The Penn's Grove record., 1893-02-17
sREF. DR.. TALMAGE.
TaE .BROokLYN DIvINEs SUN
DAY SERMON.
sassect. 1.-The Coliseum of Rome.'

sobJect, 1.-The Coliseum of Rome
Tiki: ~ am ready to prsact tbs gosoe.
TO you that are Ut Rome dlso."-Romans
l., Is.
Romei What a city it was when Pau
, visited i'll What a city it is nowl kome'
The place where Virgil sang and Horace
satr zsd. ami Terence laughe and Catil1ne
conspired, and Ovid dramatizsd and Nero
fiddled, and Yes asian prosecuted and Sula
legis'ated. and Cicero Numbered, and Aurel-
ius and Decius and Callgula and Julian ana
Hadriad and Constantine and Augustus
reigned, and Paul the Apostle preached ths
gospel
am not much of a craftsman, but 1 have
in my memoranda n book q sketch which !
made in the winter of 1882, when ] went out
to the gate through which Paul entered
Rome and walked W the very street he
walked up to see somewhat how the city
must nave locke to hun as he came in on
/ the gosnel errand proposed In the text.
Palaces on either side OF the street through
which the little missionary advanced. Filled
! up wickedness. Enthronsd accursedness.
Tempted cruelties. Affairs TO sham deities.
/ Glorifed delusions. Pitared, arched,
/, domei, turretet denominations. Wictedness
of all sorts at q high premium andrighteous-
ness ~ per CENT ILL anu hoW ho P0oo~
by the foundations of a building which is to
be almost unparalleled for vastness. You
can see b. the walls which have begun TO
rise, that here is to be something enough
s~tupendous to astound the centuries. Aye,
it is the Coliseum started.
or the theatre at Ephesus where Pau
| fought with wild beasts. the temple of Diana.
!. of the Parthenon, OF Pharaoh's palace at
8 Memphis and OF other great buildings, TIE
\ rutls of which l have seen, 1t has been my
' privilege to address you, but a member OF
my family asked me recently why l had not
, spoken to you of the Coliseum at Rome.
since its moral n religious lessons are SO
IMPRESSIVE.
Perhaps while in Rome the law Of contrast
wrought upon me. I had visited the Nam
ertine dungeon where Paul was incarcsra-
\ ted. had measured the opening at the top
' Of the dungeon through which Paul had
been let down, and it was twenty-thres
| highest point was seven feet from the hoor,
but at the sides of the room the ceiling was
five feet seven inches. The room at the
widest was fifteen feet. There was a seat OF
! rock 21<S feet high. There was a shelf four
feet high. The only furniture wasa spiders
| web suspended from the roof, WIN CHI 1 saw
by the torchlight l carried. There was the
! subterraneous passage from the dungeon to
the Roman forum 50 that the prisoner could
/ be taken directly from prison to trial.
The dungeon was built out Of volcanic
stone from the Aloano Mountains. Oh, it
was a dismal and terrific place. You never
saw coal hole so dark or SO forbidden. Tae
place was to me a nervous shock, for l re-
member that was the best thing that the
world would afford the most illustrious De-
ing, except one. that l ever saw, and that
from that place Paul went out to die. From
that spot 1 visited the Coliseum OF the
most astounding miracles of architecture
that the world ever saw. Indeed, l saw IL
| morning. moor and night, for 1t threw a
| spell on me from which l could not break
away.
Although now a vast ruin, the Coliseum
9 so well preserved that we can stand In the
center and recall all that it once was. 1t is
in shape ellipsoidal. oval, oblong. 1t is at
is greatest length Rl2 feet. After it had
| furnisbed seats ior 81, 0)O people it had room
for is, 600 more to stand, SO taat lO0, 600 Poo
| pie could sit and stand transixsd by is
scenes of courage and martyrdom and bru-
tality and horror
Instead OF our moiern tickets of admis
sion, they entered oy ivory check, and q
check dug up near Rome wltnin Few years
was married. tSection 8, Lowest Tier, Seat
No. 49," You understand that the building
was not constructed for an audience to be
addressed by human voice, although l tested
IL with some friends and could DO heard
across It, but it was made only for seeing
| and was circular, ana at any point hlioW6u
full view OF the spectacle.
The arena in the centre in olden times was
strewn with pounded stone or sand, so as not
to be too slippery with human blood, for II
1t were too slippery it would spoil the fun
The sand flashed here and there with
sparkles Of silver and gold, and Nero added
| cinnabar and Csligula addsi chrysocolla.
The sides Of the arena were composet OF
smooth marble eleven feet nigh, SO that the
wild beasts of the arena could not climb up
into the audience. On the top Of these sides
of smooth marble was a metal railing, hav-
ing wooden rollers, which easily revolved.
so that il q panther should leap high enough
to scale tho wall and with his paw touch any
one of those rollers it would revolve 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 godesses and the
artistic eaigies Of monarchs and conquersrs.
Here were movable seats for the emperor
and the impsrial swine and swinssses with
which he surrounded himself; Before tns
place where the emperor sat the gladiators
would walk Immediately after entering the
arena. crying: Hail, Casarl Those about
to die salute thee"
The different ranks Of spectators were d.
yided BY partitions studied with mosaics OF
emerald ami bsryi and ruby and diamond
Great masts OF wood arose from all sides OF
the building, from which festoons OF flowers
were suspended, crossing the building, or in
time OF rain awnings Of silk were suspended,
the Coliseum having no roof. The outside
wall was incrusted with marble and had
four ranges, and the three lower ranges had
so columns each and arches after arches,
and on each arch IN exquisite statue OF q
god or a hero.
Into $50 feet Of altitude soare1 the Colts
eum, Il glittered and flashed and shons
with whole suurises and sunsets Of dazzle.
ment. After the audience had asse m oiled
aromatic liquids oozed from tubes distilled
from pipes and rained gently on the multi
tudes and Allied the air with odors Of hyaa
cinth and heliotrope aud frankincenss and
balsam and myrrh and saffron, so that Luz
can, the poet, says OF 1t:
At once ten thousand saffron curr ents now
And rain their odors on the crowd below.
But where was the sport to come FRONT
Well, I went into the cellars opening of
from the arena, and l saw the place where
they kept the hyenas an 1 Hons and panthers
and wild bears and beastly violencss OF all
sorts without food or water until made ferce
enough for the arena, and l saw the under
Ground rooms where the gladiators were
accustomed to wait until the clapping Of the
people outside demanded that they come
forth armed-to murder or be murdered.
Ali the arrangements were complete, q!
enough OF the cellars and galleries still re-
main to indicate. What fun they must have
had turning lions without food or drink up
on an unarmed disciple Of Jesus Christi
At the dedication Of this Coliseum 900(
wild beasts and 5000 immortal men were
slain. so that blood Of men and beast was moi
a brook, put a river; not a pool, but a lake,
Having been Ii that way dedicated, be no,
surprised when I tell you that Emperor Pro
bus on one occasion threw into that arena Of
the Coliseum 1000 stays, 1000 bears and l00l
ostriches. What fur 1t m~usthave oesn-ths
sound Of trumpets, the roar Of wild beast
and the groans Of dying men while In tn
gallery the wives and children z those down
under the lions paw wrung their hands ane
shrieked out In ~widowhood n orphanage
while 100, 900 people clappsd their hands. AM
there WAS . 'Hal hap' wide as Rome AM
deep as psrditionl
The corpses Of that arena were put on
cart or dragged by a hook out through VIVA
was called the Gate OF Death. What Al
excitement it must lave been when two com
batants entered the arena, the one with
sword and shield and the other with nel
and spear. The swordsman strikes 1t tn.
man with the net and shear. He lodges tn,
sword and then fings the net over the head
| NJ tina Swordaman and iarkS him to the dooI