The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1890-10-10
JOURNEY TO PALESTINE.
DR.. Talmage Begins a Description
Of His Late Travels.
Eagerness TO Catch the First Glimpse oil
the Holy Land-The Dread Rocks at
Joppa-Lessons Learned From
Jonah.

Rev. 7. De Witt Talmage recently
commenced series of sermons in Brook
Ign on his recent journey to the Holy
Land. The subject of his first sermon
was: "My First Day in Palestine" The
text was /. Kings, K. 4, "The half was
not told me-" DR.. Talmage said:
This is the first sermon in course Of
Sabbath morning sermons on my Re-
cent Journey Through the Holy Land
and Neighboring Countries-What /
Saw and What Learned" Out of the
1000. 600 Of our present American pop
ulation and the millions of our past
only about 5000 have ever visited the
Holy Land. or all those who cross to
Europe less than Eve per cent ever get
as far as Rome, and less than two per
cent ever get to Athens, and
less than one quarter of one per
cent ever get to Palestine. or
the less than a quarter of one per cent
who do go to the Holy Land, some see
nothing but the noxious insects and
the filth of the Oriental cities
and come back wishing they had never
gone. OF those who see much OF inter-
est and come home, only small por-
ton can tell what they have seen. the
tongue unable to report the eye. The
rarity of successful, intelligent and
happy journey through the Holy Land
is very marked. But the time ap-
proaches when a journey to Palestine
will be common. Thousands will go
where now there are scores. Two loco
motives were recently sent up from Jop-
pa to Jerusalem and railroads are about
to begin in Palestine, and the day will
come when the cry will be: 'All out
for Jerusalem!" Twenty minutes for
breakfast at Tiberiasl" Change cars
for Tyrer' Grand Trunk junction for
Ninevahv" Gall out for Damascus"
Meanwhile the wetlocks of the Atlantic
ocean and Adriatic and Mediterranean
seas are being shorn, and not only is the
voyage shortened, but, after while
without crossing the ocean, you and
your children will visit the Holy Land.
A company of capitalists have gone
up to Behring straits, where the Ameri-
can and Asiatic continents come within
thirty-six miles Of meeting These
capitalists or others will build bridge
across those straits, for midway are
three islands, called THE Diomedes,"
and the water is not deep and is never
disturbed with icebergs. Trains of cars
will run from America across that bridge
and on down through Siberia, bringing
under more immediate observation the
Russian outrages against exiles and
consequently abolishing them, and
there are persons here to-day who.
without one qualm of sea sickness, will
visit that wonderful land, where the
Christ like, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic,
Solomonic and Herodic histories over
lap each other with such power that by
the time took my feet out of the STIR
rups at the close of the journey felt so
wrung out with emotion that it seemed
nothing else could ever absorb my feel
ings again.
The chief hindrance for going to Pal
estine with many is the dreadful sea,
and though have crossed it ten times
II is more dreadful every time, and !
fully sympathize with what was said
one night when Mr.. Beecher and went
over to speak in New York at the ami
versary of the Seamen's Friend Society
and the clergyman making the opening
prayer quoted from St John, There
shall be no more sea-" and Mr.. Beecher,
seated beside me, in memory of a recent
ocean voyage said Amen, am glad of
that" by the partial abolition of the
Atlantic ocean and the putting down of
rail tracks across every country in all
the world, the most sacred land on
earth will come under the observation
of so many people, who will be ready to
tell of what they saw, that intidelity
will be pronounced only another form
of insanity, for no honest man can visit
the Holy Land and remain an infidel.
All my life l had heard of Palestine and
/ read about it. and talked about it, and
preached about it and sung about it,
and prayed about it. and dreamed about
1t unit my anticipations were piled up
into something like Himalayan proper
tons and yet have to cry out as did
the Queen of Sheba when she first Wis.,
tied the Holy Land: "The half was not
told me-" In order to make the more
accurate and vivid book l have been
writing, life of Christ entitled From
Manager to Throne" left home last
October, and on the last night Of No
vember we were walking the decks of
the Senegal Mediterranean steamer
1t was ship Of immense proportions
There were but few passengers for it is
generally rough at that time of year,
and plessurists are not apt to be voyag-
ing there and then. The stars were all
out that night Those armies Of light
seemed to have had their sh elds newly
Furnished. We walked the polished deck.
Not much was said, for in all our hearts
was the dominant word "to-morrow."
Somehow the Acropolis, which a few
days before had thrilled us at Athens
now in our minds lessened in the height
of its columns and the glory OF its tenn
pies And the Egyptian pyramids in
our memory lessened their wonders of
obsolete masonry, and the Coliseum of
Rome was not so vast a ruin as it few
weeks before had seemed to be. And
all we had seen and heard dwindled in
Importance, for tomorrow, tomorrow
we shall see the Holy Land. Sleep was
among the impossibilities- Who could
be so stupid as to slumber when any
moment there might start out within
sight of the ship the land where the
most stupendous scenes of all time and
all eternity were enacted, land of ruin
and redemption, land where was fought
the battle that made our Heaven posi-
BILE, land of Godfrey and Saladin, of
Joshua and Jesus
Will the night ever be gone? Yes, it