The Monitor-register., 1897-11-19

reached up and pulled down the round,
beautiful world of our present residence.
Overworked artist, overweight mer-
chant, ambitious politician, avaricious
speculator. better take that warning
from Adams orchard and stop before
you put out for that n thing more.
solomon's orchard.
But | turn from Adams orchard to
Solomon's orchard. With his own hand
he writes, Il made me gardens and or
chards. Not depending OIL the natural
fall of rain, he irrigated those orchards.
Pieces of the aqueduct that watered
those gardens l have seen, and the reser-
voirs are as perfect as when thousands
of years 9 the mason S trowel smooth
ed the mortar over their gray surfaces.
No orchard of olden or modern time
probably ever had its thirst so well
slaked. The largest of these reservoirs
is $50 feet long, 207 feet wide and 80
| feet deep. These reservoirs Solomon re-
of water, to water Herewith the wood
that %bringeth forth trees" Solomon
used to ride out TO that orchard before
breakfast. 1t gave him an appetite and
something to think about all the day.
Josephus, the historian, represents him
as going u "early in the morning from
Jerusalem to the famed rocks of Etam,
"a fertile region, delightful with para
discs and running springs. Thither the
king, in robes of white, rode in his
chariot, escorted by a troop of mounted
archers chosen for their youth and stat
ure and clad i'll Tyrian purple, whose
long hair, powdered with gold dust,
sparkled in the sun" After Solomon
had taken his morning ride in these
luxuriant orchards he would sit down
and write those wonderful things in
the Bible. drawing his illustrations
from the fruits he had that very morn
ing plucked or ridden under. And,
wishing to praise the coming Christ, he
says. las the apple tree among the
trees of the wood, so is my beloved"
And wishing TO describe the love of the
church for her Lord he writes. Com
fort me with apples, for l am sick of
love, - and desiring to make reference
I to the white hair of the o~ctogenarian,
and Just before having noticed that the
blossoms of the almond tree were white,
he says of the aged man. THE almond
tree shall flourish" The walnuts and
the pomegranates and the mandrakes
and the figs make Solomon's writings a
divinely arranged fruit basket.
The Luxury of Religion.
What mean Solomon's orchards and
| Co1o,,Onse CorJanl for fhou coaro 70
mingle, the two into one. flowers under
foot and pomegranates over headf 10
me they suggest that religion is a lux
ury All along the world has looked up
on religion chiefly as a dire necessity
a lifeboat from the shipwreck, a ladder
from the conf1agration, a soft landing
place after we have been showed off the
precipice of this planet. AS a conse-
quence so many have said, I'VE will
await preparation for the future until
the crash of the shipwreck, until the
confagration is in full blaze, until we
reach the brink OF the precipice." No
doubt religion is inexpressibly impor-
tant for the last exigency But what do
the apples, and the figs, and the melons,
and the pomegranates, and the citron,
and the olives of Solomon's orchard
meani Luxury They mean that our re-
ligion is the luscious, the aromatic, the
pungent, the arboreScent, the etf1ores-
cent, the foliaged, the outrageous.
They mean what Edward Payson meant
when he declared, IF my happiness
continues to increase, l cannot support
it much longer" 1t means what Bapa
Padmanji. a Hindoo convert. meant
when ne said, 81 long for my bed, not
that 1 may sleep-I lie awake often and
long-but to hold communion with my
God" 1t means what the old colored
man said when he was accosted by the
colporteur, "Uncle Jack, how are your"
Il is very painful in my knee, but,
thank my heavenly Master, I'm cause
to be thankful. My good Master just
glib me nuf to make me humble"
"And do you enjoy religion as much
now, Uncle Jack, as when you could go
to church and class meetings?'" Eyes, I
joys him more. Den 1 truss to de peo-
pie, to de meetings, to de sarment, and
when hear de hymn sing and de pray
l feels glad. But all dis amt like de
good Lord in de heart, Gods love here"
1t means sunrise instead of shutdown. It
means the Memnon statue made to sing
at the stroke of the morning light. 1t
means Christ at the wedding in Cana.
1t means the time of the singing of
birds is come" 1t means Jeremiah's
well watered garden" 1t means Da-
vid's "oil of gladness." It means Isai-
abs bride and bridegroom. 1t mean
Luke's bad boy come home to his IA
theirs house. Worldly joy killed Leo K
when he heard that Milan was captured.
Talva died of joy when the Roman en-
ate honored him. Diagora died of Joy
because his three SOL were crowned at
the Olympian games. Sophocles died of
joy over his literary successes, and re-
ligious joy has been too much for many
a Christian, and his soul has sped away
OF the wing of h~osannas.
An old and poor musician played
SO well one night before his king that
the next morning when the musician
awoke he found his table covered with
I golden cups and plates, and a princely
robe lying across the back of a chair,
and richly oaparisoned horses were paw
ing at the doorway to take him through
the street in imposing equipage. 1t was
only a touch of what comes to every
man who makes the Lord his portion,
for he has waiting for him, direct from
his King, robes, banquets, chariots, man.
sions, triumphs, and it is only a ques-
ton of time when he shall wear them,
drink them, ride in them, live in them
and celebrate them.
Religion For All Times.
You think religion is a good thing
for a funeral Oh, yesl But Solomon's
orchard means more. Religion is a
good thing now, when you are in health
and prosperity and the appetite is good
for citrons and apples and apricots
and pomegranates. Come in without
wasting any time in talking about them
and take the Injuries of religion. Hap
Ply yourself, then you can make others
happy Make just n person happy ev-
cry day. and in 30 years you will have
made 1900 people happy l like what
Wellington said after the battle of Wa
terloo, and when he was in pursuit of
the French with his advance guard, and
Colonel Harvey said to him, General,
you had better not go any farther, for
you may be shot at by some straggler
from the bushes. And Wellington re-
piled: Let them fire away The battle
is won and my life is of no value now"
My friends, we ought never to be reck-
less, but if, through the pardoning and
rescuing grace of Christ, You have gain
ed the victory over sin and death and
hell you need fear nothing on the earth