Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-11-07
'IIrIsT WALKED THERE.
ouoN,s GROUNDS AND
SUI BETHLEHEM.

~ nj scenes In Jerusalem and vicin-
THE wisdom ana Practical Work
ot solomon.
~ TaImage preached his sixth SER
~ ON his tour in Palestine in the
nnl. w." Tabernacle on Sunday. The
n, n~nn was on the gardens and public
S earks of Israel's magnificent King, and
W.. W. text Eccles. ii, 4-6: II made me
w. 'no., works, builded me houses.
ss,.nted me vineyards, 1 made me gar
pans and orchards, and planted trees in
.Iom of all kinds of fruits; l made me
noo]s of water to water Herewith the
ps Vsd that bringeth forth trees.n DIR.
qslmage said:
4 spring morning and before breakfast
., Jerusalcum. A king with robes
snowy white in chariot decked with gold.
drswn by eight horses, high mettled and
nm,sinss Us brilliant Us If scolloped out
Of that very sunrise, and like the winds
tor spced. followed by regiment of
how. and arrows with steel points flash
i vu in the sun, clad from head to foot in
Tyrjan purple, and black hair spripklcd
with gold dust, all dashing down the
rood. the horses at full run, the rcins
hose on their nccks, and the crack of
whips, and the halloo of the reckless
cayalcade putting the miles at defiance.
who is it, and what is it? King Solo
mon is taking on outing before breakfast
from Jerusalem to his gardens and parks
and orchards and reservoirs, six miles
down the road toward Hebron.
What contrast between that and nv
self on that very road one morning last
December.
Come over the piles of gray rock and
here VIC are at the first of the three res
croirs, which are on three great levels,
the base OF the top reservoir higher than
the top of tho second, the base of the
second reservoir higher than the top of
the third, SO arranged that the waters
gathered from several sources above
shall descend from basin to basin, the
sediment Of the water deposited in each
Of the three, so that by the time ii gets
down to the aqueduct which is to take it
to Jerusalem it has had three offerings,
and is as pure as when the clouds
rained 1t.
On that December morning we saw the
water rolling down from reservoir to
reservoir, and can we'll understand how
in this neighborhood the imperial gar
dcns We're one great blossom, and the
orchard one great basket OF fruit.
But all this splendor did not make
Solomon happy. One day, after getting
back from his morning ride, and before
the horses had yet been cooled off and
rubbed down by tho royal cquerry,
Solomon wrote the memorable words
following my text, like dirge played af-
n, a grand march, ''Behold all was
vanity and veXation Of spirit, and there
was no profit under the SUM-" In other
words, 1t don't pay" Would God that
We might all learn the lesson that this
world cannot produce happiness:
Although these SolomOnic gardens are
in ruins, there arc now growing there
flowers that are to he found nowhere else
III the Holy Land. How do account for
that? Solomon sent Gut his ships and
robbed the gardens of the whole earth
for flowers and planted these eXotics
mere, and these particular flowers are di-
rect descendants OF the foreign plants he
imported. Recently travellers in the Holy
Land speak OF the rocky and stony sur
face of nearly all Palestine as all impas-
sable barrier to the Failure cultivation of
the soil. But if they had examined
minutely the rocks and stones of the
Holy Land they would find that they are
being skeletonizcd, and are being melted
Into the soil and, being for the nast part
limestone, they ore doing for that land
what the American and English farmer
does when at great expense and fatigue
he draws his wagon load of lime anC
;scatters it, on the fields for their enrich
ment.
ASH look upon this great aqueda,ct OF
Palestine, wondrous specimen OF
ancient masonry, aboat seven feet high
two feet wide, sometimes tunneaing the
solid rock and then rolling its water:
through stoneware pipes, an aQueduc
doing it's work ten miles before it get:
tnthose three reservoirs. and then gath
ering their wealth of refreshment ant
pouring it :on to the mighty city o
.larEsalem and filling the brazen sea o
her temple, and the bathrooms Of he
palaces, and ahe great pools of Sloan
aud .Mezekiah and Bethesda. find then
in good condition three Thousand gear
aftnrxconstrua.ion and itfnakcs me thinl
that the world may have forgotten slor
tkaniit now knows. TIE great homo
of Or age A not machinery, for tth
ancients had same styles Of it more won
derful; nor art, for the anNients had ar
more exquisite and durthle: or arehl
lecture, for Ro1aan Coliseum and GrecEal
AcDpoEs surpass all modern afchlts7s
turc; ncr cities, for some Of the anciesl
cities Mere larger than ours i'm the sWeei
OF their .pomp. But our attempts mus
be in inee-al achievement and Gospel VIC
tory. In that we have already SURPASSED
them. and in that direction Nat the age
push on Let us Asag less OF worldl
achievement, and thank God tor mora
"opportumitg. More good men Snd goo
women is what the world WAITS. Io
ward moral elevation and spiritual al
painment lei the chief struggle hs. In
source of all shat Will show you befor
Shutdown OF this day. on which ~se nav
visited the pools of Solomon, AMI TN
gardens Of The King.
We are on nais Decemk1er atterneshl OF
'i,s way to the S.radle of Him who etlle'
tIi.cself greater than Solomon. we ar
coming upon tlss chief cradle OF ai' TN
work., not lined with satin, but streWl
viii, straw; not sheltered by palace
hut covered by barn; not presided oses
by a princess, bit hovered over by
peasant girl: yet cradle the canopy 3
which is angelic wings, and tAc iullap!
or which is the first Christmas earol eve
sung, and from which all the events .