The Red Cloud chief., 1891-12-04
THE ACROPOLIS
Dr.. Taimagc Describes His Visit TO
Athena

The Great Market Place and the Aeropetls
D~serib~d-The Sensation r.s, Created
% Msn Hin-Lessons Drsva From
the History OF Athena
Rev. r. De Wit, Talmase In his sixth
sermon on Bible lands recently
preached at Brooklyn. took his text
from Acts, xvii. i6: While Paul waited
for them at Athens his spiri; was stirred
inhim when he saw the city wholly
: given up 70 idolstry." DIR. TalmaSc
said:
II seemed rs IL morning would never
come. We had arrived after dark 10
Athens, Greece, aud the night WAS
sleepless with expectation. and At the
frst ray of dawn. l called 20 our party
70 look out OF the window upon that
city TO which Paul said he was q debtor.
q 20 which the whole earth is debtor
for Greek architecture, Greek sculpture,
Greek poetry. Greek eloquence, Greek
proweAs and Greek history. That morn
ing 10 Athens we sauntered forth
armed with most generous ms lovely
letters from the president o! the United
States and his secretary OF state. and
during all our stay in that city those
letters caused every door and every
gate and every temple and every palace
TO swing open before us The might
lest geographical name on earth I to-day
Is America The signature Of an Amer
lean president and secretary Of state
will take a man where an army could
not. Those names brough, Us into the
presence OF a most gracious and beaut-
full sovereign, the queen of Greece. 81
her cordiality was more like thateof .
sister than the occupant Of srthrono
room.
But this morning we pass through
where stood the Agra, the ancient
market place. tho locality where phil
osophers used - meet their disciples
walking while they talked. and where
Paul. the Christian logician, flung
many q proud Stole, and got the laugh
on many IN impertinent epicurean-
She market place was the center Of
social and political life. and 1t was the
place where people went 70 tell and
hear the news Booths and bazars
were set up for merchandise Of all
kinds, except meat but everything
must be sold for cash. and there must
be no lying about the value OF CON-
modities. and the Agoranomi who
ruled the place could infict severe
punishment upon offenders The dit.
fereut schools Of thinkers had distinct
places set apart for convocation The
market place was a space $50 yards
long and ESQ wide. aud II was given up
70 gossip and merchandise and loung-
ing and philosophizing. All this you
need to know in order 70 understand
the Bible when IL sayso OF Paul. There
fore disputed he in the market daily
with them who met him" You zee IL
was the best place 70 get an audience.
and II q man feels himself called to
preach he wants people to preach To
The marble and gliding have been re-
moved, but the high mounds against
which the seats were piled are still
there. The Stadium Is $50 feet long,
$50 feet wide and held 40. 900 spectators
There il to-day the tunns.
through which the .sfcated racer de-
parted from the Stadium and from the
Kisses Of the people, and thero are the
stairs up which the victor vent To the
top Of the hill 10 be crc ~ned with the
laurel. In this place contests with wild
beasts sometimes look place, and while
Hadrian. the ,mperor, sat on yonder
height 1905 beasts were slain in one
celebration. But b was chiefly for
foot racing. so I proposed to my friend
Shzt day while we were in the Stadium
chat we try which Of Us could run the
sooper from end TO end Of this histori-
cal ground. and SO at the
word given by the lookerson
We started side by side. but before ]
got through l found out what Paul
meant when he compares the spiritual
race with the race in this very Stadium,
as he says: Lay aside every weight"
Ny heavy o%vercoat and my friends
freedom from such incumbrancc
showed the advantage In any kind Of a
race Of laying aside every weight"
We come now q the Acropolis II Is
a rock about two miles in circumfer-
encc at the base and 1000 feet In cir
conference al the top a nd 800 feet high.
On IL has been crowded more elaborate
architecture and sculpture than In any
other place under the whole heavens
Originally a fortress, a~fterward a con-
gregation OF temples and statues and
pillars, their ruins an enchantment
from which no observer ever breaks
away. No wonder that Aristiies
thought Il the center of all things
Greece. the center OF the world; Attica.
the center OF Greece: Athens, the cen
ter Of Attica, and the Acropolis the
center of Athens
EARTHQUAKES have shaken il; Verres
piundcred il. Lord Elgin. the English
ambassador at Constautinople, got per-
mission of the sultan TO remove from
the Acropolis fallen pieces Of the build
ing, and he took from the building To
England the finest statues. removing
them at an expense Of $500. oco A
storm overthrow many OF the statues
OF the Acropolis Morosini. the general,
attempted TO remove from a pedimen'
the sculptured car and horses OF VIC
tory, but the clumsy machinery
dropped and all was lost The Turks
turned the building into n powder
magazine where the Venetian guns
dropped a Are that by explosion sen
the columns flying in the air and fall
ing cracked and ~spliutered Bu, after
all that time aud storm and war and
iconoclasm have effected. the Acropolis
Is the monarch OF all ruins and before
il bow the learning. the genius
the poetry. the Art, the history OF
the aceS saw !; a. IL was Thousands
of years ago had rad 50 much about
I, aud dreamed so much ado g IL that
| needed no m~agician's wand To rest re
IL In the days when ten cents woui
do more than q dollar now. the build
ing cost q, SO. oco See its ave orna-
mented gates the keys entrusted TO IN
officer for only one day lest the tempt
alton 70 go in and misappropriase the
treasures be too great for him; ia
ceiling . mipgiipS Of blue and SCARE:
and green. and the walls ah!oom with
pictures ut:ermost in ;horSht and
~eoloring
Yonder Is . temple 20 . goddess