The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1902-11-14
THE UNITED OPINION, FRIDAY MORNING NOV T. 1902

the SymDOl OF the DlOOu or Christ being
lifted to the lips at the holy commu-
Mon. My Lord and my Christ as the
conquerOr whose name God hath ex-
allied "abOve every name, that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow,
of things in heaven and things under
the earth,' can we not see thee? Can
we not touch thee? Can we not con-
+ fess thee King of kings and Lord of
lords?
One night some years ago, after a
| day spent among the ruined palaces of
Rome, had two visions which brought
before my imagination in vivid con-
| trast the beginning and the consumma-
ton of Christs kingdom. In one
saw the helplessness of the few Chris
tians in that great city during the period
following the crucifixion; in the other
l saw in imagination the time of the
millennium, when all peoples shall ac-
claim Christ Lord Of all
The Two Visions.
Scene the First.-I was standing in
dark Roman dungeon eXcavated I'M
der another dungeon. 1t is called
PauPs 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 an 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 Pauls position. | babe 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 l 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 confine-
ments. His weak eyes were now
straining 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 l seemed to hear the exc
cutioner call out in a harsh cruel voice:
paul, Paul, come up! Caesar says
thou art to die. Come up; come upr'
Then the little old Jew answered in
weak though firm voice, "And now l
am ready to be offered" The vision
was one of the conquest of wrong over
right.
Scene the Second.-It is midnoon. l
am standing upon the top of the great
Coliseum. Before me are crowded to-
gether 100000 men and women, great
mass of humanity rising tier above
tier, and height above height. Yonder
sits the emperor, surrounded by his
chief military officers and by the men,
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 I
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
sprinkled 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 a naval battle. Now
the gladiators 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
afre 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 in their midst to lead In
prayer. Now the iron gatvs are S%uJI,
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
sees the trembling Christians
in the center of the arena. He squats
His claws begin to work convulsively.
He crawls nearer and nearer to his
prey. He makes one leap. There's a
woman's scream. Then with savage I
ferocity the African monster drags of
the body and begins to munich the +
bones.
Again the sport grows tame. The
people are beginning to dispense; 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 l go, rs it not awful ,
that all these Christians should have ,
been slain for nothing; that all this
blood should have been uselessly spiltT' ,
But as l soliloquized thus a young girl :
touches my arm. l turn and look at :
her. She has a sweet face She says. ;