The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1891-11-19
the face, "Great is Diana o, the


Enough of its walls and appointments
are left TO show what stupendous
place it must have been when used for
foot races and for fights with Wild
beasts. 1t was building ESQ feet long
oy 200 feet wide. Paul refers to what
sranspired there in tie way OF spectacle
when he says, "We have been made a
spectacle" Yes, Paul says, II have
fought with beasts at Ephesas," an ex-
preston usually taken as figurative, but
suppose it was literally true, for one
| of the amusements in that Stadium was
to put disliked man In the arena with
| a hungry lion or tiger or panther, and
let the fight go on until either the man
or the beast or both were slain.
1t must have been great fun for these
haters of Christianity to hear that on
the morrow in the Stadium in Ephesus
| the missionary Paul would, in the pres
ence of the crowded galleries, fight a
hungry lion. The people were early
there to get the best seats, and a more
alert and enthusiastic crowd never as
seinbled. They took their dinners
with them. And was there ever a
more unequal combat proposed. Paul,
| according to tradition, small, crooked
backed and weak eyed, but the grand
est man in sixty centuries, is led to the
center as the people shout: There he
| comes, the preacher who has nearly
ruined our religion. The lion will
make but a brief mouthful of him"
PAUL's MAGNIFICENT FIGHT.
Il is plain that all the sympathies Of
that crowd are with the lion. In one
of the underground rooms | hear the
| growl of the wild beasts. They have
been kept for several days without food
or water in order that they may be
| especially ravenous and bloodthirsty
/ What chance is there for PAUL. But
you cannot tell by q mans size or looks
| how stout blow he can strike or how
| keen a blade he can thrust. Witness,
| heaven and earth and hell, this strug
| gle of Paul with a wild beast. The
coolest man in the Stadium Is Paul.
| What has he to fearl He has defied
all the powers, earthly and Internal,
and If his body tumble under the foot
and tooth of the wild beast, his soul
will only the sooner find disenthra!l-
ment. But it is his duty, as far as pos
sible, to preserve his life.
Now | hear the bolt of the wild
beasts door shove back, and the whole
audience rise to their feet as the fierce
brute springs for the arena and toward
| its small occupant. I think the first
plunge that was made by the wild beast
at the apostle was made on the point
of a sharp blade, and the snarling
monster with a howl of pain and reek-
ing with gore turns back. But now
the little missionary has his turn OF
directed thrusts the monster lies
dead in the dust of the arena
and the apostle puts his right foot
on the lion and shakes him, and
then puts his left foot on him and
shakes hin-a scene which Paul after
ward uses for an, illustration when he
wants to show how Christ will triumph
over death-'he must reign till he hath
put all enemies under his feet;' yes,
under his feet Paul told the literal
truth when he said, 81 have fought
| with beasts at Ephesus," and as the
plural is used think he had more than
one such fight, or several beasts were
let loose upon him at one time. AS we
stood that day in the middle of the
Stadium and looked around at the great
structure, the whole scene came bach
upon Us.
But We pass out of the Stadium, fol
We are in haste for other places of In
terest in Ephesus. To add to the ex
citement Of the day one of our part!
was missing No man Is safe in thai
region alone unless he be armed anc
knows how to take sure aim and no
miss fire Our companion, DR.. Loui
Klopsch, now the publisher OF Th'
Christian Herald, had gone out OF
T some explorations of his own, and
! through the gate where Paul had walk
ed again and again, yet where no mai
3 unaccompanied should adventure now
| But after some time had passed, ant
i every minute seemed as long as al
e hour. and we had time to imagin
{ everything horrible in the way of rob
D berry and assassination, the lost travel
er appeared, to receive from our entir
$ party volley of expostulation for tn
orousal Of so many anxieties.
In the midst of this city of Ephesu
= once fioated an artificial lake, brillian
r with painted boats, and through th
; River Cayster it was connected wit
e the sea, and ships from all parts OF th
q known earth foated in and out carry
& ing on a commerce which made Ephs
q sus the envy of the world. Great wa
q Ephesusl Its gyInnasia, its hippodroms
u its odeon. lis athen8uTn, its forum, II
~ aqueducts (whose skeletons are sti
/ strewn along the city, its towers, il
e Castle of Hadrian, its monument {
1t Androclus, its quarries, which were tn
L granite cradle of cities; its temple
p built to Apollo, TO Minerva, to Mel
II tune, to Mercury, to Bacehus, to He
q cuIes. to Caesar, to Fortune, to Jupit'
r. Olympus. What histo.E and poetI
"a and chisel and canvas have not pr
sented has come up at the call OF a
Oh chaologists' powder blast and crowba
ts guE EXPLORERS REVELATIONS
IN But / have now 10 unve;i the chi
ID Honder of this chiefest of cities
er 1853. under the patronage of the En-
at sSb Governments Mr.. Wood, the e
I'd pIorer, began at Ephesus to feel aioI
nd under the ground at great depths 4
n roads. for walls, for towers, and here
sd is-that for which Ephesus was mo
ne celebrated than all else besides-tl
on Temple of the Goddess Diana, CALI
al he sixth wonder of the world, and
1859 We stood amid the ruins OF tn
Jet temple, measuring its pillars. transf1x
@ by Its sculpture and confounded