The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1890-01-16
Peter and Andrew fished, and perhaps we

Peter and Andrew fished, and perhaps we
may drop net or hook and line into
those waters ourselves, but when follow
ing the track of those lesser apostles
will learn quite another lesson.
want while in this City of Rome to
Study the religion of the brainiest of the
apostles. l want to follow, as far as we
can trace it, the track of this great in
tellect of my text who wanted to see
Rome also. He was logician, he was
a metaphysician, he was an all-conquer-
ing orator, he was poet of the highest
type. He had nature that could
swamp the leading men of his own day,
and hurled against the Sanhedrim, he
made it tremble. He learned all he could
getin the school of his native village
then he had gone to higher school, and
there had mastered the Greek and the
Hebrew and perfected himself in bellies
letters, until in after years, he astound-
ed the Cretans and the Corinthians, and
the Athenians, by quotations from the
own authors. l have never found any
thing in Carlyle, or Goethe, or Herbert
Spencer that could compare in strength
or beauty with Paul's epistles. l do
not think there is any thing in the writ
ings of Sir William Hamilton that shows
such mental discipline as you find in
Pau's argument about justification and
resurrection. | have not found any
thing in Milton finer in the way of
imagination than 1 can fn1 in Pauls
illustrations drawn from the amphi-
theater. There was nothing in Robert
Emmett pleading for his life, or in Ed
mund Burke arraigning Warren Hast
ings in Westminster Hall, that COM
pared with the scene in the courtroom
when, before robed officials, Paul bowed
and began his speech, saying: 81 think
myself happy, King Agrippa, because !
shall answer for myself this day"
repeat, that a religion that can capt
ure a man like that must have some
power in it. 1t is time our wiseacreS
stopped talking as though all the brain
of the world were opposed to Christian
ity. Where Paul leads, we can afford to
follow. l am glad to know that Christ
has, in the different ages of the world,
had in His discipleship Mozart and
Handel in music; a Raphael and
Reynolds in painting; an Angelo and
Canova in sculpture; Rush and
Harvey in medicine; a Grotius and
Washington in craftsmanship; Black
stone, Marshall and Kent in law, and
the time will come when the religion of
Christ will conquer all the observa-
tories and universities, and phi
losophy will, through her telescope, be-
hold the morning star of Jesus, and in
her laboratory see that ''all things work
together for good" and with her geo.
logical hammer discern the Crock of
Ages" Oh, instead of covering and
shivering when the skeptic stands be-
fore us, and talks of religion as though
it were pusillanimous thing-instead
of that, let us take out our New Tesla
ment and read the story of Paul at
Rome, or come and see this city for
ourselves, and learn that it could have
been no weak gospel that actuated such
man, but that it is an all-conquering
gospel. Aye, for all ages the power of
God and the wisdom of God unto saliva
ton.
Men, brethren and fathersl I thank
you for this opportunity of preaching
the Gospel to you that are at Rome also.
The churches of America salute you.
Upon you who re, like us, strangers in
Rome, pray the protecting and jour
neying care Of God. Upon you who are
resident here, 1 pray grace, mercy and
peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. After tarrying here few
days we resume our journey for Palestine,
and we shall never meet again, either
in Italy, or America, or what is called
the Holy Land, but there is holier
land, and there we may meet, saved by
the grace that in the same way saves
Italian and American. and there in that
supernal cline, after embracing Him
who, by His sufferings on the hill back
of Jerusalem, made our Heaven possible,
and given salutation to our own kindred
whose departure broke our hearts on
earth, we shall, think, seek out the
travelling preacher and mighty hero of
the text who marked out His Journey
through Macedonia and Achaia to Je-
rusalem, saying:
''After I have been there, must also
see Rome -