The Russellville Democrat. [volume] (Russellville, Ark.) 1875-1898, 1889-10-17
1ALMAGE'S SERMON.
A Pulpit Disquisition on fairs and
Expositions.
The Fairs of tho Bible and Their Success
sors Of Modern Times-T he Coming
Wo-ld's Fair; Its Import and
Its Opportunities.

hisitext;
They traded in fairs. Ezekiel xvii i2.
Fairs may be for the sale Of goods or
for tho exhibition of goods on small
scale or large scale, for county or city,
for one nation or for all nati5sss. Ny text
brings us to the fairs of ancient Tyre. q
city that Is now extinct Part of the city
was on an island, and part on the main
land. Alexander, the conqueror, was
much embarrassed when he found so
much of the city was on an island, for he
lad no ships. But his military genius
was not to be baked. Having marched
his army to the beach, he ordered them
to tear up the city on the mainland and
throw it into the water and build cause
way two hundred feet wide TO the island.
50 they took that part OF the city which
was on the mainland and with it built
causeway of timber and brick and stone,
on which his army marched to the capt
ure of that part of the city which was on
the island, as though hostile army
should put Brooklyn into the East river
aud over 1t march to the capture of New
York That Tyrian causeway OF ruins
which Alexander's army built is still
there, and by alluvial deposits has per-
manently united the island to the main
land, so that it is no longer an island,
but promontory The sand, the great
est of all undertakers for burying cities,
having covered up for the most part
Baalbec and Palmyra aud Thebes and
Memphis and Carthage land Babylon
and Luxor and Jericho, the sand, so
small and yet so mighty is now gradual
ly giving rites of sepulcher to what was
loft of Tyre. But, oh, what a magnificent
city it once was Mistress of tho sea!
Queen of international commercel All
aations casting their crowns at her feetl
Where we have in our sailing vessels
benches of wood, she had benches of
ivory. Where we have for our masts of
ships sails of coarse canvas, she had sails
OF richest em broidery.
The chapter from which my text is
taken, after enumerating tho richest
countries in all tho world, says of Tyre:
"They traded in thy fairs" Look in
upon q worlds fair at Tyre. Ezekiel
leads us through one department, aud it
is horse fair. Underfed and oyerdriyen
for ages, the horses of to-day give you
no idea of the splendid animals which,
rearing and plunging, and snorting and
neighing, were brought down over the
planks of the ships and led into the
worlds fair at Tyre until Ezekiel, who
was a minister of religion and not sup
posed to know much about horses, cried
oct in admiration: "They of the house
Of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with
horses.n Here in another department of
that worlds fair at Tyre, led on by
Ezekiel the prophet, we find every thing
all ablazs with precious stones. Like
petritied snow are the corals; like frag-
ments of fallen sky are tho sapphires;
"A no, 1, I,g obi x.yftl, np1n
What is that aroma we inhale? 1t is
from chests of cedar which we open, and
find them filed with all styles of fabric.
But the aromatics increase as we pass
down this lane of enchantment, aud here
are cassia and frankincense and balm.
Led on by Ezekiel. the prophet, we
come to an agricultural fair with dis
play of wheat from Minnith and Pannag,
rich as that of our modern Dakota or
Michigan. And hero is q mineralogcal
fair, with specimens of iron, and silver
and tin, and lead, and gold. But halt,
for hero is purple, Tyrian purple, all
tints and shades, deep almost unto the
black and bright almost unto the blue,
waiting for Kings and Queens to order it
made into robes for coronation day;
purple not like that which is now made
from the Orchilla weed but the extinct
purple, the lost purple, which the an
clients knew how to make out of the gas
teropod mollusks of the Mediterranean.
Oh, look at those casks of wine from
Helbon! See those STOW banks of wool
from the back of sheep that once past
ured in Giead. o., the bewildering
riches and variety of that worlds fair at
Tyre!
But the world has copied these Biblo-
mentioned fairs in all succeeding ages,
and it has had its Louis the Sixth fair at
Dagobert, and Henry the First fair on st.
Bartholomew's Day, and Hungarian fairs
at Pesth, and Easter fairs at Leipsic, and
the Scotch fairs at Perth (bright was the
day when l was at one of them), and
afterward came the London Worlds
Fair, and the New York Worlds Fair,
and the Vienna Worlds Fair, and the
Partisan Worlds Fair, and it has been
de cided that in commemoration of the
discovery of America in 1492. there shall
be held in this country in 1892 Worlds
Fair that shall eclipse all preceding ma
tional expositions. l say God speed the
movement! Surely the event commem-
Grated is worthy of al! the architecture
and music and pyrotechnics and elo-
quent and stupendous planning and
monetary expenditure and Congressional
appropriations which the most sanguine
Christian patriot has ever dreamed of.
Was any voyage that the world ever
heard of crowned with such an arrival as
lhat of Columbus aud his meny
After they had been enco uraged for
the last few days by ight of land birds
and floating branches of red berries, and
while Columbus was down in the cabin
studying the sea Chart Martin PinZon,
standing on deck and looking TO the
southwest cried: "Landl Land! Landp
And Gloria ia Excelsis" was sung in
raining tears on all tba three ships of
the expedition. Most appropriate and
patriotic, and Christian will be COM
memorative Worlds Fair in America in
1892. Leaving TO oth9rs the discussion
as to the site of such exposition-and l
wonder not tina. some five or six of our
cities are struggling TO have it, for it
viii give TO any city TO which it Is as.
signed an impulse of prosperity for
hundred years--I say, leaving to others
the selection OF the particular locality to
be thus honored, l want to say some
things from the point of Christian pa
triotism which ought to be said, a1d the
earlier the better, that we get thousands
Of people talking in the right direction,
and that will make healthfni public
opinion. ! beg you 10 consider prayer
fully what l feel called upon or God as
an American citizen and as o preacher
OF righteousness to utter.
Ny first suggestion is that IL is not wise,
as certainly il is not Christian, to con-
tinue this wide and persistent attempt Of
American cities 10 beiittle and depreoiate
other cities. 1t has been going on for
years, but now the spirit seems to cui-
inmate ia this discussion as to whore the
Worlds Fair shall be held, a style Of dis
cussion which has tendency - iniure
the success Of the fair as great moral and
patriotic enterprise, after the locality
has been decided uEon. There is such
thing as heaithful rivalry between cities,
hut win you bear me out in saying that
there can be no good 70 come from the