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W'-' • , ■ ' - -v 1 ' .«r itbtt* wT’.'wrrTa A THE WEEKLY LEDGER: GAFFNEY, S. C., e NOVEMBER 14, 1895. BELSHAZZAR S FEAST REV. DR. TALMAGE PREACHES ON THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL. Lena 0 * 1 " From a Banquet of Sin—The Sud- denu'**' of God’a Judgment!.—A Word of Warnitiii—An Eclr> of tho Text. Washington, Nov. 10.—Siuco his coming lo Washington Dr. Tulmago’s pulpit oxpciicnce has been a romarkahle ouo. Not only has tho church in which he preaches boon filled, but tho audiences have overflowed into tho adjoining streets to an extent that has rendered them impassable. Similar scenes were enacted at today’s services, when the preacher took for his subject, “Hand writing on tho Wall,” tho text chosen being Daniel v, >, “In that night was Belshazzar, the king of tho Chaldeans, slain.” Night was about to eomo down on Babylon. The shadows of her 250 tow ers began to lengthen. Tho Euphrates rolled on, touched by the fiery splendors of the setting sun, and gates of brass, burnished and glittering, opened and shut like doors of flame. Tho hanging gardens cf Babylon, wet with the heavy dew, began to pour from starlit flowers aud dripping h af a fragrance for many miles around. The streets and squares were lighted for dance and frolic aud promenade. Tho theaters and galleries of art invited the wealth and pomp and grandeur of tho city to rare entertain ments. Scenes of riot and wassail were mingled in every street, and godless mirth and outrageous excess and splen did wickedness came to the king’s palace to do their mighth .-t (R eds of darkness. A royal feast tonight at tho king’s palacet Rushing up to the gates are chariots, upholstered with precious cloths from Dedan, and drawn by lire eyed horses from Togarmnh, that rear and neigh in tho grasp of tho charioteers, while a thousand lords dismount, and women, dvi s od in all tho splendors of Syrian emerald, and tho color blending of agate, and tho obasleuess of coral, and the somber glory of Tyrian purple and princely embroid' lies, brought from afar by camels across the desert and by ships of Tarshish across tho sea. Tiio Guests Assemble. Open wide the garos and let the guests come in. Tho chamberlains and cup bearers are all ready. Hai k to the rustic of tho silks, and to the carol of tho music! Hee, tho blaze of tho jewels! Lift the banners. Fill tho cups. Clap tho cymbals. Blow the trumpets. Let tho night go by with s ong and dance and ovation, and let that Babylonish tongue bo palsied that will not say, “O King Belshazzar, live forever!” Ah, my friends, it was not any com mon banquet to which those great peo ple came! All parts of tho earth had sent their richest viands to that table. Brackets aud chandeliers flashed their light upon tankards of burnished gold. Fruits, ripe and luscious, in baskets of silver, entwined with leaves, plucked from royal conservatories. Vases, inlaid with emerald and ridged with exquisite traceries, tilled with nuts that were threshed from forests of distant lands. Wine brought from tho royal vats, foam- iuK'in thi weanters aud bubbling in the ’chalices. Tofts of cassia and frankin cense wafting their sweetness from wall and table, (iorgeous banners unfolding in the breeze that came through tho open window, bewitched with the perfumes of hanging gardens. Fountains rising up from iuelusures of ivory, in jets of crys- f-B 1 of diamonds .y iii^ii look* and pearls, biaiueava u. iug down from niches in tho wall upon crowns and shields brought from sub dued empires. Idols of wonderful work standing on pedestals of precious stones. Embroideries stooping about the win- r! v.s and w: qiping pillars of cedar and drifting on tloor inlaid with ivory and agate. Music, mingling the thrum of harps, and tho cl .sh of cymbals, and the blast of trnnipi ts in one wave of trans port that went rippling along tho wall and breathing among the garlands aud pouring down tho corridors, and thrill ing the souls of a thousand banqueters. The signal is given, and tho lords aud ladies, the mighty men and women of the land, eomo mound tho table. Pour out tho wine. Lei foam and bubble kiss the rim! Hoist everyone his cup and drink to tho sentiment, “O King Bel shazzar, live forever!” Bestarred head- band and carcanct of royal beauty gleam to tho uplifted chalices, as again, and again, and again they are emptied. Away with care from the palace! Tear royal dignity to tatters! Pour ont more wine! Give us more light, wilder music, sweeter perfume! Lord shouts to lord, captain ogles to captain. Gobli ts clash; decanters rattle. There come in tho ob scene song, and the drunken hiccough, and tho slavering lip, and tho guffaw of idiotic laughter, bursting from tho lips of princes, Unshed, reeling bloodshot, while mingling with it all I hear, “Huzza, huzza, for great Belshazzar!” Seen on the Wall. What is that on the plastering of tho wall? Is it a spirit? Is it a phantom? Is it God? The music stops. The goblets fall from tho nerveless grasp. There is a thrill. There isastart. There is a thou* sand voiced shriek of horror. Lot Daniel be brought in to read that writing. Ho comes in. Ho reads it, “Weighed in tho balance and found wanting.” Meanwhile tho Modes, who for two years hud been laying siege to that city, took advantage of that carousal and came in. I hear tho feet of tho conquer ors on tho palace stairs. Massacre rushes in with a thousand gleaming knives. Death hursts upon tho scene, and I shut tho door of that banqueting hall, for I do not want to look. There is nothing there but torn banners, and broken wreaths, and tho slush of upset tankards, and tho blood of mmdored women, and the kicked and tumbled carcass of u dead king. For “in that night was Belshazzar, the king of tho Chaldeans, ■laia." 1 no on to learn some lessons from all tfeie learn that when God writes any thing on the wall a man had better read it as it is. Daniel did not misinterpret or modify the handwriting on tho wall. It is all foolishness to expect a minister of Hie gospel to preach always things that tho people like or tlie people choose. Yt ung men of Washington, what shall I preach to you tonight? Shall I tell you cf the dignity of human nature? Shall I tell you cf (ho wonders that our race has a complished? “Oh, no,” you say. “Tell me the me -age that came from God.” 1 will. Ii thcio is any handwrit ing on t!i(' wall, it is this h son: “Re pent! Accept of Christ and bo saved!” i might talk of a great many other thing.!, but that is tho message, aud so I declare it. Jesus never flattered those to whom ho preached. He said to those who did wrong and who were offensive in his sight: “Ye generation of vipers! Ye whited sepulchers! How can ye es cape tho damnation of hell!” Paul the apo; tie preached before a man who was u< J i eady to hear him preach. What sub ject did ho take? Did ho say, “Oh, you are a good man, a very fine man, a very noble man?” No. Ho preached of right eousness to a man who was unright eous, of temperance to a man who was a victim of bad appetites, of tho judgment to eomo to a man who was unfit for it. So we must always declare the message that happens to come to us. Daniel must read it as it is. A minister preached before Janus 1 of England, who was James VI of Scotland. What subject did he take? Tho king was noted all over tho world for being unsettled and wavering in his ideas. What did the minister preach about to this man who was James I of England and James VI cf Scotland? Ho took for his text James i, (>: “Ho that waveroth is like a wave of the sea driven with tho wind and tossed.” Hugh Latimer offended the king by a sermon he preached, and tho king said, “Hugh Latimer, eomo and apologize.” “I will,” raid Hugh Latimer. iSo thoday was appointed, and the king's chapel was full of lords and dukes and the mighty men ami women of tho country, for Hugh Latimer was to apologize. Ho began his sermon by saying: “Hugh Latimer, bethink thee! Thou art in tho prose ncoof thine earthly king, who can destroy thy body. But bethink thee, Hugh Latina r, that thou art in the presence of the' king of heaven aud earth, who can destroy both body and soul in hell lire.” Then ho preached with appalling directness at tho king’s crimes. A GlieiHlly I*ati<jii<U. Another lesse.n that comes to us to night—there is a great difference be- wee n the opening of tho banquet of sin mid its close. Young man, if you had looked in upon tho banquet in the first few hour i, you would have wished you had been invited there and could sit at the feast. “Oh, the grandeur of Dol- shazzar’s feast !” you would have said, hut you look in at the close of the ban quet aud your blood curdle :; with hor ror. The king of terrors ha; thcio a ghasTlie r 1 anqnct. Human blood is tho wine and dying groans are the music. Kin has made itself a king in the earth. It has ciowned itself. It has spread a hanepret. It invites all tho world to come, to it. It has hung in its banquet ing hall the spoils e.f all kingdoms and the banners < f all nations. It lias gath ered from all music. It lias s.iev.n from its wealth tho tables and floors and arehi s. And yet how nfli n is that ban quet broken up and h. w horrible is its end! live r and amn tlauv i.-; a handwrit ing < n the wall. A king falls. A great culprit isanrste d. The- knees of w icked ness knock teige thcr. < Joel's judgment, like* an armed be st, brakes in upon tho banquet, and that night is Belshazzar, : the', king eJ the Chaldeans, slain. Here is a young man who says: “I i cannot see why the-y make such a fuss abend the inteixicating cup. Why, it is exhilarating! It make’!; me feel well. I can talk better, think better, feel better. I cannot s< o why people have such a ptejudie’e against it.” A few jears pass on, anel lie wale s up and finels himself in tiie clutches e f an evil habit which lie trie s ter break, hut cannot, and ho cries out, “O Lend (led, helpMo!” It see ms as though God we iddiiol hear his praye r, and in an ag. iy ef heiely and semi ho cries out, "It biteth like a ser pent, and it stingeth like an adder.” How bright it was at the start! How black it was at tho last! Hero is a man who begins to read loose novels. "They are sei charming,” he says. “I will ge» out and see feir my self whether all theso things are so. ” He opens the gate of a sinful life. Ho goes in. A sinful sprite! meets him with her wand. She waves her wand, and it is all enchantment. Why, it seems as if the angels of Goel had poured out vials of perfume in tho atmosphere. As ho walks em ho finds (lie hills becoming more radiant with foliage and the ravines more resonant with tho falling water. Oh, what a charming landscape ho sees! But that sinful sprite, with her wand, meets him again, hut now she re verses tho wand, and all the enchant ment is gone. Tho cup is full of poison. Tho fruit turns to ashes. All tho leaves of tho bower are forked tougnos of hiss ing serpents. Tho flowing fountains fall hack in a doad pool stenchful with cor ruption. Tho luring songs become curses and screams of demoniac laughter. Lost spirits gather about him and fool for his heart aud beckon him on with “Hail brother! Hail, blasted spirit, hail!” Ho tries to get out. Ho comes to tho front door where ho entered and tries to push it back, but tho door turns against him, and in the jar of that shutting door he hears theso words, “This night is Belshazzar, tho king of tho Chaldeans, slain.” Bin may open bright us tho morning. It ends dark us tho night! An ruux|><!ct<!il Visitor. 1 learn further from this subject that death sometimes breaks in upon a ban quet. Why did he not go down to tho prisons in Babylon? There were people there that would like to have died. I suppose there were men and women in torture in that city who would have welcomed death, hut lie comes to tho palace, aud just at the time when tho mirth is dashing to the tiptop pitch, death breaks in at tho banquet. Wo have the same thing illustrated, y. ung man just come from He is loving. Ho often seen Here is a college. Ho is kind, is enthusiastic. He is eloquent. By one spring lie may bound to heights toward which many men have been struggling for years. A prclossion opens before him. Ho is established in tho law. His friends cheer him. Eminent men en courage him. After awhile you may see him standing in the American senate or moving a popular assemblage by his elo quence, ns trees are moved in a whirl wind. Some night ho retires early. A fever is on him. Delirium, like a reck less charioteer, seizes tho reins of his intellect. Father and mother stand by ami si o tho tides cf his life going out to tho great ocean. The banquet is coming to au end. Tho lights of thought and mirth and eloquence are being extiu- guished. The garlands are snatched from tho brow. Tho vision is gone. Death ut tho banquet! Wo saw tho same thing on a larger scale illustrated in our civil war. Our whole nation had been sitting at a na tional banquet—north, south, east aud west. What grain was there but we grew it on our hills? What invention was there but our rivers must turn tho new wheel and rattlo tho strango shut tle? What warm furs but our traders must bring them fivni tho arctic? What li.sh hut our nets must sweep them for tho markets? What music but it must sing in our halls? What eloquence but it must speak in our senates? Ho, to the national banquet, reaching from moun tain to mountain and from : ca to seal To prepare that banquet, the sheepfolds and the aviaries of tho country sent their best treasures. The orchards piled upon tho table their sweet fruits. The presses burst out with now wines. To sit at that table came tho yeomanry of New Hamp shire, and tho lumbermen cf Maine, and the Carolinian from the rice plantation, and tho western emigrant from tho pines < f Oregon, and we were all broth er.-—brothers at a banquet. Suddenly tho least ended. What meant those mounds thrown up at Chiekamauga, Shiloh, Altauta, Gettysburg, South Mountain? What meant those golden grainlichls turned into a pasturing ground for cavalry horses? What meant tho cornfields gullied with the wheels of tho heavy supply train? Why thoso rivers of tears—thoso lakes of blood? God was angry! Justice must come. A handwriting <n tho wall! The nation had been v.» ighod and found wanting. Darkness! Darkness! Woo to the north! Woo to tho south! Woe to tho east! Woo to tho west! Death at the banquet. Sure and Sudden. I have also to learn from tho subject that t!.o destruction of the vicious aud of thoso who despise God will ho very sudden. The wave of mirth had dashed to tho highest point when the invading army broke through. It was unexpected. Suddenly, almost always, comes tho doom of those who despise God aud defy tl.o laws cf men. How was it at tho deluge ? Do you suppose it came through a long northeast storm, so that people for days before were sure it was coming? No. I suppose the morning was bright; that calmness brooded on tho waters; that beauty sat enthroned on tho hills, when suddenly tho heavens burst and the mountains sank like anchors into the si a that dashed clear over tho Andes and tho Himalayas. Tho Red sea was divided. Tho Egyp tians tried to cross it. There could bo no danger. Tho Israelites had just gouo of tho words of tho text: “In that night was Belshazzar, the king of tho Chal deans. slain.” Oh, that my Lord Jesus would now make himself so attractivo to your souls that you cannot resist him, and if you havo never prayed befero or have not prayed since those days when you knelt down at your mother’s knee, then that tonight yon might pray, saying: Just r.s I mi, without <<no plea But that thy lluoil v.::< hed for me And.that thou bidrt me come to thee, O Lamb cf God, I eomo! But if you cannot think of so long a prayer as that, I will give you a shorter j prayer that you can say, "God bo mer ciful to me, a sinner!” Or, if you can not thin!: of so long a prayer as that, I will give you a still shorter ono that you may utter, “Lord savo me or I per ish !” Or, if that be too long a prayer, you need not make it. Use tho word “help!” Or, if that he too long a word, you need net use any word at all. Just • look and live! A Born Artist. Sir Frederic Leightc n has confided to a contributor to The Young Woman tho story of how he came to he an artist. In his youth painting was not consider- i ed respectable, and Kir Frederic’s par ents shared, in somo degree, in that strange prejudice, but during a sojourn in Florence, when he was about 11 years of age, tho lad prevailed on his father to submit the question of his future pro fession to Mr. Hiram Powers, tho celo- brated American sculptor. Ho said to Mr. Leighton, “Let me havo a portfolio of your son’s drawings, and if you will call on mo* at the end of n week I will give you au opinion of them.” “It was an anxious time for me,” says Sir Fn deric. “I remember so well tho afternoon on which my father went to see Hiram Powers to receive tho momentous verdict 1 sat down to my anatomical studies as the best menus of passing away the time. Then came tho sound of wheels on the gravel outside, aud 1 threw down my work and ran to j tho window. When father stepped from thocan iago ho was looking so pleased that 1 fi lt tare that ho had brought good nows. ” “Is 1 hero reason to expect, Mr. Pow ers?” his father had asked, “that my sou would attain to eminence if he fol lowed tho profession of an artist?” “Sir,” was tho reply, “your sou may be as eminent as ho chooses.” “Then you ih.uk,” pressed Mr. Leighton, “that 1 should make an artist of my sou?” “That, sir,” was the reply, “it is cut of your power to do; nature has done it for you.” An artist of less un questionable modi sty than tho president of the lh ya 1 academy might havo shrunk from relating an anecdoto so eminently suggestive cf predestined di tiuctiou.— London Telegraph. Nerves Are like Fire. They arc Good Servants Rut make Poor Masters To keep your Nerves steady, Your Head clear, Build up your Strength, Sharpen your Appetite, You must have Pure &?ich Elood The Best Medicine to Vitalize and Enrich the Blood, is EloocPs Sarsaparilla The One True Blood Purifier Prominently in the Public Eve. R. S. LIPSCOMB, Insurance and Real Estate Agt., Merchandise Broker Ami Dealer in The Celebrated No. 9 Weheler & Wilson Sewing riachines. Xtidh-s and attachments for all ; different make* of machines. £*2r<>Uiee in LipsOoinb Hotel huild- I ini'. F V D11 *" curo 3,1 hver HB, bilious- Li.Go'Ll o ness.headache. 23c. St’s the Talk ^ BaM'd on farts that y<,urdo!in>* will hiiv more us'oeenes at Webster’s than at any other store in town. My stock of Fine randies is up-io-date. Yours for business. W. M. Webster, Jr. July 19, 1S95. A Wise Investment. A policy of insurance in such com panies ns the .Etna, Home, Hartford, American Fire and Pennsylvania to protect your home and business from loss and damage by lire is a wise in vest ment. 1 s!ia!l he glad to furnish such pro- tcctionat anytime. Call before in- •1 *i PROOF Corn Whiskey. )„( furnish 100 proof Corn Whiskey in quant itics of-1 gallons :i quarts at ifl.-tO per gallon and W| 1 up v.: 1 ni- DELLINGER, Dellingers, X. C. GALLOWAY & SON, o ^ v ■ .1 Adulterated CofiVo In Fn Eland. • Coffee has long been a favorite sub stance for adulteration, and it is thought by seme that this fact has told consid erably against any increase in the sale of tho 11 verage. Ono interesting experi ment rputen of by the honorahlo secre tary of the Coffee association of Loudon may bo referred to: “Komo years ago a lot of samples of coffee were collected by different clerks of a city firm in different parts of Lon don, and were analyzed by Dr. Paul, with a n suit that astonished us. There were -Iff samples collected, and M. Pas- . ” i A ' "r O' IK,. • \ -s*?r3ggE5S5ai teur made the following note: ‘The av- through. Where they had gone, why not erago proportion of coffee in tho above the Egyptians? Oh, it was such a beau- 43 samples is just off per cent, with 50 tiful walking place! A pavement cf tinged shells and pearls, and on either side two great walls of water—solid. There can ho no danger. Forward, great host of the Egyptians! Clap tho cymbals and blow the trumpets of victory ! After them ! Wo will catch them yet, and they shall he destroyed. But the walls begin to tremble! They rock! They fall! Tho rushing waters! The shriek of drowning men ! The swimming of tho war horses in vain for tho shore! The strewing of the great host on tho bottom of tho ecu, or pitched by tho angry wave on tho beach—a battered, bruised and loath some v. reek! Suddenly destruction came. One half hour before they could not havo believed it. Destroyed, aud without remedy. I am just setting forth a fact, which you havo noticed as well as I. Ananias comes to tho apostle. Tho apostle says, “Did you sell tho laud for so much?” He says, “Yes.” It was a lie. Dead, as quick as that! Sapphira, his wife, comes in. “Did you sell tho land for so much?” “Yes.” It was a lie, and quick as that she was dead! God’s judgments aro upon thoso who despise him and defy him. They eomo suddenly. Word* of Warnlnc. The destroying angel went through Egpyt. Do you suppose that any of the people knew that ho was coming? Did they hear tho flap of his great wing? No! No! Suddenly, unexpectedly, ho came. Skilled sportsmen do not like toshoot u bird standing on a sprig near by. If they aro skilled, they pride themselves on taking it on the wing, and they wait till it starts. Death is an old sportsman and ho loves to take men flying under tho very sun. Ho loves to take them on the wing. Oh, fleo to God tins night! If there ho ouo in this presence who has wandered far away from Christ, though ho may not have heard the cull of tho gosiiel for many u year, I invito him now to come aud ho saved. Fleo from thy sin! Flee to tlie stronghold of tho gos pel ! Now is tho accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. Good night, my young friends; may you havo rosy sleep, guarded by him who never slumbers! May you awake in the morning strung and well! But, oh, art thou a dospisor of God? Is this thy last night on earth? Khouldst thou bo awakened in the night by something, thou kuowest not what, and thoro be shadow* floating in tho room, and u handwriting on the wall, aud you feel that your lost hour is corn*, and there bo u fainting at the heart, and a tremor in tho limb, and u catching of tho breath [ —then thy doom would bo but an echo per cent cf chicory, burned sugar anti other vegetable substances. Dealing in mind that good, pure roasted coffee can ho retailed at lOd. per pound, with a fair profit to tho seller, and that chicory is about one-third of tho price of coffee, it is easy to seo that tho sellers of all those French and other coffee mixtures must 1 i realizing profits of something like 100 pi r cent by tho sale of their wretched compounds. Tho worse the mint mi) l!." greater the profit; henco tho auxii tycf relit is to push their trade and to find attractive names to take in an ignorant and easily deluded public.’ That was written by M. Pasteur in Tho witness added that tho s’amo trade tricks go cn still, while another mado tho astonishing declaration that much of what is called “French coffco” here is not French, aud not coffee!—West minster Gazette. How to Prevent Croup. . o-,IIKABINC Ti!.v;’WII.T I'KOYi: IN- : !;i: i;> vorXG mothm;s. uotv 1;) (;r.\l;l> AO.MNj-T Yin: mSKASK. (’roup is a terror to young mot T vi'S and to post them concerning tin* cause, first symptoms and t teat meet is the object of t!iis item. The ori- • / i'- i ■ v - L.-LWi - in -vv. ^ \ r ' ■ : • " ;• y . r * On Stes. ihatsrs, laSS, and have gin of (.* IVI ip is a common 1 cold. c 'hildren \vi; > are subject to i; take cold vorv < a; sily nm 1 croup is almost :: r c to follow. i 1 < e first w .’ y n: p! om is 1 10 irsenes s; t hi- is soon , f dlowed by a peculia :• rung ' 1 C )II'g't Y» l;ioh is t-.i> ily roc qi iizcd j.i r.d v.iii IM ver lx* for gotten by one \v ho has he 11 rd it. Tie 1 tiinc to net is when tic i child f. r • ? become - hour;- ;c. If Ch amber- hii; a’s < nillgli 1 Iff me •dy is fr vi !\ used nil lend'Ti cy to croup will soon dis appear. Even after the cr iiipy (Ml igh hasd cVolopt *iit will revent tin * lit t i clv. There 1 is no 1 dm igcr in gF' iug this reined, y for it e ontains nothing injurious. For si lie by M . B. DuRre. 4 GAFFNEY CITY RAILWAY CO. Carroll & Co., Lessee. qV- following scho lulc in effect March ff IMj. Leave Gaffney (Lipscomb's lloti i) 8:30 a. in. arriving Cooper-1 im. tone I nst itutc 8 : le a. m. U kit it si NO Leave Cooper-Limestone lust Unto 2:L r > p. in. arrive ut Gaffney 2:2r) p. in. now on exhibition tin largest and icst varied liu ever carried by any house in the State, ranging over some twenty-five diferit prices, and we will be glad to have you see them before you buy. ARE just in receipt of 'otters from several foundries ad vancing prices considerably, so we think you would di well to buy before cur present stock is exhausted. Cut Prices At J. I. Sarratts. I aM now offering my entire stock at prices that v.iil sell to anyone wanting goods. Gents’ low cut shoes 80c, Ladies (10c, Childs 80c mid up. Men’s suits, new goods $2.50 and up, Rants ‘Oe and up, Cof fee (Mis for $1. Sugar. Riee, Tea, Lard, Meat, Flour, and Tolmcco at BOTTOM RRICKS. California Hams So. Dove hra d 9c. Monazite tools, sii< h as Shovels, Spades, Matlocks. Ricks, Arc . Iicapertlmn any one in town. A few Straw Hats left at New Yprh cost. Gent s shirt* Iflijc and up, Suspenders oc and up. ^iive me a cull when in town. Respectfully, r. 1. x\