Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1902-11-15

his battle shout? Why, it is the song
of Zion being sung in all the littl
meeting houses all over the lane
Where is his blood of carnage? 1t
the symbol of the blood of Christ bein
lifted to the lips at the holy commu
nion. My Lord and my Christ as til
+ conqueror whose name God hath eX
alted "above every name. that at tn
name Of Jesus every knee should bow
of things In heaven and things unde
the earth." can we not see thee? Cal
we not touch thee? Can we not con
fess thee King Of kings and Lord o
lords?
One night some years ago, after |
day spent among the ruined palaces G
Rome, had two visions which brough
before my imagination in vivid con
trast the beginning and the consumma
ton Of Christ's Kingdom. In one
saw the helplessness Of the few Chris
tians in that great city during the periot
following the crucifixion; in the othel
| saw in Imagination the time Of the
millennium. when all peoples shall &C
claim Christ Lord Of all.
The Two Visions.
Scene the First was standing IL
dark Roman dungeon excavated un
der another dungeon. 1t is called
Pauls dungeon. There is a little hole
In the roof about two feet square
Through this little aperture the prison.
ers used to be lowered by ropes. Riv-
eted into the stone wall was au iron
ring, to which the helpless victim could
be chained. The walls of that dun
geon, even on that hot summer day,
were damp and cold AS stood there
l wanted to place myself as nearly as
possible in Paul's position. bade my
guide leave me and take away the
light. | wanted to be alone. AS the
guide left the loneliness became appall.
ing. Even the echoes Of the departing
footsteps seemed to make those prison
walls the more awfully and hopelessly
grewsome. AS the light disappeared
the darkness rushed in and seemed to
press my eyeballs like living Goals Of
fire into my throbbing brain. Then In
Imagination thought | could see
crouching by the iron ring riveted into
the wall little, old Jew. His shriv-
eled limbs were drawn up by rheuma.
tism. the result of his prison confne-
ments. His weak eyes were now
strainlng themselves to catch glimpse
Of the executioner, who came nearer
and nearer to the aperture above, as
my guide with the lantern approached
the hole. Then in imagination as my
guide spoke | seemed to hear the exc
cutioner call out in harsh, cruel voice:
"Paul, Paul, come up! Cesar says
thou art to die. Come up; come up!"
Then the little old Jew answered in
weak though firm voice, "And now
am ready to be offered" The vision
was one of the conquest Of wrong over
right.
Scene the Second.--It is midnoon.
am standing upon the top Of the great
Coliseum. Before me are crowded to-
gether 100000 men and women, a great
mass OF humanity, rising tier above
tsss and beiG5t above height Yonder
chief military officers and by the mem
bers Of the famous senate. There Is
the place reserved for the vestal vir-
gins Here are the rooms Of the peas
ants and the middle classes. All the
sightseers are flushed and excited. The
roses in the young girls cheeks blush
even to a deeper red than the drunken
flush on the faces Of their intoxicated
lords. AS the entertainment goes on
the bodies Of the slain begin to accu'
mulate. Attendants now rush In and
drag the bleeding corpses out Of the
arena. Then the blood soaked sand is
sprlnkled with precious powders to al
lay the odor. Now an awning Is drawn
over the assembly to protect the nobil-
ity from the fiery rays of the eastern
sun. Now the air Is redolent with
aromatic perfumes. This is national
holiday. Caesar is celebrating the vic
tories Of the Roman armies Now the
arena is flooded with water. The ships
float in. There is naval battle. Now
the gladlators cut and slash and wres-
tie and die.
The Scene In the Arena.
After awhile even this sport becomes
tame. For what are they waiting?
They are saving the best until the
last. They are now going to let loose
the wild beasts upon the Christians.
The twilight is coming on. Some of
the Christians are bound and fastened
to poles and covered with pitch and set
aHre to make human torches with
which to light the dusk. While these
flaming torches leap and splutter and
play. in the center of the arena are
huddled together scores Of men and
women who are about to die. While
the merciless multitudes look on, the
doomed Christians all kneel, except one
old patriarch with long, white beard,
who stands III their mluSI 10 ledu III
prayer. Now the iron gates are swung
back. With one mighty leap, a huge
lion lands upon the sands. At first
the flaming torches blind his eyes and
compel him to blink. Then he looks
around upon the 100000 human eyes
watching him. Then the starving brute
suddenly sees the trembling Christians
In the center Of the arena. He squats.
His claws begin to work cOnvulsiyely.
He crawls nearer and nearer to his
prey. He makes one leap. There's
woman's scream. Then with savage
ferocity the African monster drags of
the body and begins to MUNICH the
bones.
Again the sport grows tame. The
people are beginning to disperse; the
human torches are going out; darkness
Is blotting out everything. With folded
arms turn to go down the steps, say
Ing to myself as go, "Is it not awful
that all these Christians should have
lAoon slain FOR nnthinp. that all this