The Brookhaven leader., 1890-11-13
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
s,xth Discourse of the Series or
the Holy Land.
. snrIng Morning in OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
fuI Specimens of the Builders Art
visit to bethlehem, the
Cradle of q King.

pov IT. Dewitt TalmAge delivered
no sixth of his series of discourses on
,bo HOLY Land in Brooklyn and New
York City, taking for his text:
made me great works, buildod me
bouses. planted me vineyards, MADE me
aordens and orchards, and planted trees In
So, of all kinds Of fruits; made mo pools
oIwa,pr TO water Herewith the wood that
trrnCeth forth trees.-Ecclesiastes IL. t-6
A spring morning and before break
fast at Jsrusaleml A King with robes
snowy white in chariot decked with
gold, drawn by eight horses, high-met
lied and housings as brilliant as IL
scallopei out OF the very sunrise, and
like tho winds for speed, followed by
rerlment of archers on horseback with
hand on gilded bow, and arrows with
steel points flashing in the sun, clad
from head to foot in Tyrian purple, and
black hair sprinkled with gold-dust,
all dashing down the road, the horses at
full run, the reins loose on their necks,
and the crack of whips, and the halloo
of the reckless cavalcade putting the
miles at defiance. Who is it and what
is it? King Solomon taking an outing
before breakfast, from Jerusalem to his
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 OH the way to
find what is called Solomon's Pools, the
ancient water-works of Jerusalem, and
the gardens of 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 slako 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
tury.
Come over the piles of gray rock, and
here wo arc at the first OF the three
reservoirs, which are on the three
great levels, the base of the top reser-
yoir higher than the top of the second,
the base of the second reservoir higher
than the top of the third, SO arranged
tbat tbo TO- unuara1
sources above shall descend from basin
to basin, the sediment of the water de.
posted in each of the three, so that by
the time it gots down to the aqueduct
which is to take it to Jerusalem it has
had three flterings, and is as pure as
when the clouds rained it. 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
feet; the second, four hundred and
twenty-three by one hundred and sixty,
and the lowest reservoir five hundred
and eighty-nine by one hundred and
Slxty-nine; and deep enough, and wide
enough, and mighty enough to float an
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 ueighborhood 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 when he alluded to mel
ons, and mandrakes, and apricots, and
grapes, and pomegranates, and figs, and
splkenard, and cinnamon, and calamus,
ana campfire, and apple trees among
the trees of the wood" and tho almond
Tree as f1ourishing, and to myrrh and
irankincense, and represented Christ as
gone down into His gardens, and the
Deds OF spices to feed in the gardens,
and to gather lilies" and to "eyes like
nsh pools" and to the voice OF the tur-
tie dove as heard in the land. / think
IL was when Solomon was showing the
queen of Sheba through these
gardens that tho Bible says of her:
There remained no more spirits in
her." Sho gave it up.
But all this splendor did not make
solomon happy. One day, after getting
back from his morning ride, and befole
'ae horses had yet been cooled off and
rubbed down by the royal equerry, Sol
omon wrote the memorable words, fol.
lowing my text, like dirge played
after grand march: Behold all was
vanity and vexation of spirit, and there
was no profit under the sun" In other
words: at don't pay" Would God
mat we all might learn the lesson that
THIS world can not produce happiness!
AT Marseilles there is castellated
house on high ground crowned with all
that grove and garden can do, and the
whole place looks out upon as enchant-
ing landscape as the world
holds, water and hill clasping hands
IN perfect bewitchment of scenery,
out tho owner of that place is
totally blind, and to him all this goss
ior nothing, illustrating the truth that
whether one be physically or morally
Onnd, brilliancy of surrounding can not
give satisfaction. But tradition says
mat when the wise men of tho East"
were being. guided by the star on the
way to bethlehem, they, for a little
while, lost sight of that star, and in de-
SPAR and exhaustion came to we'll to