Connecticut western news., 1890-01-08
SURPRISES OF RELIGION.
A Sermon by Rev. Dr. Talmage at
 Vienna Sunday, Jan. 5.
Way-Fascination Exercised by His Sight of the Holy City-The Lesson of Sheba's Visit to Solomon-A Surprise in Store.

Talmage, D. D., of Brooklyn, preached in the city today on ''The Surprises of Religion" His text was I. Kings. X. .: "Behold, the half was not told me-" The sermon was follows: Appearing before you today, my mind yet agitated with the scenery of the Holy Land, from which we have just arrived, you will expect me to revert to some of the scenes once enacted there. Mark a circle around Lake Galilee. and another circle around Jerusalem, and you describe the two regions in which cluster memories of more events than in any other two circles. Jeru- salem was 8 spell of fascination that will hold me the rest of my life. Solomon had resolved that that city should be the centre of all sa- cred, regal and commercial magnihcence. He set himself to work, and monopoliZed the surrounding desert as highway for his car avanS.
 He built the city of Palmyra around one of the principal wells of the East, so that all the long trains of merchandise from the East were obliged to stop there, pay toll and leave part of their wealth in the hands of Solomons' merchants. He manned the fortress Thap- sacus at the chief ford of the Euphrates, and put under guard everything that passed there. The three great products of Palestine-wine pressed from the richest clusters, and cele- brated all the world over; oil, which in that hot country is the entire substitute for butter and lard, and was pressed from the olive branches until every tree in the country be- came an oil well; and honey, which was the entire substitute for sugar-these three great products of the country Solomon exported, and received in return fruits and precious woods and the animals of every cline.
 He went down to Ezion-geer and ordered 8 fleet of ships to be constructed, Oversaw the workmen and watched the launching of the years voyage to bring home the wealth of the then known world. He heard that the Egyp- tian horses were large and swift, and long named and round limbed, and he resolved to purchase them, giving SS5 apiece for them, putting the best of these horses in his own stall and selling the surplus to foreign poten- tates at great profit. He heard that there was the best of timber on Mt. Lebanon, and he sent out 1SO 900 men to hew down the forest and drag the timber through the mountain gorges, to be constructed into rafts to be hoated to Joppa, and from thence to be drawn by OK teams 25 miles across the land to Jerusalem. He heard that there were beautiful flowers in other lands. He sent for them, planted them in his own gardens, and to this very day there are flowers found found in no other part of Palestine, the lineal descendants of the very flowers that Solomon planted.
 He heard that in foreign groves there were birds of richest voice and most luxurious wing. He sent out people to catch them, and
 
 cages. Stand back now and see this long train of camels coming up to the kings gate, and the OK trains from Egypt, gold and sill yer and precious stones, and beasts of every hoof, and birds of every wing, and fish of every scale! See the peacocks strut under the cedars, and the horsemen run, and the chariots wheel! Hark to the orchestra 1! Gaze upon the dance! Not stopping to look into the wonders of the temple, step right on to the causeway, and pass up to Solomon's palace!
 Here we find ourselves amid collection of buildings on which the king had lavished the wealth of many empires.
 The Genius of Hiram, the architect, and of the other artists is here seen in the long line of corridors and the suspended gallery and the approach to the throne. Traceried win dow opposite traceried window. BronZed ornaments bursting into lotus and lily and pomegranate. Chapters surrounded by net work of leaves in which imitation fruit seemed suspended as in hanging baskets. Three branches-so Josepheus tells us three branches sculptured on the marble, so thin and subtle that even the leaves seem to quiver. A layer capable of holding 800 bar rels of water on GOO brazen OK heads, which gushed with water and filled the whole place with coOlness and crystalline brightness and musical plash. Ten tables chased with cha riot wheel and lion and cherubim. Solomon sat on 8 throne of ivory. At the seating place of the throne, on each end of the steps, . brazen lion.
 Why, my friends, in that place they trim med their candles with snuffers of gold, and they cut their fruits with knives of gold, and they washed their faces in basins of gold, and they scooped out the ashes with shOvels of gold, and they stirred the altar fires with tongs of gold. Gold reflected in the water Gold flashing from the apparel! Gold blaz- ing in the crown! Gold, gold, gold! Ot course the news of the af1uence of that place mi w ChQrQ Inv by wing of every ship, until soon the streets of Jerusalem are crowded with curi- osity seekers. What is that long procession approaching Jerusalem? I think from the pomp of it there must be royalty in the train smell the breath of the spices which are brought as presents, and hear the shout o1 the drivers, and see the dust-covered cara van, showing that they come from far away Cry the news up to the palace. The queen of Sheba advances.
 Let all the people come out to see. Let the mighty men of the land come out on the palace corridors. Let Solomon come dowr the stairs of the palace before the Queen ha. ahghted. Shake out the cinnamon, and tho saffron, and the caamus, and the franklin cense and pass it into the treasure house the sun. The Queen of Sheba alights. Sht enters the palace. She washes at the bath She sits down at the banquet. The cup bear CTS bow. The meat smokes. The music trembes in the dash of the waters from tht molten sea. Then she rises from the banquet and walks through the conservatories, anC gazes on the architecture, and she asks Solo mon many strange questions, and she learns about the religion of the Hebrews, and sh, then and there becomes 8 servant of the Lort God.
 She is overwhelmed. She begins to thinl that all the spices she brought, and all tn, precious woods that are intended to be turned into harps and psalteries and into raiIingS fc, the causeway between the temple and th, palace, and the $1S0,0OO in money-she be gins to think that all these presents amour to nothing in such place, and she is almos ashamed that she has brought them, and sh, says within herself: 'sI heard a great dea about this place, and about this wonderful religion of the Hebrews, but I find it far be yond my highest anticipations. I must ado more than 50 per cent. to what has been re lated. It exceeds everything that I coult have expected. The haf-the half was no told me-"
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