The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-12-25
RE)Bk: 1ALNAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN
= DAY SERMON.
Subject: 1.-THE Holy City," preached
at Jerusaicm.)

they were sorrow they ever visited Jerusa-
lem. But with me the city and its surround
ings are a rapture, a solemnity, an over
w6elmiilg emotion. o Jerusalem, Jerusa-
lem, The procession of Kings, conquerors,
,,Soets and immortal men and women pass be-
fore me as I stand here. Among the ta-ong
are Solomon, David and Christ. Yes,
through these streets and amid these sur
roundings rode Solomon, that wonder of
splendor and wretchedness. 1t seemed as
il the world exhausted itself on that
man. 1t wove its brightest flowers
into his garland. 1t set its richest
gems in his coronet. 1t pressed the rarest
wine to his lips. It robed him in the purest
purple and embroidery. 1t cheered him with
the sweetest music in that land Of harps. 1t
greeted him with the gladdest laughter that
ever leaped from mirth's lip. It sprinkied
his cheek with spray from the brightest
fountains. Royalty had no dominion,
wealth no luxury, gold no glitter, flowers no
sweetness, song no melody, light no rediance,
upholstery no gorgeousness waters no gleam,
birds no plumage, prancing coursers no met
tie, architecture no grandeur, but it was all
his. Across the thick grass Of the lawn, fra
grant with tufts Of campfire from Engedi,
fell the long shadows of trees brought from
distant forests.
Fish pools fed by artificial channels that
brought the streams from hills far away,
were perpetually ruffled with fins and golden
scales shot from water cave to water cave
with endless dive and swirl, attracting the
gaze of foreign potentates. Birds that had
been brought from foreign aviaries glanced
and fluttered among tie foliage, and called
to their mates far beyond the sea. From the
royal stables there came up the neigh1ng OF
twelve thousand horses, standing in blankets
Of Tyran purple, chewing their bits over
Of ooll ltt-oit order
to be brought out in front of the palace when
the official dgnitaries would leap into the
saddle for some grand parade, or, harnessed
to some of the fourteen hundred chariots OF
the King, the fiery chargers with Haunting
name and throbbing nostrn would make the
earth jar with the tramp Of hoofs and the
thunder of wheels. While within and with
out the palace you could not think of single
luxury that could be added, or OF a single
the banks OF the sea the dry docks of
Ezion-geber rang with the hammers
Of the shipwrights who were con-
structing larger vessels for still wider COM
merce, for all lands and climes were to be
robbed to make up Solomon's glory. No rest
till his keels shall cut every sea, his aNmen
hew every forest, his archers strike every
rare wing, his fishermen whip every stream
his merchants trade in every bazaar, his
shall have no dominion, wealth 10 luxury,
gold no glitter, song no melody, light no
radiance, waters no gleam, birds no plumage
prancing coursers no mettle, upholstery no
gorgeousness, architecture no grandeur, but
it was all his
''Well," you say, ''if there is any man.
happy, he ought to be-" But hear him COM
ing out through the palace and see his robes
actually incrusted with jewels as he stands in
lie ont a
What does he say? King Solomon, great is
your dominion, great is your honor, great is
your Joy? No. While standing here amidst
all the splendor, the tears start and his heart
breaks and he exclaims: Vanity Of
vanities; all is vanity" What! Solomon
not happy yet? No, not happy. The
honors and the emoluments Of
this world bring so many cares with them
that they bring also torture and diSquietude.
Pharaoh sits on one of the highest earthly
eminences, yet he is miserable because there
are some people in his realm that do not want
any longer to. make bricks. The head of
Edward aches under his crown because the
people will not pay the taxes and Llewellyn,
Prince of Wales will not do him homage,
and Wallace will be a hero. Frederick
William III, of Prussia, is miserable because
France wants to take the Prussian provinces.
The world is not large enough for Louis XIV.
and William III. The ghastliest suffering, the
most shriveling fear, the most rendlng Jeal-
ousies, the most gigantic disquietude, have
walked amidst obsequious courtiers and been
clothed in royal apparel, and sat on judgment
seats of power.
Honor and truth and justice cannot go so
high up in authority as. to be beyond the
range Of human assault. The pure and good
in all ages have been e1ecrated by the mob
who CRY out: mot this man, but Barabbas.
Now. Barabbas was robber" By honesty,
by Christian principle, would have you
seek for the favor and the confidence of your
fellow men; but do not look upon some high
position as though that were always sun
Shine. The mountains of earthly honor are
like the mountains Of Switzerland covered
with perpetual ice and snow. Having OBJ
tanned the confidence and love Of your asso-
ciates, be content with such things as you
have. You brought nothing into the world,
and it is very certain you can carry nothing
out. "Cease ye from man, whose breath is
in his nostrils." There is an honor that is
worth possessing, but it is an honor that
comes from God. This day rise up and take
it. behold what manner Of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us that we should
be called the sons of God" Who aspires not
for that ROYALTY? Come, now, and be Kings
and priests unto God and the Lamb forever.
If wealth and wisdom could have satisfied
a man, Solomon would have been satisfied
To say that Solomon was millionaire gives
but very imperfect idea Of the property he
inherited from David, his father. He had ut
his command gold to the value Of six hun
dred and eighty million pounds, and he had
silver to the value of one billion, twenty-nlne
million. three hundred and seventy-seven
pounds sterling. The Queen OF Sheba made
him nice little present of seven hundred and
him present of the same amount. If he had
lost the value of whole realm out of his
pocket, it would have hardly been worth his
while to stoop down and pick itup. He wrote
one thousand and five songs He wrote three
thousand proverbs. He wrote about almost
everything. The Bible says distinctly he
wrote about plants, from the cedar OF Le-
banon to the hyssop that groweth out Of the
wall, and about birds and beasts and fishes.
No doubt he put off his royal robes, and put
on hunters trapping, and went out
with his arrows to bring down the
rarest specimens of birds; and then
with his fishing apparatus he went
down to the stream to bring up the denizens
of the deep. and plunged into the forest and
found the rarest specimens OF flowers; and
then he came back to his study and wrote
books about zoology, the science of animals;
about ichthyology, the science of fishes:
about ornithology, the science OF birds;
about botany, the science of plants. Yet,
notwithstanding all his wisdom and wealth,
behold his wretchedness, and let him pass on;
Did any other city ever behold so wonderful
q man? D, Jerusalem, Jerusalem!
But here passes through these streets, as in
imagination l see him, quite as wonderful
and far better man. David the conqueror,
the King, the poet. Can it be that am in
the very city where he lived and reigned?
David, great for power, and great for grief.
He was wrapped up in his boy Absalom. He
was splendid boy, Judged by the rules of