The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1890-11-20

| cymbals and blare of trumpets danced In
| Slee, upon which thousands of spectators
gazed. But tno dance since the world stood ever
broke up In such strange way as the one tho
| Bible describes. One night while by the
| light OF the lamps and torches these gayietics
/ went on, two hundred Benjamites, who had
been hidden behind the rocks and among tho
trees, dashed upon the scene. They came
not TO injure or destroy, but wishing to set
| up household of their own. the women OF
their own land having been slain In battle,
| by preconcerted arrangement each one Of the
| two hundred Beniamites seized the one
whom he chose for the queen of his home
| and carried her away to large estate and
beautiful residence, for these two hundred
benjamitcs had inherited tho wealth OF a
/ nation.
| As to-day near Shiloh we look at the
Meadow Of the Feast" where the maidens
danced that night, and at the mountain
| gorge up which the Benjamites carried their
! brides, we bethink ourselves of the better
land and the better times in which we live,
when such scenes are an impossibility, and
amid orderly groups and with prayer and
benediction and breath OF orange blossoms
and the roll OF the wedding march, marriage
| Is solemnized and with oath recorded in
heaven, two immortals start arm In arm on
aJourney TO last until death do them part
Upon every such marriage altar may there
| come the blessing OF Him "who setteth the
solitary in faniliesr' Side by side ON the
| RfANeSl
Side by side in heaveni
| But we must this afternoon, our last day
before reaching Nazareth pitch our tent on
! the most famous battlefield of all time-the
| plain of Esdraelon. What must have been the
feelings OF the Prince of Peace as He crossed
| u on the way from Jerusalem TO NazarethS
| Not flower blooms there but has in its veins
tho Inherited blood OF flowers that drank the
| blood OF fallen armies Hardly n foot of
| ground that has not at some time been gull
lied with war chariots or trampled with the
hoofs of cavalry.
IL is plain reaching from the Mediter-
ranean TO the Jordan. Upon IL look down
| the mountains OF Tabor and Gilboa and Car
| mel. Through its RACES at certain seasons
the river Kishon. which swept down tho
| armies OF Sisera, the battle occurring In No
vembor when there is almost always a shower
OF meteors so that the stars in their coursesn
| were said TO have fought against Sisera
| Through this plain drove Jehu and tho iron
| chariots OF the Canaanitcs, scythed at the
hubs OF the wheels, hewing down their awful
swathes OF death, thousands in n minute.
| The Syrian armies the Turkish armies, the
| Egyptian armies again and again trampled
| II. There they career across IL. David and
Joshua and Godfrey and Richard Cpur de
| Lion and Baldwin and Saladin--a plain not
only famous for the past, but famous because
| the Bible says the great decisive battle of the
world will be fought thero---the battle OF Ar
| mageddon.
To me the plain was the more absorbing
| because OF the desperate battles here and in
regions round in which the holy cross-tho
very two pieces of wood ON which Jesus was
| supposed TO have been crucified-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 Esdraolon for there
| are somo things we can see better with eyes
shut than open-the scenes of that ancient
war come before me. The twelfth century
/ ,1A l. NJ Al =
| thousand mounted troops was crying: Hot
for JerusalemW "Hol for all Palestine - and
before them everything went down, but not
| without unparalleled resistance. In one
place one hundred and thirty Christians
were surrounded by many thousands OF furi-
GUS Mohammedans. For one whole day tho
| one hundred and thirty held out against
these thousands. Tennyson's "six hundred" !"
when some ono had blundered," were
| eclipsed by these one hundred and thirty
fighting for the holy cross. They took hold
of the lances which had pierced them with
death wounds, and pulling them out of their
own breasts and sides hurled them back again
| at the enemy.
On went the fight until all but one Chris
| tian had fallen and he, mounted on the last
horse, welded his battle AK right and left till
his horse fell under the plunge of the jave-
lins, and the rider, making the sign of tho
| cross toward the sky, gave up his life on the
point of a ascore of spears But soon after the
last battle came. History portrays IT, poetry
| chants It, painting colors IL, and all ages ad-
mire that last struggle TO keep in possession
tho wooden cross ON which Jesus was said 10
have expired. Itwas n battle in which min
| gled the fury of devils and the grandeur of
angels. Thousands of dead Christians on
this side. Thousands Of dead Mohammedans
on the other side. The battle was hot
lest close around The wooden cross upneld by
tho bishop OF Ptolemais, himself wounded
| laVN Il 4 4 -. q ~ IA.
, einais dropped dead. the bishop of LYDIA
seized the cross and again lifted t. carrying
| IL onward into "A wilder and iercer fight and
| sword against javelin, and battle AK upon
helmet, and piercing spear against splinter
ing shield. Horses aud men tumbled into
| heterogeneous death. Now the Wooded
cross on which the armies of Christians had
kept thoir eye begins % wavcr, begins 20
| descend. Ii falls aud tho wailing OF the
| Christian host at its disappearance browns
the huz2a OF tho victorious Moslems
| But that standard of the cross only SCENE
| TO fall. IL rides the sky to-day in triumph
| Five hundred million souls the mightiest
army OF the ages. are following it, and where
| thnt goes they will go, across the earth and
] up the mighty sleeps Of the heavens. In the
| twelfth century IL seemed 20 go down. but in
| the nineteenth century it is the mightie,t
| symbol OF glory and triumph, and means
more than any other standard, whether IN
scribed with eagle or lion, or bear, or star.
or crescent That which Saladin tramplei
on the plain of Esdraelon lift % day for
| your marshaling. The cross The cross!
The foot Of it planted In ths earth it saves
the top of it pointing to the heavens 90 which
| II viii take you, and the outSpread beams of
| 1t like outstretched arms of invitation To all
nations kneel at its foot. Lift your eve
| % its victim. Swear eternal allegiance 10
its power. Aud as that mighty symbol of
pain and triumph is kept before US we will
realize how insignificant are the little crosses
we are called to bear, and will more cao-.-
fully carry them.
| Must Jesus bear the cross alone,
| And the world go free?
| No. there's Il cross for every one,
| And there's a cross for me.
AS / fall asleep tonight on my pillow In the
tent ON the plain OF Esdraelon reaching from
| the Mediterranean to the Jordan, the waters
| OF the river kishon soothing me as by lul-
laby, hear the gathering OF the hosts for the
last battle OF all the earth. And by their
| representatives America is here and Europe
Is here and Asia is here aud Africa is here,
and all heaven is here and all hell is here,
and Apollyon on the black horse leads the
armies of darkness. and Jesus on the white
| horse leads the armies OF light, and hear
the roll of the drums and the clear call OF the
clarions and the thunder OF che cannonades.
And then / hear the wild rush as of million
| of troops in retreat, and then the shout of
| victory as from fourteen hundred million
throats, and then song as though all the