The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1891-10-02


cred demonstration OF reunion and 1T.
lection was desecrated a. the filthy llpi
Of Judas touched the pure cheek Of
Christ, and the horrid smack Of tina,
kiss has its echo In the treachery and
debaseillent and hypocrisy OF all ages.
Al. In December. 1880, ! walked on
the way from Bethany, and at the foot
Of Mount Olivet, a half mile from the
wall OF Jerusalem. through the Garden
OF Gethse,nane, and under the eigh,
venerable olive trees now standing,
their genealogical ancestors having
been witnesses OF the occurrences spoken
Of. the scene of horror and Of crime
came back to me until shuddered
with the historical reIniniscence.
In further following our great Chief
tain's march through the centuries
find myself In crowd In front Of
Herod's palace in Jerusalem, and on a
movable platform placed upon a ties.
selated pavement Pontius Plate sits.
And as once a year condemned Grim.
inal is pardoned, PLATE let's the people
choose whether 1t shall be an assassin
or our Cheftain, and they all cry out
for the liberation of the assassin, thus
declaring they prefer murderer to the
salvation of the world. PLATE took a
basin Of water in front Of these people
and tried to wash of the blood of this
murder from his hands. but he could
not. They are still lifted, and | see
them looming up through all the ages
eight fingers and two thumbs standing
out red with the carnage.
THE AGONY ON CALVARY.
Still following our Chieftain ascend
the hill which General Gordon. the
great English explorer and arbiter first
made clay model OF. tits hard climb
ing for our Chieftain, for he has not
only two heavy tinbers to carry on his
back, the upright and horizontal pieces
Of the cross, but he is suffering from ex-
haustion caused by lack Of food, noun.
tain chills, desert heats, whippings with
elmwood rods and years of maltreat
ment.
It took our party, in 1889, only fifteen
minutes to climb to the top of the hill
and reach that limestone rock in yon.
der wall, which l rolled down from the
apex of Mount Calvary. But think
our Chieftain must have taken a long
time for the ascent, for he had all earth
and all heaven and all hell on his back
as he climbed from base to summit.
and there endured what William Cow
per and John Milton and Charles Wes-
ley and Isaac Watts and James Mont
gomery and all the other sacred poets
have attempted to put in verse; and
Angelo and Raphael and Titan and
Leonardo da Vinci and all the great
Italian and German and Spanish and
French artists have attempted to paint;
and Bossuet and Massillon and George
Whitefield aud Thomas Chalmers have
attempted to preach.
Something Of it's overwhelming aw-
fulness you may estimate from the fact
that the sun which shines in the heav-
ens could not endure It; The sun
which untinchingly looked Gpon the
dsluge that drown6dx The g0Fld saichE
without Blinking, loQ - db6al ~ 4 dl6l5
81 earthquakes which swallowed Lisbon
and Caracas, and has looked unblanch-
ed on the battleflelds OF Arbela, Blen-
helm, Megiddo and Esdraelon, and all
the scenes of carnage that have ever
scalded and drenched the earth with
human gore-that sun could not look
upon the scene. The sun dropped over
lts face veil Of cloud. It withdrew.
It hid itself. It said to the midnight.
Il resign to thee this spectacle upon
which ! have no strength to gaze; thou
art blind, oh, midnight and for that
reason ] commit to thee this tragedy Y
Then the night hawk and the bat dew
BY, and the jackal howled in the
ravines.
Now we follow our Chieftain as they
larry his limp and lacerated form amid
he flowers and trees of a garden, the
the oleanders, the lilies, the
yeraniums the mandrakes, down Ave
y six steps to an aisle Of granite where
le sleeps. But only little while he
'leeps there, for there is an earthquake
n all that region, leaving the rocks to
his day in their aslant and ruptured
tate declarative of the fact that some
hing extraordinary there happened
And we see our Chieftain arouse from
his brief slumber and wrestle down the
ufflan Death who would keep him i'm
in that cavern and put both
heels on the monster, and coming forth
with a cry that will not cease to be
echoed until on the great resurrection
day the door of the lost sepulcher shall
be unhinged and flung changing into
The debris Of demolished cemeteries.
Now we follow our Chieftain to the
shoulder of Mount Olivet, and without
wings he rises, the disciples clutchinp
Tor his robes too late to reach them. and |
across the great CULTS Of space with one
hOnn6 ho rains tho% mould ,,,lx:.l r