The Brookhaven leader., 1890-12-04


found that the provisions had fallen
short and she told Christ, and lie, to
relieve the embarrassment OF the house,
keeper, who had invited moro guests
than tho pantry warranted, be-
came the butler of the occasion,
and out of a cluster OF a few sympa-
thetic words squeezed . beverage OF
n hundred and twenty-six gallons OF
wine In which was not one drop OF In
toxicant or it would have left that party
as maudlin and drunk as the great oen-
.enEial hama uet, in New York two years
ago, left Senators and Governors. and
Generals and merchants Drinces the
difference between the wine at she we'd
ding in Cana and the wine at the BAN
quet in New York being that the Lord
made the one and the devil made
the other. We got off our horses
and examined some of these water
jars at Cana said to be the very
ones that held the plain water that
Christ turned into the purple bloom OF
an especial vintage. / measured them
and found them eighteen inches from
edge to edge and nineteen inches deep,
and declined to accept their identity.
But we realized the immensity OF sup
ply Of one hundred and twenty-six gall
Ions of wine. What was that for? Prob
ably one gallon would have been enough,
for it was only an additional installment
OF what had already been provided, and
it is probable that the housekeeper
could not have guessed moro than
one gallon out of the way. But
one hundred and twenty-six gall
Ions! What will they do with the
surplus? Ah, it was just like our Lordl
Those young people were about 10 start
in housekeeping, and their means were
limited, and that big supply, whethor
kept in their pantry or sold, will be
mighty help. You see there was no
strychnine, or logwood, or nox vomica
in that beverage, and, as the Lord made
it, 1t would keep. He makes mountains
and seas that keep thousands Of years
and certainly He could make a beverage
that would keep four or five years.
Among the arts and inventions of the
future l hope there may be some one
who can press the juices from the grape
and so mingle them that, without one
drop Of damning alcoholism, they will
keep for years. And the more of it you
take the clearer will be the brain and
the healthier the stomach. And here Is
remarkable fact in my recent journey
i travelled through Italy, and Greece,
and Egypt, and Palestine, and Syria,
and Turkey, and how many intoxicated
people do you think l saw in all those
Gva W
in our Christianized lands have got hold
of some kind of beverage that Christ
did not make
But we must hasten on, for l do not
mean to close my oyes tonight till l
see from mountain top Lake Gallilee,
on whose bank, next Sabbath, we will
worship, on whose waters the following
morning we will take a sail. On and
up we go in tho severest climb of all
Palestine, the ascent of the Mount Of
Beatitudes, on the top of which Christ
preached that beautiful sermon on tho
Blesseds-Blessed this and Blessed
that. Up to their knees the horses
plunge in mole-hills, and surface
that gives way at the first touch
of the hoof, and again and
again the tired beasts halt as much as
to say to the riders: SIT is unjust for
you to mako us climb these sleeps"
On and up over mountain sides where
in the later season hyacinths and
daisies, and phloxes, and anemones
kindle their beauty. On and up until
on the rocks of black basalt we dis
mount, and climbing to the highest
peak look out on an enchantment of
scenery that seems to be the Beatitudes
themselves arched into skies, and
rounded into valleys, and silvered into
waves. The view is like that of Tonnes
see and North Carolina from the top Of
Lookout Mountain, or like that of Ver-
mont and New Hampshire from the top
of Mount Washington. Hall hills OF
Galilee! Hail Lake Genesaret only
four miles away! Yonder, clear up and
most conspicuous, is Safed, the very
city to which Christ pointed for illus
tration in the sermon preached here,
"A city set on a hill can not be hid"
There are rocks around me on this
Mount of Beatitude, enough to build the
highest pulpit the world ever saw. Aye,
it is the highest pulpit 1t overlooks all
time and all eternity. The Valley of
Hattin, between hero and Lake Galilee.
is an amphitheater, as though the nat
ural contour of the earth had invited
all nations to come and sit down,
and hear Christ preach a sermon, in
which there wore more startling novel
ties than were ever announced in all the
sermons that were ever preached. To
those who heard Him on this very spot,
His word must have seemed the con-
tradiction of every thing that they had
ever heard or read or experienced. The
worlds theory had been: Blessed are
the arrogant; blessed are the super
cilious; blessed are the fearless; blessed
are they that have every thing their
own way; blessed are the war
eagles; blessed are tho persecu-
tors; blessed are the popular;
blessed are the Herods, and the
Caesars, and the Ahabs. mo! no! no!'
says Christ with a voice that rings over
these rocks and through yonder valley
of Hattin, and down to the opaline lake
on one side, and the sapphire Mediter-
ranean on the other, and across Europe
in one way, and across Asia in the other
way, and around the earth both ways,
till the globe shall yet be girdled with
the nine beatitudes. Blessed are the
poor; blessed are the mournful; blessed
are the hungry; blessed are the merci-
full; blessed are the pure; blessed are