Sharp County record., 1890-11-20
THE CRADLE OF CHRIS.
Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage in Jer
salem and Bethlehem.
The Sixth Discourse of the Holy Laj
serles-Wonderful Works of the An
clients, whose Arts Have Died
with Them.

series of discourses delivered by R,F.
Il. Dewitt Talmage in Brooklyn aSl
New York City. 1t is founded on tie
text:
made me great works, l builded ID
houses, planted me vineyards, made d 20
gardens and orchards, and planted trees bn
them of all kinds of fruits; l made me po Is
OF water to water herewith the wood tat
bringeth forth s.-Ecclcsiastes, H., 4-bi
A spring morning and before breik
fast at Jerusaleml A King with rolSS
snowy white in chariot decked W Sh
gold, drawn by eight horses high-mft'
tied, and housings as brilliant as II
scalloped out of the very sunrise, 9ld
like the winds for speed, followed bd a
regiment of archers on horseback wlt
hand on gilded bow, and arrows wEh
steel points flashing in tho sun, cRd
from head to foot in Tyrian purple, Ili
black hair sprinkled with gold-dISt,
all dashing down the road, the horseSa
full run, the reins loose on their necks,
and the crack of whips, and the hal loo
of the reckless cavalcade putting lhc
miles at defiance. Who is it and w1at
is it? King Solomon taking an outing
before breakfast, from Jerusalem to lis
gardens, and parks, and orchards, and
reservoirs, six miles down the road
towards Hebron. What a contrast
between that and myself on
that very road one morning, last De-
cember, going afoot, for. our plain
vehicle turned back for Photographic
apparatus forgotten, we on the way to
find what is called Solomon's Pools, the
ancient water-works of Jerusalem, and
the gardens of a King nearly three
thousand years ago We cross the
aqueduct again and again, and
here we are at the three great
reservoirs, not ruins of reservoir, but
the reservoirs the mselves that Solomon
built these millenniums ago for the
purpose of catching the mountain
streams and passing them to Jerusalem
to slake the thirst of the city, and also
to irrigate the most glorious range OF
gardens that ever bloomed with all
colors or breathed with all redolence,
for Solomon was the greatest horticult-
urist, the greatest botanist, the greatest
ornithologist, the greatest capitalist
and the greatest scientist of his cent
turv.
Come over the piles of gray rock, and
here we are at the first Of the three
reservoirs, which are on the three
great levels, tho base of the top reser-
voir higher than the top of the 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, tho sediment of the water de-
posted in each of the three, so that by
the time it gets down to the aqneduct
which is to take it to Jerusalem it has
had three filtorings, and is as pure as
when the clouds rained 1T. Wonderful
specimens Of masonry are these three
reservoirs. The white cement fasten.
ing the blocks Of stone together Is now
Just as when the trowels three thousand
years ago smoothed the layers. The
highest reservoir, three hundred and
eighty by two hundred and twenty.nine
teet; the second, four hundred and
twenty-throe by one hundred and sixty,
and the lowest reservoir five hundred
and eighty-nine by one hundred and
sixty-nine; and deep enough, and wide
enough, and mighty enough to float ar
ocean steamer,
On that December morning we saw the
waters rolling down from reservoir to res
ervoir, and can we'll understand how in
this nelgnborhood the imperial gardens
were one great blossom, and the or.
chard one great basket Of fruit, and that
Solomon, in his palace writing the Song
Of Songs, and Ecclesiastes, may have
been drawing illustrations from what
he had seen that very morning in the
royal gardens whom he alluded to mel
ons, and mandrakes, and apricots and
grapes, and pomcgranates, and figs, ant
spikenard and cinnamon, and calamus
and campfire, and apple trees among
the trees OF the wood" and the almond
tree as flourishing, and to myrrh ant
frankincense, and represented Christ as
gone down into His gardens, and the
beds OF spices to feed in the gardens
and to gather lilies" and to "oyes like
fish POOLS" and to the voice OF tho tur
tie dove as heard in the land | thinl,
IT was when Solomon was showing the
Queen Of Sheba through these
gardens that tho Bible says OF her
"Thore remained no more spirits il
hor" She gave II up,
But all this splendor did not make
Solomon happy. Ono day, after getting
back from his morning ride, and boior,
tho horses had yet been cooled of ant
rubbed down by tho royal equerry, Sol
omon wrote tho memorable words, fol
lowing my text, like n dirgo playet
aftor grand march: "Bohold all wa,
vanity and veyation OF spirit, and thort
was no profit under the sun" In othe
words' at don't payw Would Goo
that wo all might learn tho lesson tina
this world can not produce happiness
At MOrsoillos thoro Is n castellatet
house on high ground crowned with al
that grove and garden can do, and III,
whole place looks out upon as cnchant
Ing u landscape rs tho worl(