The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1890-11-27

well Of nearly four Thousand years ago was
sunk through the solid rock.
When Jacob thus wisely insisted on hav-
ing his own we'll he taught us not to be I'M
necessarily dependent on others. Indeppnd.
ence of business character. Independence
of moral character. Independence OF re.
ligious character. Have your own we'll OF
grace, your own we'll OF courage your owl,
well OF Divine supply. Ifyou are an invalid
You have a right to be dependent OH others
But 1t God has given you good health, com
mon sense, and two eyes and two ears, and
two hands, and two teet, He equipped YOU
for independence of all the universe except
Himself. II He had meant you to be de-
pendent on Others you would have been
built with cord around your waist to tie
fast to somebody else. No you IRE built
with common sense to fashion your own
opinions. With eyes to find your own way,
with ears to select your own music, with
hands to fight your own battles There is
only ono being in the universe whose advice
you need and that is God. Have your own
we'll and the Lord will fill it. Dig ii need be
through two hundred feet of solid rock. Dig
1T with your pen, or dig it with your yard.
stick, or dig it with your shovel, or dig it
with your Bible.
Much has been said about "good luck, +"
but people who are industrious and seli-de.
nying almost always have good luck. You
can afford to be laughed ut because of your
application and economy. for when you get
your well dug and filed it will be your turn
to laugh. @t--
But look up from this famous we'll and see
two mountains and the plain between them,
on which was gathered the largest religious
audience that ever assembled on earth
about 10000 people. Mount Geriz;m,
about 500 feet high on one side, and on the
other Mount pEbal-the former called the
Mount OF Blessing and the latter called the
Mount of Cursing. At Joshua's command
| six tribes stood on Mount Gerizim and read
the blessing for the keeping of the law, and
six tribes stood on Mount Ehal reading the
curses for breaking the law, while the $780,
! 900 people on the plain cried amen with
| an emphasis that must have made the earth
tremble. II do not believe that" says some
one, ''for those mountain tops are two
| miles apart and how could q voice be heard
from top to top?' My answer is that while
the mountains are only half mile apart,
and the tribes stood on the sides of the
mountains, and the air is SO clear, and the
acoustic qualities of this great natural am
| phitheater so perfect that V oices Gun be dis
tinctly heard from mountain to mountain,
as has been demonstrated by travellers SO
times in the last so years.
| Can you imagine anything more thrilling
| and sublime, and overwhelming than what
! transpired on those two mountain sides, and
in the plain between, when the responsive
| service went on, and thousands Of voices on
Mount Gerizim cried, Blessed shalt thou be
in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the
fields, blessed shall be thy basket and thy
store!' and then from Mount Ebal thou
sands of voices responded, crying 'Cursed
be he that removeth his neighbours land
mark! Cursed be he that maketh the blind
| to wander out of the way and then there
| rolled up from all the spaces between the
mountains that one word, with which the
devout OF earth close their prayers. and the
| glorified OF heaven finish their doxologies:
| amen? Amen!'-that scene only to be sur
| passed by the times which are coming, when
the churches and the academies ofmusic and
the auditoriums of earth. no longer large
enough to hold the worshippers OF God the
parks, the mountain sides, the great natu-
raj amphitheatres of the valleys, shall be
filled with the outpouring populations ofthe
earth and mountains shall reply to noun
tains, as Mount Gerzim to Mount Ebal, and
all the people between shall ascribe riches
and honor, and glory, and dominion, and
| victory to God the lamb, and there shall
arise an amen like the booming of the heav-
ems mingng with the thunder of the seas.
To me the plain was the most absorbing
because Of the desperate battles here and in
regions round in which the Holy Cross, the
very two pieces of wood Oh which Jesus was
| supposed to have been crucifed Was carried
as a standard at the head of the Christian
host; and that night. closing my eyes in my
| tent on the plain of Esdrealon- for there are
| some things we can see better with eyes
shut than op en-the scenes of that an.
| cient war came before me. The Twelfth
century was closing and Saladip at the head
of 10000 mounted troops was crying ''Ho
for Jerusalem! 'Ho for all Palestine'' and
before them everything went down,
| but not without unparalleled resist.
ance. In one place one hundred and
thirty Christians were surrounded by many
thousands of furious Mohammedans For
one whole day the 100 held out against these
thousands. Tennysons six hundred' when
'some one had blundered.' were eclipsed by
these 40 fighting for the holy cross. They
took hold the lances which had pierced them
with death wounds, and pulling them out Of
their own breasts and sides hurled them back
until all but one Christian had fallen and he
mounted on the last horse welded his bat
tle-axe right and left till his horse .el under
the plunge of the javelins and the rider, max.
ing the sign Of the cross toward the sky
gave up his life on the point of score OF
spears. But soon after, the last battle came
History portrays it, poetry chants it, paint.
ing coors it, and all ages admire that last
struggle to keep in possession the wooden
| cross on which Jesus was said to haveexpired.
1t was a battle in which mingled the fury oil
devils and the grandeur of angels. Thou.
sands of dead Christians on this side. Thou.
sands of dead Mohammedans on the other.
The battle was hottest close around the
wooden cross upheld by the bishop of Ptole.
mails, himself wounded and dying. And
when the bishop of Ptolmais dropped dead,
the bishop OF LYDIA seized the cross and
again lifted it, carrying it onward into @
wilder and fercer fight, and sword against
iavelin, and battle-axe upon helmet, and
piercing spear against splintering shield.
Horses and men tumbled into heterogeneous
death. Now the wooden cross on which the
armies OF Christians had kept their eye
begins to waver, begins to descend 1t falls
and the wailng of the Christian host at it's
disappearance browns tho huzzah of the vic
torious Moslems. But that standard of the
cross only seemed to fall 1t rides the sky
! to-day in triumph.
Boy and Bear.
Seattle Post Intelligencer: George Stone
an eighteen-yearo boy, whose parents