Milford chronicle., 1906-07-27
CalmaQe
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmaee. D. D.

Los Angeles, Cal, July 22.-That
diet influences character and that
man is largely what he eats is illus
-trated in this sermon, the preacher
taking for his text Daniel l. 10. "Prove
thy servants, 1 beseech thee, ten days"
,"What is a victory like?" said a lady
friend to the Waterloo conqueror.
''The. greatest tragedy in the world,
madam, except a defeat was the an
swer. Well said. thou iron duke, None
could speak more authoritatively. The
world has supposed thy heart adaman-
tine. But even the stones themselves
might almost weep when they are
drenched with human carnage. The
cheers of triumph can never Drown the
sobs of anguish. The glittering re-
wards of victory cannot blind our eyes
TO the awful price at which that vic
tory was purchased. Lord Roberts
upon his return from the BOer war
was hailed in England as conquer
ing chief. When he returned from
Africa To l4OluhA AuE W AlOAC AAeANAcAA NN'N
to do him honor. But while the Brit
ish were acclaiming the mighty deeds
of Little Bobs," Lord Roberts was
wearing upon his uniform griet's sym
bol. the black Grape. Lord Roberts
only boy had been shot among the Al
rican hills. So is it always with war.
We praise the returning cheftains,
but we cannot forget the bloody fields
over which these heroes have waded
and the many grave trenches they saw
filled with the slain bodies of their
valiant comrades.
But if the battlefieds of the nine
teenth century We're the scenes of aw-
full tragedies, what must have been
the horrors of the battlefelds of the
fifteenth the twelfth and the fifth cen
turies and the battleields of a thou
sand years ago In olden times the
conouerors rarely took prisoners or
liberated their captives upon parole,
as we do now. The general custom
was to slay their prisoners or, what
was still more common, to sell them in
to perpetual servitude. This practice
was almost universal. Thus many Of
the nations, like the Phoenicians and
the Etrurians and the Cretes and the
Sicilians, made war for human cap
tives as well as for gold and silver
These nations were known according
to an old historians definition as man
stealers." They wanted human slaves
as oarsmen to man their galleys and
laborers to work in their fields ana
men and women to be their domestic
servants. as well as men for chario-
teers. What was true of the great mar
itime states mentioned was also true
of Egypt and Rome and Greece and
Babylon. These mighty cities of olden
times all had their human auction
blocks. The greater the cOnquests of
their returning warriors the greater
number of slaves to be put up and sold
as common cattle in the market places.
Thus having made this explanation
we can understand why Daniel and
the finest youths of the Hebrew nation
were carried to Nebuchadnezzar's cap
itaI after Jerusalem had been captured
and oyerthrOwn.
The Kings Meat.
No sooner was the BabylOnish KING
back in his palace than he called one
of his chief officers. Ashpenaz by name,
and said: "AshpenaZ, l wish you would
90 and look over those young Hebrews
whom 1 have brought back Select
three or four of the finest physical ana
mental specimens that are there. linen
for the next three years take them and
educate them and feed them from my
own table. l want to develop these
men for my own service. l want to re-
enforce the intelligence of my own
court with the best blood of this Hebrew
nation" The result of this command:
Daniel and his three friends. Hananiah
and AIishael and Azariah, were selected.
All This was high honor for Daniel ana
his companions. 1t not only meant ND
Grafton from human slavery, but in
time IT also meant membership in the
kings council. But, alas. alas, it seems
as though Daniel is fOolishly going TO
upset all his political prospects. When
the food and the wine from the KING
table are placed before him, Daniel re-
fuses them because they are forbid
uGu ultl-dIG uilNANtAh etNNN+N'A--7
Jewish law. But" says the king
chamberlain, "you must eat this meat
and wine, for if you do not the king
will not only punish me, but also will
probably slay you. And he will surely
know this refusal by your starved
looks" Then Daniel spake the wOrds
of my text: "Prove thy servants, be
seech thee, ten days, and give us pulse
to eat and water to drink Then lei
our countenances be looked upon be-
fore thee, and the countenances of the
children that eat of the portion of the
kings meat, and as thou seest deal
with thy servants" So the royal Off
Ger consented to them in this matter
and proved them ten days. You all
know the result of this test. At the
end of ten days the countenances OF
Daniel and his three friends were
"fairer' and fatter in flesh than all the