Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-10-30
TALMAGE
SERMON
By Rev.
FRANK DE WITT TALMACE. DID,.
Pastor of Jefferson Park Presby.
terrain Church, Chicago

Chicago, Oct. 26.-.From one Of the
most thrilling incidents of Bible his
tory Rev. Frank De Witt Talmage
draws lessons for the life of today;
text. Daniel v, 81. "Thou art weighed
in the balances and found wanting"
These words were spoken in the royal
banquet hall Of the most famous CAPT.
tai in the east. This is Babylon--beau-
tiful licentious, corrupt, luxurious,
shameless Babylon; Babylon the pride
of the Chaldeans; Babylon the wonder
of the world!
Ctcsias tells us that Babylon was
sixty miles square. That means its
area was more than one third the size
of the modern city Of London, the Eng
lish beehive, with its 5000 900 inhabit-
ants. 1t was of such vast wealth that
within its central temple was an idol
made of solid gold. which alone was
worth over 5000 100000. Its surround
ing walls were 365 feet high and wide
enough to allow four characters to
drive their sixteen chargers abreast
upon the top Of them, while the moon
shimmered upon $50 watch towers and
tipped with light the spears of hundreds
of sentinels and shone upon a hundred
gates OF solid brass. which swung open
to let friends in and changed shut to
keep enemies out.
Standing upon the heights Of the ia
nous hanging gardens, which Nebu-
| chadnezzar, the king who had courted
Amytis among the hills of Ecbatana.
had thrown up to humor a within of
his queen, we can see off In the dis
lance the mighty river Euphrates flow.
ing through the midst of the metropolis
and cutting the city in twain. Along
the wharfs Of the river were daily
heard the cries Of the sailors unloading
from the ships cargoes of mercha ndise
and foodstuffs. as well as the gold and
silver and myrrh and precious stones
imported from other lands. In the cen.
ter of the capital we can also see where
the engineers had gathered the wa
tiers of this mighty river into a large
artificial lake forty miles square. This
lake was wide enough and deep enough
to harbor all the modern navies Of the
world. In it all these ships Of war
| could drop their anchors, fold their
white sails and float side by side in
peace.
The boulevards of this ancient city
were pillared with statuary. The
streets encircled the busy marts where
merchants wrangled for barter and
gain or led down to the magnificent
bridges which spanned the river. These
bridges We're f1anked with palaces,
where beauty and wealth loitered away
the lazy hours or sang themselves to
sleep, Graded in the graceful gondolas.
which gently pressed the waters into
| ripples or CONTEMPORARY tumbled the
foam from off their crested breasts.
Everywhere artesian wells tossed up
the waters into fountains, shining
| through which the sun arched the
| flowers with rainbOws, while birds Of
| brilliant hue, whose ancestors had been
brought from tropical climes, stopped
their singing long enough to quench
their thirst or to cleanse their gorgeous
plumage. There in the evening hour
these fountains lifted up their lips.
while their cheeks blushed into deep
red for the good night kiss of the set
ting sun.
The Feast OF Belshaxzar.
But we must hurry on tonight and
not linger over the scenic delights of
this famous capital, for l am going to
lead you into the royal banquet hall,
where Belshazzar, the king of the Chal-
deans. is giving great feast to thou
sand lords of his kingdom. He is CIV
ing this feast tonight in hall deco
rated with the trophies OF conquest and
the triumph Of art, with the air
rhythmic with song and redoent with
incense. with the faces Of his dead an
cestors pictured upon the walls or
chiseled by the sculptors in marble Of
purest white. He is giving this feast
in q banquet hall where the sandaled
foot strikes mosaic floor or sinks into
softest rug; where, under the light, the
precious stones sparkle and CLEAN as
the jeweled hand Of an aristocrat
pushes back the tapestry or lifts the
golden chalice to the lip. The king is
giving this drunken feast to show his
contempt for the besieging army Of
Cyrus the Great, which for nearly two
long years had fruitlessly laid siege to
his capital, that seemed impregnable.
But at last, In this banquet hall, at
this famous feast. when the intoxicat-
ed eye became more brilliant than the
diamonds glittering upon the naked
threats of the assembled guests and
the flushed cheek redder than the wine
cup, there appears marvellous sight.
Out of space there stretches a hand
an armless, bodiless hand-and with
the finger Of this strange hand for
pen hidden power writes there awful
words of doom upon the wall Of that
banquet hall. 1t is to interpret one Of
those words. "tekel." which means
thou art weighed in the balances and
art found wanting" that l am today
preaching this sermon. l preach upon
this one word because these fatal Eve
letters announced to Belshazzar, the
king Of the Chaldeans, that night that
Ne had to die.
Gods balances always have accord
ant weights. He weighs every man