The Art of IllustrationSpurgeon, C. H. (Charles Haddon)
Religion
The Art of Illustration
Spurgeon, C. H. (Charles Haddon)
Homiletical illustrations; Preaching
One observer describes what he saw in Austria, where, it appears, all
the people made the eclipse a time for keeping holiday, and turned out
together on the plain with various modes of observing the wonderful
sight. This writer says: "The phenomenon, in its magnificence, had
triumphed over the petulance of youth, over the levity which some
persons assume as a sign of superiority, over the noisy indifference of
which soldiers usually make profession. A profound stillness also
reigned in the air; the birds had ceased to sing." The more curious
thing is that, in London, after an eclipse, when the cocks found that
the sun shone out again, they all began crowing as though they joyfully
thought that the daylight had broken through the gloom of night.
Yet this wonderful phenomenon does not appear to have always attracted
the attention of all persons who might have witnessed it. History says
that, at one time, there was a battle being fought, I think, in Greece,
and, during its progress, there came on a total eclipse of the sun; but
the warriors went on fighting all the same, indeed, they never noticed
the extraordinary occurrence. That shows us how strong passions may
make us forget surrounding circumstances, and it also teaches us how a
man's engagements on earth may make him oblivious of all that is
transpiring in the heavens. We read, just now, of how those horses, that
were standing idly on Salisbury Plain, trembled during the eclipse; but
another writer tells us that the horses in Italy, that were busily
occupied in drawing the carriages, do not appear to have taken the
slightest notice of the phenomenon, but to have gone on their way the
same as usual. Thus, the engagements of a worldly man are often so
engrossing in their character that they prevent him from feeling those
emotions which are felt by other men whose minds are more at liberty to
meditate upon them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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