The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1900-12-07

IL taxes pOSSesblOn OF man and tina
money got in wrong ways is a curse
Text: Exodus, xxi, 20, And he tool
the calf which they had made and burn
II In the fire, and ground II to powder
and strewed II upon the water, an,
made the children of Israel drink O
It,"
People will have a god Of some kind
and they prefer one of their own max
ing. Here come the lsraelites, breaking
of their golden earrings, the men al
well as the women, for in those times
there was masculine as well as femi
nine decoration. Where did they get
these beautiful gold earrings, coming W
as they did from the desert? Oh, they
borrowed them Of the Egyptians wher
they left Egypt. These earrings are
piled up into a pyramid of glittering
beauty. ANY more earrings to bring?"
says Aaron. None. Fire is kindled
the earrings are melted and poured
into a mold, not of an eagle OF a war
charger, but of q silly calf. The gold
cools down, the mold is taken away,
and the idol is set up on it's four legs.
An altar is built In front of the shin
Ing calf. Then the people throw up
their arms and gyrate and shrek and
dance vigorously and worship.
Moses has been six weeks on Mount
Sinai, and he comes back and hears
the bowling and sees the dancing Of
these golden calf fanatics, and he loses
his patience, and he takes the two
plates of stone on which were written
the Ten Commandments and filings
them so hard against a rock that they
angry, he is apt to break all the Ten
Commandments Moses rushes in, and
he takes this calf god and throws il
into a hot fire until 1t is melted all out
OF shape and then pulverizes It, not
by the modern appliance of nitromuri-
attic acid, but by the ancient appliance
OF inter or by the old-fashioned file.
He stirs for the people most nauseat-
Ing draft. He takes this pulverized
golden calf and throws II in the only
brook which is accessible, and the peo-
pie are compelled to drink of that
brook or not drink at all.
But they did not drink all the gilt
tering stuff thrown on the surface
Some Of it flows on down the sur
face of the brook TO the river and then
flows on down the river TO the sea, and
the sea takes IL up and bears II to the
mouth Of all the rivers, and when the
tides set back the remains of this gold
en- calf are carried up into the Potomac
and the Hudson and the Thames and
the Clyde and the Tiber. and men go
out, and they skim the glittsring sur
face, and they bring II ashore and
they make another golden calf, and
California and Australia break off their
golden earrings TO augment the pile.
and In the fires Of financial excitement
and struggle all these things are melt
ed together, and while we stand hooking
and wondering what will come Of 1t,
10 we find that the golden calf OF Is
raelitish worship has become the gold
en- calf OF European and American wor-
ship.
Pull aside this curtain, and you see
the golden calf Of modern idolatry. !
1t Is not, Hike other idols, made out
OF stocks OF stone, but IL has an ear
30 sensitive that II can hear the whis-
pers on Wall street, and Third street, |
and State street, and the footballs in |
the Bank of England, and the futter
Of Frenchman's heart on the bourse.
II has an eye 20 keen that 1t can zee
the rust on the farm of Michigan wheat
and the insect in the Maryland peach
orchard and the trampled grain under
the hoof Of the Russian war charger
It Is so mighty that it swings any way
Il will the worlds shipping. 1t has It's
foot on all the merchantmen and the
steamers. 1t started the American civil
war and, under God, stopped II. and
L decided the Turko-Russian contest.
One broker in September, 1869, in New
York, shOuted: Zone hundred and six
y for a millionl" and the whole con-
inent shivered. The golden calf Of the
text has. as far as America Is con-
,erned, It's right foot In New York, its
eft foot in Chicago, its right back foot
n Charleston, its left back foot in New
orleans, and when 1t shakes itself II
hakes the world. Oh, this is a mighty
,od-the golden calf Of the worlds
But every god must have it's temple,
md this golden calf of the text is no
reception. Its temple is vaster than
Il. Paul's cathedral in England, and
Il. Peters In Italy, and the Alhambra
Z the Spaniards, and the Parthenon
Z the Greeks, and the Tai Mahal OF
he Hindoos and all the cathedrals put
ogether. It's pillars are grooved and
uted with gold. and its ribbed arches
re lowering gold. and its chandeliers
re descending gold, and its floors are
assellated gold, and its vaults are
rowded heaps of gold, and it's spires
nd domes are soaring gold, and its
rgan pipes are resounding gold. and
IS pedals are tramping gold, and its
tops pulled out are flashing gold.
Ihile standing at the head of the tenn
le, as the presiding deity, are the
oofs and shoulders and eyes and ears
nd nostrils Of the calf of gold. D
Further, every god must have not :
My its temple, but its altar of sacri- :
ce. and this golden calf of the text
no exception. Its altar is not made !,
ut OF stone, as other affairs, but out :
counting-room desks and freproof
lfes, and ii is broad, long, high a
tar. The victims sacrificed on II are i