Rensselaer Republican, Volume 20, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 April 1888 — THE STAR WORMWOOD. [ARTICLE]

THE STAR WORMWOOD.

Brilliant Bitterness the Bane of Unman Idle. Homes Made Miserable by Its Contaminating Influence —Karthly ExUtonoe Boeomes Harsh and Sour—The;ltemedy. Rev. Dr. Talmage preached at the Brooklyn Tabernacle last Sunday. Subject ‘‘The Star Wormwood or Brilliant Bitterness.” Text: Revelation viii., 10 and 11: “Tnere fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the riveis, and npon the fountains of watere; and the name of the star is called Wormwood.”- He said: Patrick and Lowtb, Thornes Scott, Mathew Hepry, Albert Earner and all other commentators agree in eaying that the Star Worm wood of mv ttxt was Attila, K.ng of the Hnnp. He was so called because he was brilliant as a star, and, like wormwood, he embittered everything he touched. We have studied the Scar of Bstblt hem. and the Morning Star of the Revelation, and the Star of Peace, but my subject tbis hour calls tie to gaze at the Star Wormwood, and my theme might be called Brilliant Bitterness. *

a more extraordinary character history does not furnish them this man referred to in my text, Attila, the K’ng of the Huns. One day a wonndeo heifer camejimping along through the fit Ids and a herusman followed ns biocdy track on the graes to see where the heifer was wounded, and went on talk, further and lurtaer, until he came to a sword fast in the earth, the point downward, as the ugh it had dropped trom the heavens, and against the edg s of tiia sword the heifer had been cat Tne herdsman palled up that sword and presented it to Attila. Attila said ]that sword must have dropped fronts the heavens irom the grasp of Mars and tbat its being given to him meant that Attila should conquer and govern the whole earth. Other mighty men have been de igniedat being called liberators or the merciful or the good, bat Attila called hmself.and demanded that others call turn, the fccourge of God. At the head of seven hundred thousand troops, mounted on Cappadtc an horses, he swept every thing irom tne Adriatic to the B ack fee a. He put his iron heel on Macedonia and Greece and Thrace. He made Milan and Pavia and Padua and Verona beg for mercy, which he bestowed not. Tne Byzantine castles to meet bis ruinous levy pnt up at auction inactive silver tables and vases cf solid gold. A city captured by him, the inhabitants were brought out and put into three ciassts. The fust clats, those who coaid bear arms, who must immediately en list under Attila or be butchered; the seojnd e ase, the beautiiul women, who were mode captives to the Huns; the third class, the aged men and women, who were robbed of every tiding and let go back to tbe city to pay heavy tax. It was a common Baying that the grass never grew again where the hoof of Attila’s horse had trod. His armies reddened the waters of tho Seine and the -Moselle and the Rnine with carnage,and fought on the Catalonian plains the fiercest battle since the world stood, three hundred thousand leftdead on the field. On and on, until ail those who could not oppose him with arms lay prostrate on their faces in prayer, and a cloud of dust seen in the distance, s Bishop cried: “It iethe aid of God,” and all the people took up the cry. “It is the aid of God.' As the cloud of dust was blown aside the banners of reinforcing armies marched in to help against A turn tbe Scourge of God. The mest unimportant occurrences he need as a supernatural resource} and after three months ot failure to capture the City of Aquileia, and his army Had given up the Beige, the flight of a Btork and her yonng from a tower of the city was taken by him as a sign that he was to capture the city, aud bis army, inspired with the Bame occurrence, resumed the siege and took tbe walls at a point from which the stork had emerged. So brilliant was the conqueror in attire that his enemies iou d not look at him, but shaded their eyes or turned their heads. Slain on the evening of his marriage by his bride, Ildico, who was hired for the assassination, his followers bewailed him not with tears, but with blood, cutting themselves with knives and lances. He was pat into three coffins - the first of iron, the seeond of silver, and the third of gold. He was buried by night, and into his grave were poured the most valuable coin and precious atones, amounting to the wealth ol a kingdom. The grave diggers and all those who assisted at the burial were massacred, so that it would never be known where so much wealth was enu mbed. Tne Roman Empire conquered the world, but Attila conquered the Roman Empire. He was right in calling himself a Scourge, but instead of being the Scourge of God he was the scourge of hell. Because of his brilliancy and bitterness the commentators were right in believing him to be the Star Wormwood of the text. As the regions he devastated were parts most opulent with fountains aed streams and rivers, you see how graj hie my text is. Have yon ever thought how many embittered lives there ate all about ns, misanthropic, morbid, Hcrid.sata.rnine? The European plant from which wormwood is extracted, artemisia absinthium, is a perennial plant, and all the year ionnd it is ready to exnde its oil. And in many human lives there is a perennial distillation of acrid experiences. Yea, there are some whose whole work is to shed a baleful influence on others. There are Attilas of the home,or Attilas of the social circle, or Attilas of the Church, or Attilas of the State, and onenot two-thirds of the waters, is poisoned by the falling of the Star Worm wood. It is not complimentary to human nature AaLmostimmiaH snon as thsy gat great power, become overbearing. The more power be used for gooL The less power men have the better, if they use it for eviL Birds circle round and round and round before they swoop npon that which they areaiming for. Anti if my discourse so fafnas boon swinging round and round,this moment it drops straight on > our heart and asks the qnestion: Is yonr life to others a benediction or an embiiterment, a blessing or a curse, a balm or a wormwood? Some of you, I know, are me ming •tars, and you are making the dawning

life of your children bright with gracious influences, and you are beaming npon all the opening enterprises of philanthropic and Christian endeavor, and you are heralds of that dav cf gospelisation which will yet flood all the mountains and valleys of onr sin-cursed earth. Hail, morning Keep on shining with encouragement and Christian hope. Some of you are evening stars, and yon are chet ring the last days of old people, and though a cloud sometimes comes over you tbrough the qusrnlo itness or unreasonableness of jour old father and mother it is only for a moment, and the star soon comes out again and is seen from all the balconiea of the neighborhood. The old people Will forgive your occasional shortcomings, for they themselves several times lost their patience with you when yon were yonng, and slapped yon when you did not deserve it. Hail, evening sfat! Hang on the darkening sky jour diamond corenet. But are any of you the Star Wormwood? Do you scowl and growl from the thrones paternal or maternal? Are your children everlastingly pecked at? Are you always crying “Hushl” .to tbe merry voices and swift feet and their laughter, which occasionally trickles through at wrong times and is suppressed by them until they can hold it no longer, and all the barriers burst into unlimited guffaw and each ins tione, as in high weather the water has trickled through a slight opening in the milldam, put afterward makes wider and wider bre«ch, until it carries all before it with irreoiatible freshet. Do not be too much offended at 1119 noise your children now make. It will be still enough when one of them is dead Then you would give your right hard to bear one shout from their silent voices or one step from the still foot. You will not any of jou have 10 wait very loDg before your house is stiller than you want it. Alas! tbat there are so many homes not known to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, where children are put on the bunts and whacked and earpulled and senselessly called to order and answered sharp* and suppretsed, until it is a wonder tbat under such processes they do not all turn opt Mouocs and Nana Sahibs. What is your influence npon the town or the city of your residence? I will suppose that you are a star of wit. What kiad of rays do you Bboot forth? Do you use that splendid faculiy to irradiate the world or to rankle it? 1 bless all the apostolic college of humorists. The man tbat makes me laugh .s my benefactor. Ido not thank any body to make me cry. I can do that without assistance. We all cry enough, and have enough to cry abont. God bits 3 all skillful punsters, all repart.eehts, all propounders of ingenious conundiums, all those who mirthfully surprise us with unusual juxtaposition of words! Thomas Hood and Charles Lamb and Sidney Smith had a divine mission, and so have their successors in these times. They stir into the acid beveiare of life, the saccharine. They make the cup of eartly existence, which is sometimes stale, effervesce and bub ble. They placate animosities. They foster longevity. They slay follies and absurdities which all tho sermons of all the pulpits can not reach. They have for examples Elijah, who made fun of the Baalites when they called down fire and it did not come, suggesting that their heathen god had gone banting, or was off on a journey, or was asleep and nothing but vociferation could wake him. . They have an example in Christ, who with healthful sarcasm showed up the lying, hypocritical Pharisees by suggesting tnat such perfect people like themselves needed no improvements, saying; “The whole need not a physician, bat they that are sick.” Bat I wilt change this, and I will suppose you are a star of worldly prosperty. Then you have large opportunity. You can encourage that artist by baying his picture. You can improve the fields, the stables, the highway, by introducing higher style ot fowl and horse ana cow and sheep. Yon can bless the world with pomological achievement in the orchards. You can advance arboriculture and arrest thiß deathful iconociasm of the American forests.- You can put a piece of sculpture into the niche of that public academy. You can endow a college. You can stocking a thousand bare ieet from the winter lroet. Yon can build a church. You can put a miesionsry of Christ on that foreign shore. You can help ransom a world. But, suppose you grind the face of the poor. Suppose when a man’B wages are due you make him wait for them because be can not help himself. Suppose that because his family is sick, ana he has had extra expenses, he should politely ask yon to raise his wages for tbis year, and you should roughly tell him if he wants a better place to go and gei it. Suppose by your manner you act as though he were nothing, and you were every thing. Suppose you are selfish and overbearing and arrogant Yonr first name ought to be Attila and yonr last name Attila, because you. are tbe Wormwood, and you have embittered one-third, if not three-thirds, of the waters, that roll past your employes and operatives and dependents and associates, and the long line of carnages which the undertaker orders for your funeral, in order to make the occasion respect able, wilt be fi led with twice a$ many dry,tearless eyes as there are persons ocoupyirg them. Theciumsy pall-hearers may make the gates of yonr sepulcher quake by sinking your silver-handed coffin against them, bnt the world will feel ho jar as yon ge patent. I here is an erroneous idea ah rad tba f tiere are only a few geniuses There are millions of them—that is, man and women who have especial adaptation and quickness fer same one thing. It, may be great, it may be small. The circle may be like the circumference of the “earth, or no larger than a" ttumhTel." There are thousands of geninses here this morning and in some one thing you are a star. What kndof a star are you? -Yew wiE-fes-Mi-ifatß - mes. As compared with e ern ty the stay of <he Id geet lif* Ofearh n not mire th na m nute, What are we doing w h 1 hat minute? are we imbiiter* i, g he domestic or w rial or political iouita n°, dir are we., like M< s who, wh n >he Is’aetites in the wilde-n«®a c imi'iained hat the waters 01 Lke Mar h were b t er, an 1 they c u f nos d-u-k th*-m, hir leader cm «ff the branch cl a c rtain <tr-e an t h ewtbat Branch int • tue water, and i bee me own t and -lak-d the t n»st ■ th ass r-‘ mgh s? A ewewi habr«< ch f h-Tree of L’fe s*e ting all the btacki h oattains that we can toochT Dcar horJ, send

ugftllontonThJr mission. Allatoundus emb ttere t lries, emb tiered by per.ecuton, embittered by hyp-rcriticism, embittered by poveitv, embittered by pain, enib tt r d by injnstic*, embit ered by sin. W 1 y not go forth and s« eeten them by a smile, by m-piring words, by b ne faction*, by hearty counsel, by paryor, ty voepelizen behavior? Let on remember that if we are wormwood to others we are wormwood toouraelve*. antourl fe will be b.tter and* uretern ty bitter IheGoepel of Jesus Chri tin the < nly sweetn nr power tbat is tufficient It sweetens the diaporitlon. It sweetens afflicti ns It sweeten-dea till Itsweetensevery thing I have heard peopl-asked in social com pany: “If von co .Id have three wishes gratified what would yoar three wi hes be?” If I could have three wishes met thiamorning.J tell yon what they wonlii be: First, inore of the gra -n 01 Go 1 ; Becond, more rs the vrace-of Ged; third, more ot the grace rs God. In the door-yard of my brother John, m B:ionaryinAmoy. China, there is a tree called the emperor tree, the two char acteristics of which are that it always grows higher than its snrroandinps, and its leaves take the form of a crown. If this emperor tree be planted by a rose bush it grows a little higher than the hnsh, and spresdsont above it a crown. II it be planted by the side of another tree, it grows a little higher than that tree and spreads above it a crown. Would to God that the religion of Chiiit, a more wonderful emperor tree, might overshadow all your lives! Are you lowly in ambi ion or circnmstance, putting over yon its crown; are yon hich in talent and position, putting over you its crown. Oh, for more cl the saccharine in our lives and lesi of the wormwood! What is true of individuals is true of Dafionß. God sets them up to revolve as stais, but they may tall wormwoodFrom the persecutions of the Pilgrim Fathers and tbe Huguenots in other lands God set upon these shores a na tion. The council fires of the aborigines went out in the greater light of a free government. The sound of the warwhoon was exchanged for the thousand wheels of enterprise and progress. The mild winterp, the fruitful summers, the healthful skies charmed from other iands a race of hsrdy men who loved God and wanted to be fres. Belore the woodman’s ax forests fell and rose again, into ships’masts and churches pillars. Cities on tbe banks of lakes begin to rival cities by the sea. The land quakes with the rush of the rail-car and the waters are churned white with the steamer’s wheel. Fabulous bushels of Western wheat meet on tbe wav fabulous tons of Eastern coal. Furs from the North pass on the rivers fruita from the South. And trading in the same market is the Maine lumberman and South Carolina rice merchant and Ohio farmer aud Alaska fur dealer. Aud churches and schools and asylums scatter light and love and mercy and salvation upon sixty millions of people. I pray that our nation may not copy the crimes of the nations that have perished, and our cup of blessing turn to wormwood and like them we go down I am by nature and by gracean optimist, and I expect tbat this country will continue to advance until the world shall put on a millennial era, and that when Christ comes again He will set His throne somewhere between the Alleghenies and the Sieria Nevadas. But be not deceived! Our on y safety is in righteousness toward God and jos tice toward man. If we forget the go dness of the Loid to this land and break His Sabbaths and improve not by the dire disasters that have again and again coifie to us as a people, and we learn saving lesson neither from civil war nor raging epidemic, nor drought nor mildew nor scourge of locust and grasshopper, if the political corruption whchhaß poisoned the fountains of public virtue and he slimed the high places of authority, making free go -eminent at times a hissing and a bywoid in all the earth, if the drnnkeness and licentiousness tbat stagger and blaspheme in the streets of our great cities as though they were reaching after the fame of a Corinth and a Sodom are not repented of, we will vet see the smoke of our nation’s rain; the pillars of our National and State Capitols;will fall more disastrously than wnen Sampson polled down Dae on, and future historians will record upon the page bedewed with generous tears the story that the free nation of he Wt st arose in splendor which made the world stare. It had magnificent possibilities. It forgot God. It. hated justice. It hogged its crime. It halted on ils nigh march. It reeled under tbe calamity. It fell. And as it was going down all the despotisms of earth from the top of bloody thiones began tOßhont. “Aha, so would we have it,” while struggling and oppressed peoples looked cut from dungeon bars with tears and groans and cries of untold agony, the scorn of those and the woe of these uniting in the exclamation: ‘ Look yonder! There feel a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it iell upon the; third part oi the rivers and upon the fountains of water; and tbe name of the star is called Wormwood!” .