The Progress., 1897-04-10
BUILDING THE CITY.
Or. rAlMAGE ON hEhEMiAh'S RIDE
IN WRECKED JERUSALEM.

The Enchantment Of the Moonlight and
Nehemiah's Resolve-Iovo Of tho Church
Of God-nuin and Redcmptson-Ths
Great Good That Comes From Trouble.
: WASHINGTON, April 4.-From the weird
and midnight experiences Of ono of ancient
times DR.. Tnlmage in his sermon draws
lessons startIingly appropriate. His text
was Nehemiah II, Is, "Then went up In
the night by the brook and viewed tho
wall and turned back and entered by the
rate OF the valley, and 80 returned"
4 A dead city is more suggestive than
living city-past Rome than present Rome
ruins rather than newly frcscoed cathe
dral But the best time to visit ruin is
by moonlight. The Coliseum Is far more
FASCINATING to the traveller after shutdown
than before. You may stand by daylight
amid tho nonastic ruins Of Melrosc abbey
and study shafted oriel and rosettcd stone
and lnullion, but they throw their stron
sest witchery by moonlight Some of you
remember what the enchnnter of Scotland
said in the LAY OF the Last Minstrel:"
Wouldst thou view fair Asllose Alright.
Go visit - by the pale moonlight.
Washington Irving describes the linda
lusian moonlight upon the Alha,nbra
ruins as amounting to an enchantmcnt-
Ny text presents you Jerusalem In rutna-
The tower down. The gates down The
walls down. Everything down. Nehemiah
ON horseback by moonlight looking upon
the ruins. While he rides there AFRO some
friends on foot going with him, for they do
not want the many horses to disturb tho
suspicious Of the people. Thcsc people do
not know the secret OF Ncbe,niah's heart,
but they AFRO going as sort OF body guard.
boar the clicking hoofs Of the horse on
which Nehemiah rides he guides 1t
this way and that, into this gnte and out
"a
the debris of once great Jerusalem.
Rebuilding the City.
Now tho horse comes to dead halt at the
tulnbled masonry where no cannot pass.
Now he shes on Mt the charred timbcrs.
Now he comes along whore tho water un-
der the moonlight flashes from the mouth
Of the brazcn dragon after which the gate
was named. Heavy hearted Nehemiah!
Riding In and out, now by his old homo
desolated, now by the dcfacCd temple, now
amid the scars Of the city TINT Ind gone
down under battering ram and confagrn-
tion. The escorting party knows not what
Nehemiah means. Is he getting craxyf
Have his own personal sorrows. added to
the sorrows of the nation, unbalanced his
INTELLECT Still tho midnight exploration
goes on. Nehemiah on horseback rides
Through the fish gate, 10y the tower of the
furnaces, by the kings POOL. by the dragon
well, In and out, in md out, until the
midnight ride Is com pleted, and Nehemiah
dis,nounts from his horse, and to the
amazed and confoundcd aid incrcdulous
bodyg uard declares tho dessd sccrct Of his
heart whom he says, 'Coihe, now. let us
build Jerusalem what. Nehemiah,
ln,xe you any n,4'Ecy!' ''t,o- HAZE
sou any kingl ~ IA, horityY No" HIVE
you any cloqucncs. - NO" Yet that MIDI
night, moonlg!,, ride of Eri,clni.,h result
I'D la the glor II iui!d:i::, Df ihe city Of
Jerusalem. 'i..c people knew not how the
thing was to be done. but with grcnt IN
thusiasm they cried out. Let us rise up
now and build the city Some people
laughed and said 1t could not be done
Some people were Infatuated und offered
physical violence, saying the thing should
not DC done. But the workmen went right
on, standing on the wall. trowel In one
hand, sword In the other, until the work
was gloriously completed. At that very
time in Greece Xenophon WINS writing u
history, and Plato was making philosophy,
and Dcmosthenes was rnttling his rhe-
torical thunder. But all of them together
did not do so much for the world as this
i.iidnight moonlight ride of praying, cour