Milford chronicle., 1906-07-27

looked good, but 1t Appeared 10 Dahlel
the more enticingly because heretofore
he had never had his appetite surfeit-
ed by the delectable viands Of royal
kitchen.
Daniels Temptation.
The richest of foods become nauseat-
ing and repellent if one has too much
of them. Frederick Seward tells the
story that, many years ago. his father,
Secretary William II. Seward, was Wis
iting in Alaska. The people there
wished to show Lincoln's great pre-
lnier all the respect they could, so they
gave him a great banquet. While they
we're eating one of the ladies at the
table said. Governor we are very
rorry that we can offer you nothing
but the fare of the country" But
that is excellent said the governor.
"Oh. no." answered the lady. I'VE
have nothing here but venison and
grouse and trout We have these so
often that we are sick Of the sight OF
them. We were in hopes of obtaining
some beef by the last steamer, but we
were disappointed, and so we can give
YOU nothing but what our country pro
duces." That reminds me- said one
of the officers at the table. "of the
mutiny which was threatened at a
Florida post in olden times because
the soldiers protested against being
served with green turtle soup more
than once a week" So you can see
that. even under the very brightest
conditions, the most enticing of foods
pals upon the palate if they are served
too often and too long.
But Daniel had never been an cpl
cure. He had never been ole who
was 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
tions is the general name given to the
leguminOus plants, such as the beans
and peas. etc Thus you can see what
Il temDtation must have come to Daniel
in a sensual way when he suddenly
had placed before him the viands and
the wines Of the kings banquet hail.
oh. they looked so good, and they
smelled so goodl The boy probably
wanted to taste them. He wanted
TO feast on them. And yet, had he
feasted thus and kept on feasting
he would surely have spiritually died.
The meats by the Mosaic law were M
clean. God had said, Thou shalt not
eat this food"
"True." says some one, "the kings
meat may have been unclean food for
Daniel. but it is not unclean for me.
We are not living under the old but
under the new dispensation- What
was sin for Daniel to eat is not a
sin for me to eat" Oh, of course we
are not asserting that it is sin for us
to eat ham or pork as it was sin for
the ancient Hebrews, although all peo-
Dle would be better off if they did not
eat the condemned swine's flesh. But
we are asserting that there is direct
connection between what Il man eats
ana 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 a beast and may unkennel
all the tigers and the wolves and the
hyenas and the jaclals Of his lower
nature. Beware, 0 man, Of the king
meats and wines, which Satan IS
ready to spread for us in many Il ban
ouet hall! The Sicilians erected an al
tar in 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, l 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 OF the mod
ern Hindoos. who have 10000 gods.
They not only had 10000 gods, but
they could make a new god whenever
they SO willed. They could make him
of stone or wood OF clay or even of a
man himself. 1t was just as easy for
the Babylonish inhabitants to make a
new god as it is for the British minis
try to create peers for the upper house
of parliament. You remember BenJa-
min Disraelfs biting sarcasm. He was
attending a public banquet. BY the
social law of English prestige the mem
hers of the English house of lords
marched in first. After the members
of the nobility had gone in Disraeli
turned and took a 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 a dozen of these
same kind of lords next week, if l