The Opelousas courier., 1891-02-07

lullabys OF mothers which keep sounding on.
though the lips that sang them forty years
ago became ashes; the old hymnsin log cabin
churches and country meeting houses. snd
psalms IN Rouse's version In Scotch kinks;
the anthem In English cathedrals: the roll OF
organs that will never let Handel or Haydn
or Beethoven die; the thump of herps, the
sweep OF the bow across bass viels, the song
OF Sabbath schools storming the heavens, the
doxology OF great assemblages-why, q thou
sand Jerichos OF sin have by them all been
brought down.
Seated by the warmth of our campdres
that evening of December 9, amid the bricks
and debris of Jericho, and thinking what poor
music has done and what mightier things
could be accomplished by the blessings OF
9od on good music, / said TO myself: Min
lsters have been doing a grand work, and
sermons have been blessed, but would ID
not be well for US to put more emphasis on
muslcs Oh, for a campaign Of 'Old Hun
-redp Oh. for a brigade Of Mount Pts
gahsi Oh: for a cavalry Charge of Corona
tonsr' Oh, for an army of Antiochs and
st. Martins n ArielsI Oh, for enough
orchestral batons lifted to marshal all ma
tionsl AS Jericho was surrounded by poor
music for seven days, n was conquered,
so let our earth be surrounded seven days
by good gospel music, and the round planet
viii be taken for God. Not a wall of oppo-
eA0 uob q O1 GyISl4ys uQb d pdk-
ace OF sin, not an enterprise of u~nrighteous-
ness. could stand the mighty throb Of such
atmospheric pulsation. Musict 1t sounded
at the laying Of creations corner stone
when the morning stars sang together.
Musicl 1t will be the last reyerberation,
when the archangers trumpet shall wake
the dead. Musioi Let Its fun power be
now tested to comfort and bless n arouse
and save.
T1lsJ- -------
in the tents we walk out for a moment to
the Fountain Of Elisha" the one into which
the prophet threw the salt because the
waters were poisonous and bitter, and lot
they became sweet and healthy; and ever
since with gurgle and laughter, they have
rushed down the hill and leaped from the
rocks. the only cheerful object in all that
region being these waters.
Now on this plain of Jericho the sun is set
ting, making the mountains look like balus-
trades and battiements of amber andm maroon
and gold; n the moon, just above the erests,
seems to % a window OF heaven through
which immortals might be hooking down up
on the scene. Three Arabs as watehmen sit
beside the camp fire at the door OF
my tent, their low conversation I'm
a strange language all night long .
soothing rather than an interruption.
I had a dream that night never to be for
gotten, that dream amid the complete ruins
of Jericho. Its past grandeur returned, and
/ saw the city as it Was when Mark Antony
gave it to Cleopatra and Herod bought it
from her. And l heard thu hoofs of its swift
steeds and the rumbling of its chariots and
the shouts OF excited spectators in its amphi-
theatre.
And there was white marble amid green
groves Of palm and balsam; cold stone
warmed with ~sculptured foliage; hard pillars
cut into soft lace; Iliads and 0dysseys in
rrr1nitos hacalt 1a4. aS tho nidhf n1NIanfnd hU
carbuncle flaming as the morning; upholstery
dyed as though dipped in the blood of battle
fields; robes encrusted with diamond; mo
safes white as sea foam flashed on by auroras;
gayeties which the sun saw by day rivaled by
revels the moon saw by night; blashphemy
built against the sky; ceilings stellar as the
midnight heavens; grandeurs turreted,
arehivolted and intercolumnar; wickedness
80 appalling that established vocabulary fails,
and we must make an adjective and call it
Herodia
The rsgion round about the city walls
seemed 20 me white with cotton such as
Thenius describes as once growing there,
and sweet with sugar cane, and luscious with
orange and figs and p~omegranates, and redo
lent with such fora as can only grow where
q tropical sun kisses the earth. And the hour
came back to me when in the midst of all
that splendor Heroi died, commanding his
sister Salome Immediately after his death to
secure sne ASSASSINATION OF al me calel JsWs
whom ne nad nrongnt 90 ene Guy ana snus
up In 2 circus Ior snab purpose, ana tne news
came 20 me auaIehee Y Ine 1heasre as some
2 sooK Ine s5age ny 70 tne ex-
cise9 muiIlSuoe' herod Is deaai herod Ii
=
Inen 70 ny dream ~ ne pomp %
SsI as vanisnea, anu g.oom vas anoso 20
gloouu, ana 9esolaIlon soassolaLlon, and wee
% We I'LL: peTnaPs sne IIppLng waters
OF sns lolm i u Ellsna anggesung las
sDun ~ so.alss nls4 give alreeton 20
aream-l snougnC Inas me Waters OF Cnrisss
saasa.aol anu " Loan aains open TOT ~
aha uncasa Ines we're Ioilng tnroagn ina
paa a. an 1893 ~ snS 9o - aug Iunlng
lolha q s Z an = : slus = Insaa
D1hkS ell tH6 thoLNS OEcduAe uOWSrHs ana