The herald., 1897-02-17
A THOUSAND MILES AHORSE
Bishop Newman's Lecture at the
First M. E. Church
GLIMPSES OF THE HOLY LAND
The Ruin. of Bsbylon and the Tower
of Babel
Cuneiform Writings Discovered-A Remark
able Conversion-PaIestine and Pyr.
amids Lit by Petroleum

| Bishop Newman's lecture at the First
NJ. E. church last night drew a large au-
dience both very appreciative and very
enthusiastic. The venerable speaker
was greeted with applause when he came
upon the platform. He presented a
striking picture as he stood before the
audience, his long white hair falling low
upon his shoulders and his fine face in a
glow as he most eloQuently presented
! his subject.
With the speaker the audience trav-
eled in imagination "Ons thousand miles
| on horseback through the Euphrates.
the Garden of Eden, Babylon and MIN
eveh."
This valley, the speaker said, is the
most renowned valley on the face of the
globe, Here is the home of the uncon-
quered Bedouin, the people who have
never been conquered. who have hurled
defiance at Greece, at Rome, and the ma
tions of today They held in contempt
the armies of the past, and they are still
free, roaming over the hills in quest of
plunder.
Upon the west of this valley is Arabia
and Syria. and upon the east Armenia
and Persia Here are mountains clad
in eternal green and mountains rising in
perpetual snow The picture is full of
grandeur, dashing cascades, foaming
torrents, and between the ranges of
mountains are the largest pasture fields
in the world, where vast herds of sheep
and goats and thousands of camels are
fed
The speaker most graphically pictured
the spring beauty of the scenery which
he presented with much power.
Turning to the historical ASSOCIATIONS,
the lecturer said while ethnologists did
not agree, yet 1t was known that here
Joshua preached and Daniel prophesied.
Here were the gardens of Eden; on the
one hand the river Euphrates, on the
other the Tigris. Or the Tjgris side is
an old tree the Arabs call the Tree of
Life" tradition each traveller respects,
for each Jew and Gentle stops to gather
a leaf; throughout all the ages of time
the traditions of the valley tell the story
of the Garden of Eden and reverence
this tree.
Up the Euphrates are the ruins of Bah
ylon and across the peninsula the city
of Bagdad the city of the thousand and
one nights, told of in the book so charm
ing to youth. the stories that are still
city of Bagdad.
In this city of $4,000 inhabitants the
men are Hebrews and can trace their
lineage back to David and Solomon.
The audience was then led towards
Macedonia, towards the battle fields of
Alexander and Xenophon, and further
was considered the Turks and Saracens,
the Turk always a barbarian, full of or
ganized robbery from sultan to pasha.
These people have no literatur no poe
try, no orators, no monuments of glory
They are simply parasites, thugs, mur-
derers.
The Saracens, however, trace their
origin to Sarah, not to Hagar. We have
heard the voice of the prophet-of Mecca
They turned their backs upon polythe-
ism and followed the sublime and ven-
cradle truth of the knowledge of God.
When Europe was cropping in atheism,
Bagdad was the city of learning. On the
banks of the Tigris the Saracen erected
monuments of glory.
The devil worshipers were then
sketched, with many of their strange
customs.
The speaker dwelt with great feeling
upon the ruins of Babylon and Nineveh.
He sketched very vividly these ancient
cities-the walls, the moatS, the gates,
the buildings. The hanging gardens of
Babylon We're described, the palace of
NebuchadnezZar and the tower of Ba-
bel.
The discoveries of certain terra Gotta
tablets upon which writings verified the
Scriptures We're told of by the speaker,
and the many things that proved to him
the authenticity of the Bible, and the
truth of the prophesies of jeremiah and
Isaiah. In this corner of the earth the
speaker one night met a caravan of 300
white camels loaded with foreign mer-
chandise the bulk of which was Ameri-
can petroleum in five-gallon cans. The
oil was being shipped to light up the
garden of Eden, the tomb of Ezra, the
Church of the Nativity. the Mount of
Olives, the pyramids of Egypt-in short,
America is lighting the world.
Some adventures with robbers on
the plains of Babylon were given with
touches of quiet humor.
Some of the tablets now in the British
museum covered with the cuneiform
writing We're discovered by George
Smith. the explorer, which give an ac-
count of the reation and the deluge.
also brick from the tower of Babel
which had been deciphered. and which
confirmed the Bible account of these
occurrences.
The time will come" said the speaker
at the close of the lecture, when error
will end and the gates of the morning
will open to higher civilization to bless
the old book we call divine