Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1899-04-17
VOW OF JEPHTHAH.
CITED As A WARMING AGAINST PA
RENTAL HEEDLESSNESS


test Against the Sacrifice OF the
Young on the Altar of Worldly Am
bitfon and Pride.
copyright 1889. by American Press Asso-
ciation.1
WASHINGTON, April 16.-In his SER
mon today DR.. Talmage lodges protest
against the parental heedlessness and
worldly ambition which are threatening
the sacrifice of many American chill
dren; text, Judges XII. Sc. my father,
If thou hast opened thy mouth unto the
Lord, do to me according to that which
hath proceeded out of thy mouth. .
Jephthah was a freebooter. Early
turned out from home where he ought
to have been cared for, he consorted
with rough men and went forth to earn
his living as best he could. In those
times it was considered right for a man
to go out on independent military ex
petitions. Jephthah was a good man
according to the light CT his dark age,
but through a wandering and a preda
tory life he became reckless and precipi-
tate The grace of God changes mans
heart, but never reverses his natural
temperament The Israelites wanted
the Ammonites driven out of their
country, so they sent a delegation to
Jephthah, asking him to become COM
mander in chief of all the forces. He
might have said, "You drove me out
when you had no use for me, and now
you are in trouble you want me back, "
but he did not say that He takes COM
mand of the army, sends messengers to
the Ammonites to tell them to vacate
the country, and, getting no favorable
response, marshals his troops for battle.
Before going out to the war Jephthah
makes a very solemn vow that if the
Lord will give him the victory then,
on his return home, whatsoever first
comes out of his doorway he will offer
in sacrifice as burnt offering. The
battle opens. It was no skirnlishing
ON the edges of dangers, no unlimber
ing of batteries two miles away, but
the hurting of men on the point of
swords and spears until the ground
could no more drink the blood and the
horses reared to leap over the pile of
bodies of the slain. In those old times
opposing forces would fight until their
swords were broken and then each one
would throttle his man until they both
fell. teeth to teeth, grip to grip, death
stare to death stare, until the plain was
one tumbled mass of corpses from which
the last trace of manhood had been
dashed out.
Jephthah wins the day. Twenty
cities lay captured at his feet. Sound
the victory all through the mountains
of Gilead. Let the trumpeters call up
the survivors. Homeward to your wives
and children. Homeward with your
glittering treasures. Homeward to have
the applause of an admiring nation.
Build triumphal arches Swing out
flags all over Mizpah. Open all your
doors to receive the captured treasures
Through every hall spread the banquet.
Pile up the viands. Fill high the tank
ards. The nation is redeemed, the in
vaders are routed and the national hon
or is vindicated.
Jephthah's Solemn vow
Huzza for Jephthah, the conqueror!
Jephthah, seated on a prancing steed,
advances amid the acclaiming multi
tudes, but his eye is not on the excited
populace. Remembering that he had
made a solemn VOW that, returning
from victorious battle, whatsoever first
came out of the doorway of his home
that should be sacrificed as a burnt
offering. he has his anxious look upon
the door. l wonder what spotless lamb,
what brace of doves, will be thrown
upon the fires of the burnt offeringl
Oh, hCrrors Paleness of death
blanches his cheek. Despair seizes his
heart. His daughter, his only child,
rushes out the doorway to throw herself
in her fathers arms and shower upon
him more kisses than there were wounds
on his breast or dents on his shield. All
the triumphal splendor vanishes Hold
ing back this child from his heaving
breast and pushing the locks back from
the fair brow and looking into the eyes
of inextinguishable affection, with
choked utterance he says: "Would to
God l lay stark on the bloody plain
My daughter, my only child, joy of my
home, life of my life, thou art the sac
rifcel'
The whole matter was explained to
her This was no whining, hollow
hearted girl into whose eyes the father
looked. All the glory of sword and
shield vanished in the presence of the
valor of that girl. There may have been
a tremor of the lip, as rose leaf trem-
bles in the sough of the south wind;
there may have been the starting of a
tear like a raindrop shaken from the
anther of a water lily. But with self
sacrifice that man may not reach and
only woman's heart can compass she
surrenders herself to fire and to death
She cries out in the words of my text
my father. if thou hast opened thy
mouth unto the Lord, do unto me what
soever hath proceeded from thy mouth
She bows to the knife, and the blood,
al, nfHor, the Co. h,d