The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1897-12-17
THE GIANT SAMSON.
his STRENGTH THE SUBJECT OF REV.
DR.. TALMAGE'S SERMON.

The Treacherous Delilah and Her Work.
Samson's Misguided Strength-The w eals
That Are Strong and That Are Weak.
tCopyright, 1897 by American Press Asso-
ciation.]
WASHINGTON, Dec 12.-Taking the
exciting story of Samson fall as sug-
gestion, DR.. Talmage in this discourse
shows how giants in body and mind or
soul ought to be consecrated to good
and great purposes His text is Judges
xiv, /, "And Samson went down to Tim
nath
There are two sides to the character
of Samson. The one phase of his life, if
followed into the particulars, would ad-
minister to the grotesque and mirthful,
but there is a phase of his character
fraught with lessons of solemn and eter-
nal import To these graver lessons we
devote our sermon. This giant no doubt
in early life gave evidences of what he
was to be. 1t is almost always so. There
were two Napoleons-the boy Napo-
leon and the man Napoleon-but both
alike; two Howards-the boy Howard
and the man Howard-but both alike;
two Samsons-the boy Samson and the
man Samson-but both alike. This
giant was no doubt the hero of the play
ground, and nothing could stand before
his exhibitions of youthful prowoss At
IS years of age he was betrothed to the
daughter of Philistine. Going down
toward Timnath, lion came upon him,
and, although this young giant was
weaponless, he seized the monster by
the long name and shook him as hun
CRY hound shakes q March hare and
made his bones crack and left him by
the wayside bleeding under the shifting
of his fist and the grinding heft of his
heel.
There he stands, looming up above
other men, a mountain of flesh, his arms
punched with muscle that can lift the
gate of city, taking an attitude defiant
of everything. His hair had never been
cut, and it rolled down in seven great
plaits over his shoulders, adding to his
bulk fierceness and terror. The Philis-
tines want to conquer him, and there
fore they must find out where the secret
of his strength lies.
The Treacherous Delilah.
There is dissolute woman living in
the valley of Sorek of the name of De- |
lilah. They appoint her the agent in the
case. The Philistines are secreted in the
same building, and then Delilah goes to
work and coaxes Samson to tell what is
the secret of his strength "Well, he
says, "if you should take seven green
withes, such as they fasten wild beasts
mill ND cI,
be perfectly powerless. So she binds
him with the seven green withes Then
she claps her hands and says, "They
come-the Philistines'' And he walks
out as though they were no impeachment.
She coaxes him again and says, "Now
tell me the secret of this great strength"
And he replies, eff you should take
some ropes that have never been used
and tie me with them, I should be just
like other men,. She ties him with the
ropes, claps her hands and shouts
"They come - the Philistines!' He
walks out as easily as he did before
not a single obstruction. She coaxes
him again, and he says, CHOW, if you
should take these seven long plaits of
hair and by this house loom weave them
into a web, could not get away" Sc
the house loom is rolled up, and the
shuttle flies backward and forward and ]
the long plaits of hair are woven into a
web. Then she claps her hands and says,
"They come - the Philistines!" He
walks out as easily as he did before,
dragging part of the loom with him.
But after awhile she persuaded him
to tell the truth. He says, eff you ,
should take a razor or shears and cut off
this long hair l should be powerless and ;
in the hands Of my enemies" Samson
sleeps, and that she may not wake him
up during the process of shearing help :
is called in. You know that the BARRIERS
of the east have such skillful way of ,,
manipulating the head to this very day :
that instead of waking up a sleeping :,
man they will put a man wide awake !
sound asleep. 1 hear the blades Of the :
shears grinding against each other, and
see the long locks falling off. The {
shears or razor accomplishes what green =
withes and new ropes and house loom =,
could not do. Suddenly she claps her g.,
hands and says, 1.-The Philistines be
upon thee, Samson - He rouses up with
a struggle, but his strength is all gone
He is in the hands of his enemies
outgianted by Low Passion. Y
l hear the groan of the giant as they
take his eyes out, and then l see him a
staggering on in his blindness, feeling d
his way as he goes on toward GAIA. a
The prison door is open, and the giant
is thrust in. He sits down and puts his t
hand ON the mill crank, which, with il
horizontal motion, goes day n
after day, week after week, month after G
work, work The con- I
of the world in captivity, his Ii
locks shorn, his eyes punctured, grind d
ing corn i'll GAIA. u
First of all behold in this giant of il
the text that physical power is not al a
ways an index Of moral power He was n
a huge man. The lion found it out, and Il
the 3, 900 men whom he slew found it CT
out, yet he was the subject of petty re- o
venges and outgianted by low passion. L
| am far from throwing any discredit Il
upon physical stamina. There are those b