Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1897-02-23

shows you the vast
ness of his realm. AS the sun kindles
the domes with glisterings almost in
sufferable, and the great streets thun-
der up their uomp into the ear OF
the monarch. and armed towers stand
around, adorned with the spoils of
conquered empires, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
waves his hand above the stupendous
scene and exclaims: us not this great
Babylon, that l have built for the
house of the kingdom by the might of
my power, and for the honor of my
majesty" But in an instant all that
splend0r is gone from his vision, for a
voice falls from the heaven, saying. 20
King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is
spoken: The kingdom is departed
from thee; and they shall drive thee
from men. and thy dwelling shall be
with the beasts Of the field they shall
make thee to eat grass as oxen, and
seven years shall pass over thee, until
thou know that the Most High ruleth
In the kingdom of men, and giveth it
to whomsoever he will" One hour
from the time that he made the boast
he Is on the way to the fields. maniac.
and rushing into the forests he becomes
one OF the beasts. covered with eagles
feathers for protection from the cold.
and his nails growing to birds claws in
order that he might dig the earth for
roots and climb the trees for nuts.
You see there IL great variety in
the Scriptural landscape. In several
discourses we have looked at noun
tains Of excellence, but now we look
down into a great dark chasm of wick
edness as We come to speak of Nebuch-
adnezzar. God in His Word sets before
us the beauty of self-denial, of sobriety,
OF devotion, of courage, and then. lest
we should not thoroughly understand
him, he introduced Daniel and Paul,
and Deborah, as illustrations of those
virtues. Coo also speaks to us in His
Word as to the hatefuness of pride,
OF folly, of impiety. and lest we should
not thoroughly understand him, intro
duces Nebuchadnezzar as the imper-
soDation of these forms of depravty
The former style of character is a
lighthouse. showing us a way into a
safe harbor, and the latter style of
character is black buoy, swinging on
the rocks, to show where vessels wreck
themselves. Thanks unto God for both
the buoy and the lighthouse! The host
OF Observation-Disclosures is laundering at the
gates Of Jerusalem. The crown of that
sacred city is struck into the dust by
the hand of Babylonish insolence. The
vessels of the temple, which had never
been desecrated by profane touch, were
ruthlessly seized for sacrilege and
transportation. Oh, what a sad hour
when those Jews, at the command Of
the invading army, are Obliged to leave
the home OF their nativity. How their
hearts must have been wrung with
anguish, when, on the day they depart
ed, they heard the trumpets from the
top Of the Temple announcing the hour
for morning sacrifice and saw the
smoke OF the affairs ascending around
the holy hill of Zion, for we'll they
knew that in far distant land they
would never hear that trumpet CALL
nor behold the majestic ascent of the
sacrifice. Behold those captives on the
and weary, they did not dare halt, for
roundabout are armed men, urging
them on with boot, and shout. and BIAS
phemy. Aged men tottered along ON
their slaves, weeping that they could
not lay their bones In the sleeping
place of their fathers, and children
wondered at the length of the way and
N u,hn ha
night had fallen. It seemed as IL at
every step heart broke. But at turn
OF the road Babylon suddenly springs
upon the view of the captives. with
its gardens and palaces. A shout goes
up from the army as they behold their
native city, but not one huzza is heard
from the captives. These exiles saw no
splendor there, for it was not home.
The Euphrates did not have the water
CLEAN of the brook Kedron or the pool
of Sloan. The willows OF Babylon, on
which they hung their untuned harps,
were not as graceful as the trees which
at the foot of Mount Moriah seemed TO
weep at the departed glory of Judah,
anu all the fragrance that descended
from the hanging-gardens upon that
great city WAS not so sweet as one
breath OF the acacia and frankincense
that the high priest kindled in the
sanctuary at Jerusalem
On a certain night, little while af-
ter these captives had been brought to
his city. Nebuchadnezzar Is scared with
q night visioi.. A bad mans pillow is
apt to be stuffed with deeds and fore
bodings which keep talking in the
night. He will find that the eagles
down in his pillow will stick him like
porcupine quilts. The ghosts of old
transgressions are sure to wander
about in the darkness and beckon and
hiss. Yet when the morning came he
found that the vision had entirely fled
from him. Dreams drop no anchors,
and therefors are apt to sail away be-
fore we can fasten them. Nebuchad-
nezzar calls all the wise men of the
land into his presence, demanding that
by their necromancy they explain his
dream They. of course. fail. Then
their wrathful king issues an edict
with as little sense as mercy, ordering
The Staying OF all the learned men Of