Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-11-02
The Three Great temples.

The Three Great Temples.
have worshiped God in the three great
temples OF the world. Perhaps should
say of the Christian world. But st. Sophia,
Of COnstantinople, though built by Chris
tians, is I'M the hands Of the Mohamnedans.
Yet they profess to worship God, and to
regard Jesus as a prophet sent from God.
And Him. whom they ignorantly worship,
true believer with his heart in harmony
with the word and will of his Maker may
truly worship and adore, as well in st. So
phia as in St. Peters in Rome, or in West
minister Abbey here in London.
speak of these as the three great tenn
Piles of the world. The first (St. Sophia),
has been standing more than thirteen hun
dred years. All tie earth was made to pay
tribute to its glory, when Justinian, the
Roman emperor, built it 500 years after
Christ died, aud dedicated it to the Divine
Wisdom. Columns of porphyry that once
stood in the Temple of the Sun, at Rome,
columns of serpentine marble, some that
once adorned the fanes of Diana of The
Ephesans, and Minerva at Athens, and
Phoebus at Delos, the splendor and glory
Of Pagan rites, blaze in this house of
prayer. And there among the followers Of
the false prophet, whose religion is now the
great barrier in the march of Christian civ
ilization eastward, and by the side of the
richly curtained and carpeted platform on
which the Sultan of Turkey prays, have
lifted up grateful and yearning heart to
God in prayer, that all His creatures might
be one in Him and His Son Christ Jesus.
whom to know Alright, by whatever name
we are called, is life eternal.
Fifty thousand persons may stand side
by side on the floor of st. Peters Church
in Rome, the most magnificent of all the
| temples that the Christian religion has pro-
duced. Three hundred marble columns
adorn the colonade in front, the marvellous
| ly beautiful conception Of BerDini and the
dome that seems to float in the air above it
| is the master work of Michael Angelo /;
within, what a blaze of light bursts upon
me at midday, from two thousand candles
in forms ofcrosses and crowns,yet each one
OF these lights and clusters was so far away
| as to look like stars. And here on the
Sabbath day, came, with one who had
| been President of the United States, and a
host of armed men, and procession OF car
dinals gorgeously clad, attended by SER
wants bearing scarlet cushions for them to
knecl upon, and in the midst of the train,
followed by tens of thou sands of admirers,
| perhaps adoring subjects, came the Pope
Of Rome, the Head of his Church, the Vi
car of Christ, as lie claims in scarlet robe,
and near him knelt and worshiped the
only living and true God.
The first was in the midst of Mohamme-
dams, the second among Catholics. 1t is Of
small moment who or what are the people
or circumstances surrounding, il the heart
pants after the living God, 1t will find him,
IN any of the earth or sky.
| With such convictions and desires, |
| hn
day. To me, it is the third great temple of
the world. To me, tits the most venerable.
| | love its name. 1t Is hallOwed by the les
sons learned in earliest childhood from the
| Catechism conceived and born in the hall
by the same name, that stands hard by this
old house of prayer. 1t isilallowed by the
dust of more goOdmen, and great men, and
monumental Inscriptions to those who have
attained honor for well doing in Church
and State, than any other church in the
world. Again and again, in other years,
have loved to walk through its long drawn
aisles, beneath its majestic pointed arches,
so poetical in their proportions and effect,
that they inspire me with sense OF per-
| fectiOn, and therefore of fitness to uphold,
and adOrn, and illustrate, while around me
the statues of dead kings and queens, and
statesmen, divines and poets silently speak
of the vanity of life, "the shadows we are" /"
as Burke said, whose statue is now in the
Hall, itself the proof of the truth of his
| words. ..... ..... .......
The living came here into the midst OF
the dead, to worship Him who ever lives.
We entered by the little door at that Poets
corner, and without pausing to look at their
names, we hastened on to get seats within
the choir. We were just too late, for it was
full, and my friend and | sat down on a
| bench without, where we could hear, but
could not see. Perhaps it would have been,
in some respects. better If we could have
seen also. But the officiating ministers,
three in number, were N sight, in desks
raised high above the people ana standing
in distahtly separated parts of the temple.
The service OF the Church of England was
intoned, and very disagreeably done, by a
priest who had no apparent sense of the
majesty and beauty Of the great and holy
words he was set to use, Uttered with feel
ing and appropriate accent, they ought 10
melt or move the hearts of congregatio },
and wait their emotions upward on the
wings of faith aud penitence to the throne
of heavenly grace. The sermon was upon
the sin of David in numbering the people,
and the preacher made a good application
| of the subject to the nation that Is in dan
| yer vi anu SCbAullCoo Va lbo
dependence on Almighty God. Such pre-
sumption was shown by King David, and
the divine judgments will Overtake the
Kingdom, that, like him. trusts in its num-
! bers and strength. The sermon had none
of the attributes of elOquence to command
attention, and, indeed, it is not probable
that the sermon here was regarded as one
of the principal features OF the occasion.
For when the sermon was concluded, it
was observable that the people came
clustering near the choir from obscure aud
distant parts OF the house, as If the real OBJ
ject of their assembling was now to be
obtained. Printed slips of the hymn to be
sung had been distributed on the seats
The organ tune, soft as the summer night
winds, stole along the choir and gradually
spread over the vast area of the temple, and
rising on the ear, caught and rapt the spirit
with its majestic voice. The singing was
by large choir Of boys, clad lin white
raiment, but the principal parts were sus-