Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1894-03-01

| blood? What great bridge ever sprung
its arches; what temple ever reared its
towers; what nation ever achieved its
independence; what mighty good was
ever done without sacrifice of life?
The great wonder of the world, the
bridge that united these two cities.
cost the life of the first arehi-
teet Ask the shipyards of Glas-
| gov and New York how many
| carpenters went down under ac-
| cidents before the steamer was
| launched; ask the three great trans
continental railroads how many in their
| construction We're buried under crum-
bling entertainments. 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.
Nicarious 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 blutf
back of Jerusalem when one being took
upon Himself the sins, the agonies, the
perdition of a great multitude that no
man can number, between ID o'clock
of darkened noon and o'clock in the
afternoon, purchasing the ransom Of a
ruined world. Dive in all the seas; ex-
plore all the mines; crowbar all the
mountains; view all the crowned jewels
of all the emperors, and find me any
gem that can so overwhelmingly sym
bolize that martyrdom as the ruby.
Mark you, there are many gems that
are somewhat like the ruby. So is the
cornelian; 50 as the garnet; so is the
spinel; SO is the balasi so the gems
brought from among the graveis Of
Ceylon and New South Wales; but there
is only one genuine ruby, and that
comes from the mines 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 I'M Ter heaven among men by
which we can be saved" Ten thou
sand times ten thousand beautiful imi-
tations OF that ruby, but only one ruby.
Christ had no descendant, Christ had
no counterpart. In the lifted-up grand
eur and glory and love and sympathy
of His character He is the incompara-
BILE, the infinite one! The only wise
God, our Saviour Let all hearts, all
homes, all times. all eternities bow be-
fore Him! Let His banner be lifted in
all our souls.
In olden times Scotland was dis
turbed by freebooters and pirates. To
rid the seas and ports of these despera-
does. the hero. William Wallace, fitted
out merchant vessel, but filed it with
armed men. and put out to sea. The
pirates with their flag inscribed of a
deaths head, thinking they would get
an easy prize. bore down upon the
Scottish merchantmen. When the
armed men of Wallace 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.
Blessed be God for any sign, for any
signal, for any precious stone that
brings to mind the price paid for such
a rescue.
like the coral. for it seems the solid
flied foam of breakers; and like the
Jasper. for it gathers seventeen colors
into its bosom; and like the jet. for
it congresses the shadows of many
midnights: and like the chrysoprase.
because its purple is illuminated with
a small heaven of stars; and like the
chrysolite for its waves of color which
seem on fire. But this morning moth
ing so impresses me as the ruby, tor il |
depicts, il typifes, 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, "Wisdom is better than rubies."
To bring out a contrast that will
illustrate my text, put before you
two last earthly scenes. This one is in
a room with rubies, but no religions;
and the other in a room with religion.
but no rubies- You enter the first
room. where an affiuent and worldly
man is about to quit this life. There
is a ruby on the mantel, possibly
among the vases. There is a ruby IN
the head-dress of the queenly wife. On
the finger of the dying man there is
ruby. The presence of these rubies
implies opulence of all kinds. The
pictures on the walls are heirlooms, OF
the trophies of European travel. The
curtains are from foreign looms. The
rugs are from Damascus or Cairo. The
sofas are stuffed with ease and quiet
tude. The rocking-chairs roll back
ward and forward on lullabys. The
pillows are exquisiseiy embroidered
All the appointments of the room
are peroration to successful
commercial or professional life. But
the man has no religion. never has
had, and never professed to have.
There is not Bible or one religious