Newspaper Page Text
“St sm
S. B. Burr,
SERMON BY REV- T- DEWITT
TALMAGE.
MEN, CHURCHES AND NATIONS WEIGHED.
Services in the Brooklyn Taber
nacle were opened tbis morning
with the singing of the hymn :
‘Jesus shall reign where’re tlfe sun
Does his successive journeys run.’
Dr. Talmage preached the fol¬
lowing discourse, taking his text
jf'from Daniel, 5., 27—‘Thou art
weighed in the balance and art
found wanting.’ His subject was
men,churches and nations weighed.
Babylon was the paradise of archi¬
tecture. Driven out from thence,
the most elaborate structures of
modem times are only the evidence
of her fall. After the site of Bab¬
ylon had been selected, 2,000,000
of men were employed for the con¬
struction of the wall and principal
works. The walls of the city were
sixty miles in circumference. They
were surrounded by a trench out
of which had been dug the mate¬
rial for. the construction of the city.
There were, twenty-five gates of
solid brass on each side of the
square city. Between every two
gates a great watch tower sprang
up into the heavens. From each
of the twenty-five gates on either
side a street ran straight through
to the gate on the other side, so
that there were fifty streets, each
fifteen miles long, which gave to
the city an appearance of wonder¬
ful regularity; The houses did nc$
join each other on the ground, and
between them were gardens and
shrubbery. From house-top to
house top bridges swung, over
which the inhabitants were accus¬
tomed to pass. A branch of the
Euphrates went through the
city, over which a bridge of mar
velous structure was thrown, and
under which a tunnel ran. To
keep the river from overflowing
the city in times of freshet, a great
lake was arranged to catch the sur
plus, in which the water was kept
as in a reservoir until times of
drouth, when it was sent stream¬
ing down over the thirsty land.—
A palace stood at each end of the
Euphrates bridge; one palace a
mile and three-quarters in compass,
and the other palace seven and a
half miles in circumference. The
wife of Nebuchadnezzar, having
been brought up amid the moun¬
tains of Media, could not stand it
in this flat country of Babylon, and
so, to please her, Nebuchadnezzar
had a mountain, four hundred feet
high, built in the midst of the city.
This mountain was surrounded by
terraces, for the support of which
great arches were lifted. On the
top of these arches flat stones were
laid ; then a layer of reeds and bit¬
umen; then two rows of bricks
closely cemented ; then thick sheets
of lead, upon which the soil was
placed. The earth here deposited
• was so deep that the largest trees
had room to anchor their roots.—
All the glory of the flowery tropics
was spread out at that tremendous
height, until it must have seemed
to one below as though the clouds
’ all in blossom, and the
were very
sky leaned on the shoulder of the
cedar. At the top'an engine was
constructed, which drew the water
from the Eufrates, far below, and
made it spout up amid this garden
of the skies. All this to please his
wife, I think she must have been
pleased.
In the midst of this city stood
also the temple of Belus. One of
its towers was one eighth of a mile
high, and on the top of it an ob¬
servatory, which gave the astrono¬
mers great advantage, as being at
so great a height, one could easily
talk with the stars. This temple
wa 3 full of cups, and statutes, and
censers, all of gold. One image
weighed a thousand Babylonish
talents, which will be equal to fif¬
ty-two million dollars. But why
enlarge t The city is besieged and
doomed. Though provisioned for
twenty years, it shall fall to-night.
(3oo tho gold and silver plate flash
pn tho King’s table. Pour out tho
yich wines from tho tankards into
* the cups. Drink, my Lords,-to tho
health of the King. Drink to the
glory of Babylon. Drink to the
defenders of the city. Drink to a
glorious future. Startle not at the
splashes. of wine on the table as
though, it were blood. Turn not
pale at the clash of the cups, as
though it were the clang of arms.
On with the mirth!
A thousand Lords roll on their
chairs, and quarrel and curse. —
The besotted King lays back on
hisxhair, and stares vacantly on
the wall. But that vacant look
takes on intensity. It is an af¬
frighted lock. As he gazes the
lords gaze. Every eye is turned
to the wall. Darkness falls upon
the room. The blaze of the gold
plate goes out. Out of the black
sleeve of the darkness a finger of
fiery terror trembles through the
air, and comes to the wall, circling
about as though it would write,
and then with a sharp tip of flame
engraves on tho plastering the
doom of the King: ‘Weighed in
the balance and found wanting!’
The bang of heavy fists against
the palace gates is followed by the
crashing in of the doors. A thou¬
sand quivering hearts. A.ud now
Death is the King and his throne a
heap of corpses. An unseen bal¬
ance had been set up in the festal
hall. God swung it. Nebuchad¬
nezzar’s opportunities on one side
of the balance and his sins on the
other. Down went his sins; up
went his opportunities. Weighed,
an-d found wanting.
There has been a great deal 'of
cheating in this country by false
weights and measures. The Gov
ernment appointed commissioners
to stamp the weights and measures.
Much of the wrong has been
WiightSdr.....T%eak oLaa-efchter kind
of scales. We all have been in- tho
habit of making mistakes in our
weighing of men and things.—
There is, indeed, only one pair of
balances absolutely perfect, and
that is suspended from the throne
of God Almighty. Other balances
get out of order. The chain breaks
or the metal is clipped, or the equi¬
poise in some other way is broken,
and a pound does not always mean
a pound, and you pay for one thing
and get another. But the balances
of God never lose their adjustment.
With them a pound is a pound,
and right is right and wrong is
wrong, and a soul is a soul, and
eternity is eternity. ' G od has a
bushel measure, a peck measure,
and a gallon measure. Whenever
a merchant measures a bushel of
or salt or corn, God weighs
it immediately after him. The
merchant’s measure is just right.—
If a merchant measures a gallon of
oil and does not give the proper
quantity, God measures it for him
and says : ‘So many drops too few.
Recording angel, write it down.”
If a farmer comes to town with
apples for sale and he does not
give full measure, the apples are
immediately put into God’s peck,
and record is made of twenty ap¬
ples too few. We may cheat our¬
selves and we may cheat our neigh
bor, but in the.last day we shall
find that what we learned at school
in our boyhood is true, and that
twelve ounces make a pound, and
two thousand weight make a
ton, and one hundred and twenty
eight solid feet, make one cord of
wood—no more, no less.
But I am not now to speak of the
weighing of coffees and sugars, but
of the weighing of principles, of
individuals, of churches and of
worlds. Many suppose that sin
is imponderable ; but it is heavy
enough to crush * world. Yea,
a
our earth itself is to be put on the
scales, with all its mountains and
valleys and seas. You would think
that the Alps and Pyrenees and
Himalayas and mount Washingtons
and all the cities of the earth on
one side of the scalo would crush
it. No 1 God will at last seo what
opportunities tho world had, aud
what opportunities it neglected;
and ho will sit down on tho white
throne to seo tho old world weigh
ed, and will seo it rise in tho- bal
anco lighter than a fenthor; and ho
will cry out to his messengers who
\v
FORT VALLEY, GEORGIA, FRIDAY, MAY 14., 1880.
carry the torch: ‘Burn that World.
Weighed and found wanting 1’
God is every day estimating
churches. He puts a great church
into the scales. He puts the min
istiy aud the choir, and the grand
structure, that cost hundreds of
thousands of dollars, on the same
side. On the other side of the
scales he puts the idea of - spiritual
life that the church ought to pos
sess, or brotherly love, or faith, or
sympathy for the poor. Up goes
tho grand meeting house with its
minister and choir. God says that
a church is of much worth only as
it saves souls ; and if, with all your
magnificent machinery, you might
save a multitude. He will spew
you out of his mouth. Weighed
and found wanting!
God is also estimating nations.
He put the Spanish monarchy in the
scales and found it unsufficient and
cast it aside. He put the French
monarch, with his empire, in the
scales. Napoleon cried out: ‘See
what I have done to enlarge the
Boulevards -. I kindled up tho glo¬
ries of the Champs Elysees; I en¬
larged tho Tuileries; I built the
gilded Opera-house!’ Then God
put on one side of the scales the
Emperor, and the Boulevards, and
the Champs Elysees, and the Tuil
leries arid the gilded Opera house,
but on the other side of the scales
he put the man’s abominations and
the outrages he had committed
against the French nation. Down
went the sins ; up went tho Empe¬
ror, with all his surroundings.
‘Weighed in the -balance and
found wanting!’
But I want to become more per¬
sonal. I have heard persons say
thatministers ought to deal with
tilings'in tho afestriftt, and n6t bo
personal. What success would a
hunter have if he went out to shoot
deer in the abstract ? He puts the
butt of the gun to his breast; lays
his eye along the barrel; takes sure
aim ; draws tho trigger, and crash
go tho antlers on the rocks ! What
if a. physician, called into your
house, should treat your ailments
in the abstract ? How long before
the inflam ition would heal or ' the
pain be assauged ? What folly to
talk about sin in the abstract, when
you and I have in our souls a mal¬
ady that must be cured, or it will
kill us, miserably aud forever.
God lifts the balances this morn¬
ing. Judgment day is coming.—
Every day is a day of Judgment.
We are this moment being canvass¬
ed, inspected, weighed. But do
not let us all get on the scales at
once. We will take one at a time.
Who will get on first ? Here is a
volunteer. Jle is a moralist—as
upright a man as there is in Brook¬
lyn. Get in brother. What is it
you have in that bundle ? He says,
‘It is my reputation for morality
and uprightness and integrity.’—
Leave that behind. It is not fair
that you carry a bundle with you.
We just want to measure you.—
Have you slandered your neighs
bors? You say, ‘Never have I slan¬
dered them.’ What outrage have
you committed against society ?
You say ‘none.’ So far so good.—
Have your thoughts always been
right? You answer, ‘No.’ I put
down one mark against you: Have
you served God as you ought? ‘No/
Another mark against you. Come
now, be frank. Have you not in
ten thousand things, come short
in your duty ? ‘Yes.’ Then I put
down ten thousand marks against
you. Bring me a larger book, in
which I may make record of your
defects and neglects, Do not
jump out of the scales until I liav.p
examined them. You stand on one
side with all your testaments and
charities and conciliations of De
liavior.
On tho other side I put just ono
weight by the deeds of tho law
shall no flesh living bo justified.’—
Down goes tho weight; up go your
good works. ‘Weighed in tho bal¬
ance and found wanting.’
Who will como next? Hero comes
a formalist, who gets on tho scalo
—a man whoso religion is mado up
of gomiflectionn, posturers r.ud out
ward proprieties. Brother, what
is that you have in your pocket ?
He says: ‘It is a Westminister As¬
sembly , Catechism.’ What ki- it
you have in that other pocket"? ,11 e
says that it is the Heidelberg’ Cat
echism. What is that you have
under your arm ? A
-
He says it is a Church reed'd.—
What are those books I sed spat
Teired around, on your side ci the
'scales? He says they are
institutes. My brother we did not
come here to weigh books however
good they may be. We want on
this scale nothing but jour
your orthodoxy won’t save you.—
Men have'gone to hell,with a cate¬
chism in each pocket. The forms
of religion are only the scaffolding
for putting up the spiritual house.
Alas! if you have mistaken the
scaffolding for the temple itself.—
“But. I cross myself ever bo ma»y
times,” you say. That will not
save you. “But I give'liberally jto
the poor.” That will not save you.
“But i read a chapter every night
before I go to bed.” That will net
save yon. “But I sit at the com¬
munion table.’ That will not savo
you. ‘But my name is down on
the church book.’ That will not
save you. ‘But I have been a pro¬
fessor of religion for thirty years.’
That will not save you. I place on
your side of the balance all the
edicts, all the religious counsels,
all the communion tables that wore
over built, and on the other side of
the balance I put this hundred
pound weight: ‘Having the form of
Godliness, but denying'the power
thereof. From such turn away.’
‘Weighed in the balance and found
wanting.’
Here comes a world ing; you c.in
not mistake h im. are'ffilTIJffefllfflfes H - g.-asaf ^
hands, fita heart
stocks, dividends, per esntages,
scrip, ‘buyer ten days,’ ‘buyer thirty
days.’ His happiness is suceefes
fu! bargain; his eternity, so many
feet front by so many feet deep.—
lie wants to go to heaven, because
where there is so much gold it
must be that ‘money is easy.’ The
most tremendous question he ever
aafo himself is,‘Haw long can I
buy these goods, an 1 haw high a
price can I got for them. The day.
is full of push and din, and he
sleeps and sweats under a night¬
mare of dollars. The Sabbath is a
vulgar interruption, and he hopes,
on his way to church, to druraup a
new customer. Day by day he has
been weighing confections, weigh¬
ing fruits, weighing ico or weigh¬
ing coal, not knowing tbit he all
the time was weighed. I pile up
beside him, on his side of the
scales, the hogsheads, and the bar¬
rels, and the money vaults, and the
store-houses, and the cargoes, but
all these give to the worldling no
additional weight. At the. very
moment wo were congratulating
him on the fine store, and tho full
blooded stock, and the princely in¬
come, God and the angles were
looking upon the scene and an¬
nouncing tho solemn truth:—
‘Weighed in the balance and found
wanting.’
But I must go on faster and look
at the last great scrutiny. We are
passing on, heedless of the most
astounding considerations. In a
moment the ground may break
through and let you fall into the
grave. * The pulses of life, now so
regularly drumming in the march,
any moment may cry halt. On a
hair-hung bridge we walk over bot¬
tomless chasms. When we go to
bed at night we know not that wo
shall see the day dawn. When wo
go forth from our homes we know
not that we shall return again.—
Dangers lurk about your path, and
are ready to break upon you from
ambush. In a moment the door
of eternity may swing open 1 and
invisible ushers conduct you in for
reward or for retribution. A crown
of glory is beingbumishod for your
brow, or bolts are being
FORGED FOR YOUR PRISON,
Angels of light arc making ready
to shout over your deliverance, or
fiends of darkness reaching up
their skeleton hands to pull you
down into ruin consummate. Buds
douly the judgement will be here,
The angel, with one foot on tL
sea and the other on the land, wi.
swear by Him that liveth forevei
that time shall be no longer!
Hark! I hear the jarring of the
mountains. It is setting down oi
the balances. Look! there is some
thing like a flash from the cloud.—
It is the glitter of the shining
balances. All the unforgiven souls
of-the earth must get into the
scales. They may struggle to keep
out, but God will put them in.—
Let the universe look on and see
tho last great weighing. The
world may have weighed them and
pronounced them moral. They
may have weighed themselves and
given, a self-gratulatory decision,
but now God weighs them in un¬
mistakable balances. On this side
of the scales are placed the souls
of the unpardoned—their wealth
all" gone, their crowns all gone,
their titles all gone; nothing re¬
mains but the naked souls of the
unforgiven. On tho other side
of the scales are placed wasted
Sabbaths, mis improved privileges,
disregarded sermons, innumerable
opportunities of pardon. Hark!
How the scales come down on the
last side loud as thunder! God
looking at the balance shall an¬
nounce in the presence of men and
devils aiid cherubim and archangel
while groaning earthquake, and
crackling conflagration, and judge-,
ment trumpet, and everlasting
storm, shall repeat it, ‘Weighed in
the balance r.nd found wanting.’
‘But,’ you ask, ‘how, if we repent
to-day, and come to God, will we
at last be weighed!’ Yes! yes!
There is no escape from the scru¬
tiny. The wicked have been tested
and driven away in their wicked
heSs, ib« i-ighiaoiis gait .on
to the balances. ‘Oh,’ you say —
‘let me off; I cannot stand the test.'
Get in, ye righteous! ‘What, with
all my sin?’ No time to discuss
that matter. The bell of judge¬
ment is tolling. - The balances are
adjusted—get in you must. All
your opportunities of being better
and doing more good are placed
on one side of the scales, and you
get in the other. You are too
light to bridge tho balances, in
your favor. On your side are
spread all the kind words you ever
spoke, and all the Christian deeds
you ever did. Too light yet.
On your side are put all your
prayers, all your reputation, all
your faith. Too-light yet! Come
and get on this side—Paul, Luther
Baxter, Payson, and Doddridge—
and help the Christian bear down
the scale. Too light yet! Get on
this side, and ye martyrs who went
through fire and flood—Wickliffe,
Ridley, and Latimer. Too light
yet! Come angles of God, and got
on the scales, and see if ye can
not turn the balances in favor of
the saints; for tlyi judgment is
ending, and let not the righteous
be banished with the wicked. Too
light yeti Place on this side all
the scepters of light, aud all the
palm branches of triumph, and all
the thrones of glory. Too light
yet! But at this point Jesus, tho
Son of God, steps up to the bal¬
ances. He puts one scarred foot
on the Christian's side of the scales
and they tremble and quiver from
top to bottom. He puts both feet
on, and down go the scales on the
Christian’s side with a stroke that
sets all the bells of heaven a chim¬
ing! This llock of Ages is heavier
than any other weight.
But O, Christian! you may not
get off so easily. I place on the
opposite scale all the sins that you
ever committed and all the envies
and hates and inconsistencies of a
life-time, but altogether they do
not budge the scales. Christ, on
your side, has settled tho balances
forever. There is no condemna¬
tion to them that are in Christ Jo
bub. Go free! go free! Sins
pardoned, shackles all broken,
on doors all opened. Go froo ! go
free! Weighed in tho balance aud
nothing wanting,
A Nevada Indian is going
life with the beautiful natnepf
ing Goose.
Mother Never Told a Lie
Some time ago a boy was discov¬
ered in the street, evidently bright
md intelligent, but sick. A -man
who had feelings of kindness
strongly developed, went to ask him
what he was doing there. ‘Waiting
for God to come for me,' he said.—
‘What do you mean?' said the gen¬
tleman, touched by the pathetic
tone of the answer, and the condi
tion of the boy, in whose bright eye
and flushed face he saw the evi
dence of fever. ‘God sent for fath¬
er, and little brother,’’ said he, ‘and
took them up to His home in the
sky, and mother told me when she
was sick that God would take care
of me. I have nobody to give me
anything, and so I came out hero,
and have been looking so long in
the sky for God to come and take
care of me, as mother said he would
lie will come—won’t he f Mother
told a lie.’ “Yes my lad,’
said the gentleman, overcome with
emotion. ‘He lias sent mo to take
of yon.’ You should have seen
his eyes flash, and tho smile of
triumph break over his face as he
said: ‘Mother never told a lie, sir,
you have been so long on the
way.’ What a lesson of trust, and
how this incident shows the effect
of never deceiving children with
tales.
Prejudice of Color
Talk, write and discourse as peo
may, there is a color prejudice
which will never bo eradicated. It
is as strong North as South. No
matter how well the negro may he
educated, the strictest Radical looks
with a species of contempt on the
colored brother. The republican
journals of the North discuss him
as something inferior to the whites
in a half apologetic way, and there
is not a Caucasian in the land, no
matter how low, who does not re¬
gard himself as higher jn tho scalo
of being than the first rank of Afri¬
cans. The distinction permeates
all ranks. The evidence of it is
plain at West Point Military Acade¬
my, where there are far more North¬
ern than Southern Cadets. The nc
gro is isolated. No Northern State
has ever elected a negro to a post
of responsibility. The prejudice is
inherited.
General B. F. Butler’s quarter¬
master, a West Point graduate, tells
his experience during the war. lie
employed at Newberne, N. C., a
conscientious, original abolitionist,
whose integrity was unquestioned,
aud whose humanity was recognized
by everybody who knew him. He
was accordingly put over a largo
number of contrabands. Soon one
cameiu with his head cut open
with a stick, and the humanitarian
at once acknowledged that he did
it. He further stated that he had
found out to his surprise and sor.i
row that he could not take from a
negro what ho would from a white
man, and that lie, a life-long friend
of the race, actually had prejudice
against them.
Petroleum for Couohs.— Dr.
Moubre, writing to tho Gazette des
Ilopitaux, gives his experience
petroleum capsules in simple and
chronic bronchitis. This balsamic
bad been brought before the Theras
putic Society by Dr. Blanche a year
ago, at the suggestion of a Paris
chemist, who named it Gabian oil,
to prevent public prejudice. Each
capsule contains 25 conti grammes of
pure petroleum, the ordinary of not
being used, as it has to be distilled
incoutaot with sulphuric acid to ren¬
der it fit for lighting purposes. At
the Hospital Beaujon, where these
capsules hove been freely ordered
for chronic bronchitis, a rapid dis
munition of the secretion and (its
coughing were observed. In tu¬
berculosis this medicine gave en¬
couraging results.
‘Is this my train ?' asked a travel
cr of Dennis Owens at the
depot. ‘I don't know, but I
.
not,’ waa tlie doubtful reply. ‘I
it’s got (he lame of i Ho
company on the side, a: d I
it belongs to then). Have you
a train anywhereT
V0I.-9 No. 44.
Luck is Pluck
When- a man is fortunate he boasts
of his good management and shrewd¬
ness; when he is what is termed un»
fortunate, he complains of bis ill
luck. It is said that Providence al¬
ways smiles on the side ot the best
and most bayonets and heaviest guns
Cannotthe same principle be also
applied to farming? Success is the
result of good management, of the
best breeds of cattle, best tools and
the richest soils. Success springs
economy in saving and making
and in the judgment os*
in their application. It consists
the proper selection of seeds, the
time of mowing the grass, the way
and manner of tilling the ground,
in destroying weeds, the
of catle and the manner of feed¬
in keeping the fences in order,
the building in good repair.
are a few of the elements of
luck.
How it Originated
“What,” asks a correspondent,
the origin of the expression
a bull,’ applied to an error of
It is said to have pro¬
from a wager between two
gentlemen in London, a long
ago, that there was, or was
five signs of the' bull in the
The one who held tho affir¬
opinion was asked to eluc¬
when ho said: “There’s the
hull, the red bull, aud the
bull, and the brown bull, and
dun cow." “That's a bull, on
conscience!” exclaimed his op.
laughing at the blunder,
this admission cost him tho
and" conferred tho title of
on every error of the" same
since.
A landlady w.as complaining that
couldn’t make both euds meet.
said a boarder, ‘why not
one end vegetables?’
Country stiles are cut crossways.
Wills are among the last sad
The butcher who trusts loses
Miners delight in picking “pock«
A strong batter may burst the
A Dead wood man—A cigar
Indian.
•Courtship is a novel; marriage a
•
Owing to tho rise in paper kites
up.
A dead suro thing—man's mortal •
A dangerous man—ono who takes
cheerfully.
A figure of speech—naught set
in malice.
The weigh of the transgressor is
as well as hard.
The holc-ly land—up in Pennsyl¬
vania where the oil wells are.
A wooded shoe factory has been
started in Illinois. It will uso up a
great many feet of lumber.
Before tho railroads were con¬
the prairies were a trackless
west.
Speaking of tho sudden varia«
in tho weather and tho dan¬
of taking cold, a friend says it
safe to change a pocket hand¬
nowadays.
A friend explains how a young
lady yields her heart to a rough
looking sailor. IIo says she is car*
ried by a salt.
‘Help from an unexpected quara
ter,’ as a tramp remarked when a
twenty-five cent piece was handed
hhn by the lady of tho house.
A Bt. Louis rich man drew up
a will which was so pathetically
worded that it moved all his rela
tives to tears. It left all his prop¬
erty to an orphan asylum.
A traveler says it is true that
many young Russians will oat can*
dies. Of course they will; they
oat up the candles so that they
may kiss in the dark,
John B. Gough comp’ains of liq
nor drinking on railroad trains.—
Thero is a ‘smash’ there pretty of*
ten, to ray nothing of tho conduc-j
tor s punch-