Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1893-02-18
THE CRUEL HEATHER
oR. TALMAGE FINDS AN IMPRESSIVE
LESSON IN THE ROMAN COLISEUM.

~ Mighty Work.
IS BROOKLYN, Feb. 12.-Rcv. Dr.. Tai
image this morning, after commenting on
ssEhe Scriptures md giving out hymns in
(which the multitude of worshipers in
Brooklyn Tabernacle joined, dis
ss$oursod from tho text Romans l, 10, "a
ains ready to preach the gospel to you
ss:tbhat IRE at Romo also"
Romo! What o city 1t was when Paul
visited It'll What q city it Is now! Rome!
Tho place where Virgil sang and Horace
sssatirizod and Terence laughed and Gait
sine consMrcd and Ovid dramatizcd and
syero iddlcd and Vespasian prosecuted
fand Sulla lcgislated and Cicero thun'
isaered and Aurclius and Decius ind Cali
sllla and Julian and Hadrian and Con-
stantine and Augustus reigned and Paul
SSzhe apostle preached the gospel.
III am not much Of q craftsman, but /
Have In my memorandum book sketch
which made in tho winter Of 1880,
when went out to tho gate through
(which Paul entered Rome and walked
zap tho very street he walked up to sec
somewhat how tho city must have looked
10 him as he came in on the gospel er-
!rand proposed in the test. Palaces on
either sido of tho street through which
tIo little missionary advanced Piled up
sWickcdness. Enthroncd accursedness
Tempted cruelties. Affairs to sham del
sstties. Glorifcd decisions. Pillared, archcd,
Coined, turreted denominations. Wicked
mess of all sorts at Il high premium and
Righteousness 00G per cent off. And now
Szie Spasses by tho foundations OF n build
ing whichis to be almost unparalleled for
fsastncss. You can SEQ by the walls.
which have begun to rise, that here is to
&c something enough stupcndous to u.s.
ss:ound the centuries Aye, it is the Coli
sseum started.
THEIR MONUMENTS OF SHAME
OF the theater at Ephcsus where Paul
fought with wild beasts, the temple of
Diana, of the Parthenon, of pharaoh's
palace at Memphis and of other great
the ruins Of which have seen
ID, das been my privilege to address you,
ssutaa member of my family asked me
recently why I had not spoken to you of
the Coliseum at Rome, since its moral
and religious lessons are so impressive.
Is Perhaps while in Rome the law of
contrast wrought upon me. I had Wis
.ifed the Malnertine dungeon where Paul
was incarccrated. had measured the
oEsning at the top of the dungeon
1eehrough which Paul had been let down,
al5dit was 20 inches by 81. The ceiling
atfits highest point was feet from the
foor, but at tho sides of the room the
acoiling was . feet inches. The room at
Stlieswidcst WIS Is feet. There was seat
55ocfsroclS 81 feet high. There was o shelf
:dssfeet high. The only furniture was a
,SFider's web suspended from the roof,
;sss;5lIisc,h1 saw by the torchlight | carried.
r Che. ssshte eens assage
IRON the dungeon to the Roman forum,
SO that the prisoner could be taken di-
rectly from prison to trial.
The dungeon was built out Of volcanic
stone from the Albano mountains Oh.
it was dismal and terrific place. You
never saw coal hole so dark or so for
bidding. Tho place was to me Il nervous
shock, for I remembered that was the
best thing that tho world would afford
the most illustrious being, except one,
that it ever saw, and that from that
place Paul went out to die. From that
spot visited the Coliseum-ono Of
the most astounding miracles Of archi-
lecture that the world ever saw. In
deed I saw it morning noon and night,
for it threw spell on me from which !
could not break away.
Although now vast ruin, the Coli
scum is co we'll preserved that we can
stand in tho center and recall all thnt 1t
once was. It is i'll shape ellipsoidal, oval.
oblong. 1t is at its greatest length 019
feet. After 1t had furnished seats for
81, 900 people it had room for $1,000 moro
to stand, so that 100000 people could sit
and stand transfxcd by Its scenes Of
courage and martyrdom and brutality
and horror.
Instead OF our modern tickets Of admis-
sion, they entered by ivory check, and q
check dug up near Rono within o few
years was marked, Section G, Lowest
Tier, Scat No. 49," You understand that
the building was not constructed for an
audience to be addressed by human voice,
although tested 1t with some friends
and could be heard across it, but 1t was
mado only for seeing and was circular.
and ut any point allowed full view OF
the spectacle.
REFINEMENTs OF CRUELTY.
The arena in tho center in olden times
was strewn with pounded stone or sand,
SO as not to be too slippery with human
blood, for if it were too slippery it
would spoil tho fun. The sand flashed
here and there with sparkles Of silver
and gold, and Nero added cinnabar and
Caligu1a added chrysocolla. The sides
of the arena were composed of smooth
marble II feet high, so that the wild
beasts Of tho arena could not climb up
into the audience On the top Of these
sides of smooth marble was metal rail
ing, having wooden rollers, which easily
re7olved, SO that If panther should
leap high enough to scale the wall and
with his paw touch any one of those
rollers it would rcvolve and drop him
back again into the arena.
Back of this marble wall surrounding
the arena was a level platform Of stone,
adorned with statues of gods and god
esses and the artistic effigies Of monarchs
and conquerors. Here wero movable
seats for the emperor and the imperial
swine and swinesses with which he sur
rounded himself Before the place where
the emperor sat the gladiators would
walk Immediately after entering the are
ma, crying: "Hail, Casarl Those about
to die salute thee.
The different ranks Of spectators were
divided by partitions studded with mo-