St. Tammany farmer., 1899-04-15
BITTERNESS OF LIFE.
Dr.. Talmage Draws a Contrast Be-
tween Selfishness and Kindness.
should Make the World = Fleasant
Place-scattercrs Of WorRwood
Are Lfkened to Attila
#4 the Hun.
washington,

Washington. Copyright. 1893
The contrast between a life of self
ishness and life Of Kindness is Sc:
forth by DIR. Talmage while discours-
ing upon the balefui character OF
conqueror of oiden time; text. Rev
elation viii. 10. IL: There fell great
star from heaven, burning as ii were
a lamp. and it fell upon the third part
of the rivers and upon the fountains
Of water. and the name of the star -
called WorRNvood.'
Patrick and Lowth, Thomas Scott.
Matthew Henry. Albert Barnes ard
some other commentators say that
the star Wormwood of my text was a
type of Attila. king Of the Huns. He
was SO called because he was brilliant
as a star, and, like worniwood, he en-
bittered 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 thestar Wormwocd.
and my theme might be called Bril-
liant Bitterness.
A more extraordinary character his
tory does not furnish than this man
A.tila. the king of the Huns. The
story goes that one day wounded
heifer came limring along through the
fields. and herLsman followed its
bloody tracks on the grass to sec
where the heifer was wounded. and
vent on back farther and farther un-
til he came to a sword fast in the
earth. The point downward. as though
it had dropped from the heavens. and
against the edges of this sword the
heifer had been cut. The EefdSman
pulled up that sword and presented
il 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 ~
tia should conquer and govern the
whole earth. Other mighty men have
been delighted at being called liber-
ators. or the Merciful. or the Goou,
hut Attila called himself ard demand
ed that others call him .the Scourge
of God"
AT the head of 700 1000 troops, mount
ed on Cappadoc;an horses, he swept
everything from the Adriatic 10 the
Black sea. He put his iron heel on
Macedonia and Greece and Thrace. lie
made Milan ard Pavia and Padua
ard Verona beg for mercy. which ne
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 cap
tured by him. the Inhabitants were
brought out and put into three classes.
The first class, those who could bear
arms. must Immediately enlist 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.
1t was Il common saying that the
grass never grew where the hoof OF
AttiIa's horse had trod. His armies
redeemed the waters of the Seine and
the Moselie and the Rhine with car,
mage and fought on the Catalonian
plains the fiercest battles -ince the
world stood-300. 900 dead left on the
field. On and on until all those who
could not oppose him with arms lay
prustrate on their faces in prayer
then a cloud Of dust was seen in the
distance, and a bishop cried: IT is
the aid of God" and all the people
took up the cry: 1T is the aid OF God
As the cloud Of dust was blown aside
the banners of reinforcing armie:
marched in to help against Attila
..ihe Scourge of God" The most IN
| important occurrences he used as
| supernatural resource. After three
months of failure TO capture the city
| OF Aquileia, when his army had giver
up the siege. the flight Of stork an,
| her young from the tower of the cit.
was taken by him as sign that h,
was 10 capture the city. and his army
/ inspired with the same occurrence
resumed the siege and took the wali'
at point from which the stork ha,
emerged So brilliant was the con
queror in attire that his enemies coult
| not look at him. but shaded their eye
or turned their heads.
Slain on the evening of his marT;ag
by his bride, Ildico. who was hiret
for the assassination, his followers be
walled him not with tears, but witt
blood. cutting themselves with knive
| and lances. He was put into thre,
coifins. the first of iron. the second o
silver and the third Of gold. lie va
buried by night and into his grav,
were poured the most valuable coin
and precious stones, amounting 10 th
wealth of kingdom. The gravedig
gers and all those who assisted at ih
burial were massacred. so that i
would never be known where SO mucl
wealth was entombed.s
The Roman empire conquered tn
world. but Attila conquered the Ro
man empire. He was right in callin;
himself a scourge. but instead of be
ing '.the ScoTge of Cod he was tn
scourge of 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 devas
tated were parts most opulent will
fountains and streams and rivers. yol
see how graphic my text is: "Ther
feI a great star from heaven, burnin.
az it were lamp. and it fell upon tn
.hird part of the rivers and upon tn
fountains of waters, and the name o
the star is called Wormwood.-
Have you ever thought how man,
embittered lives there are all abou
us, misanthropic, morbid, acrid. satur
nine: The European plant from which
wormwood is extracted. Artemisia alb
sinthium. is perennial plant. and al
the year round it is ready to exude it
oil. and in many human lives there j
a perennial distillation of acrid expert
cnces. Yea. there are some who's
whole work is 10 she'd baleful in
fluenee on Others. There are Attila
of the home, Attilas of the social cir
Gle, Attilas of the. church. Attilas o
the state, and one-third Of the water
of all the world, if not two-thirds th
waters. are poisoned by the falling o