Democratic messenger., 1893-01-28

tine chaliccs have been the friends Of in
toXicaiioa instead of its foes Over the
fiery lips of the amcthystine chalices is
thrust the tongue uf that which bitcth
like u serpent and stingcth like an adder
Drunkenness is Il combination of apo
plexy and dcmcntia. The 100000. .OG0
victims of opium come out To meet the
l.O.CGn. coo victims of alcohol. and the
two agents take the contract for tum-
bling the human race into pcrdition. but
whether they will succeed in fulfilling
the contract depends on the action of
the amcthvstinc cups. the amethvstine
demijolns. the ailethystinc ale pitchers.
the amcthysiinc flagons. the amethystine
ians. Oh. Grcc!:~. Oh. Egyptians. you
were wrong il thinking that cup Of
amcthys; would prevent inebriation.
TIE HEBREW SUPERSTITION.
But standing on the top of this anne
thystinc layer of the foundation of the
wall Of heaven h"think myself of the
mistake that many Of the ancient He
brews made when they thought that the
amethyst WIS Il producer OF pleasant
dreams. just wear piece of amethyst
over Your heart or put it under your
pillow. and yol would have Your dreams
filled with everything beautiful and en-
trancing. No. no. The style of pillow will
not decide the character of tine dream
The only recipe for pleasant dreams
is to do right and think right when
yOuarc wide awake. Conditions of phvs-
ical disease may give good man night
mare. but IL man physically well. if he
behave himself Alright. will not be trou-
bled with bad dreams.
NchuchaincZzar. with eagles down
under his head and Tyrian purple over
it. struggled with 81 bad dream that made
him shrek out for the soothsayers and
astrologers to come and interpret it.
Memphis. was confounded by dream
i'll which lean cows ate up the fat cows
and the small ears of corn devoured the
seven large ears. and awful famine was
prefi;gured. Pilates wife. amid clouds
of richest upholstery. had startling
dream. because Of which she sent mes
sage III hot haste to u courtroom To keep
her husband from cnacting judicial
outrage. But Jacob. nj Bethel. with Il
pillow of mountain rock, had blissful
dream of the ladder angel bloSsuming
Bunvan. with his head on hard
plank of Bedford Jail. saw the gates of
the celestial city. ST. John. on the bar
rcneSt island of the Isgean sea, in his
dream heard trumpets and saw cavalry
men on white horses and new heaven
and Il new earth No amount of rough
pillow can disturb the night vision of Il
saint. and no amount of amethystinc
charm can delectate the dream of Il mis-
creant.
But. some one will say. why have Won
brought us to this amethyst. the top row
of the foundation of the heavenly wall.
if you are not able to accept the theory
of the ancient Greeks. who said that the
amethyst was charm against intoxica-
ton. or if you are not willing to accept
the theory of the ancient Hebrews that
the amethyst was producer of pleasant
dreams: Ny answer is. have brought
you To the top row, the twelfth layer of
the foundation Of the heavenly wall of
800 miles Of circling amethyst, to put
you III IL position where you can get a
new idea of heaven: to let Won see that
after you have climbed up twelve strata
of glory You are only ut the base of the
eternal graaleurs: to let You. with en-
chantment of soul. look far down and
look far up. and to force upon you the
conclusion that if all our climbing has
only shown us the foundations of the
wall. what must the wall itself be: and
if this is the outside of heaven. what
must the inside he; and if all this is fig
urative. what must the reality be: Oh.
this piled up magnificence of the heav-
enly wall, oh. this eternity of decora-
ton. Oh. this opalescent. florescent,
prislnatic miracle of architecture. What
enthroncmcnt of all colors. \ mingling
of the blue of skies and the surf of seas.
and the green of meadows. and the up
holstery of autumnal forests. and the fire
of August sunsets. All the splendors of
earth and heaven dashed into those
twelve rows of foundation wall. All
that mark you. only typical of the spir
itual glorics that roll over heaven like
the Atlantic and Pacific oceans swung
in one billow.
Do Won not see that il was impossible
that you understand Il hundredth part
If the suggestivencss of that twenty
first chapter of Revelation without Co-
Ing into some of the particulars of the
wall Of heaven AMI dipping up some of
its dripping co!ors. and running Your
eye along some of its wondrous crystal
lyafin,,s .,Y1 # tho
frozen light iii its turquoise. and feeling
with your own finger the hardness of its
iapphire. and shielding Your eyes against
the shimmerinS brilliancc in it's beryl
and studying the SEQ miles of emerald
without flaw: Yet all this only the oat-
side of heaven. ani the poorest part of
the outside: not the wall itself. but only
the foot Of the wall. for my text says. The
foundations of the wall of the city were
garnishcd with all manner Of precious
stones" Oh. get down your harp if you
can play one. Get down palm branch
if you can rcac. one. Why. i; makes us
all feel like crying ont with James Mont
gomcry:
When shall these eyes thy beaver, built walls
And pcar'y gales behold?
Oh my soul, If my text shows us only
the outsdc. what must the inside bc.
While riding last summer through the
cmpcrors park. near st Petersburg. !
was cap;ivated with the groves. trans
planted from all zones, and the flower
beds s-miles this way and miles that way
-incarnadincd with beauty. and the
fountains bounding in such revel with
the sunlight rs nowhere else is seen. |
said: This is beautiful. never SAW
anythin: IL" this before
But when entered the palace and saw
the pictured walls. and the long line Of
s,atuary. AMI squariums afloat with all
bright scales. and aviarics a-chant with
bird voices and the inner doors of the
palace were swung back by the cham
bcrlain. and saw the emperor and en-
press and princes and princesscs. and
~. Will, ,.nriin1itx- I'LL