Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1899-03-17
THE TYPE OF ATTILA
DR.. TALMAGE'S THEME THE STAR
WORMWOOD IN REVELATION.
The King of the Huns Like Worm
wood Because He imbittered Ev-
erything He Touched - Lessons
From the Life of the Barbarian.

From the Life of the Barbarian.
Copyright, 1899. by American Press Asso-
ciation.l
WASHINGTON, March 12.-The con
trast between a life of selfshness and a
life of kindness is set forth by DIR. Tai
mage while discoursing upon the baleful
character of a conqueror of olden time !;
text, Revelation viii, 10, II, 'There
fell a great star from heaven. burning
Is it were lamp, and it fell upon the
third part CT the rivers, and upon the
fountains of waters, and the name Of
the star is called Wormwood. "
Patrick and Lowth, Thomas Scott,
Matthew Henry, Albert Barnes and
some other commentators say that the
star Wormwood of my text was type
Of Attila, king of the Huns. He was
so called because he was brilliant as a
star, and, like wormwood, he imbitter-
ed everything he touched. We have
studied the Star of Bethlehem, and the
Morning Star of Revelation and the Star
Of Peace, but my subject calls us to gaze
at the star WOrmwOOd. and my theme
might be called Brilliant Bitterness. .
a more extraordinary character his
tory does not furnish than this man At
tia. the king of the Huns. The story
goes that one day a wounded heifer
came limping along through the fields,
and a herdsman followed its bloody
track on the grass to see where the
heifer was wounded, and went on back,
farther and farther, until he came to a
sword fast in the earth, the point down
ward. as though it had dropped from the
heavens. and against the edges Of this
sword the heifer had been cut. The
herdsman pulled up that sword and
presented it to Attila. Attila said that
sword must have dropped from the
heavens from the grasp of the god Mars,
and its being given to him meant
that Attila should conquer and govern
the whole earth Other mighty men
have been delighted at being called lib
orators or the Merciful or the Good, but
Attila called himself and demanded
that others call him 1.-THE Scourge OF
God
At the head of 700, 600 troops. mount
ed on Cappadocian horses he swept ev-
erything, from the Adriatic 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. When a
city was captured by him, the inhabit-
ants were brought ont and put into
three classes. The first class, those who
could bear arms, must Immediately en-
list under Attila or be butchered the
second class. the beautiful women, were
made captives to the Huns; the third
class. the aged men and women, were
robbed Of everything and let go back to
the city to pay heavy tax.
4 Blight TO the Earth.
1t was a common saying that the
grass never grew where the hocf of At
tila's horse had trod His armies red
dened the waters Of the Seine and the
Moselle and the Rhine with carnage
and fought on the Catalonian plains the
Gcrcest battle since the world stood
300. 600 dead left on the field. On and
on until all those who could not oppose
him with arms lay PROSTATE on their
faces in prayer; then a cloud OF dust
was seen in the distance. and bishop
cried. 1T is the aid of God, and all
the people took up the cry. ut Is the
aid Of God. As the cloud Of dust wa:
blown aside the banners Of re-enforcine
armies marched in to help against At
tia. 1.-THE Scourge Of God. The mos'
unimportant occurrences he used as
| supernatural resource. After three
months of failure to capture the city Of
Aquileia. when his army had given NJ
the siege, the flight Of a stork and hei
young from the tower Of the city was
taken by him as sign that he was t
capture the city, and his army, inspired
with the same occurrence resumed th'
siege and took the walls at a point from
which the stork had emerged So bril-
liant was the conqueror in attire that
his enemies could not look at him. bui
shaded their eyes or turned their heads
Slain on the evening Of his marriage
by his bride, Ildico, who was hired TO
the assassination. his followers bewaile'
him. not with tears but with blood
cutting themselves with knives an'
lances. He was put into three collins
the first of iron. the second CT silver ant
the third of gold. He was buried b.
night, and into his grave were poure'
the most valuable coins and preclou
stones. amounting to the wealth OF
kingdom. The gravediggers and al
those who assisted at the burial wer
massacred, so that it would never b
known where so much wealth was en-
tombed
The Roman empire conquered IN
world. but Attila conquered the Romal
empire. He was right in calling him
} self a scourge. but instead of being 18th
scourge of God he was the scourge @
hell .
Because of his brilliancy and bitter
ness. the commentators might well hav
, supposed him to be the star Wormwoo
Of the text. AS the regions he deva'
tated were parts most opulent wit
fountains and streams and rivers 20
see how graphic my text is; There fe
q great star from heaven. burning as
, were lamp. and it fell upon the thir
3 part Of the rivers. and upon the four
. tains of waters. and the name OF the sta
is called Wormwood.
Imbittcred Lives About Us.
, Have YOU ever thought how man
{ imbittered lives there are all about III
misanthropic. morbid. acrid' saturnine
The European plant from which worn
wood is extracted. Artemisia absinth
um. is a perennial plant. and all II
year round it is ready to exude Its oil
And in many human lives there Is pc
! ennial distillation Of acrid experiences
: : Yea. there are some whose whole wor
I, is TO shed a balcful influence on Others
} There are Attilas Of the home. Attila
of the social circle. Attilas OF IN
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