Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1900-11-03

wrongfuIIy n Cursc-Worshiperso of
Gold Die Moral Bankrupts.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 2S.-In this dis
course DR.. Talmage shows how the
spirit of greed destroys when 1t takes
possession of a man and that money
got in wrong ways is n curse; text, Ex-
0dus xxi, 20, "And he took the cair
which they had made and burnt 1t In
the fire and ground it to powder and
strawed 1t upon the water and made
the children Of Israel drink of It,"
People will have god of some kind,
and they prefer one of their own max
ing Here come the Israelites, break
ing off their golden earrings, the men
as well as the women, for In those
times there was masculine as well as
feminine decoration. Where did they
get these beautiful gold earrings, COM
ing up, as they did, from the desert!
Oh. they borrowed them Of the Egyp-
tians when they left Egypt These
earrings are piled up into pyramid OF
glittering beauty. ANY more earrings
to bring?" says Aaron. None. F1reiis
klndled, the earrings are melted ana
poured into mold not Of an eagle or a
war charger, but Of silly calf; the
gold cools down, the mold is taken
away, and the idol is set up on its four
legs. An altar is built In front OF the
shining calf. Then the people throw
lid their arms and gyrate and shrek
and dance vigorously and worship.
Moses has been six weeks on MoiInt
Sinai. and lie comes back and hears
the bowling and sees the dancing OF
these golden calf fanatics, and he loies
his patience, and he takes the two
plates Of stone on which were written
the Ten Commandments and fings
them so hard against rock that they
split all to pieces. When man gets
angry. he Is apt to break all the Ten
Commandments. Moses rushes In, and
he takes this calf god and throws 1t
into a hot fire until 1t is melted all out
of shape and then pulverizes it-not Dy
the modern appliance of nitro muriatic
acid. but by the ancient appliance or
inter or by the old fashioned file. He
stirs for the people n most nauseatng
draft. He takes this pulverized golden
calf and throws 1t in the only brook
which is accessible, and the people are
compelled to drink of that brook or not
drink at all.
But they did not drink all the glitter
ing stuff thrown on the surface. Some
of it flows on down the surface OF tpe
brook to the river and then flows lcn
down the river TO the sea, and the sea
takes 1t up and bears 1t to the mouth OF
all the rivers, and when the tides set
back the remains of this golden 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 glitterlng surface,
and they bring 1t ashore and they make
another golden calf, and California and
Australia break off their golden ear
rings to augment the pile, and in fhe
fres of financial excitemept7ardsstl-s l-sf-
! gle all these things are melted together,
and while we stand looking and won
dering what will come Of it, 10, we
find that the golden calf of Israelitish
worship has become the golden calf OF
European and American worship.
Calf of Modern IdOIatry.
Pull aside this curtain, and you see
the golden calf Of modern idolatry. Ii
is not like other idols, made out OF
stocks or stone, but it has an ear so
sensitive that it can hear the whispers
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. 1t
has an eye so keen that it can see 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.
1t Is so mighty that it swings any way
It will the worlds shipping. 1t has IT'S
foot on all the merchantmen and the
steamers. 1t started the American civ
Il war and under God stopped 1t, and II
/ decided the Turko-Russan contest.
! One broker in September, 1869, In New
York, shouted, lone hundred and sixty
for a millonw and the whole continent
shivered. The golden calf Of the text
| has, as far as America Is concerned, its
right front foot In New York. its left
front foot in Chicago, It's right back foot
in Charleston, it's left back foot In New
Orleans, and when it shakes itself II
shakes the world. Oh, this Is mighty
god-the golden calf of the worlds
worship!
But every god must have its temple
and this golden calf Of the text Is nc
exception. It's temple is vaster than
st. Paurs cathedral in England, and
St Peters in Italy, and the Alhambra
of the Spaniards, and the Parthenon
of the Greeks, and the Tai Nahal OF
the HindOos, and all the cathedrals
put together. Its pillars are grooved
and futed with gold and its ribbed
arches are lowering gold, and its chan
deliers are descending gold, and It's
floors are tessellated gold. and its
vaults are crowded heaps of gold, ano
It's spires and domes are soaring gold
and it's organ pipes are resoundine
gold, and its pedals are tramping gold
and It's stops pulled out are flashing
gold, while. standing at the head OF the
temple, as the presiding deity, are the
hoofs and shoulders and eyes and ears
and nostrils Of the calf of gold.
Altar of Sacrifice.
Further, every god must have moi
only its temple, but its altar Of sacri
fee, and this golden calf Of the text Il
no exception. Its altar Is not made
out of stone as other altars, but out Of
! counting room desks and fireprool
safes, and It is a broad. long. higl
altar. The victims sacrificed on 1t arr
the Swartouts and the Ketchams an(
tha Fis,s and ten thousand other peO