Telegram-herald., 1891-11-23
DR. TALMAGR IN ATHENS


= As< ~ de4s % Eett so14s Ass EAi1S-
ss P.4l q. Mas aIl--A CITY wholly
Gas<a - Iasl-ssy.
BzooxEys. Scz @s-rse congregation
&C shs TzssEnacls. ied ~ eorne1 ana orzan,
s1ng tits nso<a5Az vita great power ths
hymn of fsaae W4Ets, besianlags
Cur cd. cur helD "a 4ges past,
Oar hoSe fcE Tsars ~ cozas.
Ire sermon, ~htea was on sAs Acropors.
Is the sixth OF tks series Or TaInaxe is
pr<ack1ng on ths sua leeEs suggested by bis
tour IA Bible izndz- His text wzs taken
trom Acts XVII. ts. ''Whiis Paul waited
f1r thsn Al Athens his spirit was stirred
IN hizn. ~hsn nc szs the city wholly given
70 fkolztFy."
I Il ss=Ened as u morning would never
some We bad arrived after dark IN Ath-
ens. GTeecs. and ste night was sleepless
with sxpscsaEion. add my watch slowly
announced 70 me oas aud two and thrss
and tour O'Clock: aud &C the firss ray of
dawn l czlist car party 90 look oct Of ths
window upon that city 20 which Paul said
Ne was . doctor. and To which the whole
earth Il dsbtor foe Greek srchit.esurs,
Greek sculpture. Gfsek poetry. Greek sls-
ausnce. GFesk pro~ezs and Grssk history.
Thai morning Ia Athens We sauntercd
forth armed With most generous and lovely
lsrtsrs from the president Of the United
Stases and bis secretary of state. and dur
tng all our stay ia THAI city those letters
caused every aoor and every gate and every
temple aud every palace 20 swing open be-
fore ia The migltiess geographical name
on earth today Is America The signature
of an Anericsa president and secretary OF
state viii take . maa where al army could
not. Those names bsoughs d irto tho
Z pressnce Of . most grAcious and beautiful
sovereign, the qaeea Of Greece. and her
eordiaiitJ was Ino<s ike that Of . sister
than the occupant OF throne room. Nc
formal bow IS when raonzsehs ara ap-
preached, bat coFitnl shake OF the hand,
and earnest questions about our personal
weifars and cur beloved country far away
But tA.s morning we pazs through where
stood the AgoTa. the ancient market place,
she locality whero philosophers used to
meet their disciples, walking while they
talked, and whore Paul. the Christian 10
giciAn, flung many a proud Stole and got
the laaga on many an incercinent Epi-
carean. The market place WAS the center
OF social and political life. and is was the
place where people went 60 tell and hear
the news Bootas and bazaars were set up
for merchandise OF ali kiads except meat,
but everything must b sold for cash, and
there must DO no lying about she value Of
commodities, and she Agoranomi who
ruled the place could indsct severe punish
meat upon offenders. The different schools
OF thinkers had distinct places set apart
for convocation. The Pla.oeans must meet
at the cheese market. the Decelians at tho
barber shop. the sellers OF perfumes at the
frankincense headquarters
The market place was q space three hun
dred and fifty yards long and two hundred
and airy wide. and it was given up to gos-
zip and merchandise. aud lounging and
philosophizing. All this you need 10 know
In order To understand the Bible when is
says Of Paul, Therefore disputed he In tina
market daily with them that met him. I"
You SEQ 10 was the best place TO get an au-
dtence, and IL a man feels himself called to
preach ho wants people to preach to. But
bsfore we mako our chief visits Of today
We must take a turn as the Stadium It 10
. little way ous bat go we must. The
Stadium Wa the place where the footraces
occurred.
THE RACE IN rH3 STADIUM.
Paul had been out thsre no doubt, for he
frequently uses the scenes OF that place as
figures when be tells rs, "Lee US run the
race that IL set before u.s." and again.
sThey do IL to obtain a corruptible gar
land. but We an incorruptible." The
marble and the gliding have been removed,
Out the high mounds against which the
seats wero piled are still there. The Seasllun
d six hundred and eighty feet long, ono
hundred and thirty feet wide. and held
forty Thousand spsesaton- There Is today
ene very tunnel through which the defeat
ed racer departed from the Stadium and
from the hissss of the people, and there are
the stairs up which the victor went 90 the
TOP OF the hill 20 be crowned with the
lAcrel
In this place contests with wild beasts
sometimes took psaes. and while Hadrian,
tae emperor. sat on yonder height one
Thousand beasts were slain ia one celebra-
tson. But il WIS chiefly for foot racing.
and 40 proposed 10 my friend that day
while We wess "a tss Stadium that we try
which Of us could run the sooner from end
90 end Of this historical ground. and so a.
the word givea by the lockers on we started
side by side, 1ut before | got through
foand ort waas Paul meant when ne com
pAres the spiritual race with ths race in
this very Stadium. m hs ssys, Lay aside
every weigAt." Ay hesyy ovsrcoas and
my frfends srcedosn from sash iDcum-
brarce showed she sdvsntags la any kind
Of 3 race Of ''lsyiax sssss every veishs.'
We come ssw 20 shs AcropoGis 1t is O
rock ABOUT two milo~ IN circumference ~
the base and a theusasd sest in c4reanfsr-
sncs &C the top ssa slrse hucdred feet
hixh. On It has been crowded n1ors alai,-
orate architecture aud sculpture than In
any other place under the whole heavens.
Originally fortress. afterward q coagrs-
CATION of temples and statues and pillars,
their ruins sn eschaftmeas from which
no observer svsr breaks away. No voa-
der that ArIa.sdss thought it the center OF
ell thinzs-Grecoe. she center Of the world.
Astica. the eentsr OF Greece. Athens, the
esneer Of Atsica, and the Acropolis tae
center OF Athens. Earthquakes havs
shaken II, vsrres Disndsred t.
Lord Elgio. the Enghsh ambassador at
Csnstsntiaeple. got permission of the
sultan TO remove from the Acropolis fallen
piec~s Of shs building. bat he took from
t5e building to EnxIa the assst statues,
removing them sc an expense Of eight
hansires thousand dollars. A storm over
threw ssny Of tae statues Of thc Aeropolis.
Msrnsiai. the general. attempted 20 re-
msvs BON pediment the scui2tured car
and horse u yleterT, but the clumsy ma
shsasry dre2prd e and sll wa lost.
The Turks turned the building into q
powder magazine whers the ysnetssa guns
dropped are ssss ~ explosion sens the
ociumus flying n ths AIR aud falling
eSanaeSt ~ad splipksr>d. Bot after all that
49, sBd stcpu snd war scd icnnocissm
hsws slRsssp1. she Aeropoiis II tAe uo1srch