The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1893-02-17

building had gone away. The place was
so overwhelmingly silent could hear
my own heart beat with the emotions
aroused by the place and hour. l paced
the arena. walked down into the dens
where the hyenas were once kept l as
cended to the place where the emperor
used to sit. climbed up on the galleries
from which the mighty throngs Of peo-
pie had gazed in enchantment.
To break the silence l shouted, and
that seemed to awaken the echoes, echo
upon echo. And those awakened echoes
seemed to address me, saying: "Men die,
but their work lives on. Gaudentius, the
architect who planned this structure;
the 10000 enslaved Jews brought by Ii
tus from Jerusalem and who toiled on
these walls, the gladiators who fought
in this arena, the emperors and expresses
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 to
tell the story of cruelty and pomp and
power-500 years Of bloodshed."
Then, as | stood there, there came to
me another burst of echoes, which seemed
throbbing with the prayers and songs
and groans of Christians who had ex-
PRED in that arena, and they seemed to
say, GLOW much it 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 the echoes, say
ing, "Where is Emperor Titus, who sat
here?' The answer came, "Gone to
Judgment" "Where is Emperor Trajan,
who sat here?' "Gone to judgment"
"Where is Emperor Maximinus, who sat
here?' "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, "AllT'
And they answered, GAIL"
And I looked up to the sky above the
ruins, ana 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, he
cometh with clouds, and every eye shall
see him."
THE LAST JUDGMENT.
And as l stood looking up along the
walls of the Coliseum they rose higher
and higher, higher and higher, until the
seemed to be filed 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, a 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, We blessed"
and waving the other hand toward tie |
piled up glooms on the left of him lie
cried HDapart va cursed
And so the Coliseum of Rome that |
evening of 1889 seemed enlarged into the |
of the last Judgment, and |
passed from under the arch of that |
mighty structure, mighty even in its
'uins, praying to Almighty God, through
Jesus Christ, for mercy in that day for
which all other days were made, and
hat as l expected mercy from God I
night exercise mercy toward others and
lave more and more of the spirit of "Let
lim up and less and less Of the spirit of
Thumbs down.
We may not all be able to do a sum in
higher mathematics, but there is a sum
n the first rule of gospel arithmetic
which we all may do. 1t is a sum in sin
lie addition: add to your faith virtue,
nd to virtue knowledge, and to knowl-
dge temperance, and to temperance pa
fence, and to patience godliness, and to
odliness brotherly kindness, and to
kindness charity"