Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1893-02-14


A. Overwhelmingly silent could Il mr.
my own heart beat with the emotions
aroused by the place ana hour frnccd
the arena fwail,cd down into The dens
where the hyenes were once Kept I fns.
ceudod to Tho place wi ere the emperor
used 10 dt climbed upon tho galleries
from which tic mighty throngs of peo.
pic had gazcd IN onchaitfncnt.
To break tho silence I shouted mud
that seemed 60 awaken the echoes. echo
upon echo. And those awakened echoes
seemed to address INC, saying; "Mon die,
but their work lives on. Gaudentius, the
architect who planned this structure,
the GOOOO cnslaved Jews brought 10y IT.
tus from Jerusalem and who toiled ON
these walls, the gladiators who fought
in this arena, the emperors and empresecs
who had place ON yonder platform, the
millions WHO during centuries sat and
rose in these galleries, have passed away,
but enough Of the Coliseum stands 20
tell the story Of cruelty and pomp and
power-5O0 years Of bloodshed."
Then, 0s 1 stood there, there came TO
inc another burst Of echoes. which seemed
throbbing with the prayers and songs
and groans Of Christians who had ex-
pired in that arena, and they seemed TO
say, "How much IL cost to serve God in
ages past, and how thankful modern
centuries ought to be that the persecu.
ton which redeemed the sands of this
amphitheater have been abolished"
And then | questioned tho echoes, say
ing, where is Emperor Titus. who sat
hereF Tho answer came, "Gone to
judgment" Where is Emperor Trajan.
who sat heref" "Gone to judgment" 4"
where is Emperor Maximinus, who sat
heref" Gone to Judgment" Where
are all the multitudes who clapped and
shouted and waved flags to let the van
quished up, or to have them slain put
thumbs DOWN" The echoes answered,
"Gone to judgment" inquired, "AllY'
And they answered, AL"
And looked up to the sky above the
ruins, and it was full of clouds scurry-
ing swiftly past, and those clouds seemed
as though they had faces, and some of
the faces smiled, and some of them
frowned, and they seemed to have
wings, and some of the wings were
moongilt and the others thunder charged,
and the voices Of those clouds overpow.
cred the echoes beneath. Behold, lie
cometh with clouds, and every eye shall
see him."
THE LAST JUDGMENT.
And as | stood looking up along the
walls of the Coliseum they rose higher
and higher, higher and higher, until the
amphitheater seemed to be filled with all
the nations of the past, and all the nations
of the present, and all the nations of the
future, those who went down under the
paws Of wild beasts, and those who sat
waving flags to let up the conquered,
and those who held thumbs down to
command their assassination, and small
and great, and emperor and slave, and
pastor and people, and righteous and
wicked, the amphitheater seeming to rise
to indefinite heights ON all sides of me, and
in the center of that amphitheater, In
stead of the arena of combatants, great
throne stood, rising higher and higher
higher and higher, and on it sat the
Christ for whom the martyrs died and
against whom the Diocletians plotted
their prosecutions, and waving one hand
toward the piled up splendors to the
right of him he cried, "Come, ye blessed
and waving the other hand toward the
piled up glooms on the left of him i,e
cried, Depart, ye cursed
And so the Coliseum of Rome that
evening of 1889 seemed enlarged into the
amphitheater of the last judgment, and
passed from under the arch of that
mighty structure, mighty even in its
ruins, praying to Almighty God, through
Jesus Christ, for mercy in that day for
which all other days were made, and
that as l expected mercy from God /
might exercise mercy toward others and
have more and more of the spirit of "Let
him up" and less and less of the spirit OF
Thumbs down!"
We may not all be able to do sum in
higher mathematics, but there is sum
in the first rule of gospel arithmetic
which we all may do. 1t is sum in sim
pie addition: add to your faith virtue
and to virtue knowledge, and to knowl-
edge temperance, and to temperance pa
tience. and to patience godliness, and to
godliness brotherly kindness, and to
brotherly kindness charity"