Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1893-02-16

of bank cashier Oh. my friends, the
world wants more Of tho spirit of LET him
up" and less of the spirit of Thumbs
DOWN. There are hundreds of men in the
prisons of America who ought to DO dis
charged, because they were the victims of
circumstances or have suffered enough.
There are in ali professions and occupa-
tions men who are dcmineered over by 9TH
ers, and whose whole life is struggle with
monstrous opposition, and circumstances
have their heel upon the throbbing and
broken hearts For Gods sake, let them
upl Away with this spirit of Thumbs
DOWN. What the world wants is l, 000men
like Telemachus to leap out of the gallery
into the arena, whether he be a Roman
Catholic monk or Methodist steward or
Presbyterian elder, and go in between the
contestants. blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called the children of Godp'
One-half the world is down, and the other
half is up, and the half that is up has its
heel on the half that is down. If you, as a
boss workman, or as contractor, or as a
bishop, or as state or national official, or
as potent factor in social life, or in any
way are depressing any one, know that the
same devil that possessed the Roman Coli
scum Expresses you. The Diocletians are
not all dead. The cellars leading into the
arena of life's struggle are not all emptied of
their tigers. The vivisection by young doc
tors Of dogs and cats and birds most Of the
time adds nothing TO human discovery, but
is only a continuation of Vespasian's Coli
scum.
The eruelties Of the world generally be-
gin in nurseries, and in home circles, and in
day schools. The child that transfixes a
fly with pin, or the low feeling that sets
two dogs into combat, or that bullies a
weak or crippled playmate, or the indiffer-
ence that starves canary bird, needs only
to be developed in order to make a first
class Nero or a full armed Apollyon. 1t
would be good sentence TO be written on
the top line of a child's book and fit in
scription to be embroidered In the arm
chair of the sitting room, and an appropri-
ate motto for judge and jury and district
attorney and sheriff TO look at in the court
house, blessed are the merciful, for they
shall obtain mercy"
SOLEMN LESSONS FROM ROME.
And so the ruins Of that Coliseum
preach to me. Indeed the most impressive
things ON earth are ruins. The four greas-
est structures ever built are in ruins. The
Parthenon in ruins, the temple of Diana
in ruins, the temple Of Jerusalem IN
ruins, the Coliseum in ruins. Indeed the
earth itself will yet be a pile Of ruins,
the mountains in ruins, the seas in ruins,
the cities in ruins, the hemispheres in
ruins. Yea, further than that, all up and
down the heavens are worlds burned up,
worlds wrecked, worlds extinct, worlds
abandoned. Worlds on worlds in ruinsl
But am glad to say it is the same old
heaven, and in all that world there is not
one ruin and never will be a ruin. Not one
of the pearly gates will ever become I'M
hinged. Not one of the amethystine tow
ers will ever fall. Not one of the mansions
will ever decay. Not one of the chariots
will ever be unwheeled. Not one Of the
thrones will ever rock down. Oh, make
sure of heaven, for it is an everlasting
heavenl Through. Christ the Lord get
ready for residence in the eternal palaces
The last evening before leaving Rome for
Brindisi and Athens and Egypt and Pales-
tine went alone to the Coliseum. There
was not "A living soul in all the immense area.
Even those accustomed TO sell curios at the
four entrances of the 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 |
1 DdCNN luc Il Ndlhtb Qoh ii llllO lnc
dens where the hyenas were once kept. I |
assembled to the place where the emperor
used to sit Iclimbed up on the galleries |
from which the mighty throngs of people |
had gazed in enchantment.
To break the silence / shouted, and that |
seemed to awaken the echoes-echo upon |
echo. And those awakened echoes seemed |
TO address me, saying: Men die, but their |
orlr lsxroo Eof,lapftr,c ba |
who planned this structure, the 10000 en-
shaved Jews brought by Titus from Jerusa-
lem. 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 Coli |
scum stands to tell the story Of cruelty |
and pomp and power Five hundred years
of bloodshed.
Then, as l stood there, there came to me
another burst of echoes, which seemed
throbbing with the prayers and songs and
groans of Christians who had expired in
that arena, and they seemed to say, How
much it cost to serve God in ages past, and
how thankful modern centuries ought to
be that the persecution which Redeemed the
sands of this amphitheater have been abol-
ished."
THE MIGHTY ONES ARE DUST.
And then questioned the echoes, say
ing, Where is Emperor Titus, who sat
heres" The answer came, Gone to judg-
ment" 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 vanquished up, or to
have them slain put thumbs down?n
The echoes answered, Gone to judgment"
inquired, "Allf" And they answered,
''AI.n
And l looked up to the sky above the ru-
ms, and it was full of clouds scurrying
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
If the wings were moongilt and the others
thunder charged and the voices of those
clouds overpowered the echoes beneath.
Behold. he cometh with clouds, and every