The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1895-03-08
"A SNOWY DAY.
Rev. DR.. Talmage Draws Lessons
From the Story of Benaiah.
-Ehe Valiant Christian, Armed with the
Sword OF tho Spirit, More than
Match for the Worst Agent
Of the EVIL One.

Academy of music, New York city, o
the subject: "a Snowy Day" bein
based on the text:
He went down and slew lion Ia q pit in
snowy day.-I Chronicles XII, -.
Have you ever heard of him? Hi
name was Benaiah. He was a man O
stout muscle and of great avoirdupois
His father was hero, and he inherite,
proves. He was athletic and Their
was iron in his blood, and the strong
est bone in his body was backbone
He is known for other wonders beside
that OF the text. An Egyptian five Gu
bits in stature, or about seven fee
mine inches high, was moving arounC
IN braggadocio and fourishing a grea
spear, careless as to whom he killed
and Benaiah of my text, with nothing
but wallxing-stick, came upon him
snatched the spear from him, and witt
one thrust of it's sharp edge put ar
end to the blatant bully, which makes
US think of the story in our Greek
lesson too hard for us if the smart
er boy on the same bench had
not helped us out with it, in
which Horatius, the Macedonian, and
Dioxippus, the Athenian, fought in the
presence of Alexander; the Macedon-
Ian armed with shield and sword and
javelin, and the Athenian with moth
ing but a club The Macedonian
hurled the javelin, but the Athenian
successfully lodged it, and the Mace
sdonian lifted the spear, but the
Athenian with clpl, broke it, and the
Macedonian drew the sword, but the
Athenian tripped him up before he
could strike with it. and then the
Athenian with his club would have
beaten the life out of the Macedonian,
fallen among his useless weapons, if
Alexander had not commanded: "Stop!
Stopr' But Benaah of the text is
about to do something that will
eclipse even that. There is trouble in
all the neighborhood. Lambs are car
ried off in the night, and children
venturing only little way from their
fathers house are found mangled and
dead. The fact is, the land was in
Tested with lions, and few people
dared meet one of these grizzly
beasts, much less corner or attack it.
As good providence would have it,
one morning footstep of lion was
tracked in the snow 1t had been out
on its devouring errand through the
but at last it is found by the
of the four paws on the
white ground, which way the wild
beast came, and which way it had
gone. Perilous undertaking; but Be
naiah, the hero of the text, arms him
self with such weapons as those early
days afforded, gunpowier having been
invented in far subsequent century
by the German monk, Bertholdus |
Schwartz. Therefore, without gun or
my kind of firearms, Benaiah IF she |
text no doubt depended on the sharp |
steel edge for his own defense and the
slaughter of the lion as he fol- i
Owed the track through the snow.
10 may have been javelin, it may
nave been only knife; but what Be-
laiah lacks in weapon he will make
Up in strength of arm and skill of
'troke. But where is the lion? We
must not get off his track in the snow
The land has many cisterns, or pits,
or catching rain, the rainfall being
'ery scarce at certain seasons, and I
fence these cisterns or reservoirs are
legged here and there and yonder.
lions have an instinct which seems to
ell them when they are pursued and
his dread monster of which l speak
etreats into one of these cisterns
which happened to be free of water,
md is there painting from the long
IN, and licking it's jaws after a repast
f human flesh, and after quaffing the
ed vintage of human blood.
Benaiah is all alert, and comes eau
iousiy on toward the hiding-place of
his terror of the fields. Coming to
he verge of the pit. he looks down at
he lion, and the lion looks up at him.
What moment it was when their
yes clashedl But while modern Du
,haillu, Gordon Cumming or Sir Sam
Iel Baker, or David Livingstone,
would have just brought the gun to
he shoulder, and hold the eye against
he barrel, and blazed away into the
Iepths, and finished the beast, Ben
.iah, with only the old-time weapon,
an do nothing until he gets on level
With the beast, and so he jumps into
he pit, and the lion. with shining
eeth of rage, and claws lifted to tear
O shreds the last vestige of human
life, springs for the man, while Ben
,iah springs for the beast But the
mick stroke of the steel edge flashed
gain. and again, and again, until the
now was no longer white, and the
light foot of triumphant Benaiah is
lalf covered with the tawny name of
he slain horror of Palestine.
Now you see how emphatic, and
ragic, and tremendous are the words
4 my text: He went down and slew
lion in pit in snowy day." Why
:. Il