Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-07-27

conditions. the most enticing OF foods
pals upon the palate If they are served
too often and too long.
But Daniel had never been az cpl
cure. He had never been one who
was n devotee of sensual pleasures.
He had grown up with the plain.
coarse, simple and yet wholesome food
upon which most OF us were reared In
our fathers homes. He had the simple
breakfast and the simple dinners and
the simple suppers common to Jewish
childhood. This "pulse" which he men,
lions is the general name given TO the
ieguninous plants, such as the beans
and peas. etc. Thus you can see what
temptation must have come to Daniel
in sensual way when he suddenly
had placed before him the viands and
the wines of the kings banquet hall.
Oh, they looked so good, and they
smelled so good! The boy probably
wanted to taste them. He wanted
| to feast on them. And yet, had he
Toasted thus and kept on feasting.
he would surely have spiritually 0ed.
| The meats by the Mosaic law were un-
clean. God bad said. Thou shalt not
4 -
| eat this food"
True" says some one, "the kings
meat may have been unclesn food for
Daniel, but it is not unclean for me.
We are not living under the old but
under the new dispensation. What
was q sin for Daniel TO eat is not n
SIN for me to eat" Oh, of course we
are not asserting that ii is a sin for us
to eat ham or pork as 1t was sin for
the ancient Hebrews, although ali peo-
| pie would be better off If they did not
eat the condemned swine's flesh. But
we are asserting that there is q direct
connection between what man eats
and what a man spiritually is. And
we are asserting that the sins of the
palate are among the very worst of
all sins. They are the sins which are
often the forerunners Of all other sins.
They are the sins which will turn
| man into n beast and may unkennel
all the tigers and the wolves and the
hyenas and the jackals of HIS lower
nature. Beware. o man, OF the kings
meats and wines, which Satan is
ready to spread for US in many ban
quet hall! The Slcilians erected an al
tar I'm Ceres to Adephagia, the goddess
of gluttony. May we, as servants of
the true God, never be found worship
ing at this brutalizing, this mental
and physical and moral and spiritual
depicting shrine.
Ten Thousand Gods
But, stepping into this banquet hall,
where is spread the unclean food of
the royal kitchen, i find another star
Ting fact. The kings meat and the
kings wine are served amid the vItiat-
ing atmosphere OF religious liberalism.
The Babylonish people were not athe-
lists, so called. They were deists, like
the Greeks or the Romans or the mod
ern Hindoos, who have 10000 gods
They not only had 10000 gods, but
they could make n new god whenever
they so willed. They could make him
OF stone or wood or clay or even of a
man himself. 1t was just as easy for
the Babylonish Inhabitants TO make n
new god as IL is for the British minis
try to create peers for the upper house
of parliament. You remember Benja-
min Disraeli's biting sarcasm. He was
attending n public banquet BY the
social law of English prestige the men,
bers OF the English house OF lords
marched in first After the members
OF the nobility had gone in Disraeli
turned and took II gentleman's arm to
march in. and he said: "Come on. my
friend. 1t Is our turn now We must
follow In after my lords. But am go:
ing TO manufacture dozen OF these
same kind OF lords next week. IL
i've" So the Babylonish Inhabitants
were not atheists. They could manu-
facture new god as easily as Benja-
min Disraell could create y new lord
for the upper house OF parliament.
During the French revolution. on the
motion OF Pierre Gaspard Chaumette.
who was afterward guillotiped. the
Cathedral Notre Dame was turned in
to the Temple or Reason" Then. on
the 10th OF November. 1898, the young
and beautiful wife OF Jacobin
printer. Nine. Momoro by name, was
carried through the streets OF Paris In
an ivory chair. She was borne upon
the strong arms OF men. There she
was crow ned within the cathedral
which In few years was to see the
coronation Of Napoleon and Josephine.
She was saluted as the Goddess of
Reason Similar to the deifying OF q
poor printers wife In the Partisan
capital iu 1898 was the attempt to
defy King Darius in the BabyIonish
capital In 53S b. c. All the presidents
and governors and the princes and the
counseiors and the captains Of the
kingdom came to the king and said,
Establish a royal statute and make n
firm decree that whatsoever shall ask q
petition OF any god or man for thirty
days, save OF thee, o king, he shall be
cast into the den OF lions" Thus, as
we hear the Partisan mobs cry. Hail.
thou Goddess of Reason, hail, hair
we hear the Babylonish inhabitants In
the year 53S Il. c. crying: Hail, thou
god king Darius! Thou art king of
kings and lord of lords! Hail, Haill
Mailw oh, the Babylonish inhabitants
were not atheists. Far from 1t. They
were deists. They were the most lib
fral kind OF deists. By the stroke of
kings pen they could make a new
god whenever they wished Now, it
was into such yitiatiRg atmosphere
or reiigious liberalism as this that Dan
lei and his three comrades went to live.
The Unclean Food.
can hear his friends talking to him
and trying to persuade him to eat this
unclean food. "oh," they say, Daniel,
or course your God is all right. But
what is the good of being bigot? Why
are You so hidebound about this food +?
Why do you not worship the BabylonIsh
godsf Why do You not theoiogically
broaden out? Why do you stick so
close m ynur. Iaxv;.l, loxx-.a MI