The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1897-04-09

| E&5s,lA L2SfASAMyHUISJuuy Snalteu OrleI,
uAAG'IONA' h"I0H and resetted stone
REV. TALMAGE. and mullion, but
they throw their strongest witchery
by moonlight. Some of you remember
what the enchanter of Scotland said
in the Lay of the Last Minstrel:
Wouldst thou view fair Melrose Alright,
Go visit it by the pale moonlight.
Washington Irving describes the An
dalusian moonlight upon the Alham-
bra ruins as amounting to an enchant-
ment. My text presents you Jerusalem
in ruins. The tower down. The gates
down. The walls down. Everything
| down. Nehemiah 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 Ne
| hemiah's heart, but they are going as
sort of bodyguard. l hear the click
| ing hoofs of the horse on which Nehe-
miah rides, as 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 at the
| chaIred timbers. Now he comes along
where the water under the moonlight
| flashes from the mouth of the brazen
| dragon after which the gate was
named. Heavy-hearted Nehemiah!
Riding in and out, now by his old
home desolated, now by the defaced
temple, now amid the scars of the city
that had gone down under the batter
| ingram and confiagration. The es-
corting party knows not what Nehe-
miah means. Is he getting crazy?
Have his own personal sorrows, added
| to the sorrows of the nation, unbal-
anced his intellect? Still the mid
night 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 completed, and Nehemiah dis
mounts from his horse, and to the
amazed and COMPOUNDED and incredu-
| lous body guard. declares the dead secret
| of his heart when he says: ''Come,
now. let us build Jerusalem" What,
| Nehemiah, have you any money!"
No Have you any kingly author
| ity?" No" Have you any elo-
quence?" No" Yet that midnight.
moonlight ride of Nehemiah resulted
in the glorious rebuilding of the city of
Jerusalem. The people knew not how
H. 49, =,
great enthusiasm they cried ont: Let
US rise up now and build the city"
Some people laughed and said it could
not be done. Some people were infuri-
ate and offered physical violence, say
ing the thing should not be done. But
the workmen went right on, standing
on the wall, trowel in one hand, sword
| in the other, until the work was glori-
ously completed. At that very time in
Greece, Xenophon was writing a his
| tory, and Plato was making philosO-
phy. and Demosthenes was rafting his
rhetorical thunder; but all of them to-
| gether did not do SO much for the
world as this midnight, moonlight ride
| of praying, courageous, hOmesick,
closemouthed Nehemiah.
My subject first impresses me with
the idea what an intense thing is
church affection. Seize the bride 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 a servant, a cup-bear-
er in the palace of ArtaXerXes LOngi-
manus, 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. l
know you must have some great trou-
BILE What is the matter with yOu?"
Then he told the king how that be-
loved Jerusalem was broken down;
how that his fathers tomb had been
desecrated; how that temple had been
dishonored and defaced; how that the
walls were scattered and broken.
Well" said King Artaxerxes, what
do you want?' Well" said the cup
bearer Nehemiah, Il want to go home.
l want to fix up the grave of my
father | want to restore the beauty
of the temple want to rebuild the
masonry of the city wall. Besides,
l want passports, so that 1 shall not
be hindered in my journey. And be-
sides that" as you will find in the con-
text, Il want an order on the man who
keeps your forest for just so much
timber as l may need for the rebuild
ing of the city" "How long shall you
be gomez" said the king. The time OF
absence Is arranged. In hot haste this
seeming adyenturer comes to Jerusa-
lem, and in my text we find him on
horse back, in the midnight, riding
around the ruins. 1t is through the