The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1897-04-14
BUILDING THE CITY.
DR.. TALM4GE ON N5HEM:AH' 5 RIDE
IN WRECKED J5RU ACEM.


Neheniah's Resolve Love OF the Church
of God-Ruin and Redemption-The
Great Good That Comes From Trouble.
WASHINGTON, April From the
weird and midnight experiences OF one
of ancient times Dr.. Talmage II MS
sermon draws lessons startling Y ap-
propriate. His text was Nehennlan D Il,
is. Then went ! up in the night oy
the brook and viewed the wall and
turned backand entered by the gate OF
the valley, and so returned.
a dead city is more suggestive than
a'living city-past Rome thsn present
Rome2ruins rather than newly fres-
coed cathedral. But the best time TO
visit ruin is by moonlight. The Co
Iiseum is far more fascinating to the
traveller after sun6own than bsfore.
You may stand by daylight amid the
monastic ruins of Melrose abbey and
study shafted oriel and rosetted stone
and mullion, but they throw their
strongest witchery by moonlight
Some Of you remember what the en-
chanter of Scotland said ii the Lay
of the Last Minstrel:'
Wouldst thou view fair Melr ;ght,
Go visit it By the pale moonlight,
Washington Irving descri bes the
Andalusiar moonlight upon the Al,
hambra ruin as amounting TO an en-
chantment. My text presents you Js,
rusalem in ruins. The tower down.
The gates down. The walls down.
Everything down. Neheniah on
horseback by moonlight looking upon
the ruins. While he rides there are
some friends on foot going with him,
for they do not want the many horses
to disturb the suspicious of the people.
These people do not know the secret
of Nehemiah's heart, but they are 60.
ing as sort Of bodysuard. I hear
the clicking hoofs of the horse on
which Nehemiah rides SIS he guides it
this way and that, into this gate and
out of that, winding through that gate
amid the debris OF once great Jerusa-
lem.
Now the horse comes to dead halt at
the tumbled masonry where he cannot
pass Now he SHES off al the chsrred
timbers, Now he comes along where
the water under the moonlight flashes
from the mouth of the brazsn dragon
after which the gate was named.
Heavy hearted Nehemiah. Riding in
and out, now by his old home desolat-
ed, now by the defaced temple, n6w
amid the scars Of the city that had
gone down under battering ram and
confsgration. The escorting party
knows not what Nehemiah means. Is
he getting crazy2 Have his own per-
sonal sorrows, added to the sorrows Of
the nstion, unbalanced his intellect2
Still the midnight exploration goes
on. Nehemiah on horseback rides
through the fish gate, by the tower of
the furnaces, by the kings pool, by
the dragon well, in and out, in and
out, until the midnight ride is com
pleted, and Nehemiah dismounts from
his horse, and to the amazed and con-
founded and incredulous bodyguard
declares the dead secret of his heart
when ne says, Come now, let US
build Jerusalem" What, Nehemi-
ali, have you any money!" No"
Have you any kingly authorityT
NO" Have you any eloouence2
''No." Yet that midnight, moonlight
: ride OF Nehemiah resulted in the glo-
rious rebuilding OF the city OF Jerusa,
lem. The people knew not how the
thing was to be done, but with great
enthusiasm they cried out, LET US
rise up now and build the city" Some
people laughed and said it could not
be done. Some people were infuriated
and offered physical violence, saying
the thing should not be done. But the
workmenwent right on, ,standin g on the
wall, trowel IN one hand, sword in the
other, until the work was gloriously y
completed. At that very time in
Greece Xenophon was writing histo.
~, and Plato was making philosophy,
and Demosthenes was rafting his rhe,
torical thunder. But all OF them to.
eether did not DO so much for the
world as this midnight, moonligh!
ride of praying, courageous, homesick,
close mouth Nehemiah.
My subject first impresses me with
the idea, what an intense thing is
church affection. Seize the pride of
that horse and stop Nehemiah. Why
are you risking your life here in the
night? Your horse Will stumble over
these ruins and fall on you. Stop this
useless exposure of your life. No.
Nehemiah will not stop. He at last
tells us the whole story. He lets us
know he was an exile in far distant
land, and he was servant, a cupbear-
er in the palace of Artaxerxes Longi-
nanus, and one day, while he was
handing the cup of wine to the king
the king said to him: What is the
matter with you? You are not SICK.
I know syou must have some great
trouble. What is the matter with
youa" Then he told the king how that
beloved Jerusalem was broken down
how that his fathers tomb had been
desecrated; how that the temple had
been dishonored and defaced; how
that the walls were scattered and brok-
en-. We'll" says King Artaxerxes,
what do you want2" .'Well," said
the cupbearer Nehemiah, u want to
go home. I want to fix up the grave
of my father. I want to restore the
beauty of the temple, I want to re-
build the masonry Of the city wall.
Besides want passports so that l
shall not be hindered in ny journey.
And besides that" as you will find in
the context, II want an order on tie
man who keeps your forest for just
so much timber as may need fol The
rebuilding Of the city" How long
shall you be gomez" said the king. The
time of absence is arranged In hot
haste this seeming adventprer comes
to Jerusalem, and in my text we find
him on horseback in the midnight
riding around the ruins. It IS through
the spectacles of this scene that we
discover the ardent attachment of Ne