The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1890-10-09
THE HOLY LAND.
What DR.. Talmage Saw and
Learned During his
Visit There.
The First of q Series of Ser
mons About the Sacred
Places in Palestine.


my Recent Journey Through the Holy Land
and Neighboring Countries-What l Saw
and What Learned" Out OF the sixty four
millions OF our present American population
and the millions OF our past, only about
5000 have ever visited the Holy Land. OF
all those who cross to Europe, less than
per cent. ever get as far as Rome, and less
than per cent. ever get to Athens, and less
than quarter of per cent. ever get TO Pal
estne. OF the less than quarter OF per
cent who do go to the Holy Land, some see
nothing bat the noxious insects and the filth
OF the Oriental cities, and come back wishing
they had never gone Ofthose who see much
OF interest and come home, only small por.
ton can tell what they have seen, the tongue
unable to report tho eye The rarity of u
success III, intelligent and happy journey
through the II olv Land is very marked. But
the time approaches when a. Journey to Pal
estine will be common. Thousands will go
where now there are scores. Two LOGON o.
tives were recently sent up from .Toppn O
Jerusalem and railroads are about to begin
In Palestine and the days will come when the
cry will be, IAN out OF Jerusaem'' Twenty
minutes Tor breakfast at Tiherias!' "Change
cars for Tyrc!" Grand Trunk Junction Tor
Ninevah!'' "All out for Damascus!'' Mean.
while the wetlocks o. the Atlantic ocean and
Adriatlc and Mediterranean seas are being
shorn, and not only is the voyage shortened,
but, ter while, without crossing the
otean you or your children will visit the Holy
land. company Of capitalists have gone
up to the Behring Straits whure the Ameri-
can and Asiatic continents come within
SO miles OF meeting. The capital
lists or Others will build q bridge
across those straits, for midway are three
islands called "The Domedes" and the water
is not deep and is never disturbed with ice
bergs. Trains OF cars will run rom America
across that bridge and on down through
Siberia, bringing under more immediate OBJ
servation the Russian outrages against ex-
lies and consequently aboishing them, and
there are persons here to-day, who. without
one quam of sea-sickness. will visit that
wonderful land where the Christ-ike Abra-
hamir, Mosaic, Davidic, Solomonic and Hero
die histories overlap each other with such
power that by the time took my feet out of
the stirrups at the close of the journey, felt
so wrung out with emotion that it seemed
nothing else could ever absorb my feelings
again.
The chief hindrance for going to Pales-
tine with many is the dreadful sea, and
. 1 nave cFOSSeu III lO ulmeS IL 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 anniversary 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..
Beecler, seated beside me, in memory of q
ofthat." 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 infdelity will be pronounced only an
other form ofinsanity, FOR no horest man
can visit the Holy Land and remain an in.
fidel. This Bible from which I preach h as
almost fallen apart, for read from it the
most OF the events in it recorded on the
very places where they occurred. And some
of the leaves got wet as the waves dashed
over our boat on Lake Galilee and the book
was jostled in the saddle bags for many
weeks, but it is new book to me, newer
than any book that yesterday came out of
any OF our great printing houses. All my
lie had heard OF Paletine and had read
about it, and talked about it, and preached
about it, and sung about it, and prayed
'abeut it, and dreamed about it, until my an
ticipations were piled up in something like
Himalayan proportions, and yet have to
cry out, did the Queen Of Sheba hen she
first visited the Holy Land: The half was
not told me-"
In order to make the more accurate and
vivid book l have been writing, a life of
Christ. entitled. From Manager to Throne, .
l lie t home last October, and ON the last
night of Novembe we were walking the decks
of the Senegal, a Mediterranean steamer 1t
was ship OF immense proportions. There
were but ew passengers. FOR it is generally
n n n vn.1r md gr,1o,
are not apt to be voyaging there and then.
i he stars were all out that night Those
armies OF light seemed to have had their
shields newly FURNISHED. We walked the
polished deck. Not much vas said, Tor in all
our hearts was the dominant word '.tomor-
row." Somehow the Acropois, which few
days before had thrilled us at Athens, nowin
our minds lessoned in the height of it's col
umns and the glory of its piles. And the
Egyptian pyramids in our memory essened
their wonders of absoletc masonry and tile
Coliseum of Rome was not SO vast Il ruin as
it a lew weeks be ore had seemed to be- And
all that we had seen and heard dwind!ed in
Importance, Tor tom orrow, tomorrow, we
shall see the holy land .-'Captain what time
will we come in sight of Paestine?''
''WclI," he said, "if the wind and sea remain
as they are. about dnybrcak" Never was |
80 impatient Tor night to pass, could
not see much use Tor that night, anyhow.
pulled aside the curtain rom the portfolio
OF my stateroom, SO that the first hint Of
dawn would waken me. But it was a useless
precaution. Sleep was among the impossi-
bilities. Who could be 80 stupid as to sum-
Der when any moment there might start on
within Blight OF the ship the land where the
most stupendous scenes of all time and MI
eternity were enacted, land of ruin and re-
demption. land where was fought the battle
that made our heaven possible, land Of God
frey and Saladin, of Joshua and Jesus.
Will the night eyer be gone? Yes. it is
growing lighter, and along the horizon there
is something like bank ofclouds, and MS 4
Waterman PAGES the deck / say to him,
''What is that out yonder?" THAT liz land,
sir" said the sailor "The lnnd" Icried, ard
soon all our friends were aroused rom sleep
and the shore began more clearly to reveal
itself With roar, and rattle, and bang, the
anchor dropped in the rondstead q half
mile from land. for though Joppa is the only
harhor Of Palestine it is the worst harbor
on all the coasts. Sometimes for weeks no
ship stops there. Between rocks about rs
feet apart q small boat must take the pas.
sengers ashore. The depths are strewn with
the skeletons of those who have attempted
to land or attempted to embark. Twenty
seven pilgrims persisted with one crash oil a
boat against therocks. Whole fleets Of cru.
saders, of Romans, ofSyrians, OF Egyptians,
have gone to splinteis there. writer 500
years ago said he stood on the beach in q
storm at Jcppa, and out of 80 ships, all but
seven went to pieces on the rocks and q
thousand Of the dend were washed ashore