The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1895-11-15
BANQUET OF DEATH.
DR.. Talnage Draws Lessons from
Belsha azzar's Warning.
Eloquent Appeal to Those Who Reject the
Gospel and Defy the Law to Beware
of the Fate of the Chal-
dean king.

In a late sermon at Washington Rev.
7. Dewitt Taimage took for his SUBJ
ject the Handwriting on the Wall, ."
the text being from Daniel v30: 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 25O
towers began to lengthen. The Eu-
pirates rolled on, touched by the fiery
splendor of the setting sun; and the
gates of brass, FURNISHED and glitter
ing, opened and shut like doors of
flame. The hanging gardens of Baby
Ion, wet with heavy dew, began to
pour from starlit flowers and dripping
leaf, a 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 the 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
palace! Rushing up to the gates are
chariots. upholstered with precious
cloths from Dedan. and drawn by
fierv-eved 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 aga te. and the
chasteness of coral. and the sOnber
glory of Tyrian purple. and princelv
EN- brOideries, 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-bearers are all ready. Hark
to the rustic of the silks, and to the
carol of the music. See the blaze of
the Jewels, 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: 80, King Belshazzar,
live forever
All! my friends, it was not any COM
mon banquet to which these great peo-
sent their richest viands to that table.
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 cOnservatories.
Vases. inlaid with emerald and
ridged with exquisite traceries. filed
with nuts that were threshed from for
ests of distant lands Wine brought
from the royal watts. foaming in the
lecanters and bubbling in the chalices.
Tufts of cassia and franllincense watt
ing their sweetness from wall and
ia BILE. Gorgeous banners unfolding in
the breeze that came throu rh 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
and shields brought from subdaed en-
pires Idols of wonderful work standing
on pedestals of precious stones. En-
broideries STOPPING about the windows
and wrapping pillars of cedar, and
drifting on floor inlaid with ivory and
agate Music, mingling the thrum of
harps, and the clash of cymbals, and
the blast of trumpets in one wave of
transport that went ripping along the
wall and breathing among the gar
lands. and pouring down the corridors,
and thrilling the souls of a thousand
banqueters The signal is given, and
the lords and ladies, the mighty men
and women of the land, come around
the table Pour out the wine! Let
foam and bubble kiss the rim! Hoist
everyone his cup and drink to the
sentiment: 20 King Belshazzar, live
forever Bestarred headband and
carcanet of royal beauty CLEAN to the
uplifted challices, as again, and again,
and again they are emptied. Away
with care from the palace! Tear royal
dignity to tatters. Pour out more wine!
Give us more light. wilder music,
sweeter perfume! Lord shouts to lord,
captain ogles to captain. GOblets
clash: decanters rattle. There come in
the obscene song, and the drunken hic-
,ourh. and the slavering lip, and the
guffaw of idiotic laughter, bursting
from the lips of princes, flushed, reel
ing, bloodshot: while mingling with il
all | hear. "Huzza! huzza! for great
BelshazZar.'
What is that on the plastering of the
wall? Is it a spirit? Is it phantom?
Is it God? The music stops The COB
lets fall from the nerveless grasp.
There is thrill. There is a start.
There is thousand-voiced shrek of
horror. Let Daniel be brought in to
read that writing. He comes in. He
reads it: Weighed in the balance and
found wanting"
Meanwhile the Medes. who for two
years had been laying siege to that
city, took advantage of that carOusal
and came in. | hear the feet of the
conquerors on the palace stairs. Mas
sacre rushes in with thousand gleam-
ing knives Death bursts upon the
scene: and shut the door of that BAN
quoting hall, for l do not want to look.
There is nothing there but torn BAN
uers, and broken wreaths, and the
slush of upset tankards. and the blood
Of murdered women. and the kicked