Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-06-15
THE ASSASSINATION
7sp Subject for Sacramento Day Dis
course in the Brooklyn
Tabernacle.
~ rslmage Gives Graphic Descrip
~" ton of the Scourging and
Cruci6xion.

,,. u,' Talmaee of the Brooklyn Taber-
WY. WIZ took for his text the passage:
l nny'. oeyer doth not bear his cross, and
after me. cannot he my disciple"
eo Tnre xiv. ~. He preached the follow
nj H. cross was gibbet on which Grim
IL. we're put to death. 1t was some-
l l:,i. made in the shape of the letter !.
. 'mMe, ines in the shape of the letter Y,
s" 'm,st ines in the shape of the letter L
simple upright: sometimes two cross
aeres against the perpendicular bar, so
,Ila, upon the lower cross piece the
a.rr;,miual partially sat. But whatever the
s style of the cross. it was always disgrace
fnl and always agonlzlng.
When Darius conquered Babylon he
When Alexander conquered Tyre. he put
sun raptives to death on the cross. SO
:. was lust an ordinary mode of punish
,msnt, But in all the forest of crosses
nn the hills and in the valleys of the
Il ,ath. there is one cross that attracts
more attention than any other. 1t is not
higher than the others. it is not made
nnt of different wood. there is nothing
nernliar in the notch ut which the two
reces are joined, and rs to the scene.
sbey witnessed crucifixions every few
weeks so that l see reckless man walk
;np about the hill and kicking carelessly
aside skull. and wondering who the
william was that had so fat and mis-
sbapen a head: and here is another skull.
and there on the hillside is another
skull. Indeed. the Bible says it was "a
Mace of skulls" But about the victim
on one of these crosses all ages are cry
ing: who is he? Was he a man? Was
he God? Was he man and God?
Through the darkness of that gloomy
da, come close up enough to the cross
TO see who it is. 1t is Jesus. How did
He come there? Had He come up on the
top of the hill to look of upon the
sunset. No. He came there i'll and eX-
hausted People sometimes wonder why
Christ expired so quickly on the cross.
in six or seven hours, while other vic
tins have been on the cross for forty
eight hours before life was extinct. l
/ will tell YOU the reason. He was ex-
hausted when He came there. He had
been scourged' We are Mortified at the
cmelties OF the whipping-post. but those
cmelties were mercy compared with the
scourging. of Jesus Christ.
| saw at Antwerp picture made by
Rubens-Rubens' picture of the scourg-
ins of Jesus Christ. 1t was the most
administering picture l ever looked at.
or ever expect to see. AS the long
frocked official opened the door that hid
the picture. there He was-Christ with
back bent and barred. The hagellator
stood with the upper teeth clenched
over the lower lip. as though to give
violence to the blows. There were the
swollen shoulders of Christ. There
We're the black and blue ridges. denied
even the relief Of bleeding. There was
We're lifted. There were the marks
where the knots in the whips gouged
ont the flesh. There stood the perse-
cutor. with his foot on the calf of the
leg of the Saviour, balancing himself.
o! the furious and hellish look on those
faces. grinning vengeance against the
son of God. The picture seized me. it
overwhelmed me; it seemed rs it it
would kill me. l do not think l could
have looked at it five minutes and have
! lived
But that. my friends. was before Christ
had started for Calvary. That was only
the whipping. Are you ready for your
journey to the cross?
The carpenters have split the timber
into two pieces. They are heavy and
they are long pieces, for one OF them
must be fastened deep down into the
earth. lest the struggling Of the victim
upset the structure. They put this tim
Der upon the shoulder of Christ very
gradually first. to see whether He can
stand it. and after they find He can stand
II they put the whole weight upon Him.
and the yelling mob follow on. Under
the weight of the cross. Christ being
weary and sick. He stumbles and falls.
and they jerk at His robe indignant that
ne should have stumbled and fallen. and
they cry: Get up, get up!" Christ put
sihS one hand on the ground
ana the other hand on the cross. rises.
looking into the face Of Mary. His
mother. for sympathy; but they tell her
It.. It.. stand back, it is no place for woman.
stand back and stop this crying"
;, hllst moves on with His burden upon
Ills shoulders, and there is a boy that
passes along with Him, boy holding a
lnallet and a few nails. wonder what
55hey are for? Christ moves on until the
. ~ is so great He staggers and falls
i'a' INTO the dust and faints dead away.
"na a rutfian puts his foot on Him and
sna .S Him as he would a dead dog.
while another rut1ian looks down Mt Him
ing W ueIucI ne HIS 1tlAleu d""S'
.. .. whether He is only pretending to
; ;"i' 'way; and with ieer and contempt
'aXlhted! Get up! get on!"
>, Now they have arrived at the foot OF
~ .he NIL. Off with His clothes! Shall
, VI, ioathsome mob look upon the I'M
,o'ed body of Christ? Yes. The com
"iaiIdlng officers say: "Unfasten the
ES1 81 take off the coat, strip Him."
'he work is done. But bring back the
n noa'' for here are the gamblers tossing
up com on the ground. saying: Il have
A. =. ! have it: it is mine!" He rolls it up
% ;n puts it under his arm, or he exam
res 1t to see what fabric it is made OF.
a. 'nen n, they put the cross upon the ground
" w. = lhey stretch Christ upon it. and four
I w. hVe men hold Him down while they
a''ve the spikes home. At every thump
sfoan-a groan. Alas! alas! The
, l"tf passes on and the time comes when
'A ~ must cruelty Him.
whflst has only one garment left now,
i ,ap zap, a cap Of thorns. No danger that
n "~ill fall off, for the sharp edges have
ft as. the temples and it is sure and
"su One ruffian takes hold of one end
o, y, 'he short beam of the cross, and an
Of mn" m ruffian takes hold of the other end