Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1892-03-03
THE KINGS MAGNIFlcENcE.
tIark to the orchestra-Gaze Upon the Dance.
Enter the Palace.
All This Was Grand. An This Was Inspiring.
butt Was as Nothing Compared With
the Glory and Nagnifcence ofthe
Temple Not Made by Hands
Special the Gazette.

nificence of Solomon. which Dr. Talmage
hkened to the glories of the Christian
religion, which would he said, be sur
prise to all who tried it for themselves.
His text was: l Kings, Y, &: behold the
half was not told me"
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 Tor his caravans. He
built the city of PALMYRA around one of the
principal wells of the East, so that all 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 chief ford OF the Euphrates, and put
under guard everything that passed there.
The three great products of Palestine-wine
pressed from the richest clusters and
celebrated all the world over; oil which in
that hot county is the entire substitute for
butter and lard, and was pressed from the
olive branches until every tree in the
country became au oil well, and honey
which was the entire substitute for
sugar-these three great products of the
country Solomon exported, and received in
return fruits and precious woods and the
animals of every cline.
He went down to n-geber and ordered
a feet Of ships TO be constructed. oyersaw
the workmen, and watched the launching
of the fiotilla which was TO go out on more
than q years voyage TO bring home the
wealth of the then known world. He heard
that the Egyptian horses were large and
swift, and lone-maned and round-limhed
aud 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 potentates at great
profit.
He heard that there was the best of tim
Der on Mount Lebanon, and he sent out
$50, 600 men to hew down the forest and drag
the timber through the mountain gorgeS, to
construct it into RATS to be ioated to Joppa,
and from thence TO be drawn by OK teams
twenty-five miles across the land to Jerusa-
lem. He heard that there were beautiful
flowers il 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 de-
scendants of the very flowers that Solomon
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 see this long train of
camels coming up to the kings gate, and
the ox-trains from Egypt, gold and silver
and precious stones, and beasts of every
hoof, and birds of every wing, and fish of
every scalel See the peacock 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
on 10 the causeway, and pass up TO Solo
mons palace
? Here we find ourselves amid q collection
of buildings on which the king had lavished
the wealth of many empires. The genius
of Hiram, the architect, and or the other
artists is here seen in the long line of cor
ridors and the suspended gallery and the
approach to the throne. Traceried window
opposite trace1ed window. Bronzed orna-
ments bursting into lotus and lily and
pomegranate. Chapters surrounded by
network of leaves in which imitation fruit
seemed suspended as in hanging baskets.
Three branches-so Josephus tells US
three branches sculptured on the marble so
thin and subtle that even the leaves seemed
to culver.
A LAYER capable OF holding 500 barrels of
water on 600 brazen ox-heads, which gushed
with water and filed the whole place with
GOODNESS and crystalline brightness and
musical plash. Ten tables chased with
chariot wheel and lion and cherubim. Solo
mon sat on a throne of ivory At the seat
ing place Of the throne, on each end OF the
steps, q braZen lion.l Why, my friends. In
that place they trimmed their candles with
snuffers 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 colo, and they
stirred the altar fires with tongs OF gold.
Gold reflected in the water! Gold flashing
from the apparel Gold blazing In the
crownl Gold gold! gold
OF course the news of the afiuence of
that place went out everywhere by every
caravan and by wing of every ship, until
soon the streets OF Jerusalem are crowded
with curiosity seekers. What is that long
procession approaching Jerusalema think
from the pomp of it there must be royalty
in the train. L smell the breath OF the
spices which are brought as presents, and
hear the shout OF the drivers, and I see the
dust-covered caravan showing 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
the stairs CT the palace before the queen
has alighted. Shake out the cinnamon, and
the saffron, and the calamus, and the
frankincense, and pass it into the treasure
house. Take up the diamonds until they
glitter in the sun.
The queen Of Sheba alights. She enters
the palace. She washes at the bath. She
sits down at the banquet. The cup bearers
OOW. L ne neub SLlOhcS lOu near blAS
dash of waters from the molten sea. Then
she rises from the banquet and walks
through the conservatories and gazes on the
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 the Lord God.
She is overwhelmed. She begins to
think that all the spices she brought, and
all the precious woods which are intended
to be turned into harps and pSalteries and
into ratings for the caUSeway between the
temple and the palace, and the $4,000 in
money-she begins to think that all these
presents amount to nothing in such place,
and she is almost ashamed that she has
brought them, and she says within herself;
II heard a great deal about this wonderful
religion OF the Hebrews but I find it far
beyond nv highest auticipations. l must
add moro than fifty per cent to what has
been related. Il exceeds everything that /
could have expected The h2lf-the half
was not told me"
Learn from this subject what q beautiful
thing it is when social position and wealth
surrender themselves TO God. When re-
ligion comes to a neighborhood, the first to
receive it are the women. Some men say
it is because they are weak-minded. 1 say
it IS because they have quicker perception
of what is right. more ardent affection and
for sublimer emotion. After the
women have received the gospel then all the
and the poor of both sexes, those
who have no friends, except Jesus. Last
of all come the people ef ahiuence and high
social position. Alas, that il is sol
II there ure those here to-day who have