The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1890-12-24
THE TREES OF PALESTINE.
SUBLIME LANGUAGE OF THE SCRIPT
URES ON THE CEDARS.


URES ON THE CEDARS.
Mount Lebanon and Deduces Moral
Lessons sTherefrom--The Prophets Loved
to Gaze Upon the Mighty Forests.
BROOKLYN, Dec. 14.-To-day Dr.
Talmage preached the twelfth sermon
of his series on Palestine and the ad-
Joining countries. DR.. Talmage an
nounced as his text Psalm civ. l6, "The
cedars of Lebanon which be hath
planted" and preached the following
sermon:
In our journey we chang stirrup for
wheel. It is o'clock in the morning
at Damascus, Syria, and we are among
the lanterns of the hostelry waltln
for the stage to start. A Mohammedan
in high life is putting his three wives
on board within an apartment by
themselves, and our party occupy the
main apartment of one Of the most un-
comfortable vehicles in which mortals
were ever iammed and half strangu-
lated. But we must not let the dis
comforts anuul or disparage the op-
portunities. We are rolling out and
up the mountains Of Lebanon, their
forehead under crown OF snow, Which
coronet the fingers of the hottest sum-
mer cannot cast down.
CLIMBING Up LEBANON.
We are ascending heights around
which is garlande6 much of the finest
poesy of the Scriptures, and are rising
toward the mightiest dominion that
botghy, eyer recognized, reigned over
by the moss. imperial tree that ever
swayed leasy seepter-the Lebanon
cedar: tree eulogized in my text as
having grown from nut put into the
ground bv God himself, and no human
hand had anything to do with its
planting: The trees of Lebanon
which he hath planted"
The average height Of this noun
tain is seven thousand feet, but IN one
place it lifts it's head to an altitude OF
len thousand. No higher than six
thousand feet can vegetation exist,
but below that line at the right season
are VINEYARDS and orchards and olive
groves and flowers that dash the noun
tain side with very carnage OF color
and fill the air with aromatics that
Hosea, the prophet, and Solomon, the
king. celebrated as the smell Of LIE
banon." at a height Of six thousand
feet IS grove of cedars, the only de-
scendantS of those vast forests from
which Solomon cut his timber for the
temple of Jerusalem, and where at one
time there were one hundred thousand
axmen heWiDg out the beams from
which great cities were constructed.
But this nation of trees has by human
iconoclasm been massacred until only
a small group is left. This race OF
giants is nearly extinct, but l have no
doubt that some of these were here
when Hiram, king of Tyre, ordered the
assassination of those cedars Of Le-
banon which the Lord planted. From
the multitude of uses to which 1t may
be put and the employment OF 1t III
the Scriptures, the cedar is the divine
favorite. When the plains to be seen
from the window of this stage in which
we ride to-day are parched under SUM-
mer heats. and not a grass blade sur
wives the feryi6ity, this tree stands IN
luxuriance, defying the summer sun
And when the storms OF winter terri1Y
the earth and hurl the rocks ID ava
lanche down this mountain SIDE, tnls
tree grapples the hurricane OF snow IN
triumph and leaves the spent Jury al
it's feet. From sixty to eighty feet
high are they, the horizontal branches
of great sweep, with their burden OF
leaves needle shaped, the top OF the
tree pvramidal, a throne Of foliage on
which might and splendor and glory
sit. But so continuously has the ex'
termination of trees gone on that 1ol
the most part the mountains OF LIE,
hanon are bare of foliage, While, am
sorry to say, the eartn IN ai1 4anos l.
being likewise denuded.
RE spARING OF GODS TREES.
The ak is Staying the forests al
round the earth. To S top the s!angn'
ter Cod opened the coal mines Of Eng:
.an6 and Scotland and America ano
the world, practically saying by that
"Here is fuel; as far as possible let my
trees alone.'' And by opening for the
hnman race the great quarrles OF
Granite and showing the human 1ami
r how to make brick. God is practl
caily saving, Here is building mate
rial: let nv trees alone" We had bet
Ter stop the axes among the Adlfon'
Gacks. We had better stop the axes II
ali onr forests, as it would have beer
better for Syria If the axes had long
400 been stopped among the noun
fans of Lebanon. To punish US fol
onr reckless assault on the forests We
have the disordered seasons, ana nov
the droughts because the upll1teo arm: i:
of the trees do not pray tor ram, tne!l
presence according to all sclentlstS ols
nosine the descent of the showers, ant
then we have the cyclones and INT
hurricanes multiplied in number an(
velocity because there is nothing u
prevent their awful sweep.
plant the trees in your PARKS ina
the weary may rest under them: Plan
them along your streets, thaV "
through the branches passers by ma.
see the God who first made the Tree
and then made man to look at them
Plant them along the brooks. that un
der them the children may play. ran
them in YOUR gardens, that as ID Edel
the 1Oru uay am su@ .,o+a-ioc
the day. Plant them IN cemeteries
their shade like a mournerS ven, au'
their leaves sounding Ike tne lust4e U
the wings of the departed. Lev AEpo
Day. or the day for the planting 0
trees, recognized by the legislatures Q
many of the states, be observed oy al
our people. and the next one hundre'
wears do as much in planting ines
hundred years have accomplished il
their destruction. When. not long be
fore his death, l saw on the banks o
the Hudson in his glazed cap, riding OF
horseback, George p. Morris, the grea
song writer Of America. | found aao nm
grandly emotional, and l could under
Stand how he wrote "Woodman, spar
that treew the verses OF which many 0
us have felt like quoting in belllgeren
y kne 81