Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-11-13

And SO they say with an expression OF
irony and contempt, "We supposed he
was a genius, and he appears to be
babbler; why the fellow is a
fool y There is many high-bred man. q
scholar, poet, orator, gentleman, who can
confront a mob, who can stand unmoved at
the hootines and jeerings of a vul-
oar pUpu-.ee; but Leu MIN so into
company Of refined and elegant men and
women-their vnices are not lifted high. there
ID no jeerins, 5ut they know now to aim the
poisoned arrows aud to throw the poisoned
darts. A sheer, a curl of the lip, derisive
expression OF countenance, play on the
voice-that will affect a man of sensitive or
ganizasion ans. refinement lar more than the
yelling and shouting of mob. And that
was his acceptance and recognition at the
hands of the scholars, the gentlemen, and OF
the cultured classes of the civilized world,
represented by the Athenians.
| have told you that he was Roman citi-
zen, and that the immunity and franchise OF
the Empire was his birthright, and yet again
and again the magistrates Of Rome unjustly
and Illegally sent him to dungeons meanly
and basely betrayed him to the mob not
only is ne stoned by the mob, but he is beaten
with Roman rods, not one OF which should
have been laid upon his back excspt after
legal trial. And now we witness memora-
bic scene. After two years lying in the dank
and noisoue dungeon you sea him, pale and,
wan brought forth chained to Roman soldier;
you see him standing at the bar; and there
upon the royal seat Is the King, and there Is
Bernice, and there is Festus; and you can
see this Roman ruler regarding with very
keen interest and searching scrutiny this wan
and attenuated figure, so pale and wesk, stand
ing at the bar and arraigned as criminal
Aud when he is told that he can speak for
himself he stretches forth his hand and pro
ceeds to deliver one of the most extraordinary
arguments ever addressed to Court of JUS
tice. And you can imagine the Roman EN-
peror, II never heard such oratory, such
power I; | never saw such genius; he a Ro-
man citizen--he could have attained the very
highest houors of the State, and yet, here he
is SO low, SO degraded, aud in the garb of a
peasant" And when he comes at last to
state the truth OF which he was charged, you
see the expression changed from admiration
to eontemptuous pisy, and Festus says:
" Paul, thou ert beside tbyself much learn
ing dot;i make thee mad " This is the judg.
ment Of the aristocfatic and ruling classes Of
the world.
And so this man from that memorable fall
in the Syrian desert, AMI from that memora-
BE baptism in the city of Damascus, has
thirty years Of such life tag this-of journey
titElto III lie CITY, JcIlto Tue
Wilderness perils among false brethren, perils
among robbers, perils among his own coun.
trYmen, all manner of perils, and suffering
from hunger, cold and nakedness. Tell me
what is the explanation of this mans con-
duct? Do you tell me it is the product of
disease? What? Such letters as he has
written. such discourses as ne has preached,
such suffering endured, such constancy, such
tenderness sweetness and firmness-do you
tell me that it is catalepsy or epilep5y-that
it Is the result of 3 sunstroke! Do you tell
me that it is imposture? Did ever a quack
enter upon such a career as that? Quacks
may surrender the good opinion of the better
part of mankind, but it is to gain money, to
gain influence. Demagogues may compromise
the good opinions of the better classes. but it
is to secure the support of the vulgar. This
man seeks no more the support of the vulgar
than the aristocracy. He is intent on help
ing the eristocratic and the vulgar alike. He
is only bent upon helping and serving his fell
low men. No, there is not man, who de-
serves the name of man, who for moment
could entertain the thought that there is the
slig htest touch of the charlatan or quackery
in this mans composition. The theory has
fallen to the ground. What then
You see him now OF last, after all the ad-
ventures, and perils, and vicissitudes of his
extraordinary caresr-you see him there at
Rome. He is in the prison, which is on the
lower floor of the golden house in which Nero
is holding frightful bestial orgy in the upper
rilded chambers There the fiddle playing
monarch holds saturnalia with his slaves land
there, looking through the grated window,
you see in the prison an old man. His hair
is gray. 1t has fallen down upon his Bonded
shoulders. His brow is pallid and wrinkled,
and his cheeks sunken. He is sitting by the
10 p,afnria, ard. IL az hand
he is kept close prisoner. And he holds
scroll near his eye, and with his stylus he is
tracing certain characters on the page.
will lock over the old mans shoulder and
read to you what he is writing. He
is writing to his son as he calls him,
his beloved Timothy, who is at
Ephesus. He is forsaken by all except his
devoted friend Luke. He is writing to Tim
othy, and | will now read what he has writ
ten: 6 For l am now ready to be offered, and
the time of my departure is at hand.
Why, old man, what do you mean by this /;
Is Nero about to give all imperial order, and
is that handcuff to be stricken from your
wrist? Is the dungeon door to be opened and
are you to be restored to liberty Is that
what you mean? 1.-The time of your de-
parture is at hand?" No, no. He knows
full well that the day is not far off when from
his foul lips in the golden chambers above the
master of the world shall give the imperial
order. and the Centurion, with his hundred
men, shall come to the dungeon door and the
Pretorian guard shall let the prisoner go forth,
and the company shall open their ranks and
form hollow square around him, and shall
start upon their march through the city. And
you can imagine some Senator rolling in his
chariot through broad avenue of Rome,
coming great speech which he has to de-
liver upon some great event in the worlds
history-a speech which is to make him i'm
mortal, which is to thrill the Conscript Faith
ers, and gain him fame and perhaps prov
ince-and as he rolls along thinking of his
speech. he sees little military procession
with condemned man in the center of it,
and he looks with interest to see who it is.
ooh, see, he says he is going to his
What superstition The misanthrope of
Athens !" And SO he rolls along and cons his
speech, and thrills the Senate. And you can
imagine Roman damsel, in one of the upper
stories of her fathers princely mansion,
looking through the lattice and seeing poor
fellow going to this death. And all the ten
der sensibiities of the young girls heart are
aroused. ~ wonder what Nero has con-
demned the poor fellow to death for? Oh,
see what superstition, the misanthrope, the
enemy OF his kind" And she turns away
anu Sa1S, Ilc ucSeINcS ucd1h <hho eiiO
hooting mob of the vulgar populace of Rome
lift their cries and shouts against the con-
demned man. The company moves out from
the city, and not far from the margin of the
Tiber the Captain commands halt. They
turn their faces inward the prisoner is bid
to kneel, the executioner stands with his
stalwart arm uplifted, and the flashing steel
is in his hand the blade falls, and the head
of the aged prisoner rolls upon the sand, and
his blood consecrates the soil OF Europe
That is whas he means when he writes that
the time of his departure is at hand; that is
what he means when he writes that he is
ready to be offered.
Now, old man, on behalf of these people
here, l ask you what have you to say of those
thirty years since your memorable overthrow
on the Syrian desert. And never was there
a more impressive resume, never more mar
veleus epitome-''I have fought good fight,
I have finished my course, l have kept the
faith He came to me in splendor that
outshone the brightness of the midday sun
he flashed his light upon me and spake to me
in my Hebrew speech he called me by name,
and when I asked him who he was, he told
me that he was Jesus that he was not lying
in the desert; that His disciples had not
stolen Him away; that He was not an i'm
poster that the Galilean peasant, that the
carpenter of Nazareth was, indeed the
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