The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1901-08-23
DR.TALnAGE's sERnON
The Eminent Dlvlne's Sunday
Discourse.
Buh5scti A JOY Inspiring Hsiigion-soio-
mons Wisdom.-swoet Spices Of Chris
tianity - IL Counteracts All Trouble -
No Doloroua Music Needed.

tOopyriEht ioLl
. WAsHIVoToN, ID. Gin this discourse
DR.. Talmago oorrects some OF the false I
notions about religion, and represents It |
as being Joy inspiring instead OF dolorousi
text, III. Chronicles IL, o, "Of spices great
Abundance; neither was there any such
spice Hs the Queen Of sheba gave King
Solomon"
What is that building out yonder, gilt
tering in the gunl Have you not heard!
10 is in the house Of the forest OF Lebanon.
King Solomon has just taken to II his
bride, the Princess Of Egypt. You see the
pillars Of the portico and great tower,
adorned with 1000 shields Of gold, hung
on the outside Of the tower, 800 OF the
shields Of gold manufactured at Solomon's
order; 500 were captured by David, his
father, In battle. See how they blaze in
the MONDAY SUM- -.
Solomon goes up the ivory stairs Of his
throne, between twelve lions in statuary,
and ats down on the back Of the golden
bull, the head Of the huge beast turned to-
ward the people. The family and the %
tendants OF the king are 80 many that the
caterers Of the palace have TO provide
every day 100 sheep and thirteen oxen,
besides the birds and the venison. hear
the stamping and paving Of 1000 fine
horses In the royal stables. There were
important officials who had charge OF the
work of gathering the straw and the bar
lev for these horses. King Solomon was
an early riser, tradition says, and used to
take a ride out at daybBeak, and when IN
his white apparel, behind the. swittest
horses Of all the realm and followed by
mounted archers in purple as the. caval-
cade dashed through the streets of Jeru-
salem suppose it was something worth
getting up at 8 O'Clock in the morning to
look at.
Solomon was not Ike some Of the kings
of the present day-crowned imbecillty.
All the gplendors Of his palace and retinue
were eclipsed by his intellectual power
! Why, he seemed TO know everything. He
was the first great naturalist the world
eyer saw. Peaepcks from India strutted
| the basaltio walk and apes chartered in
| the trees, and deer stalked the parks, and
there were aquariiumss with foreign hsn
| and aviaries with foreign birds, and tradi.
| ton says these birds were so well tanned
that Solomon might walk clear across the
| city under the ahadow Of their wings as
| they lowered and fitted about him.
More than this, be had Q great reputa-
/ ton for the conumdrums and riddles that
! he made and guessed. He and King Hi
ram, his neighbor, used TO sit by the hour
| and ask riddles, each one paying in money
| if he could not answer or guess the riddle.
]
! and the sailors, OF course, talked about
the riddles and enigmas that he made and
solved, and the news spread until Queen
Balkis, away off south, heard of it, and
sent messengers with a few riddles that
she would like to have Solomon solve and
a few puzzles that she would like to have
him find out. She sent, among other
things, to King Solomon a diamond with
ahol9 50 small that needle could not pen
citrate it, asking him to thread that dia-
mond. And Solomon took worm and
put it at the opening In the diamond, and
the worm crawled through, leaving the
thread in the diamond. The queen also
sent a goblet to Solomon, asking him to
fill it with water that did not pour from
the sky and that did not rush out from
The earth, and Immediately Solomon put
q slave on the back of o swift horse and
galloped him around and around the park
until the horse was nigh exhausted, and
from the perspiration of the horse the
goblet was filed. She also sent to King
Solomon 800 boys in girls dress and 800
girls in boys dress, wondering if he would
be acute enough to find out the deception.
Immediately Solomon, when he saw them
wash their faces, knew from the way they
applied the water that it was all cheat.
Queen BallIis was so pleased with the
Gcuteness of Solomon that she said, "Tll
just go and see him for myself" Yonder
1t comes-the cavalcade-horses and dro-
medaries, chariots and charioteers, jung
hing harness and gathering hoofs and blaZ-
ing shields and flying ensigns and clapping
cymbals. The place is saturated with the
perfume. She brings cinnamon and SAT-
from and calamus and franl1incense and all
manner of sweet spices. AS the retinue
sweeps through the gate the armed guard
inhales the aroma. Halt" cries the char
ioteers as the wheels grind the gravel in
front of the pillared portico of the king.
Queen 3allis alights in an atmosphere be-
wltched with perfume AS the dromeda-
ries are driven up to the kings store
houses and the bundles Of camphor are
unloaded, and the sacks of cinnamon and
the boxes of spices are opened the pur-
veyors of the nalace discover what nv text
announces: "Of spices, great abundance.
Neither was there any such spice as the
Queen OF Sheba gave to King Solomon"
Well, my friends, you know that ali the
ologlans agree IN making Solomon a type
OF Christ, and in making the Queen of
Sheba a type of every truth seeker. and /
will take the responsibility of saying that
all the spikenard and cassia and franklin
Cense which the Queen of Sheba brought
to King Solomon is nightly suggestive OF
the sweet spices of our holy religion.
Christianity is not a collection of sharp
technicalities and angular facts and chro-
biological tables and dry statistics.
Our religion is compared to frankincense
, and to cassia, but never to nightshade
1t IS bundle of myrrh. 1t is a dash OF
holy light. 1t is a sparkle of cool foun.
tains 1t is an opening of opaline gates
1t is a collection of spices Would God
that we were as wise in taking spices ia
our divine King as Queen Balkis was wise
in taking the spices to the earthly Solo.
mon.
, The fact is that the duties and cares Of
/ this life, coming to US from time to time
are stupid often and inane and intolerable
! Here are men who have been battering
climbing, pounding, hammering for twenty
Nears fnrtY Heara fftu unare One ,-rn,t