon and wa were n
brothers brothers at banquet Sud
denly the feast ended. What meant thos
mounds thrown up at Chickamauga
Shiloh, Atlanta, Gettysburg, Sout
Mountain What meant those golden grain
fields turned into pasturing ground 10
cavalry horses2 What meant the cornfeld
quilted with the wheels of the heavy suppl
train? Why those rivers Of tears--those lake
of blood? God was angry! Justice mus
come. A handwriting on the WALL The Ma
ton had been weighed and found wanting
nowIruaucI no XUaa "a tina North