Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-11-21

start arm,in arm on journey to last
until death do them part. Upon every
such marriage altar may there come the
blessing of Him 'swho scttctll the solitary
in familics.'' Side by side on the path OF
life, Side by side in their graves! Side
by side in Heaven!
! But we must this afternoon, our last
day before reaching Nazareth. pitch our
tent on the most famous battlefield of
all timc-thc plain of Esdraclon. What
must have been the feelings of the Prince
of Peace as he crossed it on Tie way
from Jerusalem to- Nazareth: Not u
/ flower blooms there but has in its veins
the inherited blood of flowers that drank
the blood of fallen armies. Hardly a
| foot of the ground that has not at some
time been quilted with war chariots or
! tramplcd with the hoofs of cavalry. Ii
is Il plain reaching from the Meditcr-
ranean to the Jordan. Upon ii look
/ down the mountains of Tabor and Gllbo1
and Carmel. Through it RACES AT certain
seasons the river kislon. which swept
down the armies of Sisera. the battle oc-
curing i'll November when there is al
most always Il shower of mctcorS so that
''thc stars in their courses were said to
have fought against Siscra.
l
the iron chariots of the Canaanites,
scythed ut the hubs of the wheels. hcw-
ing down their awful swaths of death,
thousands in minute The Syrian ar
mics, the Turkish armies, the Egyptian
armies again and again tramplcd it.
There they career against it. David and
Joshua and Godfrey and Richard CGur
dc Lion and Baldwin and SaEadin--a
plain not only famous for the past, but
| famous because the Bible says the great
decisive battle of the world will be
fought thcrc-thc battle of Armageddon.
| 10 me the plain was the more absorb
ing because of the desperate battles here
and in regions round in which the holy
cross, the very two pieces of wood on
| which Jesus was supposed to have been
crucificd, was carried as Il standard at
the head of the Christian host; and that
night, closing my eyes in my tent on the
plain of Esdraelon-for there arc some
things we can see better with eyes shut
| than open-the scenes of that ancient
war came before me. The Twelfth cen.
fury was closing, and Saladin, at the
head of $4,000 mounted troops, were
crying: "Ho for Jerusalem! Ho for all
Palestine!" and before them everything
went down, but not without unparalleled
resistance. In one place 100 Christians
were surrounded by many thousands of
furious Mohammedans. For one whole
day the 100 held out against these
thousands.
Tenneyson's'ssiX hundred when ssssome
one had Numbered" We're eclipsed by
these 100 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 when all but
one Christian had fallen, and he, mounted
on the last horse, welded his battle-aNe
right and left till his horse fell under the
plunge of the iavelin, and the rider. maxi
ing the sign of the cross toward the sky,
gave up his life Oh the point of a score of
spears. But soon after the last battle
! it, painting colors it, and all ages admire
that last struggle to keep in possession
the wooden cross on which Jesus was
said to have expired. 1t was battle in
which mingled the fury of devils and the
granduer of angels. Thousands of
dead Christians on this side. Thousands
of dead Mohammedans on the other side.
Tho hattie was hottest close around
the wooden cross upheld by the Bishop
of Ptolemais, himself wounded and dy-
ing. And when the Bishop of Ptolcmais
dropped dead the Bishop of Lydia seized
the cross and again lifted it. carrying it
onward into a wilder and tierccr fight
and sword against javelin, and battlc-axe
upon helmet, and piercing spear against
splintering shield. Horses and men
tumbled into heterogeneous death. Now
| the wooden cross on which the armies of
Christians had kept their eye begins to
WAIVER, begins to descend. 1t falls! and
the wailing of the Christian host at it's
disappearance browns the huzza of the
| victorious Moslems.
| But that standard of the cross only
seemed to fall. 1t rides the sky to-day
| in triumph. Five hundred million souls,
the mightiest army of the ages, are fol-
lowing it, and where that goes they will
go, across the earth and up the mighty
sleeps of the Heavens. In the Twelfth
| Ninteenth century it is the mightiest
symbol of glory and triumph, and means
more than any other standard, whether
inscribed with eagle, or lion. or bear, or
star, or crescent. That which Saladin
trampled on the plain of Esdraelon lift
to-day for your marshaling. The cross!
The cross! The foot of it planted in the
earth it saves, the top of it pointing to
| the Heavens to which it will take YOU.
and the outspread beam of it like out
! stretched arms of invitation to all ma
tions. Kneel at it's foot. Lift YOUR
eye to its victims. Swear eternal allie
glance to it's power. And as that mighty
symbol of pain and triumph is kept be-
! fore us we will realize how insignificant
arc the little crosses we are called to
! bear, and will more cheerfully bear
| them.
Must Jesus bear the cross alone
| And all the world go free?
No, there's cross for every one
And there's cross for me.
AS fall asleep tonight Oh my pillow
in the tent on the plain of :Esdraeion,
reaching from the Mediterranean to the
Jordan, the waters of the river kishon
soothing me as a lullaby, l hear the
! gathering of the hosts for the last battle
OF all the earth. And by their represen-
tativcs America is here and Europe is
here and Asia is here and 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