Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1890-01-25
Talmage on Palestine

1almage on PaleSClne
| Dr.. Taimage, pastor of the Tabernacle,
in Brooklyn, has just arrived in London from
Paris, aud is luxu.iously quartered at the
| Hotel Met-cpole. Mrs. Talmege is With
! hin. but their daughter haa gous 10 Nice to
visit friends. Mr. Tslmaae spent yester.
day evening in returning the courtesies ex
tended to him by Minister Lincoln.
IL the course of a long and interesting ac-
court of his recent journey in Palestine MIR.
Talmage ssd to New York Herald rep
reseutetive: Tine three months l have spent
IN the Holy Laud have besn three months
OF tremendous excitement. Again end
sgain | have been cvsrcome with emotion
rs | visited ard saw With my own eyes
yes, touched with my hands-she things
Christ saw and touched.
Leaving aside ell questions Of sacred as
sociatons apd historical suggestiveness Pal
es inc, the natural scanery itself, is majestic
| bey ond description. took my dragoman
oue afternoon just rs the sun was setiiCg
ard pointing to the landscape before me said :
l nave stood Oh the SUBMITS of the Sierra
Nevada Mountains, I have climbed the
| highest Alps, l have goae through the Yo-
soOite We ley, but never before in my life
have looked on such sight ss tbis.'
The Holy Land is q vast wilderness Of
mighty rocks, ranging in siZs from mountains
down &c the sands Of the ocean. These
rocks are hecoming skeletonized. A pre-
cess OF disintegration is going on. and the
| me is melting into The soil and en,ichiDg
| IL. The day is coming when the Sea Of Gal.
| lee Instead of being desoale sheet of wa
ter with q handful OF people on its shores
supporting meagre existence, will become
| the eource of aIth and great commercial
activity. It's bosom will be covered with
| hsets of merchantmen, and throned beside
| Il will be cities with populations reaching
ntc FIVE hundred thousand.
| Every nerve Ia my body has thrilled ss
| have reached one place after another an6
read the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke
aad John Oh the very spots where Christ
once stood. 1 not only recognized the 10.
calities by ther descriptions, but recognized
every object referred to in the sacred pas
sages. Had gone there an infdel l would
have heen converted to Christianity. l
ehouG hsvessd, Il ia impossible that the
Scriptures are conooc.ion CT the invention
Of mpostora.
Think of how fell when 1 reached the
Jordon after sleeping the previous night in
the ruins Of Joshue's Jericho Think Of how
s!ed me TO baptiZa him He wished TO be
immersed in the very weters where cur Sa-
| vjour was captzad found the candidate
protesting Chrstlan and an earnest man,
and consented There was q sheik who pre-
ceded our caravan, a1d bis robe was just
| like bsptiemsl robe, and put it on, and
we found another white robe for the candi.
| date. Then, siandiog en- tie shore of the
Jordon, 1 read from my Bible the story of
the baptism Of Christ, when the Spirit OF
God descended lie dove from heaven,
and voice waa heard saying. This is my
beloved son, in whom l am veil pleased
MY daughter wrote cut some copies of 9
favorite hymn which we eing at home, and
ali present-frisnds, pilgrims and strangers
-j3ne6 in singing it there on Jordan's
banks. Then We went down into the water,
and under willows, still green In midwnter,
| baptized tbs Christian.
| THAT was the most overwhelming mo-
| ment Of my life.
I'VE travelled all over thatregion. have
eaten fish csught in the sea of Galilee, have
oathed in it and sailed on its waters. l
wanted to realize how the apostles felt in
the storm. To give you an idea of how
quickly storms arise on that inland sea |
will say that within FIVE minutes after we
had glided cut on surface as smooth as
glass tempest arose and swept down 60
| fiercely, and the waves ren SO high that We
could uuly escape by landing at Capernaum.
II have ascended Mount Calvary, and
now 1 COW why it is csled the Place of the
Skull. To me it is q wonder that there was
never g dispute as to the identity of the
place. Lookiog at he psak from distance,
| it exactly resembles the human Uranium,
with the two sighties5 pockets under Its
| brow. went up to the place where the
three CROSSES stood I have DO doubt of
their precise location. There is just room
enough for three men 70 die l stood on the
site Of the csntre cross, where it certainly
must have stood, and taking out my Bible
read to the friends around me the story of
the Crucifxiop. Icould not fnish it; my
feelings over Gaze me and broke down.
las / stood ioOkiug down the slope of
Calvery saw reddish rock below me.
rolled it down the hill! with 10y own hands,
and bad it carried on the backs Of camels to
Joopa, where it was put on shipboard, and
1t ;s now CO its way 10 Brooklyn. T5st
stone is 10 be the corner stope in the new
| Tabernacle 1 an building to replace the
ooe recently destroyed by fire.
''Ycu have heard, of course, that l
preached or Mars Hiil-where Paul once
stood. On my way thither l stopped to
look at G little temple dedicated To the
/ Unknown God.' Paul himself must have
/ stopped there on his veg to Mars Hill, and
understood hat he meant when he said.
For as passed by aud bshsld your devc-
tons found en- altar with this inscription,
$40 the Unknown Gnd," whom, therefore,
ye ignorently worship; Him declare uoto
YOU, It was the boldsst thing eeid and the
boidest thing ever dope.in history.
| II met the King and Queen Of Greece
during my visit to Athens. I never saw
more loyabIe or gracious person than she.
1 also had pleasant nesting with Nj. Tfi.
coupie, the Prime Minister of Greece. He
was not only exceedingly courteous. but his
sister entertained Mrs. TaImage, and it was
through him We were presented to the royal