Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1900-11-02
Degrading wors,tn

altar OF the golden calf and sacrificing
their families with them. The soldiers
OF General Havelock in India walked
literally ankle deep In the blood of 'the
house of massacre" where 200 white
women and children had been slain by
the sepOys. But the blood about this
altar OF the golden calf flows I'D TO the
knee. flows up TO the girdle, flows to
the shoulder. flows to the lip. Great
COD OF heaven and earth. have mercy
on those who immediate themselves on
this atari The golden calf has none
stu The degrading worship goes on.
and the devctecs kneel and kiss the
dust aud count their golden beads and
cross themselves with the blood Of
their own sacrifice. The music rolls on
under the arches. 1t is made of clink-
ing silver and clinking gold and the
rafting specie of the banks and bro
kers' shops and the voices of ali the ex-
changes. The soprano of the Worship
is carried by the timid voices OF men
who have just begun to speculate.
while the deep bass rolls out from
those who for ten years have been
stepped in the seething cauldron. Cho-
rus OF voices rejoicing over what they
have made; chorus of voices wailing
over what they have lost. This temple
of which | speak stands open day and
night. and there Is the glittering god
with his four feet on broken hearts.
and there is the smok&ss altar of sac
ritce. new victims every moment OH IL.
and there are the kneeling deyotees.
and the dOxology of the Worship rolls
ON, while death stands with moldy and
skeleton arm beating time for the cho-
rus-"More, more, morer'
Some people are very much surprised
at the actions of people in the Stock
Exchange, New York. Indeed IL is n
scene sometimes that paralyzes descrip-
ton and is beyond the imagination of
any one who has never looked In.
What swapping of finger and thumb
and wild gcsticulation aud raving like
hyenas. and stamping like buffaloes.
and swaying to and fro, and jostling
and running one upon another. and
deafening uproar. until the president of
the exchange strikes with his mallet
four or five times. crying. Order. or
der" and the astonished spectator goes
out into the fresh air feeling that he
has escaped from pandemonium. What
does 1t all mean? | Will tell you what
II means The devotees Of every heath
en- temple cut themselves TO pieces am!
yell and gyratc., This vociferation and
gyratiou of the Stock Exchange is ali
appropriate. This is the Worship of the
golden GALE.
The BinEc OF Gods Wrath.
But my text suggests that this wor-
snip has to he broken up. as the be-
havior OF Moses on this occasion indi-
Gated. There are those who say that
this golden calf spoken Of i'm the text
was hollow and merely plated with
gold. Otherwise Moses could not have
carried II. do not know that Bnt
somehow. perhaps by the assistance
of his friends. he takes up this golden
calf, which is an Internal insult TO
God and man. and throws it into the
fire. and IL Is melted. And then II comes
out and Is cooled OF. and by some
chemical appliance or by an old fash
Toned Tile IL is pulvorized. aud II Is
thrown into the brook. and as n pun
ishmcnt the people are compelled to
drink the nauseating stun. So YOU
may depend upon IL that God will burn
and he will grind to pieces the golden
calf OF modern idolatry. and he will
compel the people In their agony TO
drink il. If not before, II will be ON
the last day. l know not where the
IRE will begin. whether at the Bat.
terry or Lombard street, whether nj
Shoreditch or west end, but IL will be
very hot blaze. All the government
securities of the United States and
Great Britain Will curl up I'm the first
blast. All the money safes and de-
post vaults will melt under the first
touch. The sea viii burn like finder
and the shipping will be abandoned
forever. The melting gold In the bro
ker's window will burst through the
melted window glass into the street.
But the flying population Will not stop
10 scoop IL up. The cry OF "Firer'
from the mountain will be answered
10y the cry of ''Firer' In the plain. The
confagration will burn out from the
continent toward the sea and then
burn in from the sea toward the land.
New York and London, with one cut
or the red scythe OF destruction. Will
20 down. Twenty-Five thousand miles
OF conhagration, The earth will wi.ap |
Itself round and round in shroud OF
lame and lie down TO perish. What |
then VIII become OF your golden calf? |
VINO then SO poor as TO worship IL? |
Melted or between the upper and
neither millstoncs OF falling mountains |
ground TO powder. Dagon down,
Moioch down, Juggernaut down, gold |
en- calf downl
but every day is day of Judgment.
and God Is all the time grinding 10 /
pieces the golden calf. Some years ago.
III time OF panic. we learned rs never
before that forgeries will not pay: that
the watering of stock will not nay.
that the spending of $50, 600 on country
seats and palatial city residence when
there Is only $4,000 income will not
pay; that the appropriation OF trust
iuhus 10 our own private speculation
VIII not pay. We had n great national
tuihor III the shape OF fictitious Eros
perity. We called II national enlarge
ment. Instead OF calling il enlarge
ment we might better have called IL a
swelling. 1t was n tumor, and God cut
II out, and the nation was sent back 10
the principles OF our fathers and grand
fathers, when twice three made six in
s'ead OF W, and when the apples at the
oottom or the barrel were just as good
as the apples on the top OF the barrel.
and a SILK handkerchief was not hale
COTTON. and man who wore a IS coat
PAID for was more honored than a man
VINO wore a $50 coat not paid for.
A CanniboI Appetite.
The modern golden calf, like the one
OK the text, is very apt TO be mnde out
OF borrowed gold. These Israeiites OF
the text borrowed the earrings Of the
and then melted them into
q god. That is the way the golden calf
Is made nowadays. A great many
housekeepers. not paying for the artI-
cies they get. borrow OF the grocer and
the baker and the butcher and the dry
goods seller. Then the retailer borrows
Or the wholesale dealer. Then the