The Forrest City times., 1892-03-04
THE GREAT SURPRISE.
OR. TALMAoE BREACHES INTHE
 TABERNAcLE PULPIT.
A S'owing Description of the Maenin. cence of soiomon--Likened.to ito the Gieams of the Chris tIan Re-
 hgion-very Interesting.


 BROOKLYN, NY, Feb 2S pr. Talmaee preached from the Tabernacle pulpit this morning after a brief vacation in the West. His text was: I. Kings, 10: 2. "Be. hold. the half was not told mc.v
 Solomon had resolved that Jerusalem should be the center of all sacred. reral and commercial magnifcence. He se. oimscif to work. and mouopolzed the sur rounding desert as a highway for his cara. vans. He built the city of Palmyra around one of the principal wells of the East, so that the long trains of merchandise from the East were obliged to step there. pay toii, and leave part of their wealth in the hands or Solomons merchants. He manned the fortress Thapsacus at the rh;ef ford of the Euphratcs, and put under guard everything that passed there The three great products of Palestine--wine pressed rom the richest clusters and celebrated all the world over; oil which ,n that hot country is the entire substitute Tor butter and lard, and was pressed from the ohve branches unt l every trcc in the country became an oil we'll, and honey when was the entire ub,titute for sugar --thesc three great products of the coun- try Solomon exported, and received ir- re- turn fruits and precious woods and the animals of every cline.
 lie went down 10 Ezion-gebcr and or dered fleet of ships to be constructed, oversaw the workmen, and watched the launching of the flotiila which was to go out on more than years voyage, to bring home the wealth of the then known world. He heard that the Egyptian horses were large and swift, ard long -maned and round-limbed, and he resolved to purchase them, giving eiehty-five dollars apiece for them, putting the best of these horses in his own stall, and selling the surplus to foreign potentatcs at great profit
 He beard that there was the best of tim. Der on Mount Lebanon, and he sent out one hundred and eighty thousand men to hew down the forest and drag tho timber through the mountain gorges to construct It into rafts to be floated to Joppa. and from thence to be drawn by OK teams twenty-five miles across the land to Jeru- salem. He heard that there were beauti- ful flowers in other lands. He sent for them, planted them in his own gardens, and to this very day there are flowers found Tn the ruins of that city such as are to be found in no other part Of Palestine, the lineal descendants of tho very flowers that Solomau planted. He heard that in foreign groves there were birds Of richest voice and most luxuriant wing. He sent out people to catch them and bring them there, and he put them into his cages.
 Stand back now and sec this long train of cames coming up to the kings gate, and the OK trains from Egypt gold and silver and precious stones, and beasts of every hoof, aud birds of every wing, and fish of every scale! Sec the peacocks strut under the cedars, and the horsemen run, and the chariots wheel lark to the orchestral Gaze upon the dancel Not stopping to look into the wonders of the temple, step right on to the causeway, and pass up 10 Solomon's palacel
 Here we find ourselves amid a collection of build nss on which the king had lav- lshed the wealth of many empires. The genius Of Hiram, the architect. and of the other artists is hcrc seen in the long line of corridors and the suspended gallery and the approach to the throne. Traceriud window opposite traceried window. Bronzed ornaments bursting into lotus and lily and pomegranate. Chapters sur rounded by network of leaves in which i'm ltation fruit seemed suspended as in hang Ing baskets. Three branches--so Josephus tells us--threc branches scuiatured on tue marble, so thin and subtle that even the leaves seemed toquiyer. A layer capable of holding five hundred barrels of water on six-hundred brazen OK heads. which gushcd with water and filled the whole place with cooiness and crystalline brightness and musical plash. Ten tables chased with chariot wheel and lion and cherubim. Solomon sat on a throne of ivory. At the seating place of the throne, on each end of the steps. a brazcn lion. Why, my friends, in that place they trimmed their candies with snufTcrs of gold. and they cut their fruits with knives of gold. and they washed their faces in basins Of gold, and they scooped out the ashes with shovels of gold, and they stirred tho altar fires with tongs of gold. Gold reflected in the wateri Gold flashing from the apparell Gold blazing in the crown! Gold gold goldl
 Of course the news of the afIlucnce of that place went out everywhere by every caravan and by wing of every ship, until soon the streets of Jerusalem are crowd- cd with curiosity seekers What is that lODR pfOCcSSiou dppioatufHS Jct usattbs think from the pomp of it there must be royalty in tho train. smell the breath of the spices which arc brought as pre- ents. and hear the shors of tho drivers, and see the dust-covered caravan show ing that they come from far away. Cry the news up to the palace. The Queen of Sheba advances. Let all the people come out to see. Let the mighty men of the land come out on the palace corridors. Let Solomon come down tbe stairs of the pal ace before the queen has alighted. Shake out the cinnamon and the saffron, and the and the frankincense, and pass 1t into the treasure house. Take up the dia- monds until they glitter in the sun
 The Queen of Sheba alights- She en- ters the palace. She washes at the bath She sits down at the banquet. The cup bearers bow. The meat smokes. You hear the dash of waters from the molten sea. Then she rises from the banquet and walks through the conservatorics and gazcs on tho architecture. and she asks Solomon many strange questions. and she learns about the religion of the Hebrews. and she then and there becomes servant of ihe Lord God.
 She is overwhelmed. She begins to think that all the spices she brought and all the precious woods which are intended 10 he turned into harps and psalterics and 'n- 10 railtngs for the causcway between the temple and the palace, and the one hun drcd aud eighty thousand dollars m money
 .. | .f-