St. Tammany farmer., 1899-04-15

6Oclll company. Al you Couiu 1e'e
three wishes gratified, what would your
three wishes be?" II could have
three wishes met, tell you what they
would be. First, more of the grace
Of God; second, more Of the grace OF
God; third, more of the grace of God.
In the doorway Of my brother John,
once missionary toAmoy. China. there
was a tree called the emperor tree, the
two characteristics of which are that 1t
always grows higher than its sur
roundings. and its leaves take the form
or a crown. If this emperor tree be
planted beside a rosebush, it grows
little higher than the bush and spreads
out above it a crown. If It be planted
by the side of another tree, it grows
little higher than that tree and spreads
above it u crown. Would God that this
religion of Christ, q more wonderful
emperor tree, might overshadow all
YOUR lives! Are you lowly in amb'-
tion or circumstance. putting over you
its crown: Are you high in talent and
posit:oh, putting over you its CROWN
Oh, for more OF the saccharin in our
lives and less of the rormwood!
What is true of individuals is true of
nations. God sets them up to revolve
as stars. but they may fall wormwood.
Tyre-the atmosphere of the desert,
fragrant with spices coming in cara
vans to her fairs; all seas cleft into
foam by the keels of her laden mel
chantmen: her markets rich with
horses and camels from Togarmah;
the bazar filed with upholstery from
Dedan. with emerald and coral and
agate from Syria. with mines from
Helbon, with embroidered work from
Ashur and Chilmad. Where now the
CLEAN OF her towerSa Where the roar
Of her chariots? Where the masts OF
her ships: Let the fishermen who dry
their nets where once she stood. let the
.ea that rushes upon the barrenness
where once she challenged the admira-
tion of all nations. let the barbariarz
who set their rude tents where once
her palaces glittered. answer the quea-
tions. She was 4 star. but by her ows
sin turned to wormwood, and hss
fallen.
Hundred gated ThebeS. for all time
to be the study Of the antiquarian and
hierogIyphist; her stupendous ruins
spread over =: miles; her sculptures
presenting in figures of warrior and
chariot the victories with which the
now-forgotten kings of Egypt shook
the nations. her obelisks and columns;
karnak and Luxor, the stupendous
temples of her pride. Who can imagine
the greatness of Thebes in those days,
when the hippodromc rang with her
sports and foreign royalty bowed at
her shrines and her avenues roared
with the wheels Of professions in the
wake Of returning conquerors? What
dsshed down the vision of chariots and
temples and thrones? What hands
pulled upon the columns of her glory ?
What ruthlessness defaced her sculp-
tured wall and broke obelisks, and left
her indescribable temples great skele-
| tons of granite? What spirit of de-
struction spread the lair of wild beasts
in her royal sepulchers and taught the
miserable cottagers Of to-day to build
| huts in the courts of her temples and
| sent desolation and ruin skulking be-
hind the obelisks and lodging among
the sarcophagi, and leaning against
the columns. and STOPPING under the
arches. and weeping in the waters
which go mournfully by, as though
they were carrying the tears of all
| ages? Let the mummies break their
long silence and como up to shiver in
the desolation and point to fallen
gates and shattered statues ard Ge-
faced sculpture. responding: "Thebes
built not one temple to God. Thebes
hated righteousness and loved sin
ThebeS was star. but she turned to
wormwood and has fallen"
Babylon. with her $50 towers and her
brazen gates and her embattled walls,
the splendor Of the earth gathered with
in her gates. her hanging gardens built
by Nebnchadnezzar 10 please his bride.
Amytis. who had been brought up in q
mountainous country and could not en-
dure the fiat country round Babylon
These hanging gardens, built terrace
above terrace. till at the height of ACC
feet there were woods waving and foun'
tains playing. the verdure. the foliage
the glory looking as If a mountain were
on the wing. On the tiptop king walk
ing with his queen. Among the statues
snowy white, looking up at birda
brought from distant lands and drink
ing out of tankaris of solid gold ol
1 l,1-
nations, subdned and tributary. crying:
''Is not this great Babylon which / have
built?'
What battcring ram smote the walls
What plowshare upturned the gardens
What army shattered the brazen gates.
What long. fierce blast Of storm put ou
this light which illuminated the world
What crash of discord drove down III,
music that poured from palace window
and garden grove and called the ban
queters to their revel and the dancers I,
their feet? / walk upon the scene O
desolation to find an answer. and picl
up pieces of bitumen and brick an,
broken pottery. the remains of Baby
Ion. / hear the wild waves saying
Babylon was proud, Babylon was i'm
pure. Babylon was star. but by sil
she turned to wormwood and ha
falien.-
From the prosecutions of the pilgrim
fathers ard the Huguenots in othe
lands God set upon these shores a ma
iion. The council fires Of the aborigine
went out in the greater light of fire.
government. The sound Of the war
whoop was exchanged for the thousan,
wheels of enterprise and progress. Tn
mild winters and fruitful summers, tn
hcalthful skies. charmed from othe
lands race of hardy men, who love,
God and wanted to be free Before tn
woodman's al. forests fell and ros
again into ships masts and churches
pillars. Cities on the banks of lakes be
gan TO rival cities by the sea. The lam
q,lakes with the rush of the rail cal
and the waters are churned white wit
the steamers wheel. Fabulous bushel
of western wheat meet on the way fat
ulous tons of eastern coal. Fruits fror
| the norfh Il mass on the rivers fruits frOT