The Monitor-register., 1896-06-19
THE BITTER ATTILA.
a BRIEF VIEW OF THE STAR CALLED
WORMWOOD.

and Its Results-Scoloihs anu
The Sweetening Power of the Gospel.
Safety In Righteousness.
WASHINGTON. June 14.-It was ap-
~nropriate that this sermon on the des-
tinv of nations should be preached in
what has long been called the president's
chnrch because Presidents Jackson and
Pierce and Polk and Cleveland have at
tended it,. DR.. Talmage chose for his
text Revelation viii, 10. II, "There
fell a great star from heaven, burning
az IL were a lamp, and it fell upon the
third part Of the rivers, and upon the
fountains Of waters, and the name OF INC
star Is called Norwood"
MANY commentators, like Patrick and
Lowth, Thomas Scott, Matthew Henry
and Albert Barnes agree in saying that
the star Norwood, mentioned in Rev
citation, was Attila, king Of the Huns.
He was SO called because he was bril-
liant as a star, and, like NORWOOD, ne
embittered everything he touched we
have studied the Star of Bethlehem, Il
the Morning Star of the Revelatlon' ano
the Star of Peace, but my present sup
feet calls us to gaze at the star "orhl-
wood. and my theme might be called
Brilliant Bitterness. -.
A more extraordinary character MS
tory does not furnish than this nan mus
referred to, Attila, the king OF the Huns.
Ono dav a wounded heifer came llmplng
along through the fields, and a herds
man followed it's bloody track on the
GRASS to see where the heifer was
1younded. and went on back further and
further. until he came to q SWORD last
in the earth, the point downward, as
though it had dropped from the heavens
and against the edges of this sword the
heifer had been cut. The herdsman pull
ed mn that sword and presented 1t to
Attiia. Atilla said that sword must
have dropped from the heavens from the
prasp of the god Mars and its being
oiven to him meant that Attila should
conouer and govern the whole earth.
Other mighty men have been delight
ed at being called hberators, or the
merciful, or the good, but Attila called
himself. and demanded that others call
him. the Scourge of God. At the head
Of roo, 900 troops, mounted on Cappado-
clan horses, he swept everything from
the Adriatio to the Black sea. He put
his iron heel on Macedonia and Greece
and Thrace. He made Milan and Pavia
and Padua and Verona beg for mercy,
which he bestowed not. The Byzantine
castles, to meet his ruinous levy, put up
at auction massive silver tables and
vases of solid gold. A city captured by
him, the inhabitants were brought out
and put into three classes-the first
class, those who could bear arms, who
must Immediately enlist under Attila
or be butchered; the second class, the
beautiful women, who were made cap
tives to the Huns; the third class, the
aged men and women, who were robbed
of everything and let go back to the
city to pay heavy tax.
Rise of q Star.
It was a common saying that the
grass never grew again where the hoof
of Attila's horse had trod. His armies
Redeemed the waters of the Seine, and
the Moselle, and the Rhine with car
mage and fought on the Catalonian plains
the fercest battle since the world stood
800, 900 dead left on the fieldl On
and ON until all those who could not
oppose him with arms lay PROSTATE on
their faces in prayer, and, a cloud of
dust seen in the distance, a bishop
cried, at is the aid of Godl" and all
the people took up the cry, ''It is the
aid of Godl" AS the cloud of dust was
blown aside the banners of reinforcing
armies marched in to help against At
tia, the Scourge Of God. The most un-
important occurrences he used as a su-
pernatural resource, and after three
months of failure to capture the city OF
AGuileia, and his army had given up
the siege the flight of a stork and her
young from the tower of the city was
taken by him as a sign that he was to
capture the city, and his army, inspired
by the same occurrence, resumed the
siege and took the walls at a point
from which the stork had emerged. sc
brilliant was the conqueror in attire
that his enemies could not look at him,
but shaded their eyes or turned theil
heads.
Slain on the evening Of his marriage
by his bride, Ildico. who was hired fol
the assassination, his followers bewailed
him, not with tears, but with blood,
cutting themselves with knives and
lances. He was put into three collins.
the first of iron, the second of silver
and the third of gold. He was buried
by night, and into his grave were poured
the most valuable coin and precious
stones, amounting to the wealth OF
kingdom. The gravediggers and all
those who assisted at the burial were
massacred, so that it would be
known where so much wealth was en-
tombed. The Roman empire conquered
the world, but Attila conquered the Ro
man empire. He was right in calling
himself a scourge, but instead OF being
the Scourge of God he was the scourgt
of hell. Because of his brilliance anG
bitterness the commentators were right
in believing him to be the star Worm
wood. As the regions he devastated
were parts most opulent with fountains
and streams and rivers, you see how
graphic is this reference in Revelation
There fell a great star from heaven,
burning as it were a lamp, and it fell
upon the third part of the rivers anc
upon the fountains of waters, and the
name of the star is called Wormwood. ,
Have you ever thought how many
InhiffQrQd lixrac fhn,a aro oil ohnr1f no
:aisanthropic, morbid, acrid, saturnine
The European plant from which worm
wood i~sextracted, Artemisia absinthium,
is a perennial plant, and all the yea
round it ia ready to exude its oil. An6
In many human lives there is a peren'
NAL distillation of acrid experiences
Yea, there are some whose whole work
Is to shed a baleful influence on others.
There are Attilas Of the home, or At
tilas Of the social circle, or Attilas O
the church, or Attilas Of the state, ant
one-third of the waters Of all the world
if not two-thirds the waters, are poi
soned by the falling Of the star Worm
wood. It is not complimentary to hu
man nature that most men, as soon 81
they get great power, become overbear
ing. The more power men have the bet
ter if their power be used for good. Th'
less power men have the better if they
use it for evil.
Birds circle round and round ant
round before they swoop upon tina
which they are aiming for. And If my
discourse SO far has been swinging roune
and round this moment it drops stralgh
on your heart and asks the question, L
your life q benediction to others OR al
imbitterment, a blessing or a curse,
balsam or NORWOOD?
Some of you 1 know are morning stars
and you are making the dawning life o
your children bright with gracious in