The Forrest City times., 1890-10-11

There has bocn Controversy uA to Wh4t lower it wa& Some say it YAA | nstrsh- msllcw that thrlvys here. aud some claIm ;his honor for tho hArcissus. and some for the blue AriS. and some for the scarlet anenione, for you must know that this rinln of sharon Is . rolling ocean Of color when the spring brccxcs move acrosa lt. Dut leaving tho botAnists In controversy hH to what 1t is. I would take tho most aromatic and beautifal of them all and twtst them Into garland for the .sName which k above every namc."
 Wonder. little tc the north as we move on Is tho Plain of Ono. The Bible mentions t again and again. The village standing ,n this Plain of Ono Is . mud village Two great basins of rock catch the ram for the people. Of moro importance In olden time than In fnodorn tsmo was this Plain of Ono. But as tho dragoman announced 1t and in the Biblu read of 1t. was reminded of the vast multitude of people who now dwell iu the Plain of Ono. They arc. by theit nervous constitution or ty their lack of faith in God, always In the negative. Will you help te build a church? Oh. no! VIII you start out in sonie new Chslstian enter prise? Oh. mol Do you think tho world Is getting any bcttcrY Oh. no! They lie down In the path of all good movements, sanitary. social. political and religious. They harness their horses with no traces to pull ahead but only brcechlng straps to hold, back. For all Christian work would not give fot . thousand of them tho price of d clipped tencent ptccc They are in the Plain of Oh, no, May the Lord multiply the numbers of those who,. when anything good is under taken are found to live in the Plain of Oh, yes, Will you support this new charityf Oh. yes Do you think this victim of evil habit can be reformcdy Oh, yes! Are you willing to do anything, whether obscure or rcsounding for the welfare of the church and the salvation of q ruined world7 Oh. yes! But l am sorry to say tho most populous plain in all the earth to-day is the plain of Ono
 Here now we come where stood the fields Into which samson fired the foxes. Tho foxes arc no rarity in this land. counted at ono time twenty or thirty of them ih one group and the cry all along the line was Foxes. Look at the foxes!' and at night they sometimes bark until all attempts to sleep are an absurdity. Those 1 saw and heard in Palestine may have been dcscen- dants of the very foxes that Samson em- ployed for an appalling incendiarIsm. Tho wealth of that land wns in the hnrvests and It was harvest ume and the straw was dry. Three hundred foxes arc caught and tied In scouples by sonlH wire or incoribustihle cord which the flames cannot divide. and frc- brands are fastened to those couples of foxes, aud the frightened creatures are let loose and run every whither among the harvcsts and in the awful blaze down goes the corn shocks. md the vineyards. and tho olives and all through the valleys and over the hills. and In the villages Is heard the cry Of fire. And in the burnt pathway walk Hunger, and Want and Desolation.
 All this for spite. And some theologians learn one thing. and some another. But learn from 1t that great man may some- times stoop to very mean piece of business. and that If men would use as much ihgenu- fly in trying to bless as they do in trying to destroy. the world all the way down would have been in better condition. Yet the fire of the foxes kindled thnt night in Palestine has not gone out, but has lcapcd the seas. and the sly foxes, the human foxes, are now still ruAning every whither. kindling polit- ical fires. fires of religious controversy. Ares of hate. worldwide fires, and whole har- vests of righteousness perish. It took the hard work of multitudes on all these plains of Palestine for months and months to rear the vine and raise the corn, but 1t took only 300 worthless foxes one night to blaze all into ashes,
 look while l point them out. Yondcr is kfrjath-Jearim, where tho ark of God stayed until David took 1t to Jerusalem. Wonder John the Baptist was born. Ton der is Emmaus where Christ walked with inc disciples at eyentide. Here are men rloughng, only ohc handle 10 tho plough. showing the accuracy of chtis,'s allusion. When we plough m America or England there are two handles. but in Pales- line only one handle. And so Christ uses Inc singular saying; rNo man. having put hIs hand to the plough and looking back. ward Is ft for the kingdom The OK is arged on by wooden stick pointed with ,harp iron, and the OK knows enough not tc Kick, for he would only hurt himself instead ,f breaking tho goad. And the Bible refers ;o that when 1t says 10 Saul: ''It Is hard for thee to kick against the goads.
 Here is the valley of Ajalon. famous fcr Ioshuas pursuit of the Ave kings. and the
 s.s. aites.. ..iia l., inis4s, sec ths
 oon in daytime halt. Who has not some tmes seen the moon dispute the throne Fith the snny But when the King of \DAy
 nd the queen of nlghIlwho never befort { oshaa's time. nor si,ce then. stopped ioment in their marchf halted at Joshua's
 n.mand. 1t was seynt. enough to maks
 ,e universe shiver: s' loon stand thou s,il the valley of A;aione's Atano4hcr. tim.
 vii. see the sun stop Above Gideon, bu, ow We have only ia do with tho moon, ano oa must remember that it was more of ai
 'b than il Is now. IL Is 2 burnt out work ow, n dead world now, an extinct worie
 W. corpse laid out In state in th
 'avens, waiting for tLe judgment day te
 try 1t. Hut on the day of which speak. 1
 10 noon was probably living world, ye, 1
 halted al the wave Of Joshua's finger. 1
 ;'"nd thon stiil." Do not budce nn inch l
 
 ire there tuinhlIng over the rocks, sword oi i nan slsahipg them. hailsIones out of fh, | ,Sy peltlng them.
 And there is the cavern of Makkedah l shcre they lied for safety. and where the, 1 were af,erward locked in. and from which i hey were taken out To bc slain. and iD | which they were afterward buried; and you l so well 10 examine that cavern. for within | A lev hours II became three things which l no other cave ever was. Fortress, Prison | sepuchre.
 Now We pass the place where once lived | one of the greatest robbers od the century, i Abou Gosh by uamc. From this point you 1 see he could look over all the surrounding and long before the travellers came up fo hlns. tue plan for the taking vf | their money or their life, or both was con lie one day found companv ] af monks who would not pay. and he smoth- ercd them to death In a hot oven. In his | last days. he lived here like an oriental prince. and had his attendants and admir- CTS to whom he told the stories of brigaud- age and assassination. So late ns when our eminent and beloved American, William (. Primo passed through. Abou Gousb. the Bedouin. sat at his doorway smoking his pipe. Ills descendants live in this village. and probably arc no more honest than their distinguished ancestors. sut marauding and murder arc not as safe q business now as when nli this route to ierusalem was subject to cutrages pande- nonlac.
 Here We pass the village of Latrum. home If tho pcntcnt thief the village. . few struggling houses on steep hills rising from tho valley ct Aialon. Up thesc steep hills. m his earlier days, the thief had carried nc spells of arson and burglary. and down hcni he had borne the heavier burden of a guilty heart But higher than tlsese hills ic mounted. after he had repentcd. from he trRnsdxcd posture on the cross to the bosom of a forviving God.
 Now we come tc the brook Elah. from which little David took tho smooth stones with which be prostrated Goliath. There k ! bridge spanning the ravine. but at the eason we crossed there is not q d op of vater in tho brook. We went down into he rnvine and walked amid the pebbles that lad been washed smooth, very smooth. by hc rush of tke waters through all tho ages There is where David armed himself. He walked around and picked up fvc of these 'olished pebbles. He got them of just the ight size. He prepared himself for Ave iolleys, 60 that If the giant escapes the nsse,
 ...-, a<s ,ne Nnote nve. Hue sposraphy of the place 50 correspouds with ae Bible story that could sec the memora-