The Forrest City times., 1890-11-22

| srossco is on tho way from 3erusaism to
 Nazarcthl Not nower hlcons therc but
 has In its veins tho Inherited blooc of Towers that drank tho blood of fallen armles. Hardly fcot of the ground that has not at some time been gull cd with war chariots or tramp'ed with the hoofs of | cavalry. It is plain rcachIng from tho
 Ne literranean to the Jordan. Upon it look | down the m )untains of Tabor and Gilbon
 and Carmel. Through 1t ragcs at certain | seasons the river kishon, which swept down the armies of Sisera, the battle oc- | curing In November when there Is almost | always shower of meteors so that the | stars in their courses" were said to have | fought against sisera. Through this plain | drove Jehu. and the Iron chariots of the !! canaapitcs. scytbed al the hubs of the wheels, hewlng down their awful swathes of ! death--thousands in n minute. The syrian armies tho Turkish armies, the Egyptian armies again and agaln trampled It There ! they career across it. David and Joshua. | aud Godfrey and Richard Occur de Lion. and Baldwin and Saladin-a plain not only ! famous for the past. but famous because | the Bible says the great decisive battle of | the world will be fought thcre-the battle | of X. nageddon.
 | To me the plain was the more absorbing l because of the desperate battles hero, and | In regions round in which the Holy Cross, ! the very two pieces of wood on which | Jesus was supposed to have been crucihed. was carried as standard at the head Of l the Christian host; and that night closing | iny eyes in my tent on the plain of Esdrae- | lon-for there are some things we can see | better with eyes shut than open--the scenes of that ancient war came before mo. 1 The twelfth century was closing and | saladn at tha head Of eighty thousand mounted troops was crying. lilo for Jeru- salem Ho for all Palestine"' And be- | foro them everything went down. but not sCt hft tt4,. ,ss,It lad t.s.. place one hundred and thirty Chris ians were surrounded by many thousands Of furious Mohapmcians. For oue whole day l the one hundred and thirty held out against | these thousands. Tennyson's ,slx hun drcd" when some ono had biuudcred." were cclirscd by these ono hundred and thirty lighting for tho Holy Cross. They took hold of the lances which had pierced them with death wounds and pulling them put of their own breasts and sides, hurled them back again at the enemy. On went
 Inc fight until all but one Christian had fallen. and he. mounted on the last horse. yielded his ba tle axe, right and left till his horse fell undor the plunge Of the 1avellns, and the rider, making the sign of the cross toward the sky, gave up his life on the points of a score of spears. But soon after the last battle came. History porirays 1t, poetry chants it. painting colois 1t, and all ages admire that last struggle to keep In possession the wooden cross on which Jesus was said to have expired. It vas n battle in which mingled the fury Of devils and the grandeur of angels. Thousands of dead Chr stians on this side, Thousands of dc ad Mohammedans on the other side. The bat tie was hottest close around tse wooden cross upheld by the Bishop If rtolemais himself wounded and dying. And whom the Bishop of Ptolemais dropped dead. the Bishop of Lydda seized the ercss anu again lifted it. carrying 1t onward Into a wilder
 a,ai t.sr~ lfrl,f nr.l ...t,, Inc
 lin. and battle axe upon helmet. and picrc- Ing spear against spiintering shsli. Horses and men tumbled Into heterogeneous death. Now the wooaen cross on which the armies of the Christians had kept their eyes. begins to waver, begins to desccnd.
 It falls, and Inc waIling of the Christian hest at Its disappearance drowns the hug zah of the victorious Moslcms- But that standard of the cross only seemed to fall
 IL rides the sky today In triumph Five
 hundred million souls, the mightest army of the ages. are following It, aud whcro that goes they will go, across the earth and
 ur the mighty steeps of tho heavens In the twelfth century il seemed so go down.
 but In the nineteenth century 1t is the
 mghtiest symbol Of glory ant triumph.
 and mems moro than any other stand
 ard. whether inscribed with eagle, or lion. ur bear. or star or crescent. That which saladin trampled an the plain of Esiracinn
 lift touay for your marshailiug The cross' The cross! The foat of it Is planted
 the earth 1t saves, the top of it pa!ntins
 10 the heavens 10 which 1t will take you. and the outsprcad beam of lt like
 utstrctched arms Of invitation t) all nations, kneei at its f,ot
 Lift your eye to its victim. swear eternal allegiance 10 it's power, And as that tn ghty snhol of pain and triumph Is kept hesoru us we will realize how insixniticant are the iatile crosses We are caiind tu bear. and will more cheerfuliy carry them.
 Must Jesus tear the cross alone
 And all thu world go frccy
 No. there's cross for eysry one
 And there A cross for mo-
 As fall asleep teninht on my pillow in he tent on the piain of Esdraedon reaching from the Mediterranean to the Jordan. the waters ot the rlvor kishon soothing ule as y lullaby, l hear the gathering Of the hosts for the last battle uf all The earth, And by ihtl IT rcpreseu atlvss America s here and Europe k here and Asia Is here and Africa Is here. and all heaven k here. and all hell Is here. aud Apolls on on the black horse leads the armies of dArkutss ani Jesus on the wblto horse leads the armies If light, and ] hear the rell ot the drums and tho clear call of the clnrions. and the thunder of tho caunpnales. And then l heard the wild rush of millions of troops In retreat and then the shout of victory as from fourteen hundred million ihruats and then song ss though sil thc armies of earth and heaven were oiniBs it, chipping of this world ara become the kngde ms of 1ur lord and of Ills Christ. and He shall reign forever and ever"