The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1890-10-25

him water whenever he felt thirsty and
turning his pillow whenever it got hot,
and in the morning before the Samari-
tan started on his Journey he said:
Landlord, now | am obliged to go.
Take good care Of this man and | will
be along here soon again and pay o
for all you do for him. Meanwhile here
is something to meet present expenses"
AS on that December noon we sat UNI
der the shadow of the tavern whore this
scene OF mercy had occurred, and just
having passed along the road where h
tragedy had happened, l could, as
plainly as | now see the nearest man to
this platform, see tho Bible story re-en-
acted, and said aloud to our group un-
der the tent: One drop of practical
Christianity is worth more than @
temple full of ecclesiasticism and hat
good Samaritan had more religion in
five minutes than hat minister and
Levite had in Il lifetime, and the most
accursed thing on earth is national
prejudice, and | bless Go that | live in
America where Gentle and jew, Prot
estant and Catholic can live together
without quarrel, and whore. in the great
National crucible, the differences of sect
and tribe and people are being nodded
into a great brotherhood, and that the
question which the lawyer flung at
Christ, and which brought forth this in
cident of the good Samaritan, who is
nv neighbor?" is bringing for the
answer: my neighbor is tho first man
/ meet in trouble" and q wound close
ut hand calls louder than a temple Sow
enteen miles off, though it covers nine
teen acres.
] saw in London the vast procession
which one day last January moved to
St Paul's cathedral at the burial Of that
Christian hero, Lord Napier. The day
after at Hawarden. in conversation on
various themes, | asked Mr.. Gladstone
II he did not think that many who were
under the shadow of false religions
might not nevertheless be at heart real
ly Christian. Mr.. Gladstone replied:
"Yes; my old friend Lord Napier who
was yesterday buried, after he returned
from his Abyssinian campaign, visited
us mere at Hawarden and. walking in
this park where we are now walking, he
told me a very beautiful incident He
said: After the war in Africa was over,
we were on the march and we had q SOL
der with n broken leg who was not
strong enough to go along with us and
we did not dare to leave him to be taken
care of by savages, but we found We
were compelled to leave him and we
went into the house of q woman who
was said to be a very kind woman
though of the race of savages, and we
said: Here is a sick man, and If you
will take care of him till he gets we'll
we will pay you very largely" and then
we offered her five times that which
would ordinarily be offered, hoping
by the excess of pay to secure
for him great kindness. The woman
replied: 81 will not Jake care of him
for the morsy you offer. l do not
want your money. But leave him here,
of the love of God"
But our procession of sight seers is
again in line, and here we pass through
q deep ravine and l cry to the drago-
man.: David, what place do you call
this?" and he replied: This is the
brook Cherith, where Elijah was fed by
the ravens" And in that answer he
overthrow my lifelong notions of the
place where elijah was waited OF by
the black servants OF the sky. A brook
to me had meant a slight depression of
ground and q stream fordable, and per-
haps fifteen feet wide. But here was
a chasm that an earthquake must have
scooped out with its biggest shovel or
split with it's mightiest battle axe. Six
hundred feet deep is it, and the brook
Cherith is a river which, when in full
force. is q silver wedge, splitting the
mountains into precipices. The feath-
cred descendants Of Elijah's ravens still
wing their way across this ravine, but
are not like the crows we supposed
them to be. They are as large as eagles,
and one of them could carry in its beak
and clinched claw at once enough food
for a half-dozen Elijahs. No thanks to
the ravens; they are carnivorous and
would rather have picked out the eyes
of Elijah, whom they found at the
mouth Of his cave on the side Of Cherith
waiting for his breakfast. having drum k
his morning beverage from the rushing
stream beneath, than have been his but
lers and p%urveyors. But God compelled
them, as He always compelled and al.
ways will compel black and cruel and
overshadowing providences, to carry
help to His children II they only have
faith enough to catch the blessing az 1t
drops from the seeming adversely, the
greatest blessings always coming not
with white wings but black wings.
But look! Look what at four O'Clock
In the afternoon bursts upon our vision
the plain OF Jericho AMI the valley Of
Jordan and the Dead sea. We have
come to a place where the horses not 30
much walk as slide upon their launches
and we all dismount, for the steep de-
scent is simply terrific, though a Prln-
cess Of Wallachia, who fell here and
was dangerously injured. after recovery
spent a large amour of money in try
ing to make the road passable. Down
and down. till we saw the white tents
pitched for us by our muleteers amid
the ruins of ancient Jericho, which fell
at the sound of poor music played on
rams horn" that ancient instrument
which taken from the head of the lead.
or of the flock Of sheep, is perforated
and prepared to be fingered by the
musical performers, and blown upon
when pressed to the lips.
On the evening OF December 8 we
walked amid the brick and mortar OF
that shattered city, and 1 said to myself
All this was done by poor music blest OF
God, for it was not a harp or a flute, or
a clapping cymbal, or an organ played,
at the sound of which the city surren'
dered to destruction, but a rude instru.
ment making rude music blest of God,
to the demolition OF that wicked place
which had for centuries defed the AL.
mighty.
Seated by the warmth of our camp.
fires that evening of December 9. amid
the bricks and debris of Jericho, and
thinking what poor music has done and
what mightier things could be accom-.
plished by the blessings of God on good
music, l said to myself: Ministers have
been doing a grand work, and sermons
have been blessed, but would it not be
we'll for us to put more emphasis on
music? Oh. for a campaign of Old
Hundred Oh, for a brigade of Mount
Pisgahs! Oh, for u cavalry charge OF
Coronations! Oh, for an army of Anti
ochs and st. Martins and Ariels! Oh,
for enough orchestral batons lifted, to
marshal all nations! AS Jericho was
surrounded by poor music for seven
days and was conquered, so let earth
be surrounded seven days by Gospel
music, and the round planet will all be
49, R.n-