The Red Cloud chief., 1894-03-30
THE ESCAPE OF PAUL.
OR. TALMAoe DESCRIBES IT IN HIS
MOBILE SERMON.

He Chose as His Subject "Unappreciated
se~rvicss"-How Great Results Hang on
Slender Thresds--Many Helpful rnhu-
ences Never Acknowledged.
: MOBILE, March 1i.-Rev. 7. De witt Tai.
mage, ID. d., who Is now visiting the south,
selected as the subject Of today's sermon
"Unappreciated Services" the text being
taken from II Corinthians ri, 80. Through
q window, In q basket, was let down by
the wall"
Damascus IL q city Of white and glisten-
Ing NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. called "tbe
eye Of the east" sometimes called "a pearl
surrounded by emeralds," at n time dis
tinguishcd for swords Of tho best material,
called Damascus blades, and upholstery Of
richest fabric, called damasks.
A horseman Of the name Of Paul, riding
toward this city, had been thrown from the
saddle. The horse had dropped under a
fash from the sky, which at the same time
was 30 bright 1t blinded the rider for many
days, and, / think, 80 permanently injured
his eyesight that this defect Of vision be-
came the thorn in the flesh he afterward
speaks Of. He started for Damascus to
butcher Christians, but after that hard fall
from his horse he was q changed man and
preached Christ In Damascus till the city
was shaken to its foundation.
The mayor gives authority for his arrest,
and the popular cry Is: xiii hint Kill
hlml' The city Is surrounded by a high
wall, and the gates are watched by the pO-
lice lest the Cilician preacher escape. Many
Of the houses are built on the wall, and
their balconies projected clear over and
lowered above the gardens outside. II WAS
customary TO lower baskets ont of these
balconies and pull. up fruits and flowers
from the gardens. TO this day visitors at
the monastery Of Mount Sinai are lifted
and let down in baskets.
Detectives prowled around from house to
house looking for Paul, but his friends hid
him now In one place, now In another. He
Is no coward, as 80 incidents in his life
demonstrate. But he feels his work IL not
done yet, and so he evades assassination.
us that preacher herei" the foaming mob
shout at one house door. rs that fanatic
herei" the police shout at another house
door. Sometimes on the street he passes
%incognito througha crowd Of clinched fists,
aud sometimes he ~secrctes himself on the
house top. At last the Infatuated populace
get on sure track OF him.
PAUL's ESCAPE.
They have positive evidence that he In In
the house of one Of the Christians, the bal.
cony OF whose home reaches over the wall.
"Here he Isl Here he isr' The vociferation
and blasphemy and bowling of the pursuers
arc ut the front door. They break In.
Fetch out that gospelizer, and let us hang
his head on the city gatei Where Is hef''
The emergency was terrible. Providential.
ly there WIS a good stout basket in the house.
Paul's friends fasten a rope to the basket.
Paul steps into It. The basket Ii lifted ia
the edge Of the balcony on the wall. and
then while Paul holds onto the rope with
both hands his friends lower away. care.
fully .aSa cautiously, slowly, but surely,
farther down md farther down, until the
s.sket strikes the earth, and the apostle
steps Ont and afoot and alone starts on that
famous missionary tour, the story OF which
has astonished earth and heaven. Appro'
pirate entry In Paul's diary Of travels
Through u window, In q basket, was I let
down by the wall"
Observe first on what q slender tenure
great results hang. The ropemaker who
twisted that cord fastened to that lowering
basket never knew how much would dc.
pend on the strength Of Il. How II II had
been broken and tAe apostles life had been
dashed OutS What would have become OF
the Christian church? All that magnin.
cent missionary work In Pamphylia, Cap.
padocia, Galatia, Macedonia, would never
have been accomplished. All his writings
that mako up so indispensable and enchant.
Ing "a part Of the New Testament would
never have been written. The story of res
direction would never have been 60 glori.
ously told rs he told 1t. That example OF
heroic and triumphant endurance ut Phi.
lippi. In the Mediterranean euroclydon, un-
der fiagellation and at his beheading, would
not have kindled the courage Of 10000 mar
tyrdoms. But the rope holding that basket
how much depended ON I'll So again aud
again great results have hung on what
seemed slender circumstances
II BOAT MOSES LAY IN.
Did ever ship OF many thousand tons
crossing the sea have such important pas
senger an had once a boat Of leaves, from
taffrail to stern only three OF four feet, the
vessel made waterproof by a coat Of btu.
men and floating on the Nile with the In.
FAINT lawgiver Of the Jews on boardi What
II some crocodile should crunch iti What
II some Of the cattle wading in for a drink
should sink itf Vessels Of war sometimes
carry 10 guns looking through the port.
holes, ready to open battle. But that tiny
craft on the Nile seems to be armed with ali
tho guns Of thunder that bombarded Sinai
vt the lawgiving. On how fragile craft
sailed how much OF historical Importance
The parsonage ut Epworth, England, Is
on fire In the night, and the father rushes
through the hallway for the rescue of his
children. Seven children arc out and safe
ON the ground, but one remains In the con
Stunning building. That one wakes, and
finding his bed on fire and the building
crumbling comes to the window, and two
peasants make q ladder Of their bodies, one
peasant standing on the shoulder Of the
other, and down the human ladder the boy
descends-John Wesley. Ifyou would know
how much depended on that ladder of peas
ants, ask the millions Of Methodists on both
sides Of the sea. ASK their mission stations
all round the world. Ask the hundreds OF
thousands already assembled I O Join their
founder, who would have persisted but for
the living stair Of peasants shoulders.
An English ship stopped at Pitcairn IL.
land, and right In the midst of surround.
Ing cannibalism and squalor the passengers
discovered q Christian colony OF churches
and schOOla and haautifnl homaa aod hi.h