The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1892-03-11
CHRISTIAN BEAUTIES.
Dr. Talmage on the Grandeurs Of
Religion. :.
Beauties OF Christianity More Surprising
Than the Glories of SoIomon-SOcial
Position aud Wealth In the Service
of the Lord-The Hereafter.

In late sermon at Brooklyn Rev. 7.
Dewitt Talmage took his text from
L Kings X Z: Behold, the half was
not told me-" He said:
Solomon had resolved that Jerusalem
should be the center of all sacred, regal
and commercial magnifcence. He set
himself to work and monopolized the
surrounding desert as highway for
his caravans. He built the city of Pal
myra around one of the principal wells
of the east so that the long trains of
merchandise from the east were obliged
to stop there, pay toll and leave part of
their wealth in the hands of Solomon's
merchants. He manned the fortress
Thapsacus, at the principal ford of the
Euphrates, and put under guard every
thing that passed there. The three
great products of Palestine-wine
pressed from the richest clusters and
celebrated the world over; oil which in
that hot country is the entire substitute
for butter and lard, and was pressed
from the olive branches until every
tree in the country became an oil well,
and honey which was the entire substi-
tute for sugar-these three great prod
ucts of the country Solomon exported
and received in return fruits and pre-
cious woods and the animals of every
cline.
He went down to Ezion-geber and or
dered a feet of ships to be constructed,
oversaw the workmen, and watched
the launching of the fotilla which was
to go out on more than ayear's voyage,
to bring home the wealth of the then
known world. He heard that the
Egyptian horses were large and swift,
and long-maned and round-limbed, and
he resolved to purchase them, giving
SIS apiece for them, putting the best
of these horses in his own stall and
selling the surplus to foreign poten-
tstes at great profit
He heard that there was the best of
timber on Mount Lebanon, and he sent
out $50, 600 men to hew down the forest
and drag the timber through the mount
ain gorges, to construct it into RATS to
be foated to Joppa, and from thence
TO be drawn by OK teams twenty-five
miles across the land to Jerusalem. He
heard that there were beautiful flowers
in other lands He sent for them,
planted them in his own gardens, and
to this very day there are flowers
found in the ruins of that city such as
are to be found in no other part of
Palestine, the lineal descendants of the
very flowers that Solomon planted. He
heard that in foreign groves there were
birds of richest voice and most luXu-
RANT wing. He sent out people to
catch them and bring them there, and
he put them into his cages.
Stand back now and see this long
train of camels coming up to the kings
gate, and the OK trains from Egypt,
gold and silver and precious stones,
and beasts of every hoof, ard birds of
every wing, and fish of every scale!
See the Ipeacocks strut under the
cedars, and the horsemen run, and the
chariots wheel! Hark to the orchestra!
Gaze upon the dance! Not stopping to
look into the wonders of the temple,
step right onto the causeway, and pass
up to Solomon's palace.
Here we find ourselves amid collec-
ton of buildings on which the king
had lavished the wealth of many en-
pires The genius of Hiram, the archi-
tect, and of other artists is here seen in
the long line of corridors and the sus-
pended gallery and the approach of the
throne. Traceried window opposite
traceried window. Bronzed ornaments
bursting into lotus and lily and pome-
granite. Chapters surrounded by net
work of leaves in which imitation fruit
seemed suspended as in hanging bas-
kets. Three branches-so Josephus
tells us-three branches sculptured on
the marble, so thin and subtle that
even the leaves seemed t. Quiver. a
Iaver capable of holding five hundred
barrels of water on six hundred brazen
OK heads, which gushed with water and
filled the whole place 18th GOODNESS
and crinoline brightness and musical
plash. Ten tables chased with chariot
wheel and lion and cherubim.
Solomon sat on a throne of ivory. Al
the seating place of the throne, on each
end of the steps, a brazen lion. Why,
my friends, in that place they trimmed
their candles with snuffers OF gold, and
thev cut their fruits with knives oi
basins of gold, and they scooped out
the ashes with shovels of gold, anG
they stirred the altar fires with tong:
of gold. Gold reflected in the water
Gold flashing from the apparel! Colo
blazing in the crown! Gold! gold! gold
OF course the news of the affiuence o.
that place went out everywhere by
every caravan and by wing of every
ship, until soon the streets of Jerusa
lem are crowded with curiosity seek
ers What is that long procession ap
proaching Jerusalem? l think from
the pomp of it there must be royalty
in the train. l smell the breath o
the spices which are brought as pres
ents, and l hear the shout of the driver
and / see the dust-covered caravan
showing that they come from IA
away. Cry the news up to the palace
The queen of Sheba advances. Let thi
mighty men of the land come out OF
the palace corridors. Let Solomon
come down the stairs of the palace be
fore the queen has alighted. Shake
out the cinnamon, and the saffron, anC
the calamus, and the frankincense, anC
pass it INTO the treasure house. TAX,
up the diamonds until they glitter il
the sun.
The queen of Sheba alights Sht
enters The palace. She washes at thi
bath. She sits down at the banquet
The cupbcarers bow. The mea
smokes. You hear the dash of water1
from the molten sea. Then she rise
from the banquet, and walks through
the Conservatives, and gazes on thr
architecture, and she asks Solomon
many strange questions and sh'
learns about the religion of the He