Milford chronicle., 1893-02-17

EOIs OF QO4s anu Cstls anu lli4s lluak u lAS
time adds nothing to human discovery, but
Is only 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 transfxes a
fly with pin, or the low feeling that sets
two dogs into combat, or that bullies a
weak or crippled playmate, or the indifer-
ence that starves canary bird, needs only
to be developed in order to make a fir
class Nero or a full armed Apollyon. !
would be good sentence to be written on
the top line of n 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 mercyr'
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 great
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
7 heaven, and in all that world there is not
one ruin and never will be ruin. Not one
Of the pearly gates will ever become un-
! hinged Not one of the amethystine tow
/ ers viii ever fall Not one Of the mansions
will ever decay. Not one Of the chariots
will ever be unwhceled. Not one Of the
/ thrones will ever rock down Oh, make
sure of heaven, for it is an everlasting
4 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 living soul in all the immense area.
Even those accustomed to sell ourios 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.
l paced the arena. / walked down into the
| dens where the hyenas were once kept. !
assembled to the place where the emperor
used to sit. climbed up on the galleries
from which the mighty throngs Of people
had gazed in enchantment.
To break the silence l shouted, and that
seemed to awaken the echoes-echO upon
echo. And those awakened echoes seemed
to eddress me, saying: Men die, but their
work lives on. Gaudentius, the architect
who planned this structure, the 10000 en-
shaved Jews brought by Titus from Jerus1-
lem. and who toiled on these walls, the
gladiators who fought in this arena, the
emperors and empFesscs 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 cTueity
and pomp and power Five hundred years
of bloodshed.n
Then, as | stood there, there came to m
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."
TIE MIGHTY ONES ARE DUST.
And then | questioned tie echoes, say
ing, where is Emperor Titus who sat
heTeS" The answer cana, Gone to jsdg-
ment." Where is Emperor Trajan, who
sat here?" "Gonc to Judgment" "Whero
is Emperor hacxiiaiaus, who sat here2"
Gone 10 Judgment" Where are all tho
multitudes who clapped and shouted and
waved ilegs to let the vanquished up, or to
have them slain put thumbs down''
The echoes answered, "GOne to judgment.
l inquired "All?" And they answered, |
"An."
And looked up to the sky above the ru
ins, ard it was full Of clouds seurryin; |
swiftly past, and those clouds seemed al ,
though they had faces, and some of the |
faces smiled, and some Of them frowned |
and they seemed TO have wings, and some |
of the wings were moongilt and the others |
thunder charged, and the voices Of thoss
clouds oycrpowered the echoes beneath, |
Behold, he eometh with clouds, and every /
eye shall see him. "
And as / stood looKingu along the walls /
of the Coliseum they rose higher and hig5
or, higher and higher, until the amphithc
ater seemed to be filled with all the nation1
Of the past, and all the nations Of the pres
ont, and ali the nations Of the future-thos4
who went down under the paws of wilG
beasts, and those who sat waving flag
to let up the conquered, uud those wh)
held thumbs down to command their az
sassination and small and great anj
emperor ard slave, and pastor and pee
pie, ard righteous and wicked the ami
phitkeater seeming 10 rise to infnit;
heights on all sides of me, and in IL
center Of that amphitheater instead {,
the arena Of eomhataRts, a great thrort
stood, rising higher ard higher, Eigher an
higher, and on it sat the Christ for whol
the martyrs died and against whom Il
DiOcletians plotted their prosecutions, ar
= = .nsN L. 4 To-
dors to the right of him he cried, Come, e
blessed" and waving the other hand
ward the piled up glooms Gu the left fhi
he cried, rDepart, We cursed,
And so the Coliseum Of Fnrie that eve
ing of 1889 seemed enlarged iuro tho ampl!
theater Ct the last judgment, and pass, J
from under the arch Ct that mighty struc-
ture, mighty even in its ruins, praying to
Almighty God, through jesus Christ, for
mercy in that day for which all other days
were made, and that, as I expected mercy
from God, l might exercise mercy toward
others and have more and more Of the
spirit of let linn up, and less and less OF
the spirit Of Thumbs down"
We may not be able to doa sum in higher
mathematics, but there is O SUM in the first
rule of gospel arithmetic which we all may
10 It is sum in simple additions eAdd
to your faith virtue, and 10 virtue knowl-
edge, and to knowledge Temperance, and to
temperance patience, and to patience godh
ness, and to godliness brotherly kindness,
and to brotherly Kindness charity"
Going to the South seas.
An English farmer named Leather is here
on his way to Feeiee, accompanied by his
wife and eight servants. Although CD years