The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-10-08

| The book differs from all other lives of
the Christ in this, that it is simple nara
tive in which no theological questions are
propounded, no "views" eytolled, and
there is no straining after effect.
| 1t is made up of 600 pages, with over 400
engravings, copies of famous paintings by
the old masters illustrating scenes in the
life of Christ and portraits of the Saviour
by many famous painters. In addition
there is splendid panorama of the cruci-
| fxion in colors, ten feet in length, whichis
great achievement of the publishers.
As literary effort the book is the most
ambitious of the great preachers life. 1t
fulfills all the requirements OF literary
style and finish. Each fact was carefully
| weighed and scrutiniZed before put on
paper. Nothing was taken for granted. 1t
is not the work of an idle hour, but rather
the life work of strong man still in his
prime 1t should meet with cordial vel
come. 1t is not written above the head of
the average reader. On the contrary, 1t is
series of magnificent word pictures, so
simple that child would be interested in
them. The reader is taken to every spot
made remarkable in the Holy Land, and
the guide is like delightful elder brother
sitting in the twilight rehearsing the old,
old story, ever new.
IT have been writing that book for thirty.
five years." DR.. Talmage told me recently,
and he supplements this in his preface by
saying:
I'm my American home, on the Allan.
tic, on the Mediterranean, on camel's bnck,
on mules back, on horseback, under chan
delier, by dim candle in tent, on Lake Gal
lice, in convent, at Bethel, where jacobs pill
low was stuffed with dreams and the angels
of the ladder landed: at the brook Elah,
from which little David picked up the am
munition of five smooth stones, four more
than were needed for crushing like an egg
shell the skull of Goliath; in the valley of
Ajalon, over which, at Joshua's command,
Astronomy halted; on the plain of Esdrae
lon, the battlefield of ages, its long red
flowers suggestive of the blood dashed to
the bits of the horses brides; amid the
shattered masonry Of Jericho, in Jcrusa-
lem, that ovcrshadows all other cities in
"Reminiscences; ut Cana, where plain water
became festal beverage; on Calvary, whose
aslant and ruptured rocks still show the
effects of the earthquake at the awful hem
orrhage Of the five wounds that purchased
the worlds rescue, and with my hand nit
tened from the storm, or wet from the Jor-
dan, or barred to the sun, or gliding over
smooth table, this book has been written"
DR.. Talmage is the only author of life
of the Christ who visited the Holy Land
for the purpose of seeing for himself the
scenes made famous by the birth and cru
cifiXion of the Saviour, and this record of
his life is one of the most interesting por-
tions of the book. The writer vividly por-
trays the visit of Mary and Joseph in
Egypt:
lover the hills and down through the
deep gorge they urge their way. By He
bron, by GAIA, through hot sand, under
blistering sun, the babe crying, the mother
faint, the father exhausted. How slowly
the days and weeks pass. Will the weary
three ever reach the banks of the Nile?
Will they ever see Cairo? Will the desert
ever end? When at last they cross the
line beyond which old Herod has no right
to pursue their JOY is unbounded. Free at
last! Let them dismount and rest. Now
they resume their way with less anxiety.
They will find place somewhere for shell