Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1893-1895, 1893-09-25

| neduSnlan ak OF nfe. w here l3 my Ia
vorite Of all arts, this art Of sculpture,
that it is not buster for Christ or that
its work is not better appreciatej2 Let
1t come forth at that worlds jubilee of
the nativity. We want a second Phidias
to do for that new temple what the first
Phidias did for the Parthenon. Let the
marble of Carrara come to resurrection
to celebrate our Lords resurrection. Let
sculptors set up in that auditorium Of
Christ's celebration bas-relief and intagfo
descriptive Of the battles won fo7 our
holy religion. Where are the Canovas
of the nineteenth century? Where are
the American Thorwaldsens and Chan
treys? Hidden somewhere, l warrant
you.
Let sculpture turn that place into an
other Acropolis, but more glorious by as
much as our Christ is stronger than their
Hercules, and has more to do with the
sea than their Neptune, and raises great
er harvests than their Ceres, and rouses
more music in the heart of the world
than their Apollo. 1.-The gods Of the
heathen are nothing but dumb idols, but
our Lord made the heavens" In marble
pure as snow celebrate him who came
to make us "whiter than snow" Let
the chisel as well as pencil and pen be
put down at the feet of Jesus.
Yea, let painting do its best. The for
eign galleries will loan for such a jubilee
their Madonnas. their Angeles, their
Rubens, their Raphaels, their "Christ
at the Jordan" or "Christ at the Last
Supper or "Christ Coming to Judg-
ment," or "Christ on the Throne of Uni
versal Dominion" and our own Morans
will put their pencils into the nineteen
hundredth anniversary, and our Bier
stadts from sketching THE Domes of the
Yosemite will come to present the
domes of the world conquered for I'm
manuel.
Added to all this would have floral
decoration on a scale never equaled. The
fields and open gardens could not fur
nish it, for it will be winter, and that
season appropriately chosen, for it was
into the frosts and desolations of winter
that Christ immigrated when he came
to our world. But while the fields will
houses within 200 miles would gladly
keep the sacred coliseum radiant and
aromatic during all the convocations.
Added to all let there be banquets,
not like the drunken bout at the Metro
politan Opera House, New York, cele-
brating the centennial of Washington's
inauguration, where the rivers of wine
drowned the sobriety of so many SEN
ators and governors and generals, but a
banquet for the poor, the feeding Of
scores of thousands of people of world
in which the majority Of the inhabitants
have never yet had enough to eat, not
banquet at which few favored men
and women of social or political fortune
shall sit, but such banquet as Christ
ordered when he told his servants to ''go
out into the highways and hedges and
compel them to come in" Let the may
ors Of cities and the governors of states
and the president of the United States
proclaim q whole week of legal holiday
at least from Christmas day to New
Years day.
Added to this let there be at that in
ternationAl moral and religious exposi-
ton a mammoth distribution of sacred
| literature. Let the leading ministers of
religion from England, Scotland, Ire
land, France, Germany and the world
take the pulpits of all these cities and
| tell what they know Of him whose birth
we celebrate. At those convocations let
vast sums Of money be raised for
churches, for asylums, for schools, for
colleges, all of which institutions were
born in the heart of Christ. On that
day and in that season when Christ gave
himself to the world let the world give
itself to him.
Why do propose America as the coun'
try for this convocation? Because most
other lands have state religion, and
while all forms OF religion may be toler'
ated in many lands America Is the only
country on earth where all evangelical
denominations stand on an even footing,
and all would have equal hearing in such
an international exposition. Why do
select this cluster of seacoast citiesi
Answer-By that time-Dec, 25, 1900
these four citics of New York, Brook
lyn, Jersey City and Hoboken, by
bridges and tunnels, will be practically
one and with an aggregate population
of about 6,OOO.OO0. Consequently nc
other part Of America will have such
immensity of population.
Why do now make this nomination
of time and place? Answer-Because
such a stupendous movement cannot be
extemporized. 1t will take seven years
TO get ready for such an oyertowering
celebration, and thework ought TO begin
speedily in churches, in colleges, in leg
islatures, in congresses, in parhaments,
in all styles Of national assembiages, and
we have no time to lose. 1t would take
three years TO make a programme wor'
tby of such a coming together.
Why do take it upon myself to make
such a nomination Of time and placei
Answer-Because it so happens that in
the mysterious providence Of God, born
in a farmhouse and Of no royal orPrince-
ly descent, the doors OF communication
are open TO me every week by the sec.
ular and religious printing presses and
have been open TO me every week fol
many years, with all the cities and
towns and neighborhoods OF Christen'
| - "a fadead in landa outside Ol