Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1893-1895, 1894-02-14


good was ever done without sacrifice of
lite5 The great wonder of the world, the
bridge that unites these two cities, cost
the life of the first architect. Ask the
shipyards Of Glasgow and New York
how many carpenters went down under
accidents before the steamer was launch
ed; ask the three great transcontiuental
railroads how many in their construc-
tlon were buried under crumbling EN-
bankments or crushed under timbers or
destroyed by the powder blast.
Tabulate the statistics of how many
mothers have been martyrs to the cradle
of sick children Tell us how many men
sacrificed nerve and muscle and brain
and life in the effort to support their
households. Tell me how many men in
England, in France, in Germany, in
Italy, in the United States, have died for
their country. Vicarious suffering is as
old as the world, but the most thrilling,
the most startling, the most stupendous
sacrifice of all time and eternity was on
bluff back Of Jerusalem when one Be-
ing took upon himself the sins, the ago
nies, the perdition OF a great multitude
that no man can number between 10
o'clock of darkened noon and 8 o'clock
in the afternoon, purchasing the ransom
of a ruined world.
Dive in all the seas, explore all the
mines, crowbar all the mountains, view
all the crowned jewels of all the emper-
ors, and find me any gem that can so
overwhelmingly symbolic that martyr.
dom as the ruby. Mark you, there are
many gems that are somewhat like the
ruby. So is the cornelian, so is the gar
net, SO is the spinel, 80 is the balas, 80
the gems brought from among the grav-
els of Ceylon and New South Wales, but
there is only one genuine ruby, and that
comes from the mine of Burmah. And
there is only one Christ, and he comes
from heaven. One Redeemer, one Ran
som, one Son of God, only lone name
given under heaven among gmen by which
we can be saved"
Ten thousand times 10000 beautiful
limitations of that ruby, but only one
ruby. Christ had no descendant. Christ
had no counterpart. In the lifted up
grandeur and glory and love and sympa-
thy of his character he is the Incompar
able, the Infinite Onel 1.-The only wise
God, our Saviour" Let all hearts, all
homes, all times, all eternities, bow low
before himl Let his banner be lifted in
all our soulsl
PRICE OF THE GOSPEL.
In olden times Scotland was disturbed
by freebooters and pirates. To rid the
seas and ports of these desperadoes, the
hero William Wallace fitted out mer-
chant vessel, but filled it with armed
men and put out to sea. The pirates,
with their flag inscribed of deaths
head, thinking they would get an easy
prize, bore down upon the Scottish mer-
chantman, when the armed men of Wal
lace boarded the craft of the pirates and
put them in chains and then sailed for
port under the Scotch flag flying. And
SO our souls, assailed of sin and death and
hell, through Christ are rescued, and the
black flag of sin is torn down, and the
striped flag of the cross is hoisted. Bless
sed be God for any sign, for any signal,
for any precious stone, that brings to
mind the price paid for such a rescued
l like the coral, for it seems the solidi-
fed foam of breakers, and like the jas
per, for it gathers II colors into its bosom,
and l like the jet, for it congresses the
shadows of many midnights, and like
the chrysoprase because its purple is
illumined with small heaven of stars,
and l like the chrysolite for its waves Of
color which seem on fire. But this morn
ing nothing so impresses me as the ruby,
for it depicts, ittypifes, it suggests "The
blood of Jesus Christ that cleanseth from
all SIM" Without the shedding of blood
there is no remission" Yea, Solomon
was right when in my text he said, "Wis-
dom is better than rubies."
To bring out a contrast that will illus
trate my text, l put before you two last
earthly scenes. The one is in room with
rubies, but no religion, and the other III
a room with religion, but norubies. You
enter the first room, where an affiuent
and worldly man is about to quit this
life. There is ruby on the mantel, pos
sibly among the vases There is a ruby
in the headdress Of the queenly wife.
On the finger of the dying man there
is a ruby. The presence of these rubies
implies opulence of all kinds. The pic
lures on the walls are heirlooms or the
trophies of European travel. The cur
tains are from foreign looms. The rugs
are from Damascus or Cairo. The sofas
are stuffed with ease and quietude. The
rocking chairs roll backward and for
ward on lullabies. The pillows are ex-
auisitely embroidered. All the appoint
ments of the room are peroration to a
successful commercial or professional
life. But the man has no religion, never
has had and never professed to have,
There is not a Bible or one religious book
in the room.
The departing man feels that his earth
ly career is ended, and nothing opens be-
yond. Where he will land stepping off
from this life is mystery, or whether
he will land at all, for it may be annihi-
lation. He has no prayer to offer and
he does not know how to pray. No hope
Of meeting again in another state of ex-
istence. He is through with this life
and is sure Of no other. The ruby on the
mantel and the ruby on the wasted hn-
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