Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-11-03
THE WONDERS OF OLD
DR.. TaImage DeVOtes His Sermon
Largely 10 a Description of
PAST GLORIES OF PALESTINE.
Many Things in Which Ancient Wisdom
Was Superior to Our Own.
THE LESSON TO BE DRAWN FROM THIS
THE LESSON TO BE DRAWN FROM THIS
,srrcrAL TELEGRAM rc TER DIsPAroH.!

BROOKLYN, November 2.-Dr Talmage
preached the sixth sermon on his tour in
Palestine to-day. After pastorate of %
years in this city it is astonishing to see the
crowds OF people who throng the Academy
ot Music every Sunday morning to listen to
his discourses. No less remarkable are the
audiences that New York City furnishes at
the services every Sunday night. To-dav's
sermon was on the gardens and public
works of Israel's magnificent King, and the
text, Ecclesiastes ii.4-6: Il made me great
works, l buiided me houses, l planted me
vineyards, l made me gardens and orchards,
and planted trees in them of all kinds OF
fruits; l made me pools of water to water
Herewith the wood that bringeth forth
trees" DR.. Talmsge said:
y spring morning and before breakfast at
Jerusalem: \ king with robes snowy white in
charioS declled with gold, drawn by eight
horses. higl-mct;led. and housings as brilliant
rs If scU!Ioped out Of that very sunrise, and
ike the winds for speed. followed by regl-
lUcnt of agchers on horseback with hands on
EiIded bow. and arrows with steel points flash
ing la the sun clad from head to foot in Tyrian
purple. and black hair Sprnk Ell with gold dust,
all dlShing down the road. the horses at 1ull
run. the reius loose on their necks and the
crack Of WHIPS. and the halloo Of the reckless
Cayalcaue putting The miles at defiance. no
j. 1t, and wuat Is 1t? King solomon taking an
outing before breakfast. IRON Jerusalem, TO
his gardens, and parks, and orchards. ana
reservoirs. SIN miles down the road toward
Hebron What contrast between that and
myself on that very road one morning last De-
gemhcr. gong afoot. for our plaln vehicle
turnrd back 10: Photographic apparatus foT-
-C;i,u. We on tie way to find what is called
Soiom"n's pools, the ancient water works OF
Jerusalem. and the gardens of 4 King nearly
"Hr wears ago. We cross the aqUeduct again
..sG aEam ana here We are at ;he three great
reservoirs, not ruins Of reservoirs. but the
reservoirs themselves, that Solomon Dullt
flee milennIums ago for the,purpoSe OF catch
iuE III" mountain streams ana passing them to
Jerusalem TO sIuke the thirst of the city. and
also 20 lrrI-Jte the most glorious range OF gar
ua.l~ that ever blOumed with all cDlors,
lreathad with all redolence. for Solomon was
the gre ttcst hoTticuiturist, the greatest botan-
ISL. the greatest urnlthOlogIst the greatest cap
Talist and the greatest scientist of his century.
THREE GREA- RESERVOIRS.
Come over the piles of gray rock. and here we
are at the first Of the three reservoirs which
are on three great levels, the base of the top
reservoir higher than the top of the second, the
lase Of the second reservoir higher than the
TOD Of the third so arranged that the waters
gathered from several sources above shall de-
scend from basin to basin, the sediment of the
water deposited in each of the three. so that by
the time 1t gets down to the aqueduct which is
10 take 1t to Jerusalem it has had three filter
lugs, and is pure as when tue clouds rained
Il. Wonderful specimens of masonry are
-hese three reservoirs The white cement fas-
Jenng the blocks of stone together is now Just
as when the JrOwels 3.0e1 years ago smoothed
the layers. The highest reservoir is 3SgN229
leet; the second, 423Xl60 and the lowest reser-
voIr 5S9Nl69; and deep enough and wide enough
and mighty enough to float an ocean steamer
ON that December morning we saw the waters
rolling down from reservoir to reservoir. and
can well understand how in this neighborhood
the imperial gardens were one great blossom,
and the orchard one great basket of fruit, and
thar Solomon in hIS palace, writing the song of
songs. and ECcleSIasJes, may have been draw
ing Illustrations from what he had seen that
very morning in the royal gardens when he al
luded 10 melons, and mandrakes, and apricots.
and grapes. and pOmegranatCs. and figs and
-pIEeaard. and cinnamon, and calamus. and
campfire. and 'apple trees among the trees of
wood, and the almond tree as fOuriShing, and
10 myrrh and frankinCense and represented
Christ as gone down into His gardens and
the beds Of spices to feed in the gardens, and
To gather lilies and TO "eyes like tish-pools,"
ana to the voice of the turtle dove as heard in
the land. I think il when Solomon was
showing the Queen of Sheba through these
gardens THAT the Bible says of her: There re-
manned no more spirit IN her. She gave it up.
But all thls spiendOT did not make Solomon
happy One day, after getting back from his
morning ride and before tile horses had yeG
been cooled off and rubbed down by the royal
cQuerry, Solomon wrote the memorable words.
following my text, like dirge played after a
grand march. Behold. all was vanity and vexa-
lion Of spirit, and there was no profit under the
sun" In other words 1t don't payr' Would
t'oI that We might all learn the lesson that this
world cannot produce happiness.
ROCKS CHANGING TO SAND.
Recent travellers in the Holy Land speak of
the rocky and stony surface of nearly all PaIes-
tine as an impassabe barrier to the future
cultivation OF the soil. But if they had ex-
amined minutely the rocks and stones of the
Holy Land. they would find that they are being
skeletonIZed and are being melted into the soil
and, being Tor the most part limestone, they
are doing Tor that land what the American and
English farmer does when at great expense
ard fatigue, he draws ms wagon load of
lme and scatters il on the nelds for
their enrichment The storms the win
tors. the great midsummer heats of
Palestine. by Crumblinw MP and dissolvlug the
rocks are gradually preparing Palestine and
syria 10 weld a product like unto the luxuri-
ANT " eStchester farms Of New Ork. and Lam
caster county farms of PENNSYLVANIA and SOM
erseJ county farms of New Jersey, and the
other magnificent farm fields of Minnesota ana
" l>COnsin. ana the Opulent orchards of Mary
land and California. Let the Turks be driven
ont and the American or Englishman or Scotch
man 90 IN and Nohammedanism withdraw It's
idOlatres. and pure Christianity build its al
jars. and the irrigation of which Solomon's
pools was only suggestion will make all that
!aud from Dan 10 Beersheba as fertile and aro-
matte and resplendent a. on the morning when
the King rode out 10 his pleasure grounds In
chariot so swift, and followed by mounted
d
hurricane followed by cyclone.
As look upon this great auueduct of PaleS-
tine, " OnGrouS specimen of ancient masonry,
about seven feet high, two feet wide, some
times tunuelnE the solid rock and then rolling
Its waters through stuneware pipes an aOue-
duct doing Its work ten times before it gets to
those three reservoirs. and then gathering their
wealth OF TeircShment ana pouring il on to
the mighty city Of Jerusalem and filling the
brazen sea OF her temple. and the bath rooms
Of her palaces, and the great pools of Sloan,
and HezekIah, and Bethesda, l find that our
century has no monopoly of the worlds won
dcrs. and that the cOnceited age in which we
live had be Ter take IN some of the sails of its
pride when II remembers that it is hard work
in later ages to get masonry that will last so
years, to say nothing of the 300O and no mod
ern machinery could lift blocks OF stone like
those standing high up in the walls of Baalbec.
NOT AS GOOD AS THE OLD.
In the old cathedrals of England, modern
painters IN the repair of windows are irving to
make something good as the window paint
Iug OF 800 years ago, and always failing by the
unanimous verdict of all who examine and
compare. The color of modern painting fades
in 90 years, while the color of the old masters
is as well preserved after 500 years as after one
year. / saw last winter the walls of eX-
hgmed PomDeIl paintings with color as fresh as
though made the day before though thev were
buried lSOO wears ago. The making of Tyrian
purple Is an lmposslbilIty now. In our modern
potUeres we are trying hard to make Guns and
pitchers and bowls as exquisite as those
eNhumed from Herculaneum. and our
srriticers are attempting to make iewelrv
for ear and neck and finger equal TO that
Wrought up from the mauSoleums of two thou-
sand wears before Christ. We have in our time
class in all shapes and all colors, but Pliny
Eora than 500 wears ago AZ
III nj gsrla syf-I,,1 sE.