The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1898-10-22
TOO MUCH AMBITION.
The 0verambitious Man Places Him.
self in Dire Peril.
Rev. DIR. Taimage Shows the Dangers In the
Pathway OF Those Who are Possessed
of N Superabundance OF Any
Material Gifts.

propriate for those who have UNI
healthy ambition for great wealth or
fame. The text is:
"A man of great stature, whose fin
gers and toes were four and twenty,six
on each hand, and six on each foot;
and he also was the son of a giant.
But when he defied Israel, Jonathan,
the son of Shimea, David's brother,
slew him. Chron., Xxx, 81.
Malformation photographed, and for
what reason? Did not this passage
slip in by mistake into the sacred
Scriptures, as sometimes paragraph
utterly obnoxious to the editor gets
into his newspaper during his abb
sence? Is it not this Scrlptural err
rata? No, no; there is nothing hap
hazard about the Bible. This passage
of Scripture was as certainly intended
to be put in the Bible as the verse:
'In the beginning God created the
Heavens and the EARTH" or, GOD SO
loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son."
And / select it for my text to-day
because it is charged with practical
and tremendous meaning. By the
people of God the Philistines had been
conquered, with the exception OF
few giants. The race of giants is
mostly extinct, l am glad to say.
There is no use for giants now except
- o,,Ior..o +ba ;poor,a NJ ,ouca1,mc
But there were many of them in olden
times. Goliath was, according to the
Bible, II feet Az inches high. Or, if
you doubt this, the famous Pliny de-
clares that at Crete, by an earthquake,
a monument was broken open, discov-
ering the remains of giant 46 cubits
long, or go feet high. So, whether
you take sacred or profane history,
YOU must come to the conclusion that
there were in those times cases of hui
man altitude monstrous and appal-
ling
David had smashed the skull of one
of these giants, but there were ather
giants that the Davidean wars had not
vet subdued, and one of them stands
in my text. He was not only of Al
pine stature, but had surplus of dig
its. To the ordinary fingers was an
nexed an additional finger, and the
foot had also superfiuous addendum.
He had "a Examinations to hands and
feet, where others have 20. 1t was not
the only instance of the kind. Taver-
nier, the learned writer, says that the
emperor of Java had q son endowed
with the same number of extremities.
Volcatius, the poet, had six fingers on
each hand. Maupertuis, in his cele-
brated letters, speaks of two families
near Berlin similarly equipped ofhand
and foot. All of which l can believe,
for have seen two cases of the same
physical superabundance. But this
riant of the text is in battle, and as
David, the STRIPPING warrior, had dis
patched one giant, the nephew of Da-
yid slays this monster of my text, and
there he lies after the battle in Gath.
dead giant. His stature did not save
him. and his superfuous appendices OF
hand and foot did not save him. The
probability was that in the battle his
sixth finger on his hand made him
clumsy in the use of his weapon, and
his sixth toe crippled his gait. Be-
hold the PROSTATE and uniformed gi-
ant of the text: "a man of great
stature, whose fingers and toes were
four and twenty, six on each hand
six on each foot; and he also was the
son of a giant. But when he defied
Israel. Jonathan, the son of Shimea
David's brother, slew him."
Behold how superfuities are hin.
drance rather than help! In all the
battles at Gath that day there was not
man with ordinary hand and ordi'
nary foot and ordinary stature that
was not better off than this physical
curiosity of my text. A dwarf on the
right side is stronger than giant or
the wrong side, and all the body
and mind and estate and opportunity
that YOU can not use for God and the
DtItCTlHtIb vi tllC NOiii 10 ~ SiNeh -
ger and sixth toe, and terrible hin
drance. The most of the good done ii
the world, and the most of those who
win the battles for the right, are or
binary people. Count the fingers o.
their right hand, and they have jus,
fve-no more and no less. One DIR
Dufiie among missionaries, but 5000
missionaries that would tell you they
have only common endowment. One
Florence Nightingale to nurse thu
sick in conspicuous places, but 10000
women who are just as good nurses
though never heard of. The "Swaml
Angel was a big gun that during thu
civil war made a big noise, but mus
kets of ordinary caliber and shells o
ordinary heft did the execution
President Tyler and his cabinet e,
down the Potomac one day to expert
ment with the "Peacemaker," grea
iron gun that was to alright with it
thunder foreign navies. The gunne
touches it off, and it explodes, ant
leaves cabinet ministers dead on tn
deck, while at that time, all up an,
down our coast, were cannon of, ordi
nary bore, able to be the defense o
the nation, and ready at the frs
touch to waken to duty. The curse @
the world is big guns. After the politi
clans, who have made all the noise, g
home hoarse from an angry discussion
on the evening of the FIRST Monday i
November, the next day the people
with the silent ballot, VIII settle every
thing, and settle it right, 100000 o
the white slips of paper they dro