The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1897-02-27

A h2A most insufferable
E&@ \V0T%Z ~ n tn great
E%%A 1srA I'm streets thunder up
NEAMk ZHEzAxAMMNtheir pomp into the
WHWeMMA mum ear of the monarch,
REV. and armed towers
stand around, adorned with the spoils
of conquered empires, observation-disclosures
waves his hand above the ~stupendous
scene and eXclaims, us not this great
Babylon. that | have built for the
house of the kingdom by the might of
my power, and for the honor of my
majesty?" But in IN instant all that
splendor is gone from his vision, for a
voice falls from Heaven, saying, "Oh,
King NebuchadneZZar, to thee 1T is
spoken: The kingdom is departed
from thee; and they shall drive thee
from men, and thy dwelling shall be
with the beasts of h 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 1t
to whomsoever he will" One hour
from the time he made the boast he is
on the way to the fields, amaniac, 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 sec there is n great variety in
the Scriptural landscape. In several
d~iscourses we have looked at noun
tains of excellence. but now we look
down into n great, dark chasm of wick
edness as we come To speak of Nebu-
chadneZzar. God in His word sets be-
fore us the beauty of self-denial, of so-
briefly. of devotion, of courage, and
then. lest we should not thoroughly
understand Him, He introduced Daniel
and Paul. and Deborah, as illustra-
tons of those virtues. God also speaks
to us in His word as to h hatefulness
of pride, of folly, of impiety, and lest
we should not thoroughly understand
Him, introduced Nebuchadnezzar as
the representation of these forms of
depravity. The former style of char.
aeter is a lighthouse, showing us a
way into n safe harbor, and the latter
style of character is a black buoy,
swinging ON the rocks, 20 show where
vessels wreck themselves. Thanks ms
to God for both the buoy and the light
housed The host of Nebuchadnezzar is
laundering at the gates of Jerusalem.
The crown of that sacred city is struck
into the lust by the hand of Babylon
lsh i~nsolence. The vessels of the tenn
pie, which had never been desecrated
by profane touch. Were rptblessly
seized for s~acrilege and transporta-
ton. Oh, what a sad hour when those
Jews. at the command of the invad-
ing army, are obliged to leave the
home of their nativity! How their
hearts must have been wrung
with anguish when, on the day
they departed, 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 well
they knew that in "a far distant land
they would never hear that trumpet
call, nor behold the majestic ascent of
the sacrifice. Behold those captives
on the road from Jerusalem to Baby
lonl Worn and weary, they dare not
halt. for round about are armed men
urging them on with hoot, and shout,
and blasphemy. Aged men tottered
along on their slaves, weeping that
they could not lay their bones in the
sleeping place of their fathers, and the
children wondered at the length of the
way and sobbed themselves to sleep
when the night had fallen. 1t seemed as
If at every step a hear broke. But at a
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 waterugleam of the brook Kedron
of the pool of SLOAN. The willows of
Babylon, on which they hung theiF
rntuned harps, were not as graceful as
the trees which at the foot of
Mount Moriah seemed to weep at the
departed glory of Judah, and all the
fragrance that descended from the
hanging gardens upon that great city
was not so sweet as n breath of the
acacia and frankincense thai the high
priest kiadled in the sanctuary at
Jerusalem.
On a certain night, n little while after
these captives had been brought to his
city, NebuchadneZzar is scared with a
night vision. A bad mans pillow is
apt to be stuffed with deeds and fore
holdings which keep talking in the
night. He win find that the eagles
down in his pillow will stick him ike
~porcupine quilts. The ghosts of old
transgressions are apt to wander about
in the darkness and beckon and hiss.
when the morning came he found
that the vision had entirely fed from
him. Dreams drop no anchors, and
+lo.,f~.. $50 49, =. znsl yyn haf1,a
we can fssteQ them. Nebuchadnezzar
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
sense as mercy, ordering the
of all the learned men OF the
country. But Daniel the prophet comes
ia with the Interpretation just in time
to save the wise men and the Jewish
eaptiyes.
My friends, do you not see that pride
and ruin ride in the same saddle? See
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS on the proudest throne
of all the earth, and hen see him Craze
the sheep and the cattle! Pride
is commander, we'll plumed and capar-
but it leads forth a dark and
frowning host, The errows from the
Almighty's CULVER are apt to strike d
man when on the wing. Goliath
shakes his great spear in defiance, but
the smooth stones from the brook
make him stagger and fall like an OK
under . butchers bludgeon. He who
is down cannot fall Vessels scpdding
along under bare poles do not feel the
of the storm, while those with all
sails set capsize at the sudden descent
of the tempest,
Do you not also learn from the mis-
of this king Of Babylon what
Il terrible thing is the loss of reason,
There is no calamity that can possibly
befall us in this world so great as de-
Of intellect; to have the
body of man and yet to fall even be-
the instinct of a brute, In this
world of horrible sights, the most nor
rible is the idiots stare. In this world
of horrible sounds, the most horrible
Is the maniac's laugh, A vessel driven