Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1892-06-20

the face of his executioners, and hea
him say, ~ am now ready to be offered
and the time Of my departure is at hand.
Then they lift him out Of the dungeon
and they start with him to the place o
J execution. They say: Hurry along. oil,
man. or YOU will feel the weight Of oul
spear. Hurry along" How far is it.
sIys Paul, 1--WE have to travel?' Three
iuiles.~ Three miles is good way fol
an old man to travel after he has beer
whipped and crippled with maltreat
nent. But they soon get to the place ol
execution--Acqua Saliva - and he i.
fastened to the pillar of martyr,lom. Ii
does not take any strength to tie him
fast. He makes no resistance.
. PAUL. why not now strike for your
/ life? You have great many friends
here. With that withered hand just
/ launch the thunderbOlt Of the people
upon those infamous soldiers. No! Paul
/ was not going to interfere with his nwn
coronation. He was too glad to 20. see
him looking up in the face of his execu-
toner, and, as the grim official draws
the sword. Paul calmly says. 81 am now
ready to be offered, and the time Of my
departure is at hand" But put my
hand over my eyes. | want not to sec
that last struggle. One sharp. keen
stroke. and Paul does go to the banquet.
and Paul does dine with the king.
A GLORIOUS TRANSITION.
What transition it was! From the
malaria of Rome to the finest climate in
all the universe-the zone of eternal
beauty aud health. His ashes were put
in the catacombs of Rome, but in one
moment the air of heaven bathed from
his soul the last ache. From shipwreck,
from dungeon. from the biting pain OF
the elmwood rods, from the sharp sword
of the headsman, he goes into the most
brilliant assemblage of heaven, king
among kings. msltitudes of the saint
hood rushing out and stretching forth
hands of welcome, for DO really think
that as on the right hand of God is
Christ, so on the right hand of Christ is
Paul, the second great in heaven.
He changed kings likewise. Before
the hour of death. and up TO the last
moment, he was under Nero, the thick
necked, the cruel eyed, the filthy Tipped,
the sculptured features Of that man
bringing down to Us this very day the
horrible possibilities Of his nature
seated as he was amid pictured mar
bles of Egypt, under a roof adorned
with mother-of-pearl, in a dining room
which by machinery was kept whirling
day and night with most bewitching
magnifcence; his horses standing in
stalls of solid gold, and the grounds
around his palace lighted at night by
its victims, who had been bedaubed
with tar and pitch and then set on fire
to illumine the darkness. That was
Pauls king.
But the next moment he goes into the
realm of him whose reign is love, and
whose courts are paved with love, and
whose throne is Set ON pillars of love,
and whose scepter is adorned with jew
els of love, and whose palace is lighted
with love, arrd whose lifetime is an eter-
nifty of love When Paul was leaving
so much on this side the pillar of mar
tyrdom to gain so much on the other
side, do you wonder at the cheerful vale
uACtOIN VI Alc tCAlf 1AC tlAuC VI l4ls
departure is at hand:"
Now, why cannot all the old people
have the same holy glee as that aged
man hadg Charles l, when he was comb
ing his head, found gray hair, and he
sent it to the queen as great joke; but
old age is really no joke at all. For the
last forty years you have been dreading
that which ought to have been an ex-
hilaration. You say you most fear the
struggle at the moment the soul and
body part. But millions have endured
that moment, and may not we as well?
They got through with it and so can we.
Besides this, all medical men agree in
saying that there is probably no struggle
at the last moment-not so much pain
as the pricksof pin, the seeming signs
of distress being altogether involuntary
But you say, 1T is the uncertainty of
the future" Now, child of God, do not
play the infidel. After God has filled
the Bible till it can hold no more with
, stories of the good things ahead, better
not talk about uncertainties.
THE GLORIOUS COMPANY.
But you say, Il cannot bear TO think
of parting from friends here" If you
are old, you have more friends in heaven
than here. Just take the census. Take
some large sheet of paper and begin 10
record the names of those who have emi
grated to the other shore; the compan-
ions of your school days, your early
business associates, the friends of mid
life, and those who moro recently went
away. Can it be that they have been
gone SO long you do not care any more
about them, AMI you do not want their
society? Oh, no. There have been DAYS
when you have felt that you could not
endure another moment away from their
blessed companionship. They have gone.
You say you would not like to bring
them back TO this world of trouble, even
if you had the power. 1t would not do
TO trust you. God would not give you
resurrection power.
Before tomorrow morning You would
be rafting at the gates of the cemetery
crying TO the departed: Come back 10
the cradle where you slept! Come back
TO the hall where you used 10 play!
Come back 10 the table where YOU used
10 STIR and there would be a great bur
glary in heaven. No, no. God will not
trust You with resurrection power; but
he compromises the matter and says,
"You cannot bring them where You are,