The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1888-06-08
THE ASSASSINATION.
ORNAMENTAL DAY SERVICES IN
THE BROOKLYN TABERNACLE.


Crown of Thorns.
BROOKLYN, June 8.-The congregation
at the Tabernacle sang this morning:
I'd sing the precious blood he split,
My ransom from the dreadful guilt,
This is Sacramento day, and Iarg
number of persons joined the church
making the communicate membership
4,104. But this is only part of the grea
attendance that Sunday mornings ant
evenings overflow the immense audienct
room. The Rev. 7. De Witt Talmage
D. D., took for his text the passage
"Whosoever doth not bear his cross and
come after me, cannot be my disciple. v
Luke xiv, 81. He preached the fol.
lowing sermon:
The cross was gibbet on which Grim.
inals were put to death. 1t was some
times made in the shape of the letter I,
sometimes in the shape Of the letter x,
sometimes in the shape Of the letter Ia
simple upright; sometimes two cross
pieces against the perpendicular bar, so
that upon the lower cross piece the GRIM
inal partially sat- But whatever the
style of the cross, it was always disgrace
full and always agonizing.
When Darius conquered Babylon he
put 200 captives to death on the cross.
When Alexander conquered Tyre he put
1900 captives to death on the cross. So
1t was just an ordinary mode of punish
ment. But in all the forest of crosses on
the hills and in the valleys of the earth
there is one cross that attracts more at
tention than any other. 1t is not higher
than the others; it is not made out OF
different wood; there is nothing peculiar
in the notch at which the two pieces are
joined and, as to the scene, they wit
messed crucifxions every few weeks, so
that l see reckless man walking about
the hill and kicking carelessly aside
skull, and wondering who the villain was
that had so flat and misshapen head;
and here is another skull, and there on
the hillside is another skull. Indeed, the
Bible says it was "a place Of skulls"
But about the victim on one of these
crosses all ages are crying: "Who is he?
Was he MANI Was he God? Was he
man and Coda"
Through the darkness of that gloomy
day, come close up enough t. that
cross to see what it is 1t is Jesus. How
did he come there? Had he come up on
the top Of the hill to look off upon the
beautiful landscape, or upon a brilliant
sunset? No. He came there ill and ex-
hausted. People sometimes wonder why
Christ expired SO quickly on the cross, in
six or seven hours, while other victims
have been on the cross for forty-eight
hours before life was extinct. will tell
you the reason. He was exhausted when
he came there. He had been scourged.
We are Mortified at the cruelties of the
whipping post, but those cruelties were
mercy as compared with the scourging of
Jesus Christ.
I saw at Antwerp picture made by
Rubens-Rubens' picture of the sco,lrg-
ing Of Jesus Christ. It was the most
overmastering picture I 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 flagellator
stood with the upper teeth clinched over
the lower lip, as though to give violence
to the blows. There were the swollen
shoulders of Christ There were the
black and blue ridges, denied even the
relief of bleeding. There was the flesh
adhering to the whips as they were lifted.
in the whips gouged out the flesh. There
stood the prosecutor with his foot on
the calf of the leg of the Saviour, bal
ancing himself. O! the furious and
hellish look on those faces, grinning VEN
gea ce against the Son of God. The
picture seized met overwhelmed me;
it seemed as if it would kill me- / do
not think 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 timbers
into two pieces. They are heavy and
they are long pieces, for one of them
must be fastened deep down in the earth
lest the struggling Of the victim upset
the structure. They put this timber
upon the shoulder of Christ very gradu.
ally; first, to see whether he can stand it,
and after they find he can stand it, they
put the whole weight upon him. Forward
now, to Calvary. The hooting and the
yelling mob follow on. Under the weight
of the cross, Christ being weary and sick,
he stumbies and falls, and they Jerk at
his robe indignant that he should have
and fallen, and they cry: ssGet
up, get upP' Christ, putting one hand
on the ground and the other on the cross,
rises, looking into the face of Mary, his
mother, for sympathy, but they tell her
to stand back, it is no plack for woman
back and stop this crying"
Christ moves on with his burden upon
his shoulders, and there is boy that
passes along with him, boy holding a
mallet and a few nails. I wonder what
they are for. Christ moves on until the
burden is so great he staggers and falls
flat into the dust and faints dead away,
and ruffian puts his foot on him and |
shakes him as he would a dead dog, while
another ruffian looks down at him won
iering whether he has tainted away, or
whether he is only pretending to faint
away, and with jeer and contempt indie
'cribable says: PAINTED, have your
'aintedl get up, get on!''