Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1893-03-03
Y. B. BISHOP, Island Pond, "

will have 20 get frei up before they 90
there or thev will make trouble by calling
out 10 us: Keep Off that grass .What
90 You mean by plucking that dowery'
SHOW your tickets -
oh. how many Christian people need 20
obey NV text and take into their worship
aud their behavior and their consociatious
and presbyteries and general assemblies and
conferences more onychai | have some
tlrnes gone in very gala OF spirit into the
| presence or some disa praeable Christians
and In five minutes felt wretched, and al
some other time have gone depressed into
the company OF suave and genial souls aud
| in few moments | felt exhilarant What
was the differencef It was the difference in
what they burned on their censers The ons
burned onycha; the other burned asafetida,
In this concholo Sical stu,lv OF the Bible /
| also notice that the molusks or shelled ami
mails furnish the purple that you see richly
| darkening 50 many Scripture chapters
The purple stuff in the ancient tabernacle,
the purple girdle OF the priests the purple
mantle OF Roman Emperors, the apparel Of
DIVES In purple and fine lineu-aye, the
purple robe which in mockery was thrown
| upon Christ-were colored by the purple of
the shells on the shores of the Mediterra-
mean. 1t was discovered by a shepherds
dog having stained his mouth by breaking
one OF the shells and the purple aroused ad.
miration.
Costly purplel Six pounds OF the purple
liquor extracted from the shell6shes were
used TO prepare one pound OF wool Purple
was also used on the pages OF books. Bibles
and prayer books appeared In purple vellum,
which may still be found In some OF the ma
tional libraries OF Europe. Piutarch speaks
OF the purple which kept his beauty for 100
years. But after awhile the purple became
easier to get, and that which had been a
| sign OF imperial authority when worn In
robes was adopted by many people aud 20
| an emperor, jealous OF this Appropriation of
the purple, made law that any one except
ROYALTY wearing purple should be put to
| death.
Then, as il to punish the world for that
outrage OF exclusiveuess God oblterated
the color from the earth, as much as to say,
III all cannot have it none shall have It."
| But though God has deprived the race OF
that shellfsh which afforded the purple
there are shells enough left to make us glad
and worshipful. Oh. the enhancement Of
hue and shape still left all up and down the
beaches Of all the continents These creatures
OF the sea have what roofs of euamelsd por-
ceiainl They dwell under what pavilions
blue as the SKY and fiery as a sunset and
mysterious az an auroral And am l not
| right In leading you for a few moments
| through this mighty realm of God 20 neg-
lected by human eye aui human footstepf
1t is said that the harp and lutte were in
vented from the fact that in Egypt the Nile
overti0wed its banks, and when the waters
retreated tortoises were left by the million
on all the lands a nd these tortoisos died,
and soon nothing was left but the cartilages
and gristle OF these creatures which tight
ened under the heat into musical strings
that when touched by the wind or foot OF
man vibrated, making sweet sounds, and so
fha IL. Al
harp, and am | not right in irving to make
music out OF the shells and lifting them as
harp, from which to thrum the jubilant
praises OF the Lord and the pathetic strains
OF hu nan condolenceg
But find the climax Of this concholoyy OF
the Bible in the pearl, which has this distinc-
tton aoove all other gems-that 1t requires
no human hand to bring out its beauties
Job speaks OF it, and its sheen is in Christs
sermon, aud the Bible, which opens with the
| onycha OF my text closes with the pearl
| or such value is this usta ceous product /
do not wonder that for the exclusive right
of fishing for it on the shores OF Ceylon q
man paid to the English Government $780,
| 0OO for one season.
So exclusive is the pearl do noG Tond II
| that Piny thou ,ht it was made out OF
drop Of dew, the creature rising to the sur
face to take it and the chemistry OF nature
| turning the liquid into solid. You will
| see why the Bible makes so mucn OF the
pearl in its similitudes il you know how
much it costs to get it. Boats with divers
sail out from the island OF Ceylon, ten
divers to each boat Thirteen men
guide and manage the boat. Down
into the dangerous depths amid
sharks that whirl around them, plunge the
divers, while 60.0O people anxiously gaze
on. After three or four minutes absence
! from the air the diver ascends, nine-tenths
strangulatei and blood rushing from ears
and nostrils, and hinging his pesrly treasure
on the sand falls into Inconsistencies.
Oh, it is an awful exposure and strain and
peril 10 fish for pearls, and yet they do So
and is it not a wonder that to get that which
the Bible calls thepearl of greatprice. worth
more than all other pearls put together
| there should be so little anxiety, so little
struggle, so little enthusiasm Would God
that we were all as wise as the merchantmen
Christ commended, "who, wnen he had
| found one pearl of great price, went and
sold all that he had AMI bought 1t"
But what thrills me with suggestiveness
is.ths material out OF which all pearls are
| made. They are fashioned from the wound
| Of the shellfish. The exu lation from that
wound is fixed and hardened and enlarged
into pearl. The rupturei vessels of the
water animals fashioned the gem that now
adorns finger or earring, or sword hilt or
| kings crown.
so out OF the wounds OF earth will come
the pearls OF heaven. Out of the wound of
bereavement the pearl OF solaca. Out Of the
wound OF loss the pearl OF gain. Out Of the
deep wound of the grave the pearl OF resur
recGion joy. Out OF the wound, OF =
Saviour's life an 1 Saviour's death the rich,
the radiant, the everlasting pearl of heaven.
ly gladness-
"And the 10 gates were IL pearls" Take
| the consolation all va VINO haya been hurt,
whether hurt in boiy, or hurt in mind, or
hurt in soul. Get your troubles sanctiied.
IL you suffer with Christ on earth, you will
reign with Him In glory. Toe tears OF earth
are the crystals OF heaven. Every several
gate was OF one pearl"