The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1893-04-08
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
The Brooklyn Preacher Talks Upon
1.-THE Eternal City.
The Colosseum, Its History and its Re-
ligious Lessons - The Terrioio
slaughter in Its Vast
Amphitheatcr.

and its history. He took for his text
I am ready to preach the GOSPEL 10 you 'n"s
are at Rome, also Romans l., 10.
Rome! What city 1t was when fau,
visited it! What city it is now! home'
The place where Virgil sang and nor
ace satirized, and Terence laughed ana
cataI;ne conspired, and Ovid drama-
tized and Nero fiddled, and Vespas'a.
persecuted and Sulla legislated' anu
Cicero tbundered. and Aurelius, ana
Decius. and Caligula. and Julian, ana
Hadrian. and Constantine, and Angus
tus reipned. and Paul, the apostle,
preached the Gospel
lam not much of a draughtsman, but
I have in my memorandum book
sketch which l made in the winter OF
1899. when went out to the gate
through which Paul entered Rome, ana
walked up the very street he walheu
mn to see somewhat how the city must
have looked to him as he came IN on
| the Gospel errand proposed in the text.
| Palaces on either side of the street
through which the little missionary
advanced. Piled mp welcomes En-
throned accursedness. Tempted cruel
ties. Affairs to sham deities. Glorihed
decisions. Pillared, arched, domeo,
turreted. denominations. Wickedness OF
all sorts at high premium, and right
cousness ninety nine and tnree-quar-
tiers per cent. off. And now he passes
| by the foundations of building winch
Is to be almost unparalleled for vast
ness. You can see by the walls, when
have begun to rise, that here is to De
something enough stupendous to as
tound the centuries. Aye, it il the
Colosseum started.
of the theater at Ephesus where
! Paul fought with wild beasts, OF the
temple of Diana, of the Parthenon. OF
: pharoah's palace at Memphis, and o.
other great buildings, the ruins o.
which have seen, it has been my
privilege to address you, but mem oel
of NV family asked me recently why
had not spoken to you of the Colosseum
at Rome, since it's moral and reigiou
lessons are so impressive.
Perhaps, while in Rome, the law @
contrast wrought upon me. l had Wis
tied the Mamertine dungeon wher
paul was incarcerated. / had meas
ured the opening at the top OF tn
dungeon through which Paul had pee
let down, and it was twcnty-tnre
inches by twenty-six. The ceiling a
it's highest point. was seven zee
from the floor, but at the sides OF Tn
room the ceiling was five feet seve
| inches The room, at the widest, WI
f;fteen feet. There was seat OF roc
t two and one-half inches high. The
L was a shelf four feet high. The on
: furniture was spiders web suspends
a from the roof, which ! saw by II
torchlioht 1 carried. There was II
- subterraneous passage from the du
= peon to the Roman forum, so that Z
e prisoner could be taken directly ire
Is nr;son to trial. The dungeon W
y bu;lt ont of volcanic stone from {
~ Alhano mountains. Oh, it was
De NAL and terrific place. You never So
4E a coal-hole so dark or so forbidden
lv The place was to me a nervous snoe
III for remembered that was the d
thing that the world wot
afford the most illustrious being,
cept One, that it ever saw ana 7,
from that place Paul went out TO q
From that rspot l visited the Coi
scum. one of the most astounding
acles of architecture that the wo
ever saw. saw it morning, noon
NIGHT. for it threw a spell on me fr
- which I could not break away.
Although now vast ruin, the
osseum is SO we'll preserved that
can stand in the center and recall
the that II once was. 1t is in shape ell
ices soidal, oval, oblong. 1t is, at It's gr'
the est length, six hundred and 1--WE
feet. After it had furnished seats
. eichtv-seven thousand people it
axe room for fifteen thousand more
mas stand. so that one hundred thous
1ty, people could sit and stand transn
/ tor bv it's scenes of courage and mar
wer dom and brutality and horror. ms
e ali of our modern tickets of admls
nc I they enter by ivory checks, an
check ding up near Rome within
la years was marked: Section six, l
est Tier, Seat Number Eighteen
q. understand that the building was
constructed for an audience to D.
dressed by human voice, althou
tested it with some friends and c
he heard across it, but it was
only for seeing and was circular,
at any point allowed full view Oh
- spectacle. The arena in the cent
olden times was strewn with pou
~ Stone or sand, so as not to be too
perry with human blood, for II 1t
too slippery. it would spoil the
The sand flashed here and there
s,cx. snarkles of silver and gold, and
i each added cinnabar and Caligula
cbrvsccolla. The sides OF the
.. were composed Of smooth mi
york eleven feet high. so that the
: 81 beasts q the arena could not
0Sl into the audience. On the top OF
sides of smooth marble was q
p. Q railing, having wooden rollers
World. easily revolved, so that II pa
re paid. should leap high enough to sea
md up wall. and with his paw touch
re ttt tit those rollers, it would revolve ant
ogue 10 him back again into the arena.
iur voups Of this marble wall surroundin
ess. arena was platform OF stone, at
tAn}e with the statues of gods and god
and the artistic efigies OF mo-
and conquerors Here were m
r,J seats for the emperor and the in
,SDssseUM swine and swinesses with which