Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1893-03-04
REV. DR.. TAIN AGE
lUE BROOKLYN nIVINE'E sun
DAY SERMON.

SD~ ''sH " AtoU'r 'oC 1iIAa
l., -.
Rome What a city 1t was. when Paul
visited it! What a city it is nowl Rome
satlrized. and Terence laughed and Catiline
~conspired. and Ovid dramatized and Nero
1lidIei, aud Eespasian pr~osecu ted and Sulla
!egislafed. and Cicero thunderei, and Aurel.
ius and Decius and Caligula and Julian and
Hadriad and Constantine and Augustus
reicned, and Paul the Apostle preached the
gospel.
am not much % a craftsman. but I have
in my memorandum book a sketch which I
Inad- in thu wintDr Of 1889, when | vent out
to the gate through which Paut entered
Rome AMI walkc1 up tho very street he
walked M to 90. somewhat how the city
rust have looked 10 him rs he came IN on
III" gospel GRAND proposed in the text.
J alaces on either side Of the street through
which the llttlo missionary advanced. Pilei
w ~icketneSs. Enthroned nccur sedness.
Tempted crueltle.. Affairs 10 sham deities.
tflorIfied de!us!ons. Piilared, arche3,
tofuc', tIrrctei denominations. Wickednes.
~ all sorts Al a high premium and righte Gus.
me- ~ per cent. of. AMI now he passe.
iy thf foundations OF n building winch is t.
h.: almost unparalleled for vastness. You
ran Sc by the walls which have begun To
U.s., that her" il u he something enough
~jup"niDu> ~ nstouni the centuries Ave,
Il isthcCYii s.um ~startal
or tie theatre al EDhesus where Paul
fourhi "ith Wild beast. the temple OF Diana,
~ the IarthenDn, of Pnaraoh's palace at
Memphis and ~ other great buildings, th.
ruins If winch ] have seen. it has been nv
privilege - nddrc~, Won, but q member of
my fanliy asked me recently why I had not
spoken 10 you Of the Coliseum at Rome,
since rs moral AMI religious lessons are sc
int rc>Alve
Perhaps while in Rome the law OF contrast
wrought upon me. | had visited tho NAM
ertIne dungeon where Paul was incarcera-
ted J hai measured. the opening Mt the top
Of the dungeon through which Paul had
been Jet GOWN. and 1t was twent three
inches ~ twenty-six. The ceiling at its
highest I,olnt was seven feet from tn" floor,
but n the SIDES Of the room the ceiling was
five feet seven lnchcs. The room at the
widest WAS fifteen feet. There was a seat OF
rock . feet high. There was a shelf four
fo.t hIgh- The only furniture was u SPIDERS
web suspended from the roof, wh ch / saw
hv the tOrchlight ! carried. There was the
subfcrraIIeou> passage from the dungeon to
the Ronanforurn 50 that the prisoner could
be taken directly from prison to trial.
The dungeon was built out OF volcanic
from the Albano Mountains. Oh. It
was II dismal and terrific place. You never
coal hole 50 dark or SO forbidden. The
p|ac, was TO me n nervous shock, for | re-
member that was tho best thing that tho
world would afford tn, most lllustrious be-
Ing, except one. that | ever saw, and that
from that place Paul went out to die. From
that spot | visited the Coliseum-one Of the
most astounding miracles OF architecture
that the world ever saw. Indeed. | saw it
moor and night, for it threw a
spell on me from which | could not break
away.
Although now a vast ruin, the Coliseum
Is SO we'll preserved that we can stand In the
center and recall all that it once was. 1t is
in shape ellipsoidal. oval, obiong 1t is at
its greatest length 6l2 fest. After it had
for l5,Wo more TO stand. so that 100, 900 poo
pie could sit and stand transfixet by It's
scenes OF courage and martyrdom and bru-
tality and horror.
Instead Of our modern tickets OF admis-
sion, they entered 10y ivory check. and a
chrrk duS up near Rome within a few years
was market "Section 6, Lowest Tier. Seat
No. IS You understand that the building
was not constructed for An audience to be
addressed 10y human voice, although l tested
1T with soma friends and could be heard
across it, but it was made only for seeing
and was circular, and at any point allowed
fun view of the spectacle. /
The arena in the centre in olden times was
strnwn with pounded stone or sand. 80 az not
- - w. biII' ! "lVi a'IlN otcOl. u IL
it were too slippery it would spoil the fun.
Tie sand flushed here and there with
sparkles OF silver and gold, and Nero added
cinnahar and C%aligula added c~hrysocolla.
The sides of the arena were composed OF
smooth marble eleven feet high, 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 IA metal railing, hav-
ing woolen rollers. which easily rcvolved.
50 that II a panther should leap high enough
IL scale the wall and with his paw touch any
ono OF those rollers it would revolve and
drop him back again into the arena.
Eac> of this marble wall surrounding tho
arena was n level pla torn Of stone, adorned
with statues Of gods and godesses and the
artistic cfiE les of monarchs and conquerers.
Here were movable seats for the emperor
and the imperial swine and swinesses with
which no surrounded himself. Before the
place where the emperor sat the gladiators
would walk immediately after entering the
arena. crying: Hail, Caesar. Those about
II die salute thee.
The different ranks OF spectators were d.
vldei by partitions studded with mosaics of
emerald and heryl and ruby and diamond.
Great naSts OF wood arose from all sides OF
.ne uuliIrn., NOM wnlrn Ic>,oonsu VI mower.
were suspendei, crossing the building, or in
time Of rain a wnlngs of silk were suspended,
the Coliseum having ne roof. The outside
wall was incrtlsted with marble and had
four ranges. and the three lower ranges hat
50 columns { ach and arches after arches,
AMI an each arch an exquisite statue of a
god or a hero.
Into lSQ ftet OF altitude scared the Coils
cum. Ii gathered and flashed and shone
with whole sunrises and sunsets of dazzle
ment. After the audience had assembled
aromatic liquids oozed from tubes distilled
from plaees and rained gently on the multi
tudes aIrl filled the air with odors Of hya-
cinth AMI he'll Vtrope and franklncense and
hatsam and myrrh and saffron, SO that Lu-
can. the poet. says of 1t:
I once ten thousand sa iron currents how
Ard rain tAet! oiors on the crowd belcw.
But where was the sport to come from
Well, | went INTO the cellars opening of
from the arena, and | saw the place where
they kept the hyenas an / lions and panther,
and Wild bears and beastly violences of al
sorts without food or water until made fierc,
enough for the arena, and | saw the under
ground roo ms where the gladiato-s wer,
accustomed - wait until the ~clappinS of th,
pee Q. outside demanded that they com,
forth arned-to murder or be murdered
All the arrang einents were complete. a
enough OF the cellars and galleries sill re
main 10 indicate. What fun they must hav
had turning hons without food or drink ul
on m uuarmed disciple OF Jesus Christ
A. the dedication e this Coliseum 90
Z Wild beasts and Il. 600 immortal men wer