The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1889-03-21

to Rebuild the Homo of His Fathers.
His Moonlight Ride-why and How the
Heart OF Man Must BE Reconstructed.
BROOKLYN, March 17-At the tab
cruactc this morning the Rev. T. De
Wnt TaImage, d. d., expounded the
seventh chapter of Ecclesiastes. He
afterwards gave out the hymn begin
ming.
Gracel 'tis charming sound
Harmonious to the ear,
which vas sung by the vast congre-
CATION with magnificent effect The
subject OF DIR. Talmage's sermon was
The Moonlight Ride, and the text,
Nehemiah ii, ID: '"Then | went up in
the night by the brook, and viewed
the wall, and turned back, and entered
by the gate of the valley and so re-
turned" Hesaid
4 dead city is more suggestive than
a living city-past Rome thtn present
Rome e-riins rather than newly fres-
Good cathedral. But the best time to
visit o ruin is by moonlight. The
Coliseum is far more fascinating tothe
traveller after sundown than before.
You may stand by daylight amid the
monastic ruins of Melrose Abbey, and
study shafted oriel, and rosetted stone
and mullion, bafC they throw their
strongest wiichery by moonlight.
Some OF you remember what the en-
chanterof Scotland said in the 'Lay
of tho Last MINSTREL"
wouldst thou view fair Melrose Alright,
Go visit II by tho palo moonlight
Washington Irving describes the
Andalusian moonlight upon the Al
hambra ruins as amounting TO an en-
chantment. My text presents you
Jerusalem in ruins. The tower-down.
Tho gates down. The walls down.
Everything down. Nehemiah on
horseback, by moonlight looking upon
the ruins. While he rides, there are
some friends on foot going with him,
for they do not want the many
horses to disturb the suspicious Of
thcpeople. These people do not know
the secret Of Nehemiah's heart, but
they are going as Il sort of body
guard. hear the clicking hoofs of
the horse on which Nehemiah rides.
as ho guides it this way and that. into
this gate and out of that, winding
through that gate amid the debris of
once great Jerusalem Now the horse
comes to Il dead halt at the tumbled
masonry where he cannot pass. Now
he SHES off at the charred timbers
Now he comes along where tho water
under the moonlight flashes from the
mouth OF the brazen dragon after
which the gate was named. Heavy
hearted Nehemiah Riding in and
out, now by his old home desolated,
now by the defaced temple, now amid
the scars of the city Chat had gone
down under battering ram and conna-
grafton. The escorting party knows not
what Nehemiah means. Is he getting
crazy2 Have his own personal sor-
rows, added TO the sorrows of the ma
ton, unbalanced his intellect2 Still
the midnight exploration goes on.
Nehemiah on horseback rides through
the fish gate, by the tower of the fur
naces. by the kings pool, by the
dragon well, in and out, in and out,
until the midnight ride is completed,
and Nehemiah dismounts from his
horse, and TO the amazed and con
founded and incredulous body
guard, declares the dead secret
of his heart when he says, "Come,
now, let us build Jerusalem. "What,
Nehemiah, have you any moneyP
mo. Have you any kingly author
ityp No" ''Have you any elo-
quence" mo" Yet that midnight,
moonlight ride Of Nehemiah resulted
in the glorious rebuilding of the city
of Jerusalem The people knew not
how the thing was TO be done. but
with great enthusiasm they cried out,
"Let us rise up now and build the city. :"
Some people laughed and said it could
not be done, Some people were in
furiate and offered physical violence,
saying the thing should not be done
But the worllmen went right on, stand
ing on the wall, trowel in one hand,
sword in tho other, until the work was
gloriously completed At that very
time, in Greece, Xenophon was writing
history, and Plato was making phil
osophy, and Demosthenes was rafting
his rhetorical thunder, but all of them
together did not do so much for the
world as this midnight, moonlight
rido of praying, courageous, homesick,
close mouthed Nehemiah.
UPBUu.DING OF ZION.
My subject first impresses me with
tho idea what an intense thing is
church affection. Seize the bride of
that horse and stop Nehemiah Why
are You lislling your life here in the
night2 Your horse will stumble over
those ruins and fall on you. Stop this
useless exposure of your life No;
nehemiah will not stop. He at last
tells us the whole story. He lets us
know he was an exile in far distant
l.,..s i /,
bearer in the palace of ArtaNerXes
Longimanus, and one day, while he
was handing tho cup of Wine TO the
king, the hing said to him,
"What is the matter with youi
You are not sick. | know
You must have some great trouble.
What is the matter with yous" Then
he told the king how that be
loved Jerusalem was broken down
how that his fathers tomb had
been desecrated; how that the
Temple had been dishonored and
defaced; how that the walls were
scattered and broken. ''Well," says
King Artaxerxes, what do you wantF
"Well, said the cup bearer Nehemiah,
Il want 10 go home. / want To fix ur
the grave of my father. l want to re
store the beauty of the temple. want
to rebuild the masonry of tho city wall.
Besides, want passports so that shall
not be hinaercd in my journey. And
besides that, as you viii find in the
context, Il want an order ON the man
who keeps your forest for Just so much
timber as | may need for the rebuild
ing Of tho city," How long shall yor
be gone2" said the king The time o
absence is arranged. In hot hast'
this soeining adventuror comc
to Jerusalem, and III my tex
we find him on horseback, il
the midnight, riding around tn
ruias. 1t is through the spectacies o
this scene that we discover the arden
attachment of Nehemiah for sacre
Jerusalem, which in all ages has bee
the typo Of the church of God, on
Jerusalem, which we love just as muc
as Nehemiah loved his Jerusalem
Tho fact is that you love the chure
OF God 80 much that there is no spo
on earth so sacred, unless il is you
own fircsidc Tho church has been {
you SO much comfort and illuminatio
that there is nothing that makes yo
SO irate rs TO have it talked agains
If there have been times when yo
have been carried into captivity b
sickness, you longed for the churcl
our holy Jerusalem, just as much I
Nehemiah longed for his Jerusalem
and the first day you came out yo
came to the house of the Lord. Whe
the Temple was in ruins as ours w
years ago, like Nehemiah, you walk,
around and looked at ii, and in d
moonlight you stood listening If "