The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-03-27
CHRIST'S LAST HOUR.
OR. rALMAeE FiNneLEssohs OF cow
FORT IN A SAD SCENE.

often fingered on from day to day, crying,
begging, cursing, but Christ had been ex-
hausted by years Of mAltrestment. Pillow
less, poorly fed, logged, as bent over and
tied to q low post his bare hack was in
famed with the soourgcs intensified with
pieces Of LEAD and bone, and now for whole
hours the weight of his body hung on deli.
cate tendons, and, according to custom, Q
violent stroke under the armpits had been
given BY the executioner. Dizzy, nauseat-
I'd, feverish, a world Of agony ia compress
ed in the two words, II thirst" Oh,
skies Of Judea, let drop Of rain strike on
his burning tonguei Oh, world, with roll.
ing rivers and sparkling lakes and spray
Ing fountains, give Jesus something to
drink II There be any pity in earth or
heaven or he'll, let 1t now be demonstrated
In behalf Of this royal sufferer. s.o%, :.
The wealthy women Of Jerusalem used
to have fund Of money with which they
provided wine for those people who died
In cruoifxion-a powerful opiate to dead
en- the pain-but Christ would not take 1t.
He wanted to die sober, and 80 he refused
the wine. But afterward they 90 to q
cup Of vinegar and soak sponge in 1t and
put 1t on stick Of hyseop and, then press
1t against the hot lips OF Christ. You Say
the wine was an an@sthetic and intended
to relieve or deaden the pain. But The
vinegar was an insult.
Life's Weak Spots.
In some lives the saccharine seems to
predominate. Life 10 sunshine on bank
of flowers. A thousand hands to clap ap.
prevail In December or in January, look
ing across their table, they see all their
family present. Health rubicund, skies
famboyant days resilient. But in great
many cases there are not so many sugars
as acids. The annoyances, and the vexa-
tions, and the disappointments Of life over
power the successes. There 10 a gravel In
almost every Shoe An Arabian legend
says that there was worm in Solomon's
staff gnawing Its strength away, and there
is weak spot in every earthly support
that Q man leans on. King George Of
England forgot all the grandeurs Of his
throne because one day in an interview
Beau Brummel called him by his first
name and addressed him az servant cry
ing, George, ring the bell!" Miss Lang
don, honored all the world over for her
poetic genius, is 90 worried over the evil
reports set afloat regarding her that she
| is found dead with an empty bottle Of
prussic acid in her hand. Goldsmith said
that his life was a wrctched being, and
that oil that want and contempt could
bring to it had been brought, and cries
out, What, then, is there formidable in
q jaily" Correggio's fine painting Is hung
up for tavern sign. Hogarth cannot sell
his best painting except through a rattle.
Andrea del Sarto makes the great fresco in
tho Church of the Annunciata at Flor
ence and gets for pay a sack of corn, and
there are annoyances and vexations in
high places as well as In low places, show
ing that in a great many lives are the
sours greater than the sweets. "When
Jesus therefore had received the vinegar"
1t is absurd to suppose that man who
has always been well can sympathize with
those who are sick, or that one who has
always been honored can appreciate tho
sorrow Of those who are despised, or that
one who has been born to great fortune
can understand the distress and the straits
of those who are destitute. The fact that
Christ himself took the vinegar makes
him able to sympathize today and forever
with all those whose cup is filled with
the sharp acids Of this life. He took the
vinegarl
The Treacherous Friend.
In the first place, there was the sourness
Of betrayal. The treachery Of Judas hurt
Christ's feelings more than all the friend
ship Of his disciples did him good You
have had many friends, but there was one
friend upon whom you put especial stress.
You Toasted him. You loaned him money.
You befriended him in the dark passes of
life, when he especially needed friend.
Afterward, he turned upon you, and he
took advantage Of your former intimacics.
He wrote against you He talked against
you. He microscopized your faults. He
flung contempt at you, when you ought to
have received nothing but gratitude. At
first you could not sleep at night. Then
you went about with sense Of having
been stung. That difficulty will never be
healed, for though mutual friends may ar
bitrato in the matter until you shall shake
hands, the old cordiality will never come
back. Now commend to all such the
sympathy Of a betrayed Christ Why, they
sold him for less than our $s0l They all
forsook him and fled. They cut him to
the quick. He drank that cup to the dregs
He took the vinegar.
There Is also the sourness of pain. There
are some Of you who have not seen well
day for many years. BY keeping out Of
drafts, and by carefully studying dietetics,
you continue to this time but oh, tho
headaches, and the side aches, and the
backaches, and the heartaches which
have been your accompaniment all the
way through! You have struggled I'M
der heavy mortgage Of physical dis
abilities, and instead Of the placidity that
once characterized you it is now only
with great effort that you keep away from
irritability and sharp retort. Difficulties
of respiration, of digestion, Of locomotion,
make up the great obstacle in your life,
and you tug and sweat along the pathway
and wonder when the exhaustion will end.
My friends, the brightest crowns in heaven
will not be given to those who. in stirrups,
dashed to the cavalry charge, while tho
general applauded, and the sound Of clash
ing sabcrs rang through tho land but the
brightest crowns In heaven, believe, will
be given to those who trudged on amid
chronic ailments which unnerved their
strength, yet all the time maintaining
their faith in God. 1t Is comparatively
easy to fight in regiment of thousand
men, charging up the parapets to the
sound of martial music, but 1t Is not so
easy TO endure when no one but the nurse
and the doctor are the witnesses of the
Christian fortitude. Besides that, you
never had any pains worse than Christ's.
The sharpness that stung through his
brain, through his hands, through his feet,
through his heart were as great as yours
certainly He was as sick and as weary.
Nota nerve or muscle or ligaInent escaped.
All the pangs Of all the nations of all tho
ages compressed into one sour cup. He
took the vinegar!
Christ's Privations.
There is also the sourness Of poverty.
Your income does not meet your outgo-
ings, and that always gives an honest man
anxiety. There Is no sign Of destitution
about you-pleasant appearance and
cheerful home for you-but God only
knows what a time you have had to man
age your private finances. Just as tho
bills run up tho wages seem to run down.
You may say nothing, but life to you Is
hard push, and when you sit down with
your wife and talk over tho expenses you