,a ,,trip ,,abroad ,an ,account of a ,journey to the ,earthly ,canaan and the ,land of the ,ancient ,pharaohs ,to ,which ,are ,appended ,a ,brief ,consideration of the ,geography and ,history of ,palestine1 and a ,chapter on ,churches of ,christ in ,great ,britain ,,by ,,don ,,carlos ,,janes #aije ,illustration3 ,striving for the ,faith of the ,gospel4 ,don ,carlos ,janes4 ,go1 little booke1 ,god send thee good passage1 ,and specially let this be thy prayere3 ,unto them all that will thee read or hear1 ,where thou art wrong1 after their help to call1 ,thee to correct in any part or all4 ,,chaucer4 ,,preface4 ,in this volume the author has made an effort to describe his journey to ,palestine and ,egypt4 ,it is his desire that the book may be interesting and instructive to its readers4 ,the chapter on the geography of ,palestine1 if studied with a good map1 will probably be helpful to many4 ,the historic sketch of the land may serve as an outline of the important events in the history of that interesting country4 ,it is desired that the last chapter may give ,american readers a better understanding of the work of churches of ,christ in ,great ,britain4 ,this book is not a classic1 but the author has tried to give a truthful account of a trip1 which1 to him1 was full of interest and not without profit4 ,no doubt some errors will be found1 but even the critical reader may make some allowance when it is known that the writing1 with the exception of a small part1 was done in a period of eighty days4 ,during this time1 the writer was also engaged in evangelistic work1 speaking every day without a single exception1 and as often as four times on some of the days4 ,that the careful reading of the following pages may be profitable1 is the desire of ,,the ,,author4 ,,bowling ,,green1 ,,ky41 ,october #ba1 #aije4 ,,acknowledgements4 ,several books have been consulted in preparing this one4 ,lands of the ,bible1 by ,j4,w4 ,mc,garvey1 has been very helpful4 ,the same is true of ,edmund ,sherman ,wallace's ,jerusalem the ,holy4 ,much information has been obtained from the ,historical ,geography of ,bible ,lands1 by ,john ,b4 ,calkin4 ,other works consulted were3 ,recent ,discoveries on the ,temple ,hill1 by ,james ,king2 the ,bible ,atlas1 by ,jesse ,l4 ,hurlbut2 ,galilee in the ,time of ,christ1 by ,selah ,merrill2 ,city of the ,great ,king1 by ,j4,t4 ,barclay2 ,palestine1 by ,c4,r4 ,conder2 ,smith's ,bible ,dictionary2 ,century ,dictionary and ,cyclopaedia2 ,columbian ,encyclopaedia1 and ,encyclopaedia ,britannica4 ,the chapter on ,churches of ,christ in ,great ,britain and ,ireland was read before publication by ,bro4 ,ivie ,campbell1 ,jr41 of ,kirkcaldy1 ,scotland1 who made some suggestions for its improvement4 ,bro4 ,j4,w4 ,mc,garvey1 of ,lexington1 ,ky41 kindly read the chapters on the ,geography and ,history of ,palestine1 and made some corrections4 ,selah ,merrill1 ,united ,states ,consul at ,jerusalem1 has given some information embodied in the ,historic ,sketch of ,palestine4 ,acknowledgement of the helpful services of my wife1 and of ,miss ,delia ,boyd1 of ,atpontley1 ,tenn41 is hereby made4 ,,table ,,of ,,contents4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,scotland ,,and ,,england ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,crossing ,,europe ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,asia ,,minor ,,and ,,syria ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,a ,,few ,,days ,,in ,,galilee ,,chapter ,v4 ,,sight-,,seeing ,,in ,,jerusalem ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,side ,,trips ,,from ,,jerusalem ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,egypt1 ,,the ,,land ,,of ,,tombs ,,and ,,temples ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,geography ,,of ,,palestine ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,historic ,,sketch ,,of ,,palestine ,,chapter ,x4 ,,churches ,,of ,,christ ,,in ,,great ,,britain ,,chapter ,i4 ,,scotland ,,and ,,england4 ,when ,i was a boy on a farm1 one of my school teachers had a small machine1 which was sometimes used to print the names of students in their books4 ,somehow ,i came to want a printing press1 and after a while ,i purchased an outfit for fifteen cents1 but it was a poor thing and failed to satisfy me4 ,accordingly1 ,i disposed of it and spent a larger sum for a typewriter1 which was little more than a toy4 ,this1 too1 was unsatisfactory1 and ,i sold it4 ,at a later date1 ,i bought a second-hand typewriter1 which was turned in as part payment for the machine ,i am now using to write this book1 and now1 after all these successive steps1 ,i find myself possessed of a real typewriter4 ,i will also mention my youthful desire for a watch4 ,i wanted a timepiece and thought ,i would like for it to be of small size4 ,i thought of it when awake1 and1 sometimes1 when asleep1 dreamed that ,i actually had the little watch in my possession4 ,since those days of dreams and disappointments1 ,i have had three watches1 and they have all been of small size4 ,in the same way1 several years ago1 ,i became possessed of a desire to see the ,land of ,promise1 the earthly ,canaan4 ,i thought about it some1 and occasionally spoke of it4 ,there were seasons when the desire left me1 but it would come back again4 ,some years ago1 when ,i was doing evangelistic work in ,canada1 the desire returned--this time to stay4 ,it grew stronger and stronger until ,i decided to make the trip1 which was begun on the eleventh of ,july1 #aijd4 ,after traveling many thousands of miles1 seeing numerous new and interesting sights1 making many pleasant acquaintances1 and having a variety of experiences1 ,i returned to the home of my father on the fourteenth day of ,december1 having been absent five months and three days1 and having had a more extensive trip than ,i had at first thought of taking4 ,there is a lesson in the foregoing that ,i do not want overlooked4 ,it is this3 ,whatever we earnestly desire is apt to be worked out in our lives4 ,deeds usually begin with thoughts4 ,if the thoughts are fostered and cultivated1 the deeds will probably be performed some time4 ,it is1 therefore1 important that we exercise care as to the kind of thoughts we allow to remain in our hearts4 ,keep thy heart with all diligence2 for out of it are the issues of life 7,prov4 iv4 #bc74 ,on the way to ,new ,york1 ,i stopped in ,washington and saw some of the interesting places of the ,national ,capital4 ,the ,bureau of ,engraving and ,printing1 where about six hundred persons were engaged in printing paper money and stamps1 was visited4 ,i also went out to the ,washington ,monument and climbed to the top of the winding stairs1 although ,i might have gone up in the free elevator if ,i had preferred to ride4 ,the ,medical ,museum1 ,national ,museum1 ,treasury ,building1 the ,white ,house1 the ,capitol1 and other points of interest received attention1 and my short stay in this city was very enjoyable4 ,i spent a night in ,philadelphia1 after an absence of more than four years1 and enjoyed a meeting with the church worshiping on ,forty-sixth ,street4 ,it was very pleasant to meet those ,i had known when ,i was there before1 some of whom ,i had been instrumental in bringing to ,christ4 ,in ,new ,york ,i made arrangements to sail for ,glasgow on the ,s4,s4 ,mongolian1 of the ,allan ,line1 which was to sail at eleven o'clock on the fourteenth of ,july1 and the voyage was begun almost as promptly as a railway train leaves the depot4 ,we passed the ,statue of ,liberty a few minutes before noon1 and then ,i prepared some mail to be sent back by the pilot who took us down to the sea4 ,the water was smooth almost all the way across1 and we reached the desired haven on the eleventh day4 ,i went back to my room the first morning after breakfast and was lying in my berth when a gentleman came along and told me ,i would have to get up1 they were going to have inspection4 ,i arose and found part of the crew scrubbing the floor and others washing down a wall4 ,everything was being put in good condition for the examination to be given by some of the officers who passed through each day at about ten o'clock4 ,the seamen knew the inspection was sure to come1 and they knew the hour at which it would take place1 so they made ready for it4 ,we know that there is a great inspection day appointed when ,god will judge the world1 but we do not know the exact time4 ,it is1 therefore1 important to be ready always1 that the day may not overtake us as a thief in the night4 ,religious services were held on the ship each ,lord's day1 but ,i missed the last meeting4 ,on the first ,sunday morning ,i arose as usual and ate breakfast4 ,as there was no opportunity to meet with brethren and break bread in memory of the ,lord ,jesus1 ,i read the account of the giving of the ,lord's ,supper as recorded in ,matthew1 ,mark1 and ,john2 also ,paul's language concerning the institution in the eleventh chapter of the first ,corinthian letter1 and was thankful that my life had been spared until another beautiful resurrection morning4 ,at half past ten o'clock ,i went into one of the dining rooms where two ministers were conducting a meeting4 ,the order of the service1 as nearly as ,i can give it1 was as follows3 ,responsive reading of the twenty-third and twenty-fourth ,psalms2 prayer2 the hymn1 ,onward1 ,christian ,soldiers2 reading of the twenty-ninth ,psalm2 prayer2 the hymn1 ,lead1 ,kindly ,light2 an address on ,knowing ,god2 prayer2 the collection1 taken while singing2 and the benediction4 ,the ship furnished ,bibles and hymn-books4 ,a large copy of the ,bible was placed upon a ,british flag at the head of one of the tables where the speaker stood1 but he read from the ,american ,revised ,version of the ,scriptures4 ,the sermon was commenced by some remarks to the effect that man is hard to please4 ,nothing earthly satisfies him1 but ,thomas expressed the correct idea when he said3 ,show us the ,father and it sufficeth us4 ,the minister then went on to speak of ,god as the ,god of patience1 the ,god of comfort1 the ,god of hope1 and the ,god of peace4 ,it was1 with some exceptions1 a pleasing and uplifting address4 ,there were about thirty persons in attendance1 and the collection was for the ,sailors' ,orphans' ,home in ,scotland4 ,the following is one verse of the closing hymn3 ,a few more years shall roll1 ,a few more seasons come1 ,and we shall be with those that rest1 ,asleep within the tomb2 ,then1 oh1 my ,lord1 prepare ,my soul for that great day1 ,oh1 wash me in thy precious blood ,and take my sins away4 ,before the close of the day1 ,i read the whole of ,mark's record of the life of our ,savior and turned my ,bible over to ,gus1 the steward4 ,we had food served four times1 as usual4 ,the sea was smooth and the day passed quietly4 ,a ,catholic gentleman said something at breakfast about saying a few prayers to himself1 and ,i heard a woman1 in speaking about going to church1 say she had beads and a prayer-book with her4 ,later in the day ,i saw her out on the deck with a novel1 and what ,i supposed to be the prayer-book1 but she was reading the novel4 ,several of the passengers had reading matter with them4 ,some read novels1 but my ,book was far better than any of these4 ,it has a greater ,author1 a wider range of history1 more righteous laws1 purer morals1 and more beautiful description than theirs4 ,it contains a longer and better love story than theirs1 and reveals a much grander ,hero4 ,the ,bible both moralizes and ,christianizes those who permit its holy influence to move them to loving obedience of the ,lord ,jesus4 ,it can fill its thoughtful reader with holy hope and lead him into the realization of that hope4 ,it is a ,book adapted to all men everywhere1 and the more carefully it is read the greater the interest in it and the profit from it become4 ,it is the volume that teaches us how to live here that we may live hereafter1 and in the dying hour no one will regret having been a diligent student of its matchless pages of divine truth and wisdom4 ,the last ,lord's day of the voyage the ship reached ,moville1 ,ireland1 where a small vessel came out and took off the passengers for ,londonderry4 ,the tilled land1 visible from the ship1 reminded me of a large garden4 ,some time that night we anchored in the harbor at ,greenock1 near the mouth of the ,river ,clyde4 ,about one o'clock the second steward came in1 calling out3 ,janes6 ,i answered from my berth and heard him call out3 ,don ,carlos ,janes6 ,again ,i answered and learned that he had some mail for me4 ,i told him to hand it in1 not remembering that the door was locked1 but that made no difference1 for he handed it in anyhow1 but the locking arrangement on that door needed repairing after he went away4 ,i arose and examined the two pieces of mail1 which were from friends1 giving me directions as to where ,i should go when the ship got up to ,glasgow1 twenty-two miles from the sea4 ,there was but one case of sea sickness reported on the whole voyage4 ,there was one death1 but the corpse was carried into port instead of being buried at sea4 ,the home of ,brother and ,sister ,henry ,nelmes1 which was my home while ,i staid in ,glasgow1 is nicely located4 ,brother ,nelmes and his wife are excellent people1 and treated me with much kindness4 ,glasgow is a large and important city1 with many interesting places in it4 ,the ,municipal ,building with its marble stairs1 alabaster balustrade1 onyx columns1 and other ornamentation1 is attractive on the inside1 but the exterior impressed me more with the idea of stability than of beauty4 ,the old ,cathedral1 which ,i visited twice1 is in an excellent state of preservation1 although founded in the eleventh century4 ,there is an extensive burial ground adjoining the ,cathedral1 and one of the prominent monuments is at the grave of ,john ,knox1 the reformer4 ,these impressive words1 written from memory1 were spoken by the ,regent at the burial of ,knox1 and have been carved upon his monument3 ,here lieth he who never feared the face of man1 who was often threatened with dag and dagger1 yet hath ended his days in peace and honor4 ,carlyle spoke of him as a man fearing ,god1 without any other fear4 ,one day ,i visited the birth-place of ,robert ,burns1 at ,ayr1 a point not far from ,glasgow4 ,i not only saw the lowly thatched cottage1 but a monument to the poet1 ,auld ,kirk ,alloway1 the brig o' ,doon1 and many interesting articles in the museum4 ,when the street car came to a standstill1 ,i had the old church and cemetery on my right hand1 and the monument on my left hand1 while a man was standing in the road1 ahead of us1 blowing a cornet1--and just beyond was the new bridge over the ,doon1 a short distance below the old one1 which is well preserved and profusely decorated with the initials of many visitors4 ,along the bank of bonny ,doon lies a little garden1 on the corner of which is situated a house where liquor is sold1 if ,i mistake not4 ,it was before this house that ,i saw the musician already mentioned4 ,as ,i came up from the old brig o' ,doon1 ,i saw and heard a man playing a violin near the monument4 ,when ,i went down the road toward the new bridge and looked over into the garden1 ,i saw a couple of persons executing a cake-walk1 and an old man with one leg off was in the cemetery that surrounds the ruined church1 reciting selections from ,burns4 ,such is the picture ,i beheld when ,i visited this ,ayrshire monument1 raised in memory of the sympathetic but unfortunate ,scottish poet1 whose spark o' nature's fire has touched so many hearts that his birth-place has more visitors per annum than ,shakespeare's has4 ,on the following day ,i had a pleasant boat-ride up ,loch 7,lake7 ,long1 followed by a merry coach-ride across to the bonny1 bonny banks of ,loch ,lomond1 which is celebrated in song and story4 ,it is twenty-two miles in length and from three-quarters of a mile to five miles wide1 and is called the ,queen of ,scottish lakes4 ,ben ,lomond1 a mountain rising to a height of more than three thousand feet1 stands on the shore1 and it is said that ,robert ,bruce1 the hero of ,bannockburn1 once hid himself in a cave in this mountain4 ,a pleasant boat-ride down the lake brought me back to ,glasgow in time to attend a meeting of the brethren in ,coplaw ,street that night4 ,leaving my true friends who had so kindly entertained me in ,glasgow1 ,i proceeded to ,edinburgh1 the city where ,robert ,burns came into prominence4 ,in the large ,waverley ,station a stranger1 who knew of my coming through word from ,brother ,ivie ,campbell1 of ,kirkcaldy1 stopped me and asked3 ,is your name ,don ,carlos ,janes8 ,it was another good friend1 ,brother ,j4,w4 ,murray4 ,he said he told some one he was looking for me1 and was told1 in return1 that he would not be able to find me4 ,his answer to this was that he had picked out a man before1 and he might pick out another one2 and so he did1 without any difficulty4 ,after a little time spent in ,waverley gardens1 ,i ascended the ,walter ,scott ,monument1 which is two hundred feet high4 ,the winding stairway is rather narrow1 especially at the top1 and it is not well lighted4 ,as ,i was coming down the stairs1 ,i met a lady and gentleman4 ,the little woman was not at all enthusiastic over the experience she was having1 and1 without knowing of my presence1 she was wondering what they would do if they were to meet any one4 ,come on up and see1 ,i said1 and we passed without any special difficulty1 but she said she didn't believe two stout ones could pass4 ,as she went on up the winding way1 she was heard expressing herself in these words3 ,oh1 it is a place1 isn't it8 ,i don't like it4 ,the tourist finds many places1 and they are not all desirable4 ,princess ,street1 on which the monument is located1 is the prettiest street that ,i have ever seen4 ,one side is occupied by business houses and hotels1 the other is a beautiful garden1 where one may walk or sit down1 surrounded by green grass and beautiful flowers4 ,edinburgh ,castle is an old fortification on the summit of a lofty hill overlooking the city4 ,it is now used as barracks for soldiers1 and is capable of accommodating twelve hundred men4 ,queen ,mary's room is a small chamber1 where her son1 ,james the ,first of ,scotland and the ,sixth of ,england1 was born4 ,i was in the old castle in ,glasgow where she spent the night before the ,battle of ,langside1 and later stood by her tomb in ,westminster ,abbey4 ,her history1 a brief sketch of which is given here1 is interesting and pathetic4 ,mary ,queen of ,scots was born in ,linlithgow ,palace1 #aedb2 fatherless at seven days old2 became ,queen ,december #hth1 #aedb1 and was crowned at ,stirling1 ,september #ith1 #aedc2 carried to ,france1 #aedh2 married to the ,dauphin1 #aeeh2 became ,queen of ,france1 #aeei2 a widow1 #aefj2 returned to ,scotland1 #aefa2 married ,lord ,darnley1 #aefe2 her son 7and successor71 ,james ,,vi41 born at ,edinburgh ,castle1 #aeff2 ,lord ,darnley murdered1 ,february1 #aefg2 ,mary married to the ,earl of ,bothwell1 ,may1 #aefg1 and was compelled to abdicate in favor of her infant son4 ,she escaped from ,lochleven ,castle1 lost the ,battle of ,langside1 and fled to ,england1 #aefh4 ,she was beheaded ,february #hth1 #aehg1 at ,fotheringay ,castle1 in the forty-fifth year of her age1 almost nineteen years of which she passed in captivity4 ,puir ,mary was born and was cradled in tears1 ,grief cam' wi' her birth1 and grief grew wi' her years4 ,in the crown-room are to be seen the regalia of ,scotland1 consisting of the crown1 scepter1 sword of state1 a silver rod of office1 and other jewels1 all enclosed in a glass case surrounded by iron work4 ,st4 ,margaret's ,chapel1 seventeen feet long and eleven feet wide1 stands within the castle enclosure and is the oldest building in the city4 ,a very old cannon1 called ,mons ,meg1 was brought back to the castle through the efforts of ,walter ,scott1 and is now on exhibition4 ,i visited the ,hall of ,statuary in the ,national ,gallery1 the ,royal ,blind ,asylum1 passed ,st4 ,giles ,cathedral1 where ,john ,knox preached1 dined with ,brother ,murray1 and boarded the train for ,kirkcaldy1 where ,i as easily found ,brother ,campbell at the station as ,brother ,murray had found me in ,edinburgh4 ,i had been in correspondence with ,brother ,campbell for some years1 and our meeting was a pleasure1 and my stay at ,kirkcaldy was very enjoyable4 ,we went up to ,st4 ,andrews1 and visited the ruins of the old ,cathedral1 the ,university1 a monument to certain martyrs1 and the home of a sister in ,christ4 ,but little of the ,cathedral remains to be seen4 ,it was founded in #aaei1 and was the most magnificent of ,scottish churches4 ,st4 ,rule's ,tower1 one hundred and ten feet high1 still stands1 and we had a fine view from the top4 ,the time to leave ,kirkcaldy came too soon1 but ,i moved on toward ,wigan1 ,england1 to attend the annual meeting of churches of ,christ4 ,brother ,campbell accompanied me as far as ,edinburgh1 and ,i then proceeded to ,melrose1 where ,i stopped off and visited ,abbotsford1 the home of ,sir ,walter ,scott4 ,it is situated on the ,river ,tweed1 a short distance from ,melrose1 and was founded in #ahaa4 ,by the expenditure of a considerable sum of money it was made to present such an appearance as to be called a romance in stone and lime4 ,part of this large house is occupied as a dwelling1 but some of the rooms are kept open for the numerous visitors who call from time to time4 ,the young lady who was guide the day ,i was at ,abbotsford1 first showed us ,sir ,walter's study4 ,it is a small room1 with book shelves from the floor to the ceiling1 the desk on which ,scott wrote his novels sitting in the middle of the floor4 ,a writing-box1 made of wood taken from one of the ships of the ,spanish ,armada1 sits on the desk1 and the clothes worn by the great novelist a short time before his death are kept under glass in a case by the window1 while a cast of his face is to be seen in a small room adjoining the study4 ,we next passed into the library1 which1 with the books in the study1 contains about twenty thousand volumes4 ,in the armory are numerous guns1 pistols1 swords1 and other relics4 ,there is some fine furniture in one of the rooms1 and the walls are covered with paper printed by hand in ,china nearly ninety years ago4 ,perhaps some who read these lines will recall the sad story of ,genivra1 who hid herself in an oaken chest in an attic1 and perished there1 being imprisoned by the spring lock4 ,this oaken chest was received at ,abbotsford a short time before ,scott's death1 and is now on exhibition4 ,sir ,walter1 as the guide repeatedly called him1 spent the last years of his life under the burden of a heavy debt1 but instead of making use of the bankrupt law1 he set to work heroically with his pen to clear up the indebtedness4 ,he wrote rapidly1 and his books sold well1 but he was one day compelled to lay down his pen before the task was done4 ,the ,king of ,england gave him a trip to the ,mediterranean1 for the benefit of his health1 but it was of no avail4 ,sir ,walter returned to his home on the bank of the ,tweed1 and died ,september twenty-first1 #ahcb4 ,in his last illness1 this great author1 who had produced so many volumes that were being read then and are still being read1 asked his son-in-law to read to him4 ,the son-in-law asked what book he should read1 to which ,sir ,walter replied3 ,book8 ,there is but one ,book6 ,read me the ,bible4 ,in ,melrose ,i visited the ruins of the ,abbey1 and then went on to ,wigan4 ,after the annual meeting1 ,i went to ,birmingham and stayed a short while4 ,from here ,i made a little journey to the birth-place of ,shakespeare1 at ,stratford-on-,avon1 a small1 quiet town1 where1 to the best of my recollection1 ,i saw neither street cars nor omnibuses4 ,after being in several large cities1 it was an agreeable change to spend a day in this quiet place1 where the greatest writer in the ,english tongue spent his boyhood and the last days of his life on earth4 ,the house where he was born was first visited4 ,a fee of sixpence 7about twelve cents7 secures admission1 but another sixpence is required if the library and museum are visited4 ,the house stands as it was in the poet's early days1 with a few exceptions4 ,since that time1 however1 part of it has been used as a meat market and part as an inn4 ,in #ahdg1 the property was announced for sale1 and it fell into the hands of persons who restored it as nearly as possible to its original condition4 ,it has two stories and an attic1 with three gables in the roof facing the street4 ,at the left of the door by which the tourist is admitted1 is a portion of the house where the valuable documents of the corporation are stored1 while to the right are the rooms formerly used as the ,swan and ,maidenhead ,inn1 now converted into a library and museum4 ,the windows in the upstairs room where the poet was born are fully occupied with the autographs of visitors who have scratched their names there4 ,i was told that the glass is now valuable simply as old glass1 and of course the autographs enhance the value4 ,the names of ,scott and ,carlyle are pointed out by the attendant in charge4 ,from a back window one can look down into the garden1 where1 as far as possible1 all the trees and flowers mentioned in ,shakespeare's works have been planted4 ,for some years past the average number of visitors to this house has been seven thousand a year4 ,the poet's grave is in ,trinity ,church1 at ,stratford1 beneath a stone slab in the floor bearing these lines3 ,good friend1 for ,jesus' sake1 forbear ,to digg the dust enclosed here4 ,blest be ye man y spares these stones1 ,and curst be he ty moves my bones4 ,on the wall1 just at hand1 is a bust made from a cast taken after his death4 ,near by is a stained-glass window with the inscription1 ,america's gift to ,shakespeare's church1 and not far away is a card above a collection-box with an inscription which informs visitors from ,u4,s4,a4 that there is yet due on the window more than three hundred dollars4 ,the original cost was about two thousand five hundred dollars4 ,the ,shakespeare ,memorial is a small theater by the side of the ,avon1 with a library and picture gallery attached4 ,the first stone was laid in #ahgg1 and the building was opened in #ahgi with a performance of ,much ,ado ,about ,nothing4 ,the old school once attended by the poet still stands1 and is in use1 as is also the cottage of ,anne ,hathaway1 situated a short distance from ,stratford4 ,i returned to ,birmingham1 and soon went on to ,bristol and saw the orphans' homes founded by ,george ,muller4 ,these homes1 capable of accommodating two thousand and fifty orphans1 are beautifully situated on ,ashley ,downs4 ,brother ,william ,kempster and ,i visited them together1 and were shown through a portion of one of the five large buildings by an elderly gentleman1 neat1 clean1 and humble1 who was sent down by the manager of the institution1 a son-in-law of ,mr4 ,muller1 who died in #ahih1 at the advanced age of ninety-three years4 ,we saw one of the dormitories1 which was plainly furnished1 but everything was neat and clean4 ,we were also shown two dining-rooms1 and the library-room in which ,mr4 ,muller conducted a prayer-meeting only a night or two before his death4 ,in this room we saw a fine1 large picture of the deceased1 and were told by the helper who was showing us around that ,mr4 ,muller was accustomed to saying3 ,oh1 ,i am such a happy man6 ,the expression on his face in this picture is quite in harmony with his words just quoted4 ,one of his sayings was3 ,when anxiety begins1 faith ends2 when faith begins1 anxiety ends4 ,mr4 ,muller spent seventy years of his life in ,england and became so thoroughly ,anglicized that he wished his name pronounced ,miller4 ,he was the founder of the ,scriptural ,knowledge ,institution for ,home and ,abroad and was a man of much more than ordinary faith4 ,his work began about #ahcd1 with the distribution of literature1 and the orphan work1 if ,i mistake not1 was begun two years later4 ,as the result of prayer to ,god more than five millions of dollars have been applied for the benefit of the orphans4 ,he never asked help of man1 but made his wants known to ,god1 and those who are now carrying on the work pursue the same course1 but the collection-boxes put up where visitors can see them might be considered by some as an invitation to give4 ,the following quotation from the founder of the orphanages will give some idea of the kind of man he was4 ,in carrying on this work simply through the instrumentality of prayer and faith1 without applying to any human being for help1 my great desire was1 that it might be seen that1 now1 in the nineteenth century1 ,god is still the ,living ,god1 and now1 as well as thousands of years ago1 he listens to the prayers of his children and helps those who trust in him4 ,in all the forty-two countries through which ,i traveled during the twenty-one years of my missionary service1 numberless instances came before me of the benefit which this orphan institution has been1 in this respect1 not only in making men of the world see the reality of the things of ,god1 and by converting them1 but especially by leading the children of ,god more abundantly to give themselves to prayer1 and by strengthening their faith4 ,far beyond what ,i at first expected to accomplish1 the ,lord has been pleased to give me4 ,but what ,i have seen as the fruit of my labor in this way may not be the thousandth part of what ,i shall see when the ,lord ,jesus comes again2 as day by day1 for sixty-one years1 ,i have earnestly labored1 in believing prayer1 that ,god would be pleased1 most abundantly1 to bless this service in the way ,i have stated4 ,the objects of the ,scriptural ,knowledge ,institution are set forth as follows3 ,to assist day schools and ,sunday-schools in which instruction is given upon scriptural principles1 etc4 ,by day schools conducted on scriptural principles1 they mean those in which the teachers are believers2 where the way of salvation is pointed out1 and in which no instruction is given opposed to the principles of the ,gospel4 ,in these schools the ,scriptures are read daily by the children4 ,in the ,sunday-schools the teachers are believers1 and the ,holy ,scriptures alone are the foundation of instruction4 ,the second object of the ,institution is to circulate the ,holy ,scriptures4 ,in one year four thousand three hundred and fifty ,bibles were sold1 and five hundred and twenty-five were given away2 seven thousand eight hundred and eighty-one ,new ,testament were sold1 and one thousand five hundred and seventy-four were given away2 fifty-five copies of the ,psalms were sold1 and thirty-eight were given away2 two thousand one hundred and sixty-three portions of the ,holy ,scriptures were sold1 and one hundred and sixty-two were given away2 and three thousand one hundred illustrated portions of the ,scriptures were given away4 ,there have been circulated through this medium1 since ,march1 #ahcd1 three hundred and eleven thousand two hundred and seventy-eight ,bibles1 and one million five hundred and seven thousand eight hundred and one copies of the ,new ,testament4 ,they keep in stock almost four hundred sorts of ,bibles1 ranging in price from twelve cents each to more than six dollars a copy4 ,another object of the ,institution is to aid in missionary efforts4 ,during the past year one hundred and eighty laborers in the ,word and doctrine in various parts of the world have been assisted4 ,the fourth object is to circulate such publications as may be of benefit both to believers and unbelievers4 ,in a single year one million six hundred and eleven thousand two hundred and sixty-six books and tracts were distributed gratuitously4 ,the fifth object is to board1 clothe1 and scientifically educate destitute orphans4 ,mr4 ,muller belonged to that class of religious people who call themselves ,brethren1 and are called by others ,plymouth ,brethren4 ,after leaving ,bristol1 ,i went to ,london1 the metropolis of the world4 ,the first important place visited was ,westminster ,abbey1 an old church1 founded in the seventh century1 rebuilt in #ajdi1 and restored to its present form in the thirteenth century4 ,many eminent men and women are buried here4 ,chaucer1 the first poet to find a resting place in the ,abbey1 was interred in #adjj4 ,the place where ,major ,andre is buried is marked by a small piece of the pavement bearing his name4 ,on the wall close by is a monument to him4 ,here are the graves of ,isaac ,newton1 ,charles ,dickens1 ,alfred ,tennyson1 ,charles ,darwin1 and many others1 including ,kings and ,queens of ,england for centuries4 ,in the ,poets' ,corner are monuments to ,coleridge1 ,southey1 ,shakespeare1 ,burns1 ,tennyson1 ,milton1 ,gray1 ,spencer1 and others1 and one bearing the inscription ,o ,rare ,ben ,jonson4 ,there is also a bust of ,longfellow1 the only foreigner accorded a memorial in the ,abbey4 ,the grave of ,david ,livingstone1 the ,african explorer and missionary1 is covered with a black stone of some kind1 which forms a part of the floor or pavement1 and contains an inscription in brass letters1 of which the following quotation is a part3 ,all ,i can add in my solitude is1 may heaven's rich blessings come down on every one1 ,american1 ,english1 or ,turk1 who will help to heal this open sore of the world4 ,concerning this interesting old place which is visited by more than fifty thousand ,americans annually1 ,jeremy ,taylor wrote3 ,where our ,kings are crowned1 their ancestors lie interred1 and they must walk over their grandsires to take the crown4 ,there is an acre sown with royal seed1 the copy of the greatest change1 from rich to naked1 from ceiled roofs to arched coffins1 from living like gods to die like men4 ,there the warlike and the peaceful1 the fortunate and the miserable1 the beloved and despised princes mingle their dust and pay down their symbol of mortality1 and tell all the world that when we die our ashes shall be equal to ,kings1 and our accounts easier1 and our pains for our sins shall be less4 ,while walking about in the ,abbey1 ,i also found these lines from ,walter ,scott3 ,here1 where the end of earthly things ,lays heroes1 patriots1 bards and kings2 ,where stiff the hand and still the tongue ,of those who fought1 and spoke1 and sung2 ,here1 where the fretted aisles prolong ,the distant notes of holy song1 ,as if some ,angel spoke again ',all peace on earth1 good will to men'2 ,if ever from an ,english heart1 ,here let prejudice depart4 ,bunhill ,fields is an old cemetery where one hundred and twenty thousand burials have taken place4 ,here lie the ashes of ,isaac ,watts1 the hymn writer2 of ,daniel ,de ,foe1 author of ,robinson ,crusoe1 and of ,john ,bunyan1 who in ,bedford jail wrote ,pilgrim's ,progress4 ,the monuments are all plain4 ,the one at the grave of ,de ,foe was purchased with the contributions of seventeen hundred people1 who responded to a call made by some paper4 ,on the top of ,bunyan's tomb rests the figure of a man1 perhaps a representation of him whose body was laid in the grave below4 ,on one of the monuments in this cemetery are the following words concerning the deceased3 ,in sixty-seven months she was tapped sixty-six times4 ,had taken away two hundred and forty gallons of water without ever repining at her case or ever fearing the operation4 ,just across the street from ,bunhill ,fields stands the house once occupied by ,john ,wesley 7now containing a museum7 and a meeting-house which was built in ,wesley's day4 ,the old pulpit from which ,mr4 ,wesley preached is still in use1 but it has been lowered somewhat4 ,in front of the chapel is a statue of ,wesley1 and at the rear is his grave1 and close by is the last resting place of the remains of ,adam ,clarke1 the commentator4 ,a trip to ,greenwich was quite interesting4 ,i visited the museum and saw much of interest1 including the painted hall1 the coat worn by ,nelson at the ,battle of the ,nile1 and the clothing he wore when he was mortally wounded at ,trafalgar4 ,i went up the hill to the ,observatory1 and walked through an open door to the grounds where a gentleman informed me that visitors are not admitted without a pass2 but he kindly gave me some information and told me that ,i was standing on the prime meridian4 ,on the outside of the enclosure are scales of linear measure up to one yard1 and a large clock4 ,after the trip to ,greenwich1 ,i went over the ,london ,bridge1 passed the fire monument1 and came back across the ,thames by the ,tower ,bridge1 a peculiar structure1 having two levels in one span1 so passengers can go up the stairs in one of the towers1 cross the upper level1 and go down the other stairs when the lower level is opened for boats to pass up and down the river4 ,while in ,scotland1 ,i twice crossed the great ,forth ,bridge1 which is more than a mile and a half long and was erected at a cost of above fifteen millions of dollars4 ,there are ten spans in the south approach1 eight in the north approach1 and two central spans each seventeen hundred feet long4 ,the loftiest part of the structure is three hundred and sixty-one feet above high-water mark4 ,the ,albert ,memorial is perhaps the finest monument seen on the whole trip4 ,the ,victoria and ,albert ,museum contains the original ,singer sewing-machine1 and a printing-press supposed to have been used by ,benjamin ,franklin1 and many other interesting things4 ,the ,natural ,history ,museum also contains much to attract the visitor's attention4 ,here ,i saw the skeleton of a mastodon about ten feet tall and twenty feet long2 also the tusks of an extinct species of ,indian elephant1 which were nine feet and nine inches long4 ,there is also an elephant tusk on exhibition ten feet long and weighing two hundred and eighty pounds4 ,madam ,tussaud's exhibition of wax figures and relics is both interesting and instructive1 and well repays one for the time and expense of a visit4 ,several ,american ,presidents are represented in life-size figures1 along with ,kings and others who have been prominent in the affairs of men4 ,in the ,napoleon room are three of the great warrior's carriages1 the one used at ,waterloo being in the number4 ,london ,tower is a series of strong buildings1 which have in turn served as a fortress1 a palace1 and a prison4 ,i saw the site of ,anne ,boleyn's execution1 but that which had the most interest for me was the room containing the crown jewels4 ,they are kept in a glass case ten or twelve feet in diameter1 in a small1 circular room4 ,outside of the case there is an iron cage surrounded by a network of wire4 ,the ,king's crown is at the top of the collection1 which contains other crowns1 scepters1 swords1 and different costly articles4 ,this crown1 which was first made in #ahch for ,queen ,victoria1 was enlarged for ,edward1 the present ,king4 ,it contains two thousand eight hundred and eighteen diamonds1 two hundred and ninety-seven pearls1 and many other jewels4 ,one of the scepters is supposed to contain a part of the cross of ,christ1 but the supposition had no weight with me4 ,one of the attendants told me the value of the whole collection was estimated at four million pounds1 and that it would probably bring five times that much if sold at auction4 ,as the ,english pound is worth about four dollars and eighty-seven cents1 this little room contains a vast treasure--worth upwards of a hundred million dollars4 ,i will only mention ,nelson's monument in ,trafalgar ,square1 the ,parliament ,buildings1 ,st4 ,paul's ,cathedral1 ,kew ,gardens1 ,hampton ,court ,palace1 and the ,zoological ,gardens4 ,i also visited the ,bank of ,england1 which stands on ground valued at two hundred and fifty dollars per square foot4 ,if the bank should ever find itself pressed for money1 it could sell its site for thirty-two million seven hundred and seventy thousand dollars4 ,it is a low building that is not noted for its beauty4 ,if it were located in ,new ,york1 probably one of the tall buildings characteristic of that city would be erected on the site4 ,the ,british ,museum occupied my time for hours1 and ,i shall not undertake to give a catalogue of the things ,i saw there1 but will mention a few of them4 ,there are manuscripts of early writers in the ,english tongue1 including a copy of ,beowulf1 the oldest poem in the language2 autograph works of ,daniel ,de ,foe1 ,ben ,jonson1 and others2 the original articles of agreement between ,john ,milton and ,samuel ,symmons relating to the sale of the copyright of a poem entitled ',paradise ,lost4' ,there was a small stone inscribed in ,phoenician1 with the name of ,nehemiah1 the son of ,macaiah1 and pieces of rock that were brought from the great temple of ,diana at ,ephesus2 a fragment of the ,koran2 objects illustrating ,buddhism in ,india2 books printed by ,william ,caxton1 who printed the first book in ,english2 and ,greek vases dating back to #fjj ,b4,c4 ,in the first verse of the twentieth chapter of ,isaiah we have mention of ,sargon1 the king of ,assyria4 ,for centuries this was all the history the world had of this king1 who reigned more than seven hundred years before ,christ4 ,within recent times his history has been dug up in making excavations in the east1 and ,i saw one of his inscribed bricks and two very large1 human-headed1 winged bulls from a doorway of his palace4 ,the carvings from the palace of ,sennacherib1 tablets from the library of ,asur-,banipal1 and brick of ,ur-,gur1 king of ,ur about twenty-five centuries before ,christ1 attracted my attention1 as did also the colossal left arm of a statue of ,thotmes ,,iii41 which measures about nine feet4 ,the ,rosetta stone1 by which the ,egyptian hieroglyphics were translated1 and hundreds of other objects were seen4 ,in the mummy-room are embalmed bodies1 skeletons1 and coffins that were many centuries old when ,jesus came to earth1 some of them bearing dates as early as #bfjj ,b4,c41 and in the case of a part of a body found in the third pyramid the date attached is #cfcc ,b4,c4 ,being weary1 ,i sat down1 and my note book contains this entry3 #a3de ,p4,m41 ,august #bj4 ,resting here in the midst of mummies and sarcophagi thousands of years old4 ,from the top of the ,monument ,i took a bird's-eye view of the largest of all earthly cities1 or at least ,i looked as far as the smoky atmosphere would permit1 and then returned to my stopping place at ,twynholm4 ,as ,i rode back on the top of an omnibus1 the houses of one of the ,rothschild family and the ,duke of ,wellington were pointed out4 ,my sight-seeing in ,scotland and ,england was now at an end1 and the journey so far had been very enjoyable and highly profitable4 ,i packed up and went down to ,harwich1 on the ,english ,channel1 where ,i embarked on the ,cambridge for ,antwerp1 in ,belgium4 ,in this chapter ,i have purposely omitted reference to my association with the churches1 as that will come up for consideration in another chapter4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,crossing ,,europe4 ,immediately after my arrival in ,antwerp ,i left for a short trip over the border to ,rosendaal1 ,holland1 where ,i saw but little more than brick-houses1 tile roofs1 and wooden shoes4 ,i then returned to ,antwerp1 and went on to ,brussels1 the capital of ,belgium4 ,the battlefield of ,waterloo is about nine and a half miles from ,brussels1 and ,i had an enjoyable trip to this notable place4 ,the field is farming land1 and now under cultivation4 ,the chief object of interest is the ,lion ,mound1 an artificial hill surmounted by the figure of a large lion4 ,the mound is ascended by about two hundred and twenty-three steps1 and from its summit one has a good view of the place where the great ,napoleon met his defeat on the fifteenth of ,june1 #ahae4 ,there is another monument on the field1 which1 though quite small and not at all beautiful1 contains an impressive inscription4 ,it was raised in memory of ,alexander ,gordon1 an aide to the ,duke of ,wellington1 and has the following words carved on one side3 ,a disconsolate sister and five surviving brothers have erected this simple memorial to the object of their tenderest affection4 ,from ,brussels ,i went over to ,aix-la-,chapelle1 on the frontier of ,germany1 where ,i spent but little time and saw nothing of any great interest to me4 ,there was a fine statue of ,wilhelm ,i41 a crucifixion monument1 and1 as ,i walked along the street1 ,i saw an advertisement for ,henry ,clay ,habanna ,cigarren1 but not being a smoker1 ,i can not say whether they were good or not4 ,in this city ,i had an amusing experience buying a ,german flag4 ,i couldn't speak ,deutsch1 and she couldn't speak ,english1 but we made the trade all right4 ,my next point was ,paris1 the capital of the ,french ,republic1 and here ,i saw many interesting objects4 ,i first visited the church called the ,madeleine4 ,i also walked along the famous street ,champs ,elysees1 visited the magnificent ,arch of ,triumph1 erected to commemorate the victories of ,napoleon1 and viewed the ,eiffel ,tower1 which was completed in #ahhi at a cost of a million dollars4 ,it contains about seven thousand tons of metal1 and the platform at the top is nine hundred and eighty-five feet high4 ,the ,tomb of ,napoleon is in the ,church of the ,invalides1 one of the finest places ,i had visited up to that time4 ,the spot where the ,bastile stood is now marked by a lofty monument4 ,the garden of the ,tuileries1 ,napoleon's palace1 is one of the pretty places in ,paris4 ,leaving this city in the morning1 ,i journeyed all day through a beautiful farming country1 and reached ,pontarlier1 in southern ,france1 for the night4 ,my travel in ,switzerland1 the oldest free state in the world1 was very enjoyable4 ,as we were entering the little republic1 in which ,i spent two days1 the train was running through a section of country that is not very rough1 when1 all in a moment1 it passed through a tunnel overlooking a beautiful valley1 bounded by mountains on the opposite side and presenting a very pleasing view4 ,there were many other beautiful scenes as ,i journeyed along1 sometimes climbing the rugged mountain by a cog railway1 and sometimes riding quietly over one of the beautiful ,swiss lakes4 ,i spent a night at lovely ,lucerne1 on the ,lake of the ,four ,cantons1 the body of water on which ,william ,tell figured long ago4 ,lucerne is kept very clean1 and presents a pleasing appearance to the tourist4 ,i could have gone to ,fluelin by rail1 but preferred to take a boat ride down the lake1 and it proved to be a pleasant and enjoyable trip4 ,the snow could be seen lying on the tops of the mountains while the flowers were blooming in the valleys below4 ,soon after leaving ,fluelin1 the train entered the ,st4 ,gothard ,tunnel and did not reach daylight again for seventeen minutes4 ,this tunnel1 at that time the longest in the world1 is a little more than nine miles in length4 ,it is twenty-eight feet wide1 twenty-one feet high1 lined throughout with masonry1 and cost eleven million four hundred thousand dollars4 ,since ,i was in ,switzerland the ,simplon ,tunnel has been opened4 ,it was begun more than six years ago by the ,swiss and ,italian ,governments1 an immense force of hands being worked on each end of it4 ,after laboring day and night for years1 the two parties met on the twenty-fourth of ,february4 ,this tunnel1 which is double1 is more than twelve miles long and cost sixteen millions of dollars4 ,at ,chiasso we did what is required at the boundary line of all the countries visited2 that is1 stop and let the custom-house officials inspect the baggage4 ,i had nothing dutiable and was soon traveling on through ,italy1 toward ,venice1 where ,i spent some time riding on one of the little omnibus steamers that ply on its streets of water4 ,but not all the ,venetian streets are like this1 for ,i walked on some that are paved with good1 hard sandstone4 ,i was not moved by the beauty of the place1 and soon left for ,pisa1 passing a night in ,florence on the way4 ,the chief point of interest was the ,leaning ,tower1 which has eight stories and is one hundred and eighty feet high4 ,this structure1 completed in the fourteenth century1 seems to have commenced to lean when the third story was built4 ,the top1 which is reached by nearly three hundred steps1 is fourteen feet out of perpendicular4 ,five large bells are suspended in the tower1 from the top of which one can have a fine view of the walled city1 with its ,cathedral and ,baptistery1 the beautiful surrounding country1 and the mountains in the distance4 ,the next point visited was ,rome1 old ,rome that sat on her seven hills and from her throne of beauty ruled the world4 ,one of the first things ,i saw when ,i came out of the depot was a monument bearing the letters ,s4,p4,q4,r4 7the ,senate and the people of ,rome7 which are sometimes seen in pictures concerning the crucifixion of ,christ4 ,in ,london there are numerous public water-closets2 in ,france also there are public urinals1 which are almost too public in some cases1 but here in ,rome the climax is reached1 for the urinals furnish only the least bit of privacy4 ,one of them1 near the railway station1 is merely an indentation of perhaps six or eight inches in a straight wall right against the sidewalk1 where men1 women1 and children are passing4 ,by the aid of a guide-book and pictorial plan1 ,i crossed the city from the gateway called ,porto del ,popolo to the ,porto ,s4 ,paolo1 seeing the street called the ,corso1 or race course1 ,piazza ,colonna1 ,fountain of ,treves1 ,trajan's ,forum1 ,roman ,forum1 ,arch of ,constantine1 ,pantheon1 ,colosseum1 and the small ,pyramid of ,caius ,cestus4 ,the ,porto del ,popolo is the old gateway by which travelers entered the city before the railroad was built4 ,it is on the ,flammian ,way and is said to have been built first in ,a4,d4 #djb4 ,just inside the gate is a space occupied by an ,egyptian obelisk surrounded by four ,egyptian lions4 ,the ,corso is almost a mile in length and extends from the gate just mentioned to the edge of the ,capitoline ,hill1 where a great monument to ,victor ,emmanuel was being built4 ,the ,fountain of ,treves is said to be the most magnificent in ,rome1 and needs to be seen to be appreciated4 ,it has three large figures1 the one in the middle representing the ,ocean1 the one on the left1 ,fertility1 and the one on the right1 ,health4 ,women who are disposed to dress fashionably at the expense of a deformed body might be profited by a study of this figure of ,health4 ,trajan's ,forum is an interesting little place1 but it is a small show compared with the ,roman ,forum1 which is much more extensive1 and whose ruins are more varied4 ,the latter contains the temples of ,vespasian1 of ,concordia1 of ,castor and ,pollux1 and others4 ,it also contains the famous ,arch of ,titus1 the ,basilica of ,constantine1 the remains of great palaces1 and other ruins4 ,originally the ,forum was a low valley among the hills1 a convenient place for the people to meet and barter4 ,the ,palatine ,hill was fortified by the first ,romans1 and the ,sabines lived on other hills4 ,these two races finally united1 and the valley between the hills became the site of numerous temples and government buildings4 ,kings erected their palaces in the ,forum1 and it became the center of ,roman life4 ,but when ,constantine built his capital at ,constantinople1 the greatness of the city declined1 and it was sacked and plundered by enemies from the north4 ,the ,forum became a dumping ground for all kinds of rubbish until it was almost hidden from view1 and it was called by a name signifying cow pasture4 ,it has been partly excavated within the last century1 and the ruined temples and palaces have been brought to light1 making it once more a place of absorbing interest4 ,i wandered around and over and under and through these ruins for a considerable length of time1 and wrote in my note book3 ,there is more here than ,i can comprehend4 ,i was in a garden on top of one part of the ruins where flowers and trees were growing1 and then ,i went down through the mass of ruins by a flight of seventy-five stairs1 which1 the attendant said1 was built by ,caligula4 ,i was then probably not more than half way to the bottom of this hill of ruins1 which is honeycombed with corridors1 stairways1 and rooms of various sizes4 ,the following scrap of history concerning ,caligula will probably be interesting3 ,at first he was lavishly generous and merciful1 but he soon became mad1 and his cruelty knew no bounds4 ,he banished or murdered his relatives and many of his subjects4 ,victims were tortured and slain in his presence while dining1 and he uttered the wish that all the ,roman people had but one neck1 that he might strike it off at one blow4 ,he built a bridge across the ,bay of ,baiae1 and planted trees upon it and built houses upon it that he might say he had crossed the sea on dry land4 ,in the middle of the bridge he gave a banquet1 and at the close had a great number of the guests thrown into the sea4 ,he made his favorite horse a priest1 then a consul1 and also declared himself a god1 and had temples built in his honor4 ,it is said that ,tiberius left the equivalent of one hundred and eighteen millions of dollars1 and that ,caligula spent it in less than a year4 ,the attendant pointed out the corridor in which he said this wicked man was assassinated4 ,near one of the entrances to the ,forum stands the ,arch of ,titus1 erected to commemorate the victory of the ,romans over the ,jews at ,jerusalem in ,a4,d4 #gj4 ,it is built of ,parian marble and still contains a well-preserved figure of the golden candlestick of the ,tabernacle carved on one of its walls4 ,there is a representation of the table of showbread near by1 and some other carvings yet remain1 indicating something of the manner in which the monument was originally ornamented4 ,the ,colosseum1 commenced by ,vespasian in ,a4,d4 #gb and finished by ,titus eight years later1 is a grand old ruin4 ,it is an open theater six hundred and twelve feet long1 five hundred and fifteen feet wide1 and one hundred and sixty-five feet high4 ,this structure1 capable of seating eighty-seven thousand people1 stands near the bounds of the ,forum4 ,it is the largest of its kind1 and is one of the best preserved and most interesting ruins in the world4 ,when it was dedicated1 the games lasted one hundred days1 and five thousand wild beasts were slain4 ,during the persecution of the ,christians it is said to have been the scene of fearful barbarities4 ,on the second day ,i entered the ,pantheon1 the best preserved monument of ancient ,rome1 built by ,marcus ,agrippa1 and consecrated to ,mars1 ,venus1 and others4 ,it was burned in the reign of ,titus and rebuilt by ,hadrian1 and in ,a4,d4 #fjh ,pope ,boniface consecrated it as a church4 ,the interior is shaped like a vast dome1 and the only opening for light is a round hole in the top4 ,raphael1 reckoned by almost universal opinion as the greatest of painters1 lies buried in the ,pantheon behind one of the altars4 ,i went to ,hadrian's ,tomb1 now the ,castle of ,st4 ,angelo1 and on to ,st4 ,peter's4 ,before this great church-building there is a large open space containing an obelisk and two fountains1 said to be the finest in the city1 with a semi-circular colonnade on two sides containing two hundred and eighty-four columns in four rows1 and on the top of the entablature there are ninety-six large statues4 ,there are large figures on the top of the church1 representing ,christ and the apostles4 ,the interior is magnificent4 ,there are three aisles five hundred and seventy-five feet long1 and the middle one is eighty-two feet wide4 ,the beautifully ornamented ceiling is one hundred and forty-two feet high4 ,in this building1 which was completed three hundred and fifty years after it was begun1 is the reputed tomb of the ,apostle ,peter1 and many large marble statues4 ,there are figures representing boy angels that are as large as a full-grown man4 ,the ,vatican is not far from ,st4 ,peter's1 and ,i went up to see the ,museum1 but got there just as it was being closed for the day4 ,i had a glimpse of the garden1 and saw some of the ,pope's carriages1 which were fine indeed4 ,one of the most interesting places that ,i visited about ,rome was the old underground cemetery called the ,catacombs of ,st4 ,calixtus4 ,the visitors go down a stairway with a guide1 who leads them about the chambers1 which are but dimly lighted by the small candles they carry4 ,the passages1 cut in the earth or soft rock1 vary both in width and height1 and have been explored in modern times to the aggregate length of six miles4 ,some of the bodies were placed in small recesses in the walls1 but ,i saw none there as ,i went through1 but there were two in marble coffins under glass4 ,in one of the small chambers the party sang in some foreign language1 probably ,italian1 and while ,i could not understand them1 ,i thought the music sounded well4 ,the ,circus of ,maxentius1 fifteen hundred feet long and two hundred and sixty feet wide1 is near the ,catacombs1 as is also the tomb of ,caecilla ,metella1 which is said to have been erected more than nineteen hundred years ago4 ,it is probably as much as two miles from the city walls1 and ,i walked on a little way and could see other ruins still farther in the distance1 but ,i turned back toward the hotel1 and some time after sundown found myself walking along the banks of the yellow ,tiber in the old city4 ,two days of sight-seeing had been well spent in and around the former capital of the world1 and ,i was ready to go on to ,naples the next day4 ,there is a saying1 ,see ,naples and die1 but ,i did not feel like expiring when ,i beheld it1 although it is very beautifully located4 ,the ruins of ,pompeii1 a few miles distant1 had more interest for me than ,naples4 ,i went out there on the tenth of ,september1 which ,i recollect as a very hot day4 ,pompeii1 a kind of a summer resort for the ,roman aristocracy1 was founded #fjj ,b4,c4 and destroyed by an eruption of ,mt4 ,vesuvius in ,a4,d4 #gi4 ,it was covered with ashes from the volcano1 and part of the population perished4 ,the site of the city was lost1 but was found after the lapse of centuries and the ,italian ,government began the excavations in #ahfj4 ,some of the old stone-paved streets1 showing the ruts made by chariot wheels that ceased to roll centuries ago1 have been laid bare4 ,portions of the houses are still standing1 and the stone drinking fountains along the streets are yet to be seen1 as are also the stepping stones at the crossings1 which are higher than the blocks used in paving4 ,some of the walls still contain very clear paintings1 some of which are not at all commendable1 and others are positively lewd4 ,one picture represented a wild boar1 a deer1 a lion1 a rabbit1 some birds1 and a female 7almost nude7 playing a harp4 ,there was also a very clear picture of a bird and some cherries4 ,at one place in the ruins ,i saw a well-executed picture of a chained dog in mosaic work4 ,it is remarkable how well preserved some things are here4 ,in the ,museum are petrified bodies in the positions they occupied when sudden and unexpected destruction was poured upon them1 well nigh two thousand years ago4 ,some appear to have died in great agony1 but one has a peaceful position4 ,perhaps this victim was asleep when the death angel came4 ,i saw the petrified remains of a dog wearing a collar and lying on his back1 and a child on its face4 ,one of the men1 who may have been a military officer1 seemed to have a rusty sword at his side4 ,there were skeletons1 both of human beings and of brutes1 bronze vessels1 and such articles as cakes and eggs from the kitchens of the old city4 ,mt4 ,vesuvius is a very famous volcano1 standing four thousand feet high1 and has wrought a great deal of destruction4 ,in the eruption of #dgb1 it is related that its ashes were carried to ,constantinople2 in #ajff1 the lava flowed down to the sea2 in #afca1 eighteen thousand lives were lost2 and in #agid a stream of lava more than a thousand feet wide and fifteen feet high destroyed a town4 ,from my hotel in ,naples ,i had a fine view of the red light rising from the volcano the evening after ,i visited ,pompeii4 ,leaving ,naples1 ,i went to ,brindisi1 where ,i took ship for ,patras in ,greece4 ,a day was spent in crossing ,italy1 two nights and a day were taken up with the voyage to ,patras1 and a good part of a day was occupied with the railroad trip from there to ,athens1 where the hotel men made more ado over me than ,i was accustomed to1 but ,i got through all right and secured comfortable quarters at the ,new ,york ,hotel1 just across the street from the ,parliament ,building4 ,from the little balcony at my window ,i could look out at the ,acropolis4 ,the principal places visited the first day were the ,stadium1 ,mars' ,hill1 and the ,acropolis4 ,leaving the hotel and going through ,constitution ,square1 up ,philhellene ,street1 past the ,russian and ,english churches1 ,i came to the ,zappeion1 a modern building put up for ,olympic exhibitions4 ,the ,arch of ,hadrian1 a peculiar old structure1 twenty-three feet wide and about fifty-six feet high1 stands near the ,zappeion1 and formerly marked the boundary between ancient ,athens and the more modern part of the city4 ,passing through this arch1 ,i soon came to what remains of the temple of the ,olympian ,jupiter1 which was commenced long before the birth of ,christ and finished by ,hadrian about ,a4,d4 #adj4 ,originally this temple1 after that of ,ephesus said to be the largest in the world1 had three rows of eight columns each1 on the eastern and western fronts1 and a double row of one hundred columns on the northern and southern sides1 and contained a statue of ,jupiter1 overlaid with gold and ivory4 ,its glory has long since departed1 and only fifteen of the columns are now standing4 ,a little farther on is the ,stadium1 with an arena over five hundred and eighty feet long1 and one hundred and nine feet wide4 ,it was originally constructed by the orator ,lycurgus1 about three hundred and fifty years before ,christ1 but was being rebuilt when ,i was there4 ,the seats are on both sides and around the circular end of the arena1 being made on the slope of the hill and covered with clean1 white1 ,pentelic marble1 making a beautiful sight4 ,on the way to ,mars' ,hill and the ,acropolis ,i passed the monument of ,lysicrates1 the theater of ,bacchus1 and the ,odeon4 ,this first-mentioned theater is said to have been the cradle of dramatic art1 the masterpieces of ,aeschylus1 ,sophocles1 and others having been rendered there4 ,the ,odeon of ,herod ,atticus differed from other ancient theaters in that it was covered4 ,mars' ,hill is a great1 oval-shaped mass of rock which probably would not be called a hill in ,america4 ,the small end1 which is the highest part of it1 lies next to the ,acropolis1 and its summit is reached by going up a short flight of steps cut in the limestone1 and well preserved1 considering their age4 ,the bluff on the opposite side from these steps is perhaps thirty or forty feet high and very rugged4 ,the rock slopes toward the wide end1 which is only a few feet above the ground4 ,i estimate the greatest length of it to be about two hundred yards1 and the greatest width one hundred and fifty yards1 but accurate measurements might show these figures to be considerably at fault4 ,i have spoken of the hill as a rock1 and such it is--a great mass of hard limestone1 whose irregular surface1 almost devoid of soil1 still shows where patches of it were dressed down1 perhaps for ancient altars or idols4 ,the ,areopagus was a court1 which in ,paul's time had jurisdiction in cases pertaining to religion4 ,a vision called ,paul into ,macedonia1 where ,lydia was converted and ,paul and ,silas were imprisoned4 ,in connection with their imprisonment1 the conversion of the jailer of ,philippi was brought about1 after which the preachers went to ,thessalonica1 from whence ,paul and ,silas were sent to ,berea4 ,jews from ,thessalonica came down to ,berea and stirred up the people1 and the brethren sent ,paul away1 but ,silas and ,timothy were left behind4 ,they that conducted ,paul1 brought him as far as ,athens1 and then went back to ,berea with a message to ,silas and ,timothy to come to him with all speed4 ,now while ,paul waited for them at ,athens1 his spirit was provoked within him as he beheld the city full of idols4 ,being thus vexed1 and having the gospel of ,christ to preach1 he reasoned with the ,jews and devout people in the synagogue and every day in the marketplace with those he met there4 ,he came in contact with philosophers of both the ,epicurean and ,stoic schools1 and it was these philosophers who took him to the ,areopagus1 saying3 ,may we know what this new teaching is which is spoken by thee8 ,the ,athenians of those days were a pleasure-loving set of idolaters who gave themselves up to telling and hearing new things4 ,besides the many idols in the city1 there were numerous temples and places of amusement4 ,within a few minutes' walk was the ,stadium1 capable of holding fifty thousand persons1 and still nearer were the theater of ,bacchus and the ,odeon1 capable of accommodating about thirty and six thousand people respectively4 ,on the ,acropolis1 probably within shouting distance1 stood some heathen temples1 one of them anciently containing a colossal statue of ,athene ,parthenos1 said to have been not less than thirty-nine feet high and covered with ivory and gold4 ,in another direction and in plain sight stood1 and still stands1 the ,theseum1 a heathen temple at that time4 ,take all this into consideration1 with the fact that ,paul had already been talking with the people on religious subjects1 and his great speech on ,mars' ,hill may be more impressive than ever before4 ,ye men of ,athens1 in all things ,i perceive that ye are very religious4 ,for as ,i passed along and observed the objects of your worship1 ,i found also an altar with this inscription1 ,to an unknown ,god4 ,what therefore ye worship in ignorance1 this ,i set forth unto you4 ,the ,god that made the world and all things therein1 he being ,lord of heaven and earth1 dwelleth not in temples made with hands2 neither is he served by men's hands as though he needed anything1 seeing he himself giveth to all life1 and breath1 and all things2 and he made of one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth1 having determined their appointed seasons1 and the bounds of their habitation2 that they should seek ,god1 if haply they might feel after him and find him1 though he is not far from each one of us2 for in him we live1 and move1 and have our being2 as certain even of your own poets have said1 ,for we are also his offspring4 ,being then the offspring of ,god1 we ought not to think the ,godhead is like unto gold1 or silver or stone1 graven by art and device of man4 ,the times of ignorance therefore ,god overlooked1 but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent3 inasmuch as he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained2 whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead4 ,the ,acropolis is a great mass of stone near ,mars' ,hill1 but rising much higher and having a wall around its crest4 ,at one time1 it is said1 the population of the city lived here1 but later the city extended into the valley below and the ,acropolis became a fortress4 ,about #djj ,b4,c4 the buildings were destroyed by the ,persians1 and those now standing there in ruins were erected by ,pericles4 ,the entrance1 which is difficult to describe1 is through a gateway and up marble stairs to the top1 where there are large quantities of marble in columns1 walls1 and fragments4 ,the two chief structures are the ,parthenon and the ,erectheum4 ,the ,parthenon is two hundred and eight feet long and one hundred and one feet wide1 having a height of sixty-six feet4 ,it is so large and situated in such a prominent place that it can be seen from all sides of the hill4 ,in #afhg the ,venetians while besieging ,athens1 threw a shell into it and wrecked a portion of it1 but part of the walls and some of the fluted columns1 which are more than six feet in diameter1 are yet standing4 ,this building is regarded as the most perfect model of ,doric architecture in the world1 and must have been very beautiful before its clear white marble was discolored by the hand of time and broken to pieces in cruel war4 ,the ,erectheum is a smaller temple1 having a little porch with a flat roof supported by six columns in the form of female figures4 ,the ,theseum1 an old temple erected probably four hundred years before ,christ1 is the best preserved ruin of ancient ,athens4 ,it is a little over a hundred feet long1 forty-five feet wide1 and is surrounded by columns nearly nineteen feet high4 ,the ,hill of the ,pynx lies across the road a short distance from the ,theseum4 ,at the lower side there is a wall of large stone blocks and above this a little distance is another wall cut in the solid rock1 in the middle of which is a cube cut in the natural rock4 ,this is probably the platform from which the speaker addressed the multitude that could assemble on the shelf or bench between the two walls4 ,some of the principal modern buildings are the ,hellenic ,academy1 the ,university1 ,library1 ,royal ,palace1 ,parliament ,building1 various church buildings1 hotels1 and business houses4 ,the ,university1 founded in #ahcg1 is rather plain in style1 but is ornamented on the front after the manner of the ancients1 with a number of paintings1 representing ,oratory1 ,mathematics1 ,geology1 ,history1 ,philosophy1 and other lines of study4 ,at one end is a picture of ,paul1 at the other end1 a representation of ,prometheus4 ,the museum is small and by no means as good as those to be seen in larger and wealthier countries4 ,the ,academy1 finished in #ahhe1 is near the ,university1 and1 although smaller than its neighbor1 is more beautiful4 ,on the opposite side of the ,university a fine new ,library was being finished1 and in the same street there is a new ,roman ,catholic church4 ,i also saw two ,greek ,catholic church houses1 but they did not seem to be so lavishly decorated within as the ,roman church1 but their high ceilings were both beautifully ornamented with small stars on a blue background4 ,i entered a cemetery near one of these churches and enjoyed looking at the beautiful monuments and vaults4 ,it is a common thing to find a representation of the deceased on the monument4 ,some of these are full-length statues1 others are carvings representing only the head4 ,lanterns1 some of them lighted1 are to be seen on many of the tombs4 ,there are some fine specimens of the sculptor's art to be seen here1 and the place will soon be even more beautiful1 for a great deal of work was being done4 ,in fact1 the whole city of ,athens seemed to be prosperous1 from the amount of building that was being done4 ,the ,parliament ,building is not at all grand4 ,the ,royal ,palace is larger and considerably finer4 ,at the head of a stairway is a good picture of ,prometheus tortured by an eagle4 ,the visitor is shown the war room1 a large hall with war scenes painted on the walls and old flags standing in the corners4 ,the throne room and reception room are both open to visitors1 as is also the ball room1 which seemed to be more elaborately ornamented than the throne room4 ,there is a little park of orange and other trees before the palace1 also a small fountain with a marble basin4 ,the highest point about the city is the ,lycabettus1 a steep rock rising nine hundred and nineteen feet above the level of the sea1 and crowned with a church building4 ,from its summit a splendid view of the city1 the mountains1 and the ocean may be obtained4 ,i spent five days in this city1 the date of whose founding does not seem to be known4 ,pericles was one of the great men in the earlier history of the old city4 ,he made a sacred enclosure of the ,acropolis and placed there the masterpieces of ,greece and other countries4 ,the city is said to have had a population of three hundred thousand in his day1 two-thirds of them being slaves4 ,the names of ,socrates1 ,demosthenes1 and ,lycurgus also belong to the list of great ,athenians4 ,in #ajdj the ,normans captured ,piraeus1 the seaport of ,athens1 and in #adee the ,turks1 commanded by ,omar1 captured the city4 ,the ,acropolis was occupied by the ,turks in #ahbf1 but they surrendered the next year1 and in #ahci ,athens became the seat of government of the kingdom of ,greece4 ,with ,athens1 my sight-seeing on the continent ended4 ,other interesting and curious sights were seen besides those mentioned here4 ,for instance1 ,i had noticed a variety of fences4 ,there were hedges1 wire fences1 fences of stone slabs set side by side1 frail fences made of the stalks of some plant1 and embryo fences of cactus growing along the railroad4 ,in ,italy1 ,i saw many white oxen1 a red ox being an exception that seems seldom to occur4 ,i saw men hauling logs with oxen and a cart1 the long timber being fastened beneath the axle of the cart and to the beam of the yoke4 ,in ,belgium1 one may see horses worked three abreast and four tandem1 and in ,southern ,france they were shifting cars in one of the depots with a horse1 and in ,france ,i also saw a man plowing with an ox and a horse hitched together4 ,now the time had come to enter the ,turkish ,empire1 and owing to what ,i had previously heard of the ,turk1 ,i did not look forward to it with pleasure4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,asia ,,minor ,,and ,,syria4 ,the ,greek ship ,alexandros left the harbor of ,piraeus in the forenoon of ,lord's day1 ,september eighteenth1 and anchored outside the breakwater at ,smyrna1 in ,asia ,minor1 the next morning4 ,the landing in ,turkish territory was easily accomplished1 and ,i was soon beyond the custom house1 where my baggage and passport were examined1 and settled down at the ,hotel d',egypte1 on the water front4 ,this was the first time the passport had been called for on the journey4 ,the population of ,smyrna is a mixture of ,turks1 ,greeks1 ,jews1 ,armenians1 ,italians1 ,americans1 and ,negroes4 ,the ,english ,government probably has a good sized representation1 as it maintains its own postoffice4 ,the city itself is the main sight4 ,the only ruins ,i saw were those of an old castle on the hill back of the city4 ,the reputed tomb of ,polycarp is over this hill from ,smyrna1 between two cypress trees1 but ,i do not know that ,i found the correct location4 ,near the place that ,i supposed to be the tomb is an aqueduct1 a portion of it built of stone and a portion of metal4 ,as ,i went on out in the country ,i entered a vineyard to get some grapes1 not knowing how ,i would be received by the woman ,i saw there2 but she was very kind-hearted1 and when ,i made signs for some of the grapes1 she at once pulled off some clusters and gave them to me4 ,she also gave me a chair and brought some fresh water4 ,more grapes were gathered and put in this cold water1 so ,i had a fine time eating the fruit as ,i sat there in the shade watching a little boy playing about2 but ,i could not converse with either of them on account of not knowing their language4 ,on the way back to the city ,i stopped at the railway station to make inquiries about a trip to ,ephesus4 ,most of the streets in ,smyrna are narrow and crooked1 but there is one running along the water front that is rather attractive4 ,on one side is the water1 with the numerous vessels that are to be seen in this splendid harbor1 and on the other side is a row of residences1 hotels1 and other buildings4 ,the people turn out in great numbers at night and walk along this street1 sometimes sitting down at the little tables that are set in the open air before places where different kinds of drinks are dispensed4 ,here they consume their drinks and watch the free performances that are given on an open stage adjoining the street and the grounds where they are seated4 ,perhaps the most peculiar thing about it all is the quiet and orderly behavior of this great crowd of people4 ,while in this city ,i had occasion to go to the ,banque ,imperiale ,ottoman1 and learned that it was open in the forenoon and afternoon1 but closed awhile in the middle of the day4 ,i saw a street barber plying his trade here one day4 ,a vessel of water was put up under the customer's chin1 and held there by keeping the chin down4 ,the barber had his strop fastened to himself1 and not to the chair or a wall1 as we see it at home4 ,great quantities of oats were being brought down from the interior on camels4 ,the sacks were let down on the pavement1 and laborers were busy carrying them away4 ,a poor carrier would walk up to a sack of grain and drop forward on his hands1 with his head between them1 and reaching down almost or altogether to the pavement4 ,the sack of grain was then pulled over on his back1 and he arose and carried it away4 ,some poor natives were busy sweeping the street and gathering up the grain that lost out of the sacks4 ,there seems to be a large amount of trade carried on at this port4 ,several ships were in the harbor1 and hundreds of camels were bringing in the grain4 ,there are now many mosques and minarets in ,smyrna1 where there was once a church of ,god4 7,revelation #b3h-aa47 ,on ,wednesday1 ,september twenty-first1 ,i boarded a train on the ,ottoman ,railway for ,ayassalouk1 the nearest station to the ruins of ,ephesus1 a once magnificent city1 now an utter desolation1 haunted by wild beasts4 ,we left ,smyrna at seven o'clock1 and reached ,ayassalouk1 fifty miles distant1 at half-past nine4 ,the cars on this railway were entered from to side1 as on ,european railroads1 but this time the doors were locked after the passengers were in their compartments4 ,ayassalouk is a poor little village1 with only a few good houses and a small population4 ,at the back of the station are some old stone piers1 that seem to have supported arches at an earlier date4 ,on the top of the hill1 as on many hilltops in this country1 are the remains of an old castle4 ,below the castle are the ruins of what ,i supposed to be ,st4 ,john's ,church1 built largely of marble1 and once used as a mosque1 but now inhabited by a large flock of martins4 ,i visited the site of ,ephesus without the services of a guide1 walking along the road which passes at some distance on the right4 ,i continued my walk beyond the ruins1 seeing some men plowing1 and others caring for flocks of goats1 which are very numerous in the ,east4 ,when ,i turned back from the road1 ,i passed a well1 obtaining a drink by means of the rope and bucket that were there1 and then ,i climbed a hill to the remains of a strong stone building of four rooms4 ,the thick walls are several feet high1 but all the upper part of the structure has been thrown down1 and1 strange to say1 a good portion of the fallen rocks are in three of the rooms1 which are almost filled4 ,it is supposed that ,paul made a journey after the close of his history in the book of ,acts2 that he passed through ,troas1 where he left a cloak and some books 7#b ,tim4 #d3ac72 was arrested there1 and probably sent to ,ephesus for trial before the proconsul4 ,tradition has it that this ruined stone building is the place where he was lodged1 and it is called ,st4 ,paul's ,prison4 ,from the top of its walls ,i could look away to the ruins of the city proper1 about a mile distant1 the theater being the most conspicuous object4 ,there are several attractions in ,ephesus1 where there was once a church of ,god--one of the seven churches in ,asia--but the theater was the chief point of interest to me4 ,it was cut out of the side of the hill1 and its marble seats rested on the sloping sides of the excavation1 while a building of some kind1 a portion of which yet remains1 was built across the open side at the front4 ,i entered the inclosure1 the outlines of which are still plainly discernible1 and sat down on one of the old seats and ate my noonday meal4 ,as ,i sat there1 ,i thought of the scene that would greet my eyes if the centuries that have intervened since ,paul was in ,ephesus could be turned back4 ,i thought ,i might see the seats filled with people looking down upon the apostle as he fought for his life2 and while there ,i read his question3 ,if after the manner of men ,i fought with beasts at ,ephesus1 what doth it profit me if the dead are not raised up8 7,i ,cor4 #ae3cb74 ,i also read the letter which ,jesus caused the aged ,apostle ,john to write to the church at this place 7,rev4 #b3a-g71 and ,paul's epistle to the congregation that once existed in this idolatrous city of wealth and splendor4 ,as ,i was leaving this spot1 where ,i was so deeply impressed with thoughts of the great apostle to the ,gentiles1 ,i stopped and turned back to take a final look1 when ,i thought of his language to ,timothy1 recorded in the first eight verses of the second epistle1 and then ,i turned and read it4 ,perhaps ,i was not so deeply impressed at any other point on the whole journey as ,i was here4 ,the grand old hero1 who dared to enter the city which was temple-keeper of the great ,diana1 this temple being one of the ,seven ,wonders of the ,world1 and boldly preach the gospel of ,christ1 realizing that the time of his departure was at hand1 wrote3 ,i have fought the good fight1 ,i have finished the course1 ,i have kept the faith3 ,henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness1 which the ,lord1 the righteous judge1 shall give to me at that day2 and not to me only1 but also to all them that have loved his appearing4 ,meditating on the noble and lofty sentiment the apostle here expresses in connection with his solemn charge to the young evangelist1 ,i have found my sentiments well expressed in ,balaam's parable1 where he says3 ,let me die the death of the righteous1 and let my last end be like his 7,num4 #bc3aj74 ,near the front of the theater1 on the left as one comes out1 is quite a space1 which seems to have been excavated recently1 and farther to the left excavations were being made when ,i was there4 ,an ancient lamp1 a fluted column1 and a headless statue were among the articles taken out4 ,the workmen were resting when ,i viewed this part of the ruins1 and an old colored man gave me a drink of water4 ,beginning a little to the right of the theater1 and extending for perhaps fifteen hundred or two thousand feet1 is a marble-paved street1 along which are strewn numerous bases1 columns1 and capitals1 which once ornamented this portion of the great city2 and to the right of this are the remains of some mighty structure of stone and brick4 ,in some places1 where the paving blocks have been taken up1 a water course beneath is disclosed4 ,while walking around in the ruins1 ,i saw a fine marble sarcophagus1 or coffin1 ornamented with carvings of bulls' heads and heavy festoons of oak leaves4 ,j4,s4 ,wood1 an ,englishman1 worked parts of eleven years1 from #ahfc to #ahgd1 in making excavations at ,ephesus4 ,upwards of eighty thousand dollars were spent1 about fifty-five thousand being used in a successful effort to find the remains of the ,temple of ,diana4 ,i followed the directions of my guide-book1 but may not have found the exact spot1 as ,brother ,mc,garvey1 who visited the place in #ahgi1 speaks of the excavations being twenty feet deep4 ,down in this pit1 he says1 lie the broken columns of white marble and the foundation walls of the grandest temple ever erected on earth2 but ,i saw nothing like this4 ,when ,paul had passed through ,galatia and ,phrygia1 establishing all the disciples1 having passed through the upper country1 he came to ,ephesus1 and found about twelve men who had been baptized into ,john's baptism1 whom ,paul baptized into the name of the ,lord ,jesus4 ,he then entered into the ,jewish meeting place and reasoned boldly concerning the kingdom of ,god4 ,some of the hardened and disobedient spoke evil of the ,way1 so ,paul withdrew from them and reasoned daily in the school of ,tyrannus4 ,and this continued for the space of two years2 so that all they that dwelt in ,asia heard the word of the ,lord1 both ,jews and ,greeks4 ,the ,lord wrought special miracles by ,paul1 so that the sick were healed when handkerchiefs or aprons were borne from him to them4 ,here some of the strolling ,jews took upon them to name over them that had the evil spirits the name of the ,lord ,jesus1 saying1 ,i adjure you by ,jesus1 whom ,paul preacheth4 ,when two of the sons of ,sceva undertook to do this1 the man possessed of the evil spirit leaped on them and mastered both of them1 and prevailed against them1 so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded4 ,there were stirring times in ,ephesus in those days4 ,fear fell upon the people1 and the name of the ,lord ,jesus was magnified4 ,many of the believers came confessing1 and declaring their deeds4 ,and not a few of them that practiced magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all2 and they counted the price of them1 and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver4 ,so mightily grew the word of the ,lord and prevailed4 ,and about that time there arose no small stir concerning the ,way4 ,for a certain man named ,demetrius1 a silversmith who made silver shrines of ,diana1 brought no little business unto the craftsmen2 whom he gathered together1 with the workmen of like occupation1 and said1 ,sirs1 ye know that by this business we have our wealth4 ,and ye see and hear that not alone at ,ephesus1 but almost throughout all ,asia1 this ,paul hath persuaded and turned away much people1 saying that they are no gods that are made with hands3 and not only is there danger that our trade come into disrepute1 but also that the temple of the great goddess ,diana be made of no account1 and that she should even be deposed from her magnificence1 whom all ,asia and the world worshipeth4 ,and when they heard this they were filled with wrath1 and cried out1 saying1 ,great is ,diana of the ,ephesians4 ,and the city was filled with the confusion3 and they rushed with one accord into the theater1 having seized ,gaius and ,aristarchus1 men of ,macedonia1 ,paul's companions in travel4 ,and when ,paul was minded to enter in unto the people1 the disciples suffered him not4 ,and certain also of the ,asiarchs1 being his friends1 sent unto him and besought him not to adventure himself into the theater4 ,some therefore cried one thing1 and some another3 for the assembly was in confusion2 and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together4 ,and they brought ,alexander out of the multitude1 the ,jews putting him forward4 ,and ,alexander beckoned with the hand and would have made a defense unto the people4 ,but when they perceived that he was a ,jew1 all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out1 ,great is ,diana of the ,ephesians4 ,and when the town clerk had quieted the multitude1 he saith1 ,ye men of ,ephesus1 what man is there who knoweth not that the city of the ,ephesians is temple-keeper of the great ,diana1 and of the image which fell down from ,jupiter8 ,seeing then that these things can not be gainsaid1 ye ought to be quiet1 and to do nothing rash4 ,for ye have brought hither these men1 who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess4 ,if therefore ,demetrius1 and the craftsmen that are with him1 have a matter against any man1 the courts are open1 and there are proconsuls3 let them accuse one another4 ,but if ye seek anything about other matters1 it shall be settled in the regular assembly4 ,for indeed we are in danger to be accused concerning this day's riot1 there being no cause for it3 and as touching it we shall not be able to give an account of this concourse4 ,and when he had thus spoken1 he dismissed the assembly 7,acts #ai3bc-da74 ,as ,i was leaving the ruins1 ,i stopped1 sat down in sight of the spot where ,i supposed the temple stood1 and read the speech of ,demetrius1 and thought his fears were well founded4 ,their trade has come into disrepute1 the temple of the great goddess has been made of no account1 and she whom ,asia and all the world worshiped has been deposed from her magnificence4 ,portions of the temple are now on exhibition in the ,british ,museum1 in ,london1 and portions have been carried to different other cities to adorn buildings inferior to the one in which they were originally used4 ,from the temple to the more southern of the two eastern gates of the city1 says ,mc,garvey1 are traces of a paved street nearly a mile in length1 along the side of which was a continuous colonnade1 with the marble coffins of the city's illustrious dead occupying the spaces between the columns4 ,the processions of worshipers1 as they marched out of the city to the temple1 passed by this row of coffins1 the inscriptions on which were constantly proclaiming the noble deeds of the mighty dead4 ,the canal and artificial harbor1 which enabled the ships of the world to reach the gates of the city1 have disappeared under the weight of the hand of time4 ,in some places the ground is literally covered with small stones1 and even in the theater1 weeds1 grass and bushes grow undisturbed4 ,how complete the desolation6 ,before leaving ,ayassalouk on the afternoon train1 ,i bought some grapes of a man who weighed them to me with a pair of balances1 putting the fruit on one pan and a stone on the other2 but ,i didn't object to his scales1 for he gave me a good supply1 and ,i went back and got some more4 ,i also bought some bread to eat with the grapes1 and one of the numerous priests of these ,eastern countries gave me some other fruit on the train4 ,i was abroad in the fruit season1 and ,i enjoyed it very much4 ,i had several kinds1 including the orange1 lemon1 grapes1 pomegranates1 figs1 olives1 and dates4 ,perhaps ,i had nothing finer than the large1 sweet grapes of ,greece4 ,the next day after the trip to ,ephesus1 ,i boarded the ,princess ,eugenia1 a ,russian ship1 for ,beyrout1 in ,syria4 ,soon after leaving ,smyrna the ship stopped at a port of disinfection4 ,the small boats were lowered1 and the third-class passengers were carried to the disinfecting establishment1 where their clothes were heated in a steam oven1 while they received a warm shower bath without expense to themselves4 ,a nicely dressed young ,german shook his head afterwards1 as though he did not like such treatment2 but it was not specially disagreeable1 and there was no use to complain4 ,that evening1 the twenty-second of ,september1 we sailed into a harbor on the island of ,chios1 the birth-place of the philosopher ,pythagoras4 ,it is an island twenty-seven miles long1 lying near the mainland4 ,the next morning we passed ,cos and ,rhodes4 ,on this last mentioned island once stood the famous ,colossus1 which was thrown down by an earthquake in #bbd ,b4,c4 ,the island of ,patmos1 to which ,john was banished1 and upon which he wrote the ,revelation1 was passed in the night before we reached ,cos4 ,it is a rocky1 barren patch of land1 about twenty miles in circumference1 lying twenty-four miles from the coast of ,asia ,minor4 ,on the twenty-fourth the ,princess ,eugenia passed the southwestern end of the island of ,cyprus4 ,in response to a question1 one of the seamen answered me3 ,yes1 that's ,kiprus4 ,i was sailing over the same waters ,paul crossed on his third missionary tour on the way from ,assos to ,tyre4 ,he came over against ,chios1 came with a straight course unto ,cos1 and the next day unto ,rhodes1 and when he had come in sight of ,cyprus1 leaving it on the left hand 7he7 sailed unto ,syria and landed at ,tyre 7,acts #bj3ae and #ba3a-c74 ,on the evening of ,lord's day1 ,september twenty-fifth1 the ship passed ,tripoli1 on the ,syrian coast1 and dropped down to ,beyrout1 where ,i stopped at the ,hotel ,mont ,sion1 with the waves of the ,mediterranean washing against the foundation walls4 ,at seven o'clock the next morning ,i boarded the train for ,damascus1 ninety-one miles distant1 and we were soon climbing the western slope of the ,lebanon ,mountains by a cog railway4 ,when we were part way up1 the engine was taken back and hitched to the rear end of the train4 ,after we were hauled along that way awhile1 it was changed back to the front end again4 ,in these mountains are vineyards and groves of figs1 olives1 and mulberry trees1 but most of the ground was dry and brown1 as ,i had seen it in ,southern ,italy1 ,greece1 and ,asia ,minor4 ,beyond the mountains is a beautiful plain1 which we entered about noon1 and when it was crossed1 we came to the ,anti-,lebanon ,mountains1 and reached the old city in the evening4 ,damascus1 with its mixed population of ,moslems1 ,greeks1 ,syrians1 ,armenians1 ,jews1 and others1 is the largest city in ,syria1 and it has probably been continuously inhabited longer than any other city on earth4 ,away back in the fourteenth chapter of ,genesis we read of ,abraham's victory over the enemies who had taken ,lot away1 whom ,abraham pursued unto ,hobah1 which is on the left of ,damascus1 and in the next chapter we read of ,eliezer of ,damascus1 who ,abraham thought would be the possessor of his house4 ,rezon reigned in ,damascus1 and he was an adversary to ,israel all the days of ,solomon 7#a ,kings #aa3bc-be74 ,elisha went to ,damascus when ,ben-,hadad was sick 7#b ,kings #h3g-ae72 ,jeroboam recovered the city1 which had belonged to ,judah 7#b ,kings #ad3bh72 and ,jeremiah prophesied of the city 7,jeremiah #di3bc-bg74 ,it was probably the home of ,naaman1 the ,syrian leper1 and here ,paul was baptized into ,christ4 ,for a long time the ,arabs have considered ,damascus as an earthly reflection of ,paradise1 but an ,american or ,european would consider a place no better than it is as being far from the ,paradise of ,divine making4 ,but it is not entirely without reason that these people have such a lofty conception of the old city4 ,the ,koran describes ,paradise as a place of trees and streams of water1 and ,damascus is briefly described in those words4 ,there are many public drinking fountains in the city1 and owing to the abundance of water1 there are many trees4 ,the river ,abana1 one of the rivers of ,damascus 7#b ,kings #e3ab71 flows through the city1 but the most of its water is diverted by artificial channels4 ,i had some difficulty in finding the ,american ,consular ,agent1 and it is no wonder1 for the place is not the most prominent in ,damascus by a good deal1 and the escutcheon marking it as the place where the ,american ,government is represented is not on the street1 but over a door in a kind of porch4 ,the ,agent was not in1 so ,i retraced my steps to the ,french consulate1 which is near by4 ,i was kindly received by a gentleman who could speak ,english1 and after we had had a good1 cool drink of lemonade1 he went with me to the ,hotel d',astre d',orient1 in the street which is called ,straight4 ,the next morning ,i found the ,american ,agent in his office4 ,then ,i went to the postoffice1 and after being taken upstairs and brought back downstairs1 ,i was led up to a little case on the wall1 which was unlocked in order that ,i might look through the bunch of letters it contained addressed in ,english1 and ,i was made glad by receiving an epistle from the little woman who has since taken my name upon her for life4 ,after reading my letter1 ,i went out and walked up the mountain side far enough to get a bird's-eye view of the city1 and it was a fine sight the rich growth of green trees presented in contrast with the brown earth all around4 ,returning to the city1 ,i walked about the streets1 devoting some of my time to the bazaars1 or little stores1 in which a great variety of goods are offered for sale4 ,i also saw several kinds of work1 such as weaving1 wood-turning and blacksmithing1 being carried on4 ,the lathes used for turning wood are very simple1 and are operated by a bow held in the workman's right hand1 while the chisel is held in his left hand and steadied by the toes on one or the other of his feet4 ,it is a rather slow process1 but they can turn out good work4 ,one gentleman1 who was running a lathe of this kind1 motioned for me to come up and sit by his side on a low stool4 ,i accepted his invitation1 and he at once offered me a cigarette1 which ,i could not accept4 ,a little later he called for a small cup of coffee1 which ,i also declined1 but he took no offense4 ,the street which is called ,straight is not as straight as might be supposed from its name1 but there is probably enough difference between its course and that of others to justify the name4 ,when ,paul was stricken with blindness on his way here 7,acts #i3a-cj71 he was directed to enter the city1 where he would be told all things that were appointed for him to do4 ,he obeyed the voice from heaven1 and reached the house of ,judas in ,straight ,street4 ,when ,i reached the traditional site of the house of ,ananias1 in the eastern part of the city1 near the gate at the end of ,straight ,street1 ,i found a good-natured woman sitting on the pavement just inside the door opening from the street to what would be called a yard in ,america4 ,the house has been converted into a small church1 belonging to the ,catholics1 and it is entirely below the surface4 ,i went down the stairs1 and found a small chamber with an arched ceiling and two altars4 ,i also went out and visited the old gateway at the end of the street4 ,the masonry is about thirteen feet thick1 and it may be that here ,paul1 deprived of his sight1 and earnestly desiring to do the will of the ,lord1 entered the city so long ago4 ,i then viewed a section of the wall from the outside4 ,the lower part is ancient1 but the upper part is modern1 and the portion that ,i saw was in a dilapidated condition4 ,in ,damascus1 ,paul wrote to the ,corinthians1 the governor1 under ,aretas the king1 guarded the city of the ,damascenes in order to take me3 and through a window was ,i let down in a basket by the wall1 and escaped his hands 7#b ,cor4 #aa3cb1cc74 ,in some places there are houses so built in connection with the wall that it would not be a very difficult thing to lower a man from one of the windows to the ground outside the city4 ,mention has already been made of the ,arab's opinion of ,damascus1 and now ,i wish to tell how it appeared through my spectacles4 ,the view from the distance is very pleasing1 but when one comes inside the wall and begins to walk about the streets1 the scene changes4 ,the outside of the buildings is not beautiful4 ,the streets are narrow1 crooked1 and usually very dirty2 in some cases they are filthy4 ,it seems that all kinds of rubbish are thrown into the streets1 and the dogs are scavengers4 ,perhaps no other city has so many dogs4 ,at one place up along the ,abana1 now called the ,barada1 ,i counted twenty-three of these animals1 and a few steps brought me in sight of five more2 but there is some filth that even ,damascus dogs will not clean up4 ,some of the streets are roughly paved with stone1 but in the best business portion of the city that ,i saw there was no pavement and no sidewalk--it was all street from one wall to the other4 ,i saw a man sprinkling one of the streets with water carried in the skin of some animal1 perhaps a goat4 ,when ,i came out of the postoffice1 a camel was lying on the pavement1 and in another part of the city ,i saw a soldier riding his horse on the sidewalk4 ,down in the street which is called ,straight a full-grown man was going along as naked as when he was born4 ,perhaps he was insane1 but we do not even allow insane men to walk the streets that way in this country4 ,carriages are used for conveying passengers1 but freight is usually moved on the backs of horses1 camels1 donkeys1 or men4 ,some wagons and carts are to be seen1 but they are not numerous4 ,it is remarkable what loads are piled upon the donkeys1 probably the commonest beasts of burden in ,damascus4 ,sometimes the poor little creatures are almost hidden from view by the heavy burdens they are required to bear1 which may consist of grapes to be sold1 or rubbish to be carried out of the city4 ,sometimes they are ridden by as many as three people at once4 ,if the gospel were to get a firm hold on these people1 the donkeys would fare better4 ,about #ccc ,b4,c41 ,damascus came under the control of ,alexander the ,great4 ,antiochus ,dionysius reigned there three years1 but was succeeded by ,aretas of ,arabia in #he ,b4,c4 ,under ,trajan it became a ,roman provincial city4 ,the ,mongols took it in #abfj1 and the ,tartars plundered it in #acjj4 ,an enemy marched against it in #acii1 but the citizens purchased immunity from plunder by paying a sum of a million pieces of gold4 ,in #aeaf1 when ,selim1 the ,turkish ,sultan1 marched in1 it became one of the provincial capitals of the ,turkish ,empire1 and so continues4 ,there was a very serious massacre here in #ahfj4 ,all the consulates1 except the ,british and ,prussian1 were burned1 and the entire ,christian quarter was turned into ruins4 ,in the two consulates that were spared many lives were preserved1 but it is said that no fewer than six thousand unoffending ,christians 444 were thus murdered in ,damascus alone1 and the whole number of the ,christians who perished in these days of terror is estimated at fourteen thousand4 ,a number of the leaders were afterward beheaded1 and a ,french force1 numbering ten thousand1 was sent into the country4 ,the ,mohammedans have about two hundred mosques and colleges in this city1 which was once far advanced in civilization4 ,i left ,damascus and returned toward the coast to ,rayak1 where ,i took the train on a branch line for ,baalbec1 the ,syrian city of the sun1 a place having no ,biblical history1 but being of interest on account of the great stones to be seen there4 ,no record has been preserved as to the origin of the city1 but coins of the first century of the ,christian era show that it was then a ,roman colony4 ,it is situated in the valley of the ,litany1 at an elevation of two thousand eight hundred and forty feet above the sea4 ,the chief ruins are in a low part of the valley by the side of the present town1 and are surrounded by gardens4 ,within the inclosing wall are the remains of the temple of ,jupiter and the temple of the sun4 ,the hand of time and the hand of man have each had a share in despoiling these ruins1 but they still speak with eloquence of their grandeur at an earlier date4 ,the wall is so low on the north that it is supposed to have been left unfinished4 ,here are nine stones1 each said to be thirty feet long1 ten feet thick and thirteen feet high1 and they are closely joined together without the use of mortar4 ,just around the corner are three others still larger1 and built in the wall about twenty feet above the foundation4 ,their lengths are given as follows3 sixty-three feet2 sixty-three feet and eight inches2 and sixty-four feet4 ,they are thirteen feet high and about ten feet thick4 ,some may be interested in knowing how such large building blocks were moved4 ,mc,garvey says3 ,it is explained by the carved slabs found in the temple of ,nineveh1 on which are sculptured representations of the entire process4 ,the great rock was placed on trucks by means of levers1 a large number of strong ropes were tied to the truck1 a smooth track of heavy timbers was laid1 and men in sufficient number to move the mass were hitched to the ropes4 ,some of the smaller stones have holes cut in them1 as if for bars1 levers1 or something of that kind1 but the faces of these big blocks are smooth4 ,a man must visit the spot1 ride round the exterior1 walk among the ruins1 sit down here and there to gaze upon its more impressive features1 see the whole by sunlight1 by twilight1 and by moonlight1 and allow his mind leisurely to rebuild it and re-people it1 ere he can comprehend it4--,mc,garvey4 ,there were some of the native girls out by the ruins who tried to sell me some of their needle work1 but ,i was not disposed to buy4 ,one of them attempted to make a sale by saying something like this3 ,you're very nice1 ,mister2 please buy one4 ,i told her there was a little girl in ,america who thought that1 too1 and went on4 ,there is a rock in the quarry at ,baalbec that is larger than any of those in the ruins1 although it was never entirely cut out1 the length of which is sixty-eight feet1 and the width varies from about thirteen feet at one end to seventeen feet at the other4 ,it is about fourteen feet thick1 and the estimated weight is fifteen hundred tons4 ,some of the stones in a ruined building1 once a tomb1 standing on the hill above the town1 give forth a metallic ring when struck4 ,farther on is a small cemetery1 in which some of the headstones and footstones are as much as nine feet apart4 ,if the people buried there were that long1 surely there were giants in the land in those days4 ,i went down on the opposite side of the hill from the tomb and entered a vineyard1 where an old man treated me with kindness and respect4 ,the modern town is poorly built of small stones and mud1 but there are some good buildings of dressed stone1 among which ,i may mention the ,british ,syrian ,school and the ,grand ,new ,hotel4 ,i staid at another hotel1 where ,i found one of those pre-occupied beds which travelers in the ,east so often find4 ,about midnight1 after ,i had killed several of the little pests1 ,i got up and shaved by candle-light1 for ,i wasn't sleepy1 and there was no use to waste the time4 ,leaving ,baalbec1 ,i went down to ,rayak and on to ,beyrout again4 ,this old city is said to have been entirely destroyed in the second century before ,christ4 ,it was once a ,roman possession1 and gladiatorial combats were held there by ,titus after the destruction of ,jerusalem4 ,an earthquake destroyed it in #ebi1 and the ,british bombarded it in #ahdj4 ,the population is a great mixture of ,turks1 ,orthodox ,greeks1 ,united ,greeks1 ,jews1 ,latins1 ,maronites1 ,protestants1 ,syrians1 ,armenians1 ,druses1 and others4 ,a great many ships call here1 as this is the most important commercial city in ,syria4 ,the numerous exports consist of silk1 olive oil1 cotton1 raisins1 licorice1 figs1 soap1 sponges1 cattle1 and goats4 ,timber1 coffee1 rice1 and manufactured goods are imported4 ,at one time ,arabic was the commonest language1 and ,italian came next1 but now1 while ,arabic holds first place1 ,french comes second4 ,the ,british1 ,austrians1 ,russians1 and perhaps the ,french1 maintain their own postoffices4 ,considerable efforts are being made by ,american1 ,british1 and other missionary institutions to better the condition of the natives4 ,the ,american ,mission1 conducted by the ,presbyterians1 has been in operation more than seventy years4 ,a few years ago they had one hundred and forty-three schools and more than seven thousand pupils4 ,the ,church of ,scotland has a mission for the ,jews4 ,the ,british ,syrian ,mission was established in #ahfd4 ,beyrout has comparatively little of interest for the traveler4 ,i walked out to the public garden one morning and found it closed1 but ,i do not think ,i missed much4 ,as ,i went along from place to place1 ,i had opportunity to see the weavers1 wood-turners1 and marble-cutters at their work4 ,i stopped at a small candy factory1 equipped with what seemed to be good machinery for that kind of work4 ,one day ,i watched some camels get up after their burdens of lumber had been tied on4 ,they kept up a peculiar distressing noise while they were being loaded1 but got up promptly when the time came4 ,when a camel lies down1 his legs fold up something like a carpenter's rule1 and when he gets up1 he first straightens out one joint of the fore legs1 then all of the hind legs1 and finally1 when the fore legs come straight1 he is standing away up in the air4 ,the extensive buildings of the ,american ,college were visited1 also the ,american ,press1 the missionary headquarters of ,presbyterians in ,america4 ,on the third of ,october the ,khedivial steamer ,assouan came along1 and ,i embarked for ,haifa1 in ,galilee4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,a ,,few ,,days ,,in ,,galilee4 ,years ago1 when ,i first began to think of making the trip ,i am now describing1 ,i had no thought of the many interesting places that ,i could easily and cheaply visit on my way to ,palestine4 ,i did not then think of what has been described on the foregoing pages4 ,now ,i have come to the place where ,i am to tell my readers the story of my travels in the ,land of ,promise1 and ,i want to make it as interesting and instructive as possible4 ,it is important to have a knowledge of the geography of all the lands mentioned1 but it is especially important to know the location of the various places referred to in ,palestine4 ,these pages will be more profitable if the reader will make frequent reference to maps of the land1 that he may understand the location of the different places visited4 ,i shall first describe my trip across the province of ,galilee1 and take up my sight-seeing in ,judaea in other chapters4 ,the ancient ,phoenician cities of ,tyre and ,sidon were on the coast between ,beyrout and ,haifa1 where ,i entered ,galilee on the fourth of ,october1 but we passed these places in the night4 ,haifa1 situated at the base of ,mount ,carmel1 has no ,biblical history1 but is one of the two places along the coast of ,palestine where ships stop1 ,jaffa being the other4 ,mount ,carmel is fourteen miles long1 and varies in height from five hundred and fifty-six feet at the end next to the sea to eighteen hundred and ten feet at a point twelve miles inland4 ,there is a monastery on the end next to the ,mediterranean1 which ,i reached after a dusty walk along the excellent carriage road leading up from ,haifa4 ,after ,i rested awhile1 reading my ,bible and guide-book1 ,i walked out to the point where the sea on three sides1 the beautiful little plain at the base of the mountain1 ,haifa1 and ,acre across the bay1 all made up one of the prettiest views of the whole trip4 ,owing to its proximity to the sea and the heavy dews1 ,carmel was not so dry and brown as much of the country ,i had seen before4 ,by the direction of ,elijah1 ,ahab gathered the prophets of ,baal1 numbering four hundred and fifty1 and the prophets of the ,asherah1 four hundred more1 at some point on this mountain1 probably at the eastern end1 passed on my way over to ,nazareth later in the day4 ,and ,elijah came near unto all the people1 and said1 ,how long go ye limping between the two sides8 ,if ,jehovah be ,god1 follow him2 but if ,baal1 then follow him 7#a ,kings #ah3ba74 ,he then proposed that two sacrifices be laid on the wood1 with no fire under them2 that the false prophets should call on their god1 and he would call on ,jehovah4 ,the ,god that answered by fire was to be ,god4 ,all the people answered and said1 ,it is well spoken4 ,the prophets of ,baal called upon him from morning till noon1 saying1 ,o ,baal1 hear us4 ,but there was no voice1 nor any that answered4 ,and they leaped about the altar that was made4 ,and it came to pass at noon that ,elijah mocked them1 and said1 ,cry aloud2 for he is a god3 either he is musing1 or he is gone aside1 or he is on a journey1 or peradventure he sleepeth and must be awaked4 ,and they cried aloud1 and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lances1 till the blood gushed out upon them4 ,and it was so1 when midday was past1 that they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening oblation2 but there was neither voice1 nor any to answer1 nor any that regarded4 ,the sincerity1 earnestness1 and perseverance of these people are commendable1 but they were wrong4 ,sincerity1 although a most desirable trait1 can not change a wrong act into acceptable service to ,god1 nor can earnestness and perseverance make such a change4 ,it is necessary both to be honest and to do the will of our heavenly ,father4 ,after water had been poured over the other sacrifice till it ran down and filled the trench around the altar1 ,elijah called on ,jehovah1 and in response to his petition the fire of ,jehovah fell1 and consumed the burnt offering1 and the wood1 and the stones1 and the dust1 and licked up the water that was in the trench4 ,elijah then took the false prophets down to the brook ,kishon1 at the base of the mountain1 and killed them4 ,acre is the ,acco of the ,old ,testament1 and lies around the bay1 twelve mile from ,haifa4 ,it is said that the ,phoenicians obtained the dye called ,tyrian purple there1 and that shells of the fish that yielded it are yet to be found along the beach4 ,napoleon besieged the place in #agii1 and used a monastery1 since destroyed1 on ,mount ,carmel for a hospital4 ,after his retreat1 ,mohammedans killed the sick and wounded soldiers who had been left behind1 and they were buried near the monastery4 ,acre was called ,ptolemais in apostolic times1 and ,paul spent a day with the brethren there as he was on his way down the coast from ,tyre to ,jerusalem4 7,acts #ba3g47 ,about noon ,i entered a carriage for ,nazareth1 in which there were four other passengers3 a lady connected with the ,english ,orphanage in ,nazareth1 and three boys going there to attend the ,russian school4 ,about two miles from ,haifa we crossed the dry bed of the ,kishon1 as this stream1 like many others in ,palestine1 only flows in the wet season4 ,our course led along the base of ,carmel to the southeast1 and the supposed place of ,elijah's sacrifice was pointed out4 ,afterwards ,mount ,gilboa1 where ,saul and ,jonathan were slain1 came in sight1 and later we saw ,little ,hermon with ,nain upon it1 ,endor below it on one side1 and ,jezreel not far away in another direction4 ,we saw a good portion of the ,plain of ,esdraelon1 and ,mount ,tabor was in sight before we entered ,nazareth1 which lies on the slope of a hill and comes suddenly into view4 ,nazareth is not mentioned in the ,old ,testament1 and the references to it in the ,new ,testament are not numerous4 ,when ,joseph returned from ,egypt in the reign of ,archelaus1 the son of ,herod1 he was afraid to go into ,judaea1 and being warned of ,god in a dream1 he withdrew into the parts of ,galilee1 and came and dwelt in a city called ,nazareth2 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet1 that he should be called a ,nazarene 7,matt4 #b3ai-bc74 ,i do not know the age of ,jesus when ,joseph and ,mary came with him to ,nazareth1 but his parents went every year to ,jerusalem at the feast of the passover2 and we are told that the child was twelve years old at the time his parents missed him as they were returning from the feast1 and later found him in the temple hearing the teachers and asking them questions4 ,in this connection we are told that he went down with them and came to ,nazareth2 and he was subject unto them 7,luke #b3ea74 ,luke also informs us that ,jesus1 when he began to teach1 was about thirty years of age 7,luke #c3bc74 ,thus we have a period of eighteen years between the incident in the temple and the beginning of his public ministry1 in which ,jesus resided in ,nazareth4 ,the greater part of his earth life was spent in this ,galilean city1 where he was subject unto his parents4 ,it is a blessed thing that so much can be said of our ,savior in so few words4 ,it is highly commendable that children be subject unto their parents1 who love them dearly1 and who know best what is for their health1 happiness1 and future good4 ,after his baptism and temptation in the wilderness1 ,jesus returned in the power of the spirit into ,galilee1 444 and he came to ,nazareth1 where he had been brought up3 and he entered1 as his custom was1 into the synagogue on the ,sabbath day and stood up to read4 ,when the roll of the ,scriptures was handed to him1 he read from the opening verses of the sixty-first chapter of ,isaiah1 then he closed the book1 and gave it back to the attendant1 and sat down3 and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him as he told them3 ,to-day hath this scripture been fulfilled in your ears1 and although they wondered at the words of grace which proceeded out of his mouth1 they were not willing to accept his teaching1 and as he continued to speak1 they were all filled with wrath1 444 and they rose up1 and cast him forth out of the city1 and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built1 that they might throw him down headlong4 ,but he1 passing through the midst of them1 went his way4 ,and he came down to ,capernaum1 a city of ,galilee 7,luke #d3ad-ca74 ,having made arrangements for a carriage the evening ,i arrived in ,nazareth1 before daylight the next morning ,i started to drive to ,tiberias1 on the ,sea of ,galilee4 ,when ,i went down stairs1 at about half-past three o'clock1 ,i found a covered rig with two seats1 and three horses hitched to it side by side4 ,i filed no objection to the size of the carriage1 nor to the manner in which the horses were hitched4 ,as the driver could not speak ,english and the passenger could not speak ,arabic1 there was no conversation on the way4 ,as we drove out of ,nazareth1 ,i observed a large number of women at the ,virgin's ,fountain1 filling their jars with water4 ,at a distance of a little more than three miles we passed through ,kefr ,kenna1 the ,cana of ,galilee1 where ,jesus performed his first miracle4 7,john #b3a-aa47 ,the road to ,tiberias is not all smooth1 but is better than might be supposed4 ,with three horses and a light load1 we were able to move along in the cool of the morning at a lively gait1 passing a camel train1 an occasional village1 olive orchard1 or mulberry grove4 ,after a while the light of the moon grew pale1 and about six o'clock the great round sun came above the horizon in front of us1 and it was not long until a beautiful sheet of water six miles long--the ,sea of ,galilee--came suddenly into view4 ,we rolled along the winding curves of the carriage road1 down the slope of the hill1 and through a gateway in the old wall1 to ,tiberias1 on the west shore of ,blue ,galilee4 ,according to ,josephus1 ,herod ,antipas began to build a new capital city about sixteen years before the birth of ,jesus1 and completed it in ,a4,d4 #bb4 ,he named this new city ,tiberias1 in honor of the emperor1 but it does not appear to have been a popular place with the ,jews1 and but little is said of it in the ,new ,testament 7,john #ba3a71 yet it was not an insignificant place4 ,the ,sanhedrin was transferred from ,sepphoris1 the old capital1 to the new city1 and here the school of the ,talmud was developed against the gospel system4 ,the ancient traditional law1 called the ,mishna1 is said to have been published here in ,a4,d4 #bjj1 and the ,palestinian ,gemara 7the so-called ,jerusalem ,talmud7 came into existence at this place more than a century later4 ,the ,tiberian pointing of the ,hebrew ,bible began here4 ,the present population is largely composed of ,jews1 about two-thirds of the inhabitants being descendants of ,abraham4 ,they wear large black hats or fur caps1 and leave a long lock of hair hanging down in front of each ear4 ,there is little in ,tiberias to interest the traveler who has seen the ruins of ,rome1 ,athens and ,ephesus4 ,the seashore bounds it on one side and an old stone wall runs along at the other side4 ,i walked past some of the bazaars1 and saw the mosque and ruined castle4 ,about a mile down the shore are the hot springs1 which1 for many centuries1 have been thought to possess medicinal properties4 ,i tried the temperature of one of the springs1 and found it too hot to be comfortable to my hand4 ,as ,i returned to ,tiberias1 ,i had a good1 cool bath in the sea1 which is called by a variety of names1 as the sea of ,tiberias1 sea of ,galilee1 sea of ,genessaret1 and sea of ,chinnereth4 ,it is a small lake1 thirteen miles long1 lying six hundred and eighty-two feet below the level of the ,mediterranean4 ,the depth is given as varying from one hundred and thirty to one hundred and sixty-five feet4 ,it is really ,blue ,galilee1 and the sight of it is an agreeable change to the eye after one has been traveling the dry1 dusty roads leading through a country almost destitute of green vegetation4 ,in the spring1 when the grass is growing and the flowers are in bloom1 the highlands rising around the sea must be very beautiful4 ,several places mentioned in the ,new ,testament were situated along the ,sea of ,galilee1 but they have fallen into ruin--in some cases into utter ruin4 ,one of these was ,bethsaida1 where ,jesus gave sight to a blind man 7,mark #h3bb-bf71 and fed a multitude of about five thousand4 7,luke #i3aj-ag47 ,it was also the home of ,philip1 ,andrew1 and ,peter4 7,john #a3dd47 ,it is thought by some that ,james and ,john also came from this place4 ,on the northwestern shore was ,chorazin1 situated in the neighborhood of ,bethsaida2 also ,capernaum1 once the home of ,jesus2 and ,magdala1 the name of which has been immortalized in every language of ,christendom as denoting the birth-place of ,mary ,magdalene1 or better1 ,mary of ,magdala4 ,safed is a large place on a mountain above the sea in sight of the ,nazareth road1 and was occupied by the ,french in #agii4 ,it is said that the ,jews have a tradition that the ,messiah will come from this place4 ,on the way back to ,nazareth the driver stopped at the spring of ,kefr ,kenna and watered his horses and rested them awhile4 ,hundreds of goats1 calves1 and other stock were being watered1 and ,i saw an old stone coffin being used for a watering trough4 ,after another night in ,nazareth1 ,i was ready to go out to ,mount ,tabor4 ,for this trip ,i had engaged a horse to ride and a man to go along and show me where to ride it1 for we did not follow a regular road1 if1 indeed1 there is any such a thing leading to this historic place1 which is about six miles from ,nazareth4 ,it was only a little past four o'clock in the morning when we started1 and the flat top of the mountain1 two thousand and eighteen feet above sea level1 was reached at an early hour4 ,mount ,tabor is a well-shaped cone1 with a good road for horseback riding leading up its side4 ,there is some evidence that there was a city here more than two hundred years before ,christ4 ,josephus fortified it in his day1 and part of the old wall still remains4 ,according to a tradition1 contradicted by the conclusion of modern scholars1 this is the mount of transfiguration4 ,by the end of the sixth century three churches had been erected on the summit to commemorate the three tabernacles which ,peter proposed to build 7,matt4 #ag3a-h71 and now the ,greek and ,roman ,catholics have each a monastery only a short distance apart1 separated by a stone wall or fence4 ,the extensive view from the top is very fine1 including a section of ,galilee from the ,mediterranean to the sea of ,tiberias4 ,in the ,book of ,judges we read that ,israel was delivered into the hands of the ,canaanites1 and was sorely oppressed for twenty years4 ,the prophetess ,deborah sent for ,barak1 and instructed him with a message from ,god to the end that he should take ten thousand men of the children of ,naphtali and of the children of ,zebulun unto ,mount ,tabor4 ,this he did1 and ,sisera assembled his nine hundred chariots from ,harosheth of the ,gentiles unto the river ,kishon4 ,so ,barak went down from ,mount ,tabor and ten thousand men after him4 444 ,howbeit1 ,sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of ,jael1 the wife of ,heber1 the ,kenite1 and she drove a tent-pin through his temples while he was lying asleep1 7,judges #d3a-bc47 ,the song of ,deborah and ,barak1 beginning with the words1 ,for that the leaders took the lead in ,israel1 for that the people offered themselves willingly1 bless ye ,jehovah1 is recorded in the fifth chapter of ,judges4 ,i was back in ,nazareth by ten o'clock1 and spent some hours looking around the city where the angel ,gabriel announced to ,mary the words3 ,hail1 thou that art highly favored1 the ,lord is with thee 7,luke #a3bh74 ,these hours1 with what time ,i had already spent here1 enabled me to see several places of interest4 ,tradition points out many places connected with the lives of ,joseph and ,mary1 but tradition is not always reliable1 for it sometimes happens that the ,greeks and the ,romans each have a different location for the same event4 ,this is true with regard to the point where the angry people were about to throw ,jesus over the brow of the hill 7,luke #d3bi74 ,i saw no place that struck me as being the one referred to in the ,scriptures1 and in reply to an inquiry1 a lady at the ,english ,orphanage1 who has spent twenty years in ,nazareth1 said she thought it was some place on that side of the town1 but the contour of the hill had probably changed4 ,she also mentioned that the relics taken out in excavations were all found on that side1 indicating that the old city had been built there4 ,when ,brother ,mc,garvey visited ,palestine1 he found two places that corresponded somewhat with ,luke's reference to the place4 ,concerning one of them he wrote3 ,i am entirely satisfied that here is where the awful attempt was made4 ,i was shown the place of annunciation in the ,latin monastery4 ,on the top of a column stands the figure of a female1 probably representing the ,virgin1 and a bit of ruin that is said to date back to the time of ,constantine is pointed out4 ,here1 ,i was told1 stood the first church building erected in ,nazareth4 ,one of the brothers took the key and went around to a building supposed to stand on the site of ,joseph's carpenter shop4 ,it is a small chapel1 built about #aheh over the ruins of some older structure4 ,in the floor of marble or stone there are two wooden trapdoors1 which are raised to show the ruins below4 ,over the altar in the end opposite the door is a picture to represent the holy family1 and there are some other pictures in different parts of the little chapel4 ,from here ,i went to the ,virgin's ,fountain4 ,if it be true that this is the only spring in ,nazareth1 then ,i have no doubt that ,i was near the spot frequently visited by the ,nazarene maid who became the mother of our ,lord4 ,i say near the spot1 for the masonry where the spring discharges is about a hundred yards from the fountain1 which is now beneath the floor of a convent4 ,the water flows out through the wall by two stone spouts1 and here the women were crowded around1 filling their vessels or waiting for their turn4 ,the flow was not very strong1 and this helps to explain why so many women were there before daylight the morning ,i went to ,tiberias4 ,i saw one woman1 who was unable to get her vessel under the stream of one of the spouts1 drawing down a part of the water by sticking a leaf against the end of the spout4 ,i also visited some of the bazaars and went to the ,orphanage4 ,this missionary institution is nicely situated in a prominent place well up on the hill1 and is managed entirely by women1 but a servant is kept to do outside work4 ,they treated me very kindly1 showing me about the building1 and when the girls came in to supper they sang the ,nazareth ,hymn for me4 ,one of the occupations of the people here is manufacturing a knife with goat horn handles that is commonly seen in ,palestine4 ,many of the women go about the streets with their dresses open like a man's shirt when unbuttoned1 exposing their breasts in an unbecoming manner4 ,the same is true of many women in ,jerusalem4 ,about one-third of the mixed population are ,jews2 the other two-thirds are ,mohammedans and professing ,christians1 made up of ,orthodox ,greeks1 ,united ,greeks1 ,roman ,catholics1 ,maronites 7a branch of the ,greek ,church71 and ,protestants4 ,i went back to ,haifa and spent a night4 ,the next morning ,i boarded the ,austrian ship ,juno for ,jaffa4 ,when ,i first landed here ,i had trouble with the boatman1 because he wanted me to pay him more than ,i had agreed to pay1 and on this occasion ,i again had the same difficulty1 twice as much being demanded at the ship as was agreed upon at the dock2 but ,i was firm and won my point both times4 ,while in ,galilee ,i had crossed the province from sea to sea2 ,i had visited the city in which ,jesus spent the greater part of his earth life1 and the sea closely connected with several important things in his career4 ,i had ascended ,carmel1 and from the top of ,tabor ,i had taken an extensive view of the land1 and now ,i was satisfied to drop down the coast and enter ,judaea4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,sight-,,seeing ,,in ,,jerusalem4 ,before leaving the ship at ,jaffa ,i was talking with ,mr4 ,ahmed1 a gentleman from ,india1 who had spent some time in ,egypt1 and had traveled extensively4 ,he claimed to be a ,british subject1 and was able to speak several languages4 ,while we were arranging to go ashore together1 one of the many boatmen who had come out to the ship picked up my suit-case while my back was turned1 and the next thing ,i saw of it he was taking it down the stairs to one of the small boats4 ,by some loud and emphatic talk ,i succeeded in getting him to put it out of one boat into another1 but he would not bring it back4 ,mr4 ,ahmed and ,i went ashore with another man1 whom we paid for carrying us and our baggage4 ,i found the suit-case on the dock1 and we were soon in the custom house1 where my baggage and passport were both examined1 but ,mr4 ,ahmed escaped having his baggage opened by paying the boatman an additional fee4 ,as we arrived in ,jaffa too late to take the train for ,jerusalem that day1 we waited over night in the city from whence ,jonah went to sea so long ago4 ,we lodged at the same hotel and were quartered in the same room4 ,this was the first and only traveling companion ,i had on the whole journey1 and ,i was a little shy4 ,i felt like ,i wanted some pledge of honorable dealing from my newly formed acquaintance1 and when he expressed himself as being a ,british subject1 ,i mentioned that ,i was an ,american and extended my hand1 saying3 ,let us treat each other right4 ,he gave me his hand with the words3 ,species man1 species man6 ,he meant that we both belonged to the same class of beings1 and should1 therefore1 treat each other right1 a very good reason indeed4 ,a long time before1 in this same land1 ,abraham had expressed himself to ,lot on a similar line in these words3 ,let there be no strife1 ,i pray thee1 between me and thee1 and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen2 for we are brethren 7,gen4 #ac3h74 ,on ,saturday we moved our baggage over to the depot and boarded the train for ,jerusalem4 ,on the way to the depot an old gentleman1 whom ,i would have guessed to be a ,german1 passed me4 ,when ,i entered the car it was my lot to ride by him4 ,he learned that ,i had been to ,bristol1 ,england1 and had visited the orphan homes founded by ,george ,muller1 and he remarked3 ,you are a ,christian1 then4 ,he probably said this because he thought no other would be interested in such work4 ,it developed that he was a converted ,jew1 and was conducting a mission for his people in the ,holy ,city4 ,without telling him my position religiously1 ,i inquired concerning different points1 and found his faith and mine almost alike4 ,this new acquaintance was ,d4,c4 ,joseph1 whose association ,i also enjoyed after reaching ,jerusalem4 ,it was late in the afternoon of ,october ninth when we got off the train at the ,jerusalem station1 which is so situated that the city can not be seen from that point4 ,by the time we had our baggage put away in a native hotel outside the city walls it was dark4 ,we then started out to see if there was any mail awaiting me4 ,first we went to the ,turkish office1 which was reached by a flight of dark stairs4 ,mr4 ,ahmed went up rather slowly4 ,perhaps he felt the need of caution more than ,i did4 ,according to my recollection1 they handed us a candle1 and allowed us to inspect the contents of a small case for the mail4 ,we found nothing1 so we made our way down the dark stairway to the ,german office1 situated on the ground floor1 nicely furnished and properly lighted1 but there was no mail there for me1 as mail from ,america goes to the ,austrian office1 inside the ,jaffa gate4 ,the next day was ,lord's day1 and for the time being ,i ceased to be a tourist and gave myself up mainly to religious services4 ,i first attended the meeting conducted by ,bro4 ,joseph at the mission to ,israel4 ,it was the first service ,i had attended1 and the first opportunity that had come to me for breaking bread since ,i left ,london1 the last of ,august4 ,after this assembly of four persons was dismissed1 ,i went to the services of the ,church of ,england and observed their order of worship4 ,the minister was in a robe1 and delivered a really good sermon of about fifteen minutes' duration1 preceded by reading prayers and singing praise for about an hour4 ,by invitation1 ,i took dinner with ,miss ,dunn1 an ,american lady1 at whose house ,bro4 ,joseph was lodging4 ,as she had been in ,jerusalem fifteen years and was interested in missionary work1 ,i enjoyed her company as well as her cooking4 ,after dinner ,i went to a little iron-covered meeting-house called the tabernacle1 where a ,mr4 ,thompson1 missionary of the ,christian ,alliance1 of ,nyack1 ,new ,york1 was the minister4 ,at the close of the ,sunday-school a gentleman asked some questions in ,english1 and the native evangelist1 ,melki1 translated them into ,arabic4 ,by request of ,mr4 ,thompson1 ,i read the opening lesson and offered prayer1 after which he delivered a good address on the great1 coming day1 and at the close the ,lord's ,supper was observed4 ,i understood that they did this once a month1 but it is attended to weekly at the mission where ,i was in the morning4 ,at the tabernacle ,i made the acquaintance of ,mr4 ,stanton1 a ,methodist minister from the ,states2 ,mr4 ,jennings1 a colored minister from ,missouri1 and ,mr4 ,smith1 an ,american gentleman residing in ,jerusalem4 ,there was another meeting in the tabernacle at night1 but ,i staid at the hotel and finished some writing to be sent off to the home land4 ,monday was a big day for me4 ,mr4 ,ahmed and ,i went down inside the ,jaffa gate and waited for ,mr4 ,smith1 who was our guide1 ,mr4 ,jennings1 and a ,mr4 ,michelson1 from ,california4 ,mr4 ,smith had been a farmer in ,america1 but had spent three years at ,jerusalem and ,jericho4 ,he was well acquainted with the country1 and we could depend upon what he told us4 ,add to all this the fact that he went around with us without charge1 and it will be seen that we were well favored4 ,on this ,monday morning we started out to take a walk to ,bethany1 the old home of that blessed family composed of ,mary1 ,martha1 and ,lazarus4 ,we passed the ,church of the ,holy ,sepulcher1 walked along the street called the ,via ,dolorosa1 and saw several of the stations ,jesus is supposed to have passed on the way to the execution on ,calvary4 ,we passed the traditional site of the house of the rich man1 the house of the poor man1 and the ,temple ,area4 ,after passing the ,church of ,st4 ,anne1 we went out of the city through ,st4 ,stephen's gate1 and saw the ,birket ,sitti ,mariam1 or ,pool of ,lady ,mary1 one hundred feet long1 eighty-five feet wide1 and once twenty-seven and a half feet deep4 ,it is supposed that ,stephen was led through the gate now bearing his name and stoned at a point not far distant4 ,going down the hill a few rods1 we came to the ,church of ,st4 ,mary1 a building for the most part underground4 ,it is entered by a stairway nineteen feet wide at the top1 and having forty-seven steps leading to the floor thirty-five feet below4 ,we went down1 and in the poorly lighted place we found some priests and others singing or chanting1 crossing themselves1 kissing a rock1 and so on4 ,this church probably gets its name from the tradition that the mother of ,jesus was buried here4 ,just outside the church is a cavern that is claimed by some to be the place of ,christ's agony1 and by others1 who may have given the matter more thought1 it is supposed to be an old cistern1 or place for storing olive oil or grain4 ,perhaps ,i would do well to mention here that tradition has been in operation a long time1 and the stories she has woven are numerous indeed1 but often no confidence can be placed in them4 ,i desire to speak of things of this kind in such a way as not to mislead my readers4 ,it was near this church that ,i saw lepers for the first time4 ,the valley of the ,kidron is the low ground lying between ,jerusalem and the ,mount of ,olives4 ,the water flows here only in the wet part of the year4 ,crossing this valley and starting up the slope of the ,mount of ,olives1 we soon come to a plot of ground inclosed by a high stone wall1 with a low1 narrow gateway on the upper side4 ,this place is of great interest1 as it bears the name ,garden of ,gethsemane1 and is probably the spot to which the lowly ,jesus repaired and prayed earnestly the night before his execution1 when his soul was exceeding sorrowful1 even unto death4 ,it is really a garden1 filled with flowers1 and olive trees whose trunks1 gnarled and split1 represent them as being very old1 but it is not to be supposed that they are the same trees beneath which ,jesus prayed just before ,judas and the band of soldiers and officers came out to arrest him4 ,there is a fence inside the wall1 leaving a passageway around the garden between the wall and the fence4 ,where the trees reach over the fence a woven-wire netting has been fixed up1 to keep the olives from dropping on the walk1 where tourists could pick them up for souvenirs4 ,the fruit of these old trees is turned into olive oil and sold1 and the seeds are used in making rosaries4 ,at intervals on the wall there are pictures representing the fourteen stations ,jesus passed as he was being taken to the place of crucifixion4 ,this garden is the property of the ,roman ,catholics1 and the ,greeks have selected another spot1 which they regard as the true ,gethsemane1 just as each church holds a different place at ,nazareth to be the spot where the angry ,nazarenes intended to destroy the ,savior4 ,leaving the garden1 we started on up the slope of ,olivet1 and passed the fine ,russian church1 with its seven tapering domes1 that shine like the gold by which they are said to be covered4 ,it appears to be one of the finest buildings of ,jerusalem4 ,as we went on1 we looked back and had a good view of the ,kidron valley and the ,jews' burial place1 along the slope of the mountain1 where uncounted thousands of ,abraham's descendants lie interred4 ,further up toward the summit is the ,church of the ,lord's ,prayer1 a building erected by a ,french princess1 whose body is now buried within its walls4 ,this place is peculiar on account of at least two things4 ,that portion of ,scripture commonly called the ,lord's prayer is here inscribed on large marble slabs in thirty-two different languages1 and prayer is said to be offered here continually4 ,there is another church near the ,damascus gate1 where two sisters are said to be kneeling in prayer at all hours4 ,i entered the beautiful place at different times1 and always found it as represented1 but it should not be supposed that the same women do all the praying1 as they doubtless have enough to change at regular intervals4 ,the ,church of the ,creed is1 according to a worthless tradition1 the place where the apostles drew up the creed4 ,it is under the ground1 and we passed over it on the way to the ,church of the ,lord's ,prayer4 ,the ,mount of ,olives is two thousand seven hundred and twenty-three feet above sea level1 and is about two hundred feet higher than ,mount ,moriah4 ,from the summit a fine view of ,jerusalem and the surrounding country may be obtained4 ,the ,russians have erected a lofty stone tower here4 ,after climbing the spiral stairway leading to the top of it1 one is well rewarded by the extensive view4 ,looking out from the east side1 we could gaze upon the ,dead ,sea1 some twenty miles away1 and more than four thousand feet below us4 ,we visited the chambers called the ,tombs of the ,prophets1 but the name is not a sufficient guarantee to warrant us in believing them to be the burial places of the men by whom ,god formerly spoke to the people4 ,on the way to ,bethany we passed the reputed site of ,beth-page 7,mark #aa3a71 and soon came to the town where ,jesus performed the great miracle of raising ,lazarus after he had been dead four days4 7,john #aa3a-df47 ,the place pointed out as the tomb corresponds to the ,scripture which says ,it was a cave where they laid him4 ,twenty-six steps lead down to the chamber where his body is said to have lain when the blessed ,redeemer cried with a loud voice1 ,lazarus1 come forth4 ,whether this is the exact spot or not1 it is probably a very ancient cave4 ,one writer claims that it is as old as the incident itself1 and says these rock-cut tombs are the oldest landmarks of ,palestine4 ,tradition points out the home of ,lazarus1 and there is a portion of an old structure called the ,castle of ,lazarus1 which ,lazarus may never have seen4 ,bethany is a small village1 occupied by a few ,mohammedan families1 who dislike the ,christians4 ,on the rising ground above the village stands a good modern stone house1 owned by an ,english lady1 who formerly lived in it1 but her servant1 a ,mohammedan1 made an effort to cut her throat1 and almost succeeded in the attempt4 ,naturally enough1 the owner does not wish to live there now1 so we found the building in the care of a professing ,christian1 who treated us with courtesy1 giving us a good1 refreshing drink1 and permitting us to go out on the roof to look around4 ,from this point we turned our footsteps toward ,jerusalem1 about fifteen furlongs off--that is1 about two miles distant4 7,john #aa3ah47 ,when we reached the lower part of the slope of ,olivet1 where the tombs of departed ,jews are so numerous1 ,mr4 ,michelson and ,mr4 ,jennings went on across the ,kidron valley and back to their lodging places1 while ,mr4 ,ahmed1 ,mr4 ,smith and ,i went down to ,job's well1 in the low ground below the city4 ,the ,tower of ,absalom1 the ,tomb of ,james1 and the ,pyramid of ,zachariah were among the first things we saw4 ,they are all burial places1 but we can not depend upon them being the actual tombs of those whose names they bear4 ,the first is a peculiar monument nineteen and one-half feet square and twenty-one feet high1 cut out of the solid rock1 and containing a chamber1 which may be entered by crawling through a hole in the side4 ,on the top of the natural rock portion a structure of dressed stone1 terminating in one tapering piece1 has been erected1 making the whole height of the monument forty-eight feet4 ,the ,jews have a custom of pelting it with stones on account of ,absalom's misconduct1 and the front side shows the effect of their stone-throwing4 ,the ,grotto of ,st4 ,james is the traditional place of his concealment from the time ,jesus was arrested till his resurrection4 ,the ,pyramid of ,zachariah is a cube about thirty feet square and sixteen feet high1 cut out of the solid rock1 and surmounted by a small pyramid4 ,it has many names cut upon it in ,hebrew letters1 and there are some graves near by1 as this is a favorite burial place4 ,some of the bodies have been buried between the monument and the wall around it in the passage made in cutting it out of the rock4 ,going on down the valley1 we have the village of ,siloam on the hill at our left1 and on the other side of the ,kidron1 the southeastern part of the ,holy ,city4 ,st4 ,mary's ,well is soon reached4 ,this spring1 which may be the ,gihon of #a ,kings #a3cc1 is much lower than the surface of the ground1 the water being reached by two flights of stairs1 one containing sixteen steps1 the other fourteen4 ,the spring is intermittent1 and flows from three to five times daily in winter4 ,it flows twice a day in summer1 but in the autumn it only flows once in the day4 ,when ,i was there1 the spring was low1 and two ,turkish soldiers were on duty to preserve order among those who came to get water4 ,the ,pool of ,siloam1 fifty-two feet long and eighteen feet wide1 is farther down the valley4 ,the spring and the pool are about a thousand feet apart1 and are connected by an aqueduct through the hill1 which1 owing to imperfect engineering1 is seventeen hundred feet long4 ,from a ,hebrew inscription found in the lower end of this passageway it was learned that the excavation was carried on from both ends4 ,a little below the ,pool of ,siloam the valley of the ,kidron joins the valley of ,hinnom1 where1 in ancient times1 children were made to pass through the fire to ,moloch 7#b ,kings #bc3aj74 ,job's ,well1 perhaps the ,en ,rogel1 on the northern border of ,judah 7,joshua #ae3g71 is rectangular in shape and one hundred and twenty-three feet deep4 ,sometimes it overflows1 but it seldom goes dry4 ,when ,i saw it1 no less than six persons were drawing water with ropes and leather buckets4 ,the location of ,aceldama1 the field of blood1 has been disputed1 but some consider that it was on the hill above the valley of ,hinnom4 ,there are several rock-cut tombs along the slope of the hill facing the valley of ,hinnom1 and some of them are being used as dwelling places4 ,the ,moslems have charge of a building outside the city walls1 called ,david's ,tomb1 which they guard very carefully1 and only a portion of it is accessible to visitors4 ,near this place a new ,german ,catholic church was being erected at a cost of four hundred thousand dollars4 ,we entered the city by the ,zion gate1 and passed the ,tower of ,david1 a fortification on ,mount ,zion1 near the ,jaffa gate4 ,on the ship coming down from ,beyrout ,i had a conversation with a man who claimed to have been naturalized in the ,united ,states1 and to have gone to ,syria to visit his mother1 but1 according to his story1 he was arrested and imprisoned by the ,turks4 ,after being mistreated in the filthy prison for some time1 he secured his release by bribing a soldier to post a letter to one of the ,american authorities4 ,he expressed a desire to visit ,jerusalem1 but seemed afraid to get back into ,turkish territory4 ,learning that ,i was going there1 he wrote a letter to the ,armenian ,patriarch1 and ,i presented it one day4 ,in a few minutes ,mr4 ,ahmed and ,i were led into the large room where the ,patriarch was seated in his robe and peculiar cap4 ,meeting a dignitary of the ,armenian ,church was a new experience to me4 ,i shook hands with him2 ,mr4 ,ahmed made some signs and sat down4 ,in the course of our limited conversation he said rather slowly3 ,i am very old4 ,replying to a question1 he informed me that his age was eighty years4 ,i was on the point of leaving1 but he hindered me1 and an attendant soon came in with some small glasses of wine and a little dish of candy4 ,the ,patriarch drank a glass of wine1 and ,i took a piece of the candy1 as also did ,mr4 ,ahmed1 and then we took our leave4 ,the eleventh day of ,october1 which was ,tuesday1 was occupied with a trip to ,hebron1 described in another chapter devoted to the side trips ,i made from ,jerusalem1 but the next day was spent in looking around the ,holy ,city4 ,early in the morning the ,mamilla ,pool1 probably the upper pool of #b ,kings #ah3ag1 was seen4 ,one author gives the dimensions of this pool as follows3 ,length1 two hundred and ninety-one feet2 breadth1 one hundred and ninety-two feet2 depth1 nineteen feet4 ,it is filled with water in the rainy season1 but was empty when ,i saw it4 ,entering the city by the ,jaffa gate1 ,i walked along ,david and ,christian ,streets1 and was shown the ,pool of ,hezekiah1 which is surrounded by houses1 and was supplied from the ,mamilla ,pool4 ,the next place visited was that interesting old building1 the ,church of the ,holy ,sepulcher1 where our ,lord is supposed to have been buried in ,joseph's new tomb4 ,jerusalem has many things of great interest1 but some few things are of special interest4 ,the ,temple ,area and ,calvary are of this class4 ,i am sure my readers will want to know something of each1 and ,i shall here write of the latter4 ,no doubt the spot where ,jesus was crucified and the grave in which he was buried were both well known to the brethren up to the destruction of the city in the year seventy4 ,before this awful calamity the ,christians made their escape1 and when they returned they would hardly recognize the fallen city as the one they had left2 the heel of the destroyer had stamped out all semblance of its former glory4 ,for sixty years it lay in ruins so complete that it is doubtful if there was a single house that could be used as a residence2 during these years its history is a blank4 ,there is no mention of the returned ,christians seeking out the site of either the crucifixion or burial1 and between ,a4,d4 #abj and ,a4,d4 #acf ,hadrian reconstructed the city1 changing it to a considerable extent1 and naming it ,aelia ,capitolina4 ,this would tend to make the location of ,calvary more difficult4 ,hadrian built a temple to ,venus1 probably on the spot now occupied by the ,church of the ,holy ,sepulchre1 and ,eusebius1 writing about ,a4,d4 #cbe1 speaks of ,constantine's church built on the site of this temple4 ,it is claimed that ,hadrian's heathen temple was erected to desecrate the place of ,christ's entombment1 and that ,constantine's church1 being erected on the site of the temple1 and regarded as the place called ,calvary1 fixes this as the true site2 but whether the church and temple were on the same site or not1 the present church stands where the one built by ,constantine stood1 and is regarded by the mass of believers as the true location4 ,constantine's church stood two hundred and eighty years1 being destroyed by ,chosroes ,,ii41 of ,persia1 in ,a4,d4 #fad1 but was soon succeeded by another structure not so grand as its predecessor4 ,in #ajaj1 in the reign of the mad caliph ,hakem1 the group of churches was entirely destroyed1 and the spot lay desolate for thirty years1 after which another church was erected1 being completed in eight years4 ,this building was standing in #ajii1 the time of the ,crusaders1 but was destroyed by fire in #ahjh4 ,this fire consumed many of the most sacred relics in the church4 ,marble columns of great age and beauty crumbled in the flames4 ,the rich hangings and pictures were burned1 along with lamps and chandeliers and other ornaments in silver and gold4 ,the lead with which the great dome was lined melted1 and poured down in streams4 ,the building now standing there was finished in #ahaj at a cost of nearly three millions of dollars1 one-third of this1 it is said1 being expended in lawsuits and ,mohammedan bribes4 ,it is the property of several denominations1 who adorn their separate chapels to suit themselves4 ,the church is entered from a court having two doors or gates4 ,worshipers pass through the court1 and stop at the left-hand side of the door and kiss the marble column1 which clearly shows the effect of this practice4 ,just inside of the building there is a guard1 composed of members of the oldest ,mohammedan family in the city4 ,the reader may wonder why an armed guard should be kept in a church house1 but such a reader has not seen or read of all the wickedness that is carried on in the support of sectarianism4 ,concerning this guard1 which1 at the time of the holy fire demonstration1 is increased by several hundred soldiers1 ,edmund ,sherman ,wallace1 a former ,united ,states ,consul in this city1 says in his ,jerusalem the ,holy3 ,this ,christian church has a ,moslem guard1 whose duty it is to keep peace among the various sects who profess belief in the ,prince of ,peace4 99 99 99 ,it is a sickening fact that ,moslem brute force must compel ,christians to exercise1 not charity toward each other1 but common decency and decorum4 ,but it is a fact nevertheless1 and will remain apparent to all so long as priestcraft takes the place of ,new ,testament ,christianity and superstition supplants religion4 ,a little beyond this guard is the ,stone of ,unction1 upon which many believe ,jesus was prepared for burial1 but the original stone for which this claim was made is not now visible1 being covered with the present slab to keep it from being worn out by the kissing of pious pilgrims4 ,it is eight and a half feet long and four feet wide4 ,pilgrims sometimes bring the goods for their burial robes here and measure them by this stone4 ,some large candles stand by it1 and above it are eight fine lamps1 belonging to the ,greek and ,roman ,catholics1 the ,copts1 and ,armenians4 ,not far away is a small stone1 which ,i understood was called the place where the women watched the preparation by ,joseph of ,arimathea and ,nicodemus4 7,john #ai3ch-db47 ,in the center of the rotunda1 with its entrance facing the east1 is the ,chapel of the ,sepulcher1 the holiest place in all this holy building4 ,passing through the small door1 the visitor finds himself in the ,chapel of the ,angels1 a very small room1 where a piece of stone1 said to have been rolled away from the grave by the angels1 is to be seen4 ,stooping down1 the visitor passes through a low opening and enters the ,chapel of the ,sepulcher proper1 a room only six and a half feet long and six feet wide4 ,the tomb is at the right hand of the entrance1 occupying about half of the floor1 above which it rises two feet4 ,it is covered with marble1 so that even if this were the very spot where the ,lord and ,savior was laid by the hands of kind friends1 the modern visitor would not know what it looked like when that event took place4 ,the little chapel1 capable of accommodating about six people at a time1 contains some pictures and forty-three silver lamps1 the property of the ,copts1 ,armenians1 ,greek and ,roman ,catholics4 ,a priest stands on guard1 so that no damage may be done to any part of the place4 ,the ,greek chapel1 the largest1 and to my notion the finest that ,i saw1 is just in front of the sepulcher4 ,from its having two sections and a partition1 ,i was reminded of the tabernacle of the wilderness journey4 ,services were being conducted once while ,i was there1 and ,i saw the ,patriarch and others1 gorgeously robed1 going through with a service that was at least spectacular1 if not spiritual4 ,at one point in the exercises those participating came down close to where ,i was standing1 passed around the spot designated the center of the world1 and went back again to the farther end of the richly ornamented room4 ,one of the priests1 with hair reaching down on his shoulders1 bore a silver vessel1 which ,i suppose contained burning incense4 ,the long hair1 beautiful robes1 the singing1 praying1 and such things1 made up a service that reminded me of the days of ,solomon and the old priesthood4 ,the demonstration of the holy fire takes place in this church once a year1 and there are thousands who believe that the fire passed out from the ,chapel of the ,angels really comes from heaven4 ,this occurs on the ,saturday afternoon preceding ,easter1 and the eager1 waiting throng1 a part of which has been in the building since the day before1 soon has its hundreds of little candles lighted4 ,as the time for the appearance of the fire approaches the confusion becomes greater4 ,near the entrance to the sepulcher a group of men is repeating the words3 ,this is the tomb of ,jesus ,christ2 not far from them others are saying3 ,this is the day the ,jew mourns and the ,christian rejoices2 others express themselves in the language3 ,jesus ,christ has redeemed us2 and occasionally ,god save the ,sultan can be heard4 ,mr4 ,wallace1 from whose book the foregoing items are gleaned1 in telling of a fight which took place at one stage of the service1 describes it as a mass of wriggling1 struggling1 shrieking priests and soldiers1 each apparently endeavoring to do all the possible injury to whomever he could reach4 99 99 99 ,but the fight went on4 ,greek trampled on ,armenian1 and ,armenian on ,greek1 and ,turk on both4 ,though doing his very best1 the commanding officer seemed unable to separate the combatants4 ,the bugle rang out time after time1 and detachment after detachment of soldiers plunged into the mlee4 99 99 99 ,this went on for fifteen minutes4 ,just how much damage was done nobody will ever know4 ,there were a number of bruised faces and broken heads1 and a report was current that two pilgrims had died from injuries received4 ,this disgraceful and wicked disturbance is said to have been brought about by the ,armenians wanting two of their priests to go with the ,greek ,patriarch as far as the ,chapel of the ,angels4 ,and it is furthermore said that the defeat of the ,armenians was brought about1 to some extent at least1 by the muscular strength of an ,american professional boxer and wrestler1 whom the ,greeks had taken along in priestly garb as a member of the ,patriarch's bodyguard4 ,it is not surprising that ,mr4 ,wallace has written3 ,the ,church of the ,holy ,sepulcher gives the non-,christian world the worst possible illustration of the religion of ,him in whose name it stands4 ,as ,i was going through the city1 ,i saw a camel working an olive press4 ,the poor blindfolded animal was compelled to walk in a circle so small that the outside trace was drawn tightly over its leg1 causing irritation2 but seeing the loads that are put upon dumb brutes1 and men too1 sometimes1 one need not expect much attention to be given to the comfort of these useful servants4 ,truly1 there is great need for the refining1 civilizing1 and uplifting influence of the gospel here in the city where it had its earliest proclamation4 ,i also visited two grist mills operated by horses on a treadmill1 which was a large wooden wheel turned on its side1 so the horses could stand on it4 ,i was not pleased with the nearness of the manure in one of these mills to the material from which the staff of life is made4 ,the ,german ,protestant ,church of the ,redeemer is a fine structure on the ,muristan1 completed in #ahih4 ,the ,united ,states consulate is near the ,austrian postoffice inside of the ,jaffa gate4 ,i went there and rested awhile1 but saw the consul1 ,selah ,merrill1 at his hotel1 where ,i also met ,mrs4 ,merrill1 and formed a favorable opinion of both of them4 ,here ,i left my belt1 checks1 and surplus money in the care of the consul4 ,continuing my walk on ,wednesday1 ,i passed one of the numerous threshing floors of the country4 ,this one was the face of a smooth rock1 but they are often the ground on some elevated spot1 where a good breeze can be had to blow away the chaff1 for the grain is now threshed and cleaned by the primitive methods of long ago4 ,after the grain has been tramped out 7#a ,cor4 #i3i71 the straw1 now worn to chaff1 is piled up1 and when a favorable wind blows1 a man tosses it in the air with a wooden fork4 ,the grain falls in a pile at his feet and the chaff is carried aside some distance4 ,when this operation has been carried on as long as is profitable1 the wheat and what chaff remains in it are thrown into the air with a wooden shovel1 called in our ,bibles a fan4 7,matt4 #c3ab47 ,the final cleaning is done by washing the grain1 or with a sieve4 ,the ,tombs of the ,kings1 which may never have contained a king1 are extensive and interesting4 ,they are surrounded by a wall1 and to reach them the visitor must go down a very wide stairway4 ,the steps probably do not number more than twenty-five1 but the distance from one side of the stairs to the other is twenty-seven feet4 ,there are channels cut in the rock to carry the water that comes down these steps to the cisterns1 two in number1 one of which is a good-sized room cut in the rock at the side of the stairway4 ,it contained about three feet of water when ,i saw it1 although there had been no rain in ,jerusalem for half a year4 ,the other one1 at the bottom of the stairs1 is much larger1 and was empty4 ,the vaulted roof is supported by a column1 and there are steps leading from one level of the floor to another4 ,turning to the left at the foot of the big stairway1 we passed through an arch cut through the rock into a court made by excavating the earth and stone to a depth of perhaps twenty feet4 ,it is ninety feet long and eighty-one feet wide4 ,the entrance to the tombs is by a vestibule cut in the rock at one side of the court1 and it appears that this once had a row of pillars along the front1 like veranda posts4 ,we went down a few steps and stooped low enough to pass through an opening about a yard high4 ,beyond this we found ourselves in a good-sized room1 cut in the solid rock4 ,there are five of these rooms1 and so far as the appearance is concerned1 one might suppose they had been made in modern times1 but they are ancient4 ,the bodies were usually buried in pigeon-holes cut back in the walls of the rooms1 but there are some shelf tombs1 which are sufficiently described in their name4 ,one room seems never to have been completed1 but there are burial places here for about forty people4 ,one of the interesting things about these tombs is the rolling stone by which they were closed4 ,it is a round rock1 resembling a millstone4 ,the height is a little over three feet and a half1 and the thickness sixteen inches4 ,it stands in a channel cut for the purpose1 but was rolled forward before the entrance when it was desirable to have the tombs closed4 ,when ,jesus was buried1 a great stone was rolled to the mouth of the sepulcher1 and the women thought of this as they went to the tomb on the first day of the week1 saying3 ,who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the tomb8 7,mark #af3c47 ,they went on and found the tomb open2 so1 also1 we may often find the stone rolled away if we will go forward in the discharge of our duties1 instead of sitting down to mourn at the thought of something in the distance which seems too difficult4 ,on our way to the tombs just mentioned1 we passed the ,american ,colony1 a small band of people living together in a rather peculiar manner1 but they are not all ,americans4 ,i understood that there had been no marriages among them for a long time until a short while before ,i was in ,jerusalem4 ,some of them conduct a good store near the ,jaffa gate4 ,we passed an ,english church and college and ,st4 ,stephen's ,church on the way to ,gordon's ,calvary4 ,this new location of the world's greatest tragedy is a small hill outside the walls on the northern side of the city4 ,the ,church of the ,holy ,sepulcher stands on ground which for fifteen hundred years has been regarded as the true site of our ,lord's death and burial1 but since ,korte1 a ,german bookseller1 visited the city in #agch1 doubts have been expressed as to the correctness of the tradition4 ,jesus suffered without the gate 7,heb4 #ac3ab71 and in the place where he was crucified there was a garden2 and in the garden a new tomb wherein was man never yet laid 7,john #ai3da71 and it appears to have been near a public road4 7,mark #ae3bi47 ,in #ahef ,edward ,robinson1 an ,american1 offered proof that the site sustained by the old tradition was inside the city walls at the time of the crucifixion1 and more recent discoveries1 made in excavating1 confirm his proof4 ,the new ,calvary meets the requirements of the above mentioned scriptures1 and gets its name ,gordon's ,calvary1 from the fact that ,general ,gordon wrote and spoke in favor of this being the correct location1 and a photographer attached his name to a view of the place4 ,in the garden adjoining the new ,calvary ,i visited a tomb1 which some suppose to be the place of our ,lord's burial4 ,on the way back to my lodging place we passed the ,damascus gate1 the most attractive of all the old city gates1 and one often represented in books4 ,it was built or repaired in #aecg1 and stands near an older gateway that is almost entirely hidden by the accumulated rubbish of centuries1 only the crown of the arch now showing4 ,as we went on we passed the ,french ,hospice1 a fine modern building1 having two large statues on it4 ,the higher one represents the ,virgin and her child1 the other is a figure of the ,savior4 ,the ,catholic church already mentioned1 where two sisters are to be seen in prayer at all times1 is near the ,hospice4 ,it is a rather impressive sight to stand in this beautiful but silent place1 and see those women in white robes kneeling there almost as motionless as statues4 ,thursday and a part of ,friday was taken up with a trip to ,jericho1 but we got back in time to spend the afternoon in looking around ,jerusalem1 and we had an interesting visit to the home of ,mrs4 ,schoenecke1 a ,german lady1 whose father1 named ,schick1 spent fifty-six years of his life in ,jerusalem4 ,from what information ,mr4 ,schick could gather from the ,bible1 ,josephus1 the ,talmud1 and his personal observations during the time the ,palestine ,exploration ,fund was at work1 he constructed large models of the ancient temples that stood on ,mount ,moriah from the days of ,solomon to the time of ,herod and ,christ4 ,i was told that the original models were sold to an ,american college for five thousand dollars4 ,mr4 ,schick then constructed the models shown to us1 and explained by ,mrs4 ,schoenecke4 ,we were also shown a model of the tabernacle used while ,israel was marching to the promised land4 ,the ,wailing ,place is a rectangle one hundred feet long by fifteen feet wide on the outside of the ,temple ,area1 on the western side1 where the wall is about sixty feet high4 ,some of the stones in this section are of large size1 and authorities admit that they are of ,solomon's time1 but the wall in which they now stand may be a reconstruction4 ,the ,jews come here on the ,sabbath1 beginning at sundown on ,saturday1 for a service which one author describes as follows3 ,nearest to him stood a row of women clad in robes of spotless white4 ,their eyes were bedimmed with weeping1 and tears streamed down their cheeks as they sobbed aloud with irrepressible emotion4 ,next to the women stood a group of ,pharisees--,jews from ,poland and ,germany4 99 99 99 ,the old hoary-headed men generally wore velvet caps edged with fur1 long love-locks or ringlets dangling on their thin cheeks1 and their outer robes presented a striking contrast of gaudy colors4 ,beyond stood a group of ,spanish ,jews4 99 99 99 ,besides these there are ,jews from every quarter of the world1 who had wandered back to ,jerusalem that they might die in the city of their fathers1 and be buried in the ,valley of ,jehoshaphat1 under the shadow of the ,temple ,hill4 ,the worshipers gradually increased in number until the crowd thronging the pavement could not be fewer than two hundred4 ,it was an affecting scene to notice their earnestness2 some thrust their hands between the joints of the stones1 and pushed into the crevices1 as far as possible1 little slips of paper1 on which were written1 in the ,hebrew tongue1 short petitions addressed to ,jehovah4 ,some even prayed with their mouths thrust into the gaps1 where the weather-beaten stones were worn away at the joints4 99 99 99 ,the congregation at the ,wailing ,place is one of the most solemn gatherings left to the ,jewish ,church1 and1 as the writer gazed at the motley concourse1 he experienced a feeling of sorrow that the remnants of the chosen race should be heartlessly thrust outside the sacred inclosure of their fathers' holy temple by men of an alien race and an alien creed4 ,so far as ,i know1 all writers give these worshipers credit for being sincere1 but on the two occasions when ,i visited the place1 ,i saw no such emotion as described in the foregoing quotation4 ,the following lines are often rehearsed1 the leader reading one at a time1 after which the people respond with the words3 ,we sit in solitude and mourn4 ,for the place that lies desolate2 ,for the place that is destroyed2 ,for the walls that are overthrown2 ,for our majesty that is departed2 ,for our great men who lie dead2 ,for the precious stones that are buried2 ,for the priests who have stumbled2 ,for our kings who have despised ,him4 ,this solemn practice has been observed for about twelve hundred years1 but the same place may not have been used all the time4 ,she is become a widow1 that was great among the nations6 ,she that was a princess among the provinces is become tributary6 ,jerusalem hath grievously sinned2 therefore she is become as an unclean thing 7,lam4 #a3 #a1 #h74 ,on ,friday evening we entered some of the many synagogues yet to be found in ,jerusalem and observed the worshipers4 ,on ,saturday we went to the ,house of ,industry of the ,english church1 where boys are taught to work4 ,olive wood products are made for the tourist trade4 ,we passed a place where some men were making a peculiar noise as they were pounding wheat and singing at their work4 ,this pounding was a part of the process of making it ready for food4 ,an old lady was standing in an open door spinning yarn in a very simple manner4 ,we watched her a few minutes1 and ,i wanted to buy the little arrangement with which she was spinning1 but she didn't care to part with it4 ,she brought out another one1 and let me have it after spinning a few yards upon it4 ,i gave her a ,turkish coin worth a few cents1 for which she seemed very thankful1 and said1 as ,mr4 ,ahmed explained3 ,god bless you and give you long life4 ,i am old1 and may die to-day4 ,she told us that she came from ,mosul1 away beyond the ,syrian desert1 to die in ,jerusalem4 ,we visited the synagogue of the ,caraite ,jews1 a small polygamous sect1 numbering in this assembly about thirty persons4 ,they also differ from the majority of ,hebrews in rejecting the ,talmud1 but ,i believe they have a ,talmud of their own4 ,their place of worship is a small room almost under the ground1 where we were permitted to see a very fine old copy of the ,hebrew ,scriptures1 our ,old ,testament4 ,the work was done by hand1 and ,i was told the man who did it was sixteen years of age when he began it1 and was sixty when he finished the work1 and that the ,british ,museum had offered five thousand dollars for the book4 ,some of these people speak ,english1 and we conversed with one woman who was quite intelligent4 ,they kindly permitted us to go up and view the city from the housetop4 ,in the afternoon we visited the ,temple ,area1 an inclosure of about thirty-five acres1 in the southeastern part of the city1 including the ,mosque of ,omar 7more appropriately called the ,dome of the ,rock71 the ,mosque ,el ,aksa1 and ,solomon's ,stables4 ,for ,christians to enter this inclosure1 it is necessary to notify their consul and secure the service of his cavasse1 an armed guard1 and a ,turkish soldier1 both of whom must be paid for their services4 ,thus equipped1 we entered the inclosure1 and came up on the east front of the ,dome of the ,rock1 probably so named from the fact that the dome of this structure stands over an exposed portion of the natural rock1 fifty-seven feet long1 forty-three feet wide1 and rising a few feet above the floor4 ,after putting some big slippers on over our shoes1 we entered the building and saw this great rock1 which tradition says is the threshing floor of ,araunah1 and the spot where ,melchizedek sacrificed4 ,it is also the traditional place where ,abraham sacrificed ,isaac1 and it is believed that ,david built an altar here after the angel of destruction had put up his sword4 ,it is furthermore supposed that the great altar of burnt offerings stood on this rock in the days of ,solomon's ,temple1 which is thought to have been located just west of it4 ,this is the probable location of ,zerubbabel's ,temple1 and the one enlarged and beautified by ,herod1 which was standing when ,jesus was on earth1 and continued to stand until the awful destruction of the city by the ,roman army in ,a4,d4 #gj4 ,the modern visitor to this fine structure would have no thought of the ancient temple of ,god if he depended upon what he sees here to suggest it4 ,all trace of that house has disappeared4 ,the ,dome of the ,rock1 said to be the most beautiful piece of architecture in ,jerusalem1 belongs to the ,turks4 ,it has eight sides1 each about sixty-six and a half feet long1 and is partly covered with marble1 but it is1 to some extent1 in a state of decay4 ,between the destruction of the temple and the erection of this building a heathen temple and a church had been built on the spot4 ,the ,mosque ,el ,aksa was also visited1 but it is noted more for its size than the beauty of its architecture4 ,the ,turkish ,governor of ,palestine comes here every ,friday to worship at the time the ,sultan is engaged in like manner in ,constantinople4 ,solomon's ,stables next engaged our attention4 ,we crossed the ,temple ,area to the wall on the southeastern border1 and went down a stairway to these underground chambers1 which were made by building about a hundred columns and arching them over and laying a pavement on the top1 thereby bringing it up on a level with the rest of the hill4 ,the vaults are two hundred and seventy-three feet long1 one hundred and ninety-eight feet wide1 and about thirty feet high4 ,they were not made for stables1 but were used for that purpose in the middle ages1 and the holes through the corners of the square stone columns show where the horses were tied4 ,a large portion of these chambers has been made into a cistern or reservoir4 ,after a visit to what is called the ,pool of ,bethesda and the ,church of ,st4 ,anne1 we went outside the city wall on the north side and entered what looks like a cave1 but upon investigation proves to be an extensive underground quarry4 ,these excavations1 called ,solomon's ,quarries1 extend1 according to one authority1 seven hundred feet under the hill ,bezetha1 which is north of ,mt4 ,moriah4 ,the rock is very white1 and will take some polish4 ,loose portions of it are lying around on the floor of the cavern1 and there are distinct marks along the sides where the ancient stone-cutters were at work4 ,in one part of the quarries we were shown the place where visiting ,masons are said to hold lodge meetings sometimes4 ,vast quantities of the rock have been taken out1 and this is probably the source from whence much of the building material of the old city was derived4 ,the trip to the quarries ended my sight-seeing for the week4 ,the next morning ,i went to the ,church of the ,holy ,sepulcher and witnessed a part of the service of the ,greek ,catholics4 ,at a later hour ,i went around to the mission conducted by ,bro4 ,joseph1 and1 with the little congregation there assembled1 broke bread in memory of ,him who in this city1 almost two thousand years ago1 gave his life for the sins of the world1 after having instituted this supper1 a monumental institution1 representing to our minds the cost of the world's redemption4 ,in the afternoon ,i attended the preaching service in ,mr4 ,thompson's tabernacle1 and visited the ,abyssinian church1 near ,mr4 ,smith's house4 ,this ,abyssinian house is circular1 and has a small1 round room in the center1 around which the congregation stands and worships1 leaning on their staves1 for the place is void of seats4 ,at night ,i preached in the tabernacle on the question3 ,what must ,i do to be saved8 ,melki1 the native evangelist1 translated for me as ,i went along1 and the congregation paid good attention and seemed pleased to have heard me4 ,i know ,i am pleased to have had opportunity to preach the word in the city from whence it was first published to the world4 ,one of the first sights beheld when ,i started out on ,monday morning was a foundation1 laid at the expense of a woman who intended to build a house for the hundred and forty-four thousand4 ,it represents one of the many peculiar religious ideas that find expression in and around ,jerusalem4 ,we went on to the railway station1 where ,i saw a young man1 a ,jew1 leave for that far-off land called ,america4 ,next the ,leper ,hospital was visited4 ,this well-kept institution is in the ,german colony1 and had several patients of both sexes4 ,a lady1 who spoke some ,english1 kindly showed me through the hospital1 and explained that the disease is not contagious1 but hereditary1 and that some lepers refuse to enter the hospital because they are forbidden to marry4 ,the patients were of various ages1 and showed the effects of the disease in different stages4 ,in some cases it makes the victim a sad sight to look upon4 ,i remember one of these poor1 afflicted creatures1 whose face was almost covered with swollen and inflamed spots4 ,some were blind1 and some had lost part or all of their fingers by the disease4 ,one man's nose was partly consumed4 ,at ,bishop ,gobat's school we were kindly received1 and given a good1 refreshing drink4 ,the founder of this school1 a member of the ,english church1 was one of the pioneers in ,jerusalem mission work1 and stood very high in the estimation of the people4 ,his grave is to be seen in the cemetery near the school1 where one may also see the supposed site of the ancient city wall4 ,besides the ,leper ,hospital1 we visited another hospital under ,german control1 where patients may have medical attention and hospital service for the small sum of one mejidi1 about eighty cents1 for a period1 of fifteen days1 but higher fees are charged in other departments4 ,we soon reached the ,english hospital1 maintained by the ,society for the ,promotion of ,christianity among the ,jews4 ,it is built on a semi-circular plan in such a way that the wards1 extending back from the front1 admit light from both sides4 ,this institution is free to the ,jews1 but ,i understand ,mohammedans were not admitted without a fee4 ,the ,syrian ,orphanage had about three hundred children in it1 who were being instructed in books and in manual labor4 ,those who can see are taught to work in wood1 to make a kind of tile used in constructing partitions1 and other lines of useful employment4 ,they had some blind children1 who were being taught to make baskets and brushes4 ,on the way back to ,mr4 ,smith's ,i stopped at the ,jewish ,library1 a small two-story building1 having the books and papers upstairs4 ,they have a raised map of ,palestine1 which was interesting to me1 after having twice crossed the country from sea to sea4 ,the last ,thursday ,i was in the city ,i went with some friends to the ,israelite ,alliance ,school1 an institution with about a thousand pupils1 who receive both an industrial and a literary education4 ,we were conducted through the school by a ,syrian gentleman named ,solomon ,elia1 who explained that1 while the institution is under ,french control1 ,english is taught to some extent1 as some of the pupils would go to ,egypt1 where they would need to use this language4 ,the boys are instructed in wood-working1 carpentry1 copper-working1 and other lines of employment4 ,we saw some of the girls making hair nets1 and others were engaged in making lace4 ,both of these products are sent out of ,palestine for sale4 ,the institution has received help from some of the ,rothschild family1 and ,i have no doubt that it is a great factor for the improvement of those who are reached by it4 ,jerusalem is well supplied with hospitals and schools4 ,the ,greek and ,roman ,catholic churches1 the ,church of ,england1 and numerous other religious bodies have a footing here1 and are striving to make it stronger4 ,their schools and hospitals are made use of as missionary agencies1 and besides these there is a ,turkish hospital and numerous ,mohammedan schools4 ,on ,friday ,i had an opportunity to see a man measuring grain1 as is indicated by the ,savior's words3 ,give1 and it shall be given unto you2 good measure1 pressed down1 shaken together1 running over1 shall they give into your bosom4 ,for with what measure ye mete1 it shall be measured to you again 7,luke #f3ch74 ,he filled his measure about full1 and then shook it down thoroughly4 ,he next filled it up and shook it down until he evidently thought he had all he could get that way1 so he commenced to pile it up on top4 ,when he had about as much heaped up as would stay on1 he put his hands on the side of the cone opposite himself and gently pulled it toward him4 ,he then piled some more on the far side1 and when he had reached the limit in this way1 he carefully leveled the top of the cone down a little1 and when he could no longer put on more grain1 he gently lifted the measure and moved it around to the proper place1 where it was quickly dumped4 ,in the evening ,mr4 ,smith and ,i walked out on ,mount ,scopus1 where ,titus had his camp at the time of the siege and destruction of ,jerusalem1 as foretold by our ,lord and ,master in the twenty-fourth of ,matthew4 ,as we went along1 ,mr4 ,smith pointed out the watershed between the ,mediterranean and the ,dead ,sea4 ,the view from ,scopus is very extensive4 ,we could look away to the north to ,nebi ,samwil1 where the ,prophet ,samuel is supposed by some to have been buried4 ,ramallah1 the seat of a school maintained by the ,society of ,friends1 is pointed out1 along with ,bireh1 ,bethel1 and ,geba4 ,nob1 the home of the priests slain by command of ,saul 7#a ,samuel #bb3af71 and ,anathoth1 one of the cities of refuge 7,joshua #ba3ah71 are in sight4 ,swinging on around the circle to the east1 the northern end of the ,dead ,sea is visible1 while the ,mount of ,olives is only a little distance below us4 ,across the valley of the ,kidron lies the ,holy ,city1 with her walls constructed at various periods and under various circumstances1 her dome-shaped stone roofs1 synagogues1 mosques1 and minarets1 being trodden down of the ,gentiles1 until the times of the ,gentiles be fulfilled 7,luke #ba3bd74 ,here1 with this panorama spread out in the evening light1 ,i may say my sight-seeing in the ,city of the ,great ,king came to an end4 ,i lacked but a few hours of having been in the city two weeks1 when ,i boarded the train for ,jaffa on my way to ,egypt4 ,the most of the time ,i had lodged in the hospitable home of ,mr4 ,smith1 where ,i had a clean and comfortable place to rest my tired body when the shadows of night covered the land4 ,i had received kind treatment1 and had seen many things of much interest4 ,i am truly thankful that ,i have been permitted to make this trip to ,jerusalem4 ,let me so live that when the few fleeting days of this life are over1 ,i may rest with the redeemed4 ,when days and years are no more1 let me enjoy1 in the ,,new ,,jerusalem1 the blessedness that remains for those that have loved the ,lord4 ,and ,i saw the holy city1 new ,jerusalem1 coming down out of heaven from ,god1 made ready as a bride adorned for her husband4 ,and ,i heard a great voice out of the throne saying1 ,behold1 the tabernacle of ,god is with men1 and he shall dwell with them1 and they shall be his peoples1 and ,god himself shall be with them1 and be their ,god3 and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes2 and death shall be no more2 neither shall there be mourning1 nor crying1 nor pain1 any more3 the first things have passed away 7,revelation #ba3b-d74 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,side ,,trips ,,from ,,jerusalem4 ,early on ,tuesday morning1 the eleventh of ,october1 ,i set out by carriage1 with some other tourists1 for a trip to ,bethlehem1 ,solomon's ,pools1 and ,hebron4 ,bethlehem is about five miles south of ,jerusalem1 and ,hebron is a little southwest of the ,holy ,city and twenty miles distant4 ,we started from the ,jaffa gate and passed the ,sultan's ,pool1 otherwise known as ,lower ,gihon1 which may be the lower pool of ,isaiah #bb3i4 ,the entire area of this pool1 says one writer1 is about three and a half acres1 with an average depth1 when clear of deposit1 of forty-two and a half feet in the middle from end to end4 ,we drove for two miles1 or perhaps more1 across the ,plain of ,rephaim1 one of ,david's battlefields soon after he established himself in ,jerusalem4 ,here he was twice victorious over the ,philistines4 ,in the first instance he asked ,jehovah3 ,shall ,i go up against the ,philistines8 ,wilt thou deliver them into my hand8 ,the answer was3 ,go up2 for ,i will certainly deliver the ,philistines into thy hand4 ,in this battle the invaders were routed and driven from the field4 ,and they left their images there2 and ,david and his men took them away4 ,but the ,philistines came up yet again1 and spread themselves in the valley of ,rephaim4 ,and when ,david inquired of ,jehovah1 he said1 ,thou shalt not go up3 make a circuit behind them1 and come upon them over against the mulberry trees4 ,and it shall be1 when thou hearest the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees1 that then thou shalt bestir thyself1 for then is ,jehovah gone out before thee to smite the hosts of the ,philistines4 ,david obeyed the voice of the ,lord1 and smote his enemies from ,geba to ,gezer4 7#b ,samuel #e3ag-be47 ,on the southern border of the plain stands the ,greek convent called ,mar ,elyas4 ,this is about half way to ,bethlehem1 and the city of the nativity soon comes into view4 ,before going much farther the traveler sees a well-built village1 named ,bet ,jala1 lying on his right4 ,it is supposed to be the ancient ,giloh1 mentioned in #b ,samuel #ae3ab as the home of ,ahithophel1 ,david's counselor1 for whom ,absalom sent when he conspired against his father4 ,here the road forks1 one branch of it passing ,bet ,jala and going on to ,hebron2 the other1 bearing off to the left1 leads directly to ,bethlehem1 which we passed1 intending to stop there as we returned in the evening4 ,at this place we saw the monument erected to mark the location of ,rachel's tomb1 a location1 like many others1 in dispute4 ,when ,jacob journeyed from ,bethel and there was still some distance to come to ,ephrath1 ,rachel died at the birth of ,benjamin1 and was buried in the way to ,ephrath 7the same is ,bethlehem74 99 99 99 ,and ,jacob set up a pillar upon her grave 7,gen4 #ce3af-bj74 ,the spot1 which for many centuries was marked by a pyramid of stones1 is now occupied by a small stone building with a dome-shaped roof1 at the east side of which is a room1 open on the north1 with a flat roof4 ,for hundreds of years tradition has located the grave at this place1 which is indeed near ,bethlehem1 but in #a ,samuel #aj3b it is mentioned as being in the border of ,benjamin1 which has occasioned the belief that the true location is some miles farther north4 ,before long we came to ,solomon's ,pools4 ,we first stopped at a doorway1 which looks like it might lead down to a cellar1 but in reality the door is at the head of a flight of stairs leading down to what is known as the sealed fountain 7,song of ,solomon #d3ab74 ,the door was fastened1 and we were not able to descend to the underground chamber1 which is forty-one feet long1 eleven and a half feet wide1 with an arched stone roof1 all of which1 except the entrance1 is below the surface4 ,a large basin cut in the floor collects the water from two springs4 ,after rising a foot in the basin1 the water flows out into a channel more than six hundred feet long leading down to the two upper pools4 ,these great reservoirs1 bearing the name of ,israel's wisest monarch1 are still in a good state of preservation1 having been repaired in modern times4 ,the first one is three hundred and eighty feet long1 two hundred and twenty-nine feet wide at one end1 two hundred and thirty feet wide at the other1 and twenty-five feet deep4 ,the second pool is four hundred and twenty-three feet long1 one hundred and sixty feet wide at the upper end1 two hundred and fifty feet wide at the lower end1 and thirty-nine feet deep at that end4 ,the third pool is the largest of all1 having a length of five hundred and eighty-two feet4 ,the upper end is one hundred and forty-eight feet wide1 the lower end two hundred and seven feet1 and the depth at the lower end is fifty feet4 ,the pools are about one hundred and fifty feet apart1 and have an aggregate area of six and a quarter acres1 with an average depth approaching thirty-eight feet4 ,the upper two received water from the sealed fountain1 but the lower one was supplied from an aqueduct leading up from a point more than three miles to the south4 ,the aqueduct from the sealed fountain leads past the pools1 and winds around the hills to ,bethlehem and on to the ,temple ,area1 in ,jerusalem4 ,it is still in use as far as ,bethlehem1 and could be put in repair and made serviceable for the whole distance4 ,an offer to do this was foolishly rejected by the ,moslems in #ahgj4 ,the only habitation near the pools is an old khan1 intended as a stopping place for caravans and as a station for soldiers to guard the road and the pools4 ,the two upper pools were empty when ,i saw them1 but the third one contained some water and a great number of frogs4 ,as we went on to ,hebron we got a drink at ,philip's ,well1 the place where the eunuch was baptized1 according to a tradition which lacks support by the present appearance of the place4 ,towards noon we entered the valley of ,eschol1 from whence the spies sent out by ,moses carried the great cluster of grapes4 7,num4 #ac3bc47 ,before entering ,hebron we turned aside and went up to ,abraham's ,oak1 a very old tree1 but not old enough for ,abraham to have enjoyed its shade almost four thousand years ago4 ,the trunk is thirty-two feet in circumference1 but the tree is not tall like the ,american oaks4 ,it is now in a dying condition1 and some of the branches are supported by props1 while the lower part of the trunk is surrounded by a stone wall1 and the space inside is filled with earth4 ,the plot of ground on which the tree stands is surrounded by a high iron fence4 ,a little farther up the hill the ,russians have a tower1 from which we viewed the country1 and then went down in the shade near ,abraham's ,oak and enjoyed our dinner4 ,hebron is a very ancient city1 having been built seven and a half years before ,zoar in ,egypt4 7,num4 #ac3bb47 ,since #aahg it has been under the control of the ,mohammedans1 who raise large quantities of grapes1 many of which are made into raisins4 ,articles of glass are made in ,hebron1 but ,i saw nothing especially beautiful in this line4 ,the manufacture of goat-skin water-bottles is also carried on4 ,another line of work which ,i saw being done is the manufacture of a kind of tile1 which looks like a fruit jug without a bottom1 and is used in building4 ,hebron was one of the six cities of refuge 7,joshua #bj3g71 and for seven years and a half it was ,david's capital of ,judah4 ,it is very historic4 ,abraham moved his tent1 and came and dwelt by the oaks of ,mamre1 which are in ,hebron1 and built there an altar unto ,jehovah4 7,gen4 #ac3ah47 ,when ,sarah died in ,kiriath-arba 7the same is ,hebron71 in the land of ,canaan1 99 99 99 ,abraham came to mourn for ,sarah1 and to weep for her4 ,at this time the worthy progenitor of the ,hebrew race rose up from before his dead1 and spoke unto the children of ,heth1 saying1 ,i am a stranger and a sojourner with you3 give me a possession of a burying-place with you1 that ,i may bury my dead out of my sight4 ,the burial place was purchased for four hundred shekels of silver1 current money of the land4 99 99 99 ,and after this ,abraham buried ,sarah his wife in the cave in the field of ,machpelah before ,mamre 7the same is ,hebron71 in the land of ,canaan 7,gen4 #bc3a-bj74 ,years after this1 when both ,abraham and his son ,isaac had passed the way of all the earth and had been laid to rest in this cave1 the patriarch ,jacob in ,egypt gave directions for the entombment of his body in this family burial place4 ,there they buried ,abraham and ,sarah his wife2 there they buried ,isaac and ,rebekah his wife2 and there ,i buried ,leah 7,gen4 #di3ca71 and here1 by his own request1 ,jacob was buried4 7,gen4 #ej3ac47 ,joshua1 the successor of ,moses1 utterly destroyed ,hebron 7,joshua #aj3cg71 and afterwards gave it to ,caleb1 to whom it had been promised by ,moses forty-five years before4 7,joshua #ad3f-ae47 ,here ,abner was slain 7#b ,samuel #c3bg71 and the murderers of ,ishbosheth were put to death4 7#b ,samuel #d3ab47 ,the most interesting thing about the town is the cave of ,machpelah1 but it is inaccessible to ,christians4 ,between #aafg and #aahg a church was built on the site1 now marked by a carefully guarded ,mohammedan mosque4 ,it is inclosed by a wall which may have been built by ,solomon4 ,we were allowed to go in at the foot of a stairway as far as the seventh step1 but might as well have been in the ,national ,capitol at ,washington so far as seeing the burial place was concerned4 ,in #ahfb the ,prince of ,wales1 now ,king of ,england1 was admitted4 ,he was accompanied by ,dean ,stanley1 who has described what he saw1 but he was permitted neither to examine the monuments nor to descend to the cave below1 the real burial chamber4 ,as the body of ,jacob was carefully embalmed by the ,egyptian method1 it is possible that his remains may yet be seen in their long resting place in this ,hebron cave4 7,gen4 #ej3a1b47 ,turning back toward ,jerusalem1 we came to ,bethlehem late in the afternoon1 and the field of the shepherds 7,luke #b3h7 and the fields of ,boaz 7,ruth #b3d-bc7 were pointed out4 ,the place of greatest interest is the group of buildings1 composed of two churches1 ,greek and ,latin1 and an ,armenian convent1 all built together on the traditional site of the birth of the ,lord ,jesus4 ,tradition is here contradicted by authorities partly on the ground that a cave to which entrance is made by a flight of stairs would probably not be used as a stable4 ,this cave is in the ,church of ,st4 ,mary1 said to have been erected in #ccj by ,constantine4 ,descending the stairs1 we came into the small cavern1 which is continually lighted by fifteen silver lamps1 the property of the ,greeks1 ,latins1 and ,armenians1 who each have an interest in the place4 ,beneath an altar1 in a semi-circular recess1 a silver star has been set in the floor with the ,latin inscription3 ,hic de ,virgine ,maria ,jesus ,christus ,natus est4 ,an armed ,turkish soldier was doing duty near this star of ,bethlehem the evening ,i was there4 ,the well1 from which it is said the three mighty men drew water for ,david1 was visited4 7#b ,samuel #bc3ae47 ,but the shades of night had settled down upon the little town where our ,savior was born1 and we again entered our carriages and drove back to ,jerusalem1 having had a fine day of interesting sight-seeing4 ,on the ,wednesday before ,i left ,jerusalem1 in the company of ,mrs4 ,bates1 ,i again visited ,bethlehem4 ,thursday1 ,october thirteenth1 was the day we went down to ,jericho1 the ,dead ,sea1 and the ,jordan4 ,the party was made up of the writer1 ,mr4 ,ahmed1 ,mr4 ,jennings1 ,mrs4 ,bates1 four school teachers 7three ladies and a gentleman7 returning from the ,philippines1 and the guides1 ,mr4 ,smith and ,ephraim ,aboosh4 ,we went in two carriages driven by natives4 ,a certain man was going down from ,jerusalem to ,jericho2 and he fell among robbers1 who stripped him and beat him1 and departed1 leaving him half dead 7,luke #aj3cj74 ,this lonely road is still the scene of occasional robberies1 and the ,turkish ,government permits one of its soldiers to accompany the tourist for a fee1 but we did not want to take this escort1 as neither of the guides feared any danger4 ,accordingly we took an early start without notifying the soldiers1 and reached ,jericho1 about twenty miles away1 in time to visit ,elisha's ,fountain before dinner4 ,the road leads out past ,bethany1 down by the ,apostles' ,fountain1 on past the ,khan of the ,good ,samaritan1 and down the mountain to the plain of the ,jordan1 this section of which is ten miles long and seven miles wide4 ,before the road reaches the plain1 it runs along a deep gorge bearing the name ,wady ,kelt1 the ,brook ,cherith1 where the prophet ,elisha was fed by the ravens night and morning till the brook dried up4 7#a ,kings #ag3a-g47 ,we also saw the remains of an old aqueduct1 and of a reservoir which was originally over five hundred feet long and more than four hundred feet wide4 ,elisha's ,fountain is a beautiful spring some distance from the present ,jericho4 ,doubtless it is the very spring whose waters ,elisha healed with salt4 7#b ,kings #b3ai-bb47 ,the ground about the ,fountain has been altered some in modern times1 and there is now a beautiful pool of good1 clear water1 a delight both to the eye and to the throat of the dusty traveler who has come down from ,jerusalem seeing only the brown earth and white1 chalky rock1 upon which the unveiled sun has been pouring down his heat for hours4 ,the water from the spring now runs a little grist mill a short distance below it4 ,after dinner1 eaten in front of the hotel in ,jericho1 we drove over to the ,dead ,sea1 a distance of several miles1 and soon we were all enjoying a fine bath in the salt water1 the women bathing at one place1 the men at another4 ,the water contains so much solid matter1 nearly three and a third pounds to the gallon1 that it is easy to float on the surface with hands1 feet and head above the water4 ,one who can swim but little in fresh water will find the buoyancy of the water here so great as to make swimming easy4 ,when one stands erect in it1 the body sinks down about as far as the top of the shoulders4 ,care needs to be taken to keep the water out of the mouth1 nose and eyes1 as it is so salty that it is very disagreeable to these tender surfaces4 ,dead ,sea water is two and a half pounds heavier than fresh water1 and among other things1 it contains nearly two pounds of chloride of magnesium1 and almost a pound of chloride of sodium1 or common salt1 to the gallon4 ,nothing but some very low forms of animal life1 unobserved by the ordinary traveler1 can live in this sea4 ,the fish that get into it from the ,jordan soon die4 ,those who bathe here usually drive over to the ,jordan and bathe again1 to remove the salt and other substances that remain on the body after the first bath4 ,the greatest depth of the ,dead ,sea is a little over thirteen hundred feet4 ,the wicked cities of ,sodom and ,gomorrah stood here some place1 but authorities disagree as to whether they were at the northern or southern end of the sea4 ,in either case every trace of them has been wiped out by the awful destruction poured on them by the ,almighty4 7,gen4 #ah3af to #ai3bi7 ,the ,jordan where we saw it1 near the mouth1 and at the time we saw it1 the thirteenth of ,october1 was a quiet and peaceful stream1 but the water was somewhat muddy4 ,we entered two little boats and had a short ride on the river whose waters stood1 and rose up in one heap1 a great way off1 that the children of ,israel might cross 7,joshua #c3ad-ag71 and beneath whose wave the ,lord and ,savior ,jesus ,christ was baptized by the great prophet of the ,judaean wilderness4 7,matt4 #c3ac-ag47 ,we also got out a little while on the east bank of the stream1 the only time ,i was beyond ,jordan while in ,palestine4 ,after supper1 eaten in ,jericho1 we went around to a ,bedouin encampment1 where a dance was being executed--a dance different from any that ,i had ever seen before4 ,one of the dancers1 with a sword in hand1 stood in the center of the ground they were using1 while the others stood in two rows1 forming a right angle4 ,they went through with various motions and hand-clapping1 accompanied by an indescribable noise at times4 ,some of the ,bedouins were sitting around a small fire at one side1 and some of the children were having a little entertainment of their own on another side of the dancing party4 ,we were soon satisfied1 and made our way back to the hotel and laid down to rest4 ,the first ,jericho was a walled city about two miles from the present village1 perhaps at the spring already mentioned1 and was the first city taken in the conquest of the land under ,joshua4 ,the ,jordan was crossed at ,gilgal 7,joshua #d3ai71 where the people were circumcised with knives of flint1 and where the ,jews made their first encampment west of the river4 7,joshua #e3b-aj47 ,jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of ,israel1 but by faithful compliance with the word of the ,lord the walls fell down4 7,joshua #f3a-bg47 ,and ,joshua charged them with an oath at that time1 saying1 ,cursed be the man before ,jehovah1 that riseth up and buildeth this city ,jericho3 with the loss of his first-born shall he lay the foundation thereof1 and with the loss of his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it4 ,regardless of this curse1 we read that in the days of ,ahab1 who did more to provoke ,jehovah1 the ,god of ,israel1 to anger than all the kings of ,israel that were before him1 99 99 99 did ,hiel the ,beth-elite build ,jericho3 he laid the foundation thereof with the loss of ,abiram his first-born1 and set up the gates thereof with the loss of his youngest son ,segub1 according to the word of ,jehovah1 which he spake by ,joshua the son of ,nun 7#a ,kings #af3cc1cd74 ,the ,jericho 99 99 99 which was visited by ,jesus occupied a still different site1 says ,bro4 ,mc,garvey4 ,the present ,jericho is a small ,arab village1 poorly built1 with a few exceptions1 and having nothing beautiful in or around it but the large oleanders that grow in the ground made moist by water from ,elisha's ,fountain4 ,we had satisfactory accommodations at the hotel1 which is one of the few good houses there4 ,jericho in the time of our ,lord was the home of a rich publican named ,zaccheus 7,luke #ai3a-aj71 and was an important and wealthy city1 that had been fortified by ,herod the ,great1 who constructed splendid palaces here1 and it was here that this infamous tyrant died4 ,the original ,jericho1 the home of ,rahab the harlot1 was called the city of palm trees 7,deut4 #cd3c71 but if the modern representative of that ancient city has any of these trees1 they are few in number4 ,across the ,jordan eastward are the mountains of ,moab1 in one of which ,moses died after having delivered his valedictory1 as recorded in ,deuteronomy4 7,deut4 #cd3a-ab47 ,from a lofty peak the ,lord showed this great leader and law-giver a panorama of all the land of ,gilead unto ,dan4 99 99 99 ,and ,jehovah said unto him1 ,this is the land which ,i sware unto ,abraham1 unto ,isaac1 and unto ,jacob1 saying1 ,i will give it unto thy seed3 ,i have caused thee to see it with thine eyes1 but thou shalt not go over thither4 ,so ,moses the servant of ,jehovah died there in the land of ,moab1 according to the word of ,jehovah4 ,and he buried him in the valley in the land of ,moab1 over against ,beth-peor3 but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day4 ,early ,wednesday morning we began our toilsome journey back to ,jerusalem1 having nearly four thousand feet to climb in the twenty miles intervening4 ,we stopped awhile at the ,khan of the ,good ,samaritan1 which stands near some old ruins1 and may not be far from the place to which the ,good ,samaritan carried his poor1 wounded fellow-man so long ago4 ,here ,i bought some lamps that look old enough1 but may be quite modern imitations of the kind that were carried in the days of the wise and foolish virgins4 ,a stop was also made at the ,apostles' ,fountain1 near ,bethany1 where ,i saw an ,arab working bread on his coat1 which was spread on the ground4 ,over by the ,damascus gate ,i one day saw a man feeding his camel on his coat1 so these coarse cloth garments are very serviceable indeed4 ,we got back to ,jerusalem in time to do a good deal of sight-seeing in the afternoon4 ,the following ,tuesday was occupied with a trip on donkey-back to ,nebi ,samwil1 ,emmaus1 ,abu ,ghosh1 and ,ain ,kairim4 ,our party was small this time1 being composed of ,mr4 ,jennings1 ,mr4 ,smith1 the writer1 and a donkey-boy to care for the three animals we rode1 when we dismounted to make observations4 ,he was liberal1 and sometimes tried to tell us which way to go4 ,we went out on the north side of the city and came to the extensive burial places called the ,tombs of the ,judges4 ,near by is an ancient wine press cut in the rock near a rock-hewn cistern1 which may have been used for storing the wine4 ,en ,nebi ,samwil is on an elevation a little more than three thousand feet above the sea and about four hundred feet higher than ,jerusalem1 five miles distant4 ,from the top of the minaret we had a fine view through a field glass1 seeing the country for many miles around4 ,this is thought by some to be the ,mizpah of the ,bible 7#a ,kings #ae3bb71 and tradition has it that the prophet ,samuel was buried here4 ,a little north of ,nebi ,samwil is the site of ancient ,gibeon1 where ,abner was beaten1 and the men of ,israel1 before the servants of ,david 7#b ,samuel #b3ab-ag74 ,we next rode over to ,el ,kubebeh1 supposed by some to be the ,emmaus of ,new ,testament times1 where ,jesus went after his resurrection and sat at meat with his disciples without being recognized4 7,luke #bd3ac-be47 ,the place has little to attract one4 ,a modern building1 which ,i took to be the residence of some wealthy person1 occupies a prominent position1 and is surrounded by well-kept grounds1 inclosed with a wall4 ,the ,franciscan monastery is a good sized institution1 having on its grounds the remains of a church of the ,crusaders' period1 over which a new and attractive building has been erected4 ,one section of it has the most beautiful floor of polished marble1 laid in patterns1 that ,i have ever seen4 ,it also contains a painting of the ,savior and the two disciples4 ,we went outside of the monastery to eat our noon-day lunch1 but before we finished1 one of the monks came and called us in to a meal at their table4 ,it was a good meal1 for which no charge was made1 and ,i understand it is their custom to give free meals to visitors1 for they believe that ,jesus here sat at meat with his two disciples4 ,we enjoyed their hospitality1 but drank none of the wine that was placed before us4 ,our next point was ,abu ,ghosh1 named for an old village sheik who1 with his six brothers and eighty-five descendants1 was the terror of the whole country about a century ago4 ,our object in visiting the spot was to see the old ,crusaders' church1 the best preserved one in ,palestine4 ,the stone walls are perhaps seven or eight feet thick4 ,the roof is still preserved1 and traces of the painting that originally adorned the walls are yet to be seen4 ,a new addition has been erected at one end1 and the old church may soon be put in repair4 ,the last place we visited before returning to ,jerusalem was ,ain ,kairim1 a town occupied mainly by the ,mohammedans1 and said to have been the home of that worthy couple of whom it was written3 ,they were both righteous before ,god1 walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the ,lord blameless 7,luke #a3f74 ,the portion occupied by the ,latins and ,greeks is very beautifully situated on the side of the mountain4 ,the stone houses1 whited walls1 and green cypresses make quite a pretty picture4 ,the ,church of ,st4 ,john1 according to tradition1 stands on the spot where once dwelt ,zacharias and ,elizabeth1 the parents of ,john1 the great forerunner of ,jesus4 ,night came upon us before we got back to our starting place1 and as this was my first day of donkey riding1 ,i was very much fatigued when ,i finally dismounted in ,jerusalem2 yet ,i arose the next morning feeling reasonably well1 but not craving another donkey ride over a rough country beneath the hot sun4 ,on ,saturday1 the twenty-second of ,october1 ,i turned away from ,jerusalem1 having been in and around the place almost two weeks1 and went back to ,jaffa by rail4 ,after a few miles the railway leads past ,bittir1 supposed to be the ,beth-arabah of ,joshua #ae3fa4 ,it is also of interest from the fact that it played a part in the famous insurrection of ,bar ,cochba against the ,romans4 ,in ,a4,d4 #ace it was captured by a ,roman force after a siege of three and a half years4 ,ramleh1 a point twelve miles from ,jaffa1 was once occupied by ,napoleon4 ,lydda1 supposed to be the ,lod of ,ezra #b3cc1 was passed4 ,here ,peter healed ,aeneas1 who had been palsied eight years4 7,acts #i3cb-ce47 ,jaffa is the ,joppa of the ,bible1 and has a good deal of interesting history4 ,when ,jonah rose to flee unto ,tarshish from the presence of ,jehovah1 he went down to ,joppa and found a ship going unto ,tarshish3 so he paid the fare thereof1 and went down into it1 to go with them to ,tarshish from the presence of ,jehovah4 7,jonah #a3c47 ,his unpleasant experience with the great fish is well known4 ,when ,solomon was about to build the first temple1 ,hiram sent a communication to him1 saying3 ,we will cut wood out of ,lebanon as much as thou shalt need2 and will bring it to thee in floats by sea to ,joppa2 and thou shalt carry it up to ,jerusalem 7#b ,chron4 #b3af74 ,in the days of ,ezra1 when ,zerubbabel repaired the temple1 we read that they gave money also unto the masons1 and to the carpenters2 and food1 and drink1 and oil1 unto them of ,sidon1 and to them of ,tyre1 to bring cedar trees from ,lebanon to the sea1 unto ,joppa1 according to the grant that they had of ,cyrus king of ,persia 7,ezra #c3g74 ,it was the home of a certain disciple named ,tabitha1 whom ,peter was called from ,lydda to raise from the dead4 7,acts #i3cf-dc47 ,simon the tanner also lived in ,joppa1 and it was at his house that ,peter had his impressive vision of the sheet let down from heaven prior to his going to ,caesarea to speak the word of salvation to ,cornelius and his friends4 7,acts #aj3a-f47 ,the city is built on a rocky elevation rising one hundred feet above the sea1 which has no harbor here1 so that vessels do not stop when the water is too rough for passengers to be carried safely in small boats4 ,extensive orange groves are cultivated around ,jaffa1 and lemons are also grown1 and ,i purchased six for a little more than a cent in ,american money4 ,sesame1 wine1 wool1 and soap are exported1 and the imports are considerable4 ,the train reached the station about the middle of the day1 and the ship did not leave till night1 so ,i had ample time to visit the house of ,simon the tanner4 ,it is by the sea side all right1 but looks too modern to be impressive to the traveler who does not accept all that tradition says4 ,i paid ,cook's tourist agency the equivalent of a dollar to take me through the custom house and out to the ship1 and ,i do not regret spending the money1 although it was five times as much as ,i had paid the native boatman for taking me ashore when ,i first came to ,jaffa4 ,the sea was rough--very rough for me--and a little woman at my side was shaking with nervousness1 although she tried to be brave1 and her little boy took a firm hold on my clothing4 ,i don't think that ,i was scared1 but ,i confess that ,i did not enjoy the motion of the boat as it went sliding down from the crest of the waves1 which were higher than any ,i had previously ridden upon in a rowboat4 ,as darkness had come1 it would have been a poor time to be upset1 but we reached the vessel in safety4 ,when we came alongside the ship1 a boatman on each side of the passenger simply pitched or threw him up on the stairs when the rising wave lifted the little boat to the highest point4 ,it was easily done1 but it is an experience one need not care to repeat unnecessarily4 ,i was now through with my sight-seeing in the ,holy ,land and aboard the ,austrian ship ,maria ,teresa1 which was to carry me to the land of the ancient ,pharaohs4 ,like ,jonah1 ,i had paid my fare1 so ,i laid down to sleep4 ,there was a rain in the night1 but no one proposed to throw me overboard1 and we reached ,port ,said1 at the mouth of the ,suez ,canal1 the next day4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,egypt1 ,,the ,,land ,,of ,,tombs ,,and ,,temples4 ,the ,maria ,teresa landed me in ,port ,said1 ,egypt1 ,lord's day1 ,october twenty-third1 and at seven o'clock that evening ,i took the train for ,cairo1 arriving there about four hours later4 ,i had no difficulty in finding a hotel1 where ,i took some rest1 but was out very early the next morning to see something of the largest city in ,africa4 ,the population is a great mixture of ,french1 ,greeks1 ,english1 ,austrians1 ,germans1 ,egyptians1 ,arabians1 ,copts1 ,berbers1 ,turks1 ,jews1 ,negroes1 ,syrians1 ,persians1 and others4 ,in ,smyrna1 ,damascus1 and ,jerusalem1 cities of the ,turkish empire1 the streets are narrow1 crooked1 and dirty1 but here are many fine buildings1 electric lights1 electric cars1 and good1 wide streets1 over which vehicles with rubber tires roll noiselessly4 ,i first went out to the ,mokattam ,heights1 lying back of the city1 at an elevation of six hundred and fifty feet4 ,from the summit an extensive view can be obtained1 embracing not only the city of ,cairo1 with its many mosques and minarets1 but the river beyond1 and still farther beyond the ,gizeh 7,gezer7 group of the pyramids4 ,the side of the ,heights toward the city is a vast quarry1 from which large quantities of rock have been taken4 ,an old fort and a mosque stand in solitude on the top4 ,i went out by the citadel and passed the mosque tombs of the ,mamelukes1 who were originally brought into the country from the ,caucasus as slaves1 but they became sufficiently powerful to make one of their number ,sultan in #abed4 ,the tombs of the ,caliphs1 successors of ,mohammed in temporal and spiritual power1 are not far from the ,heights4 ,as ,i was returning to the city1 a laborer followed me a little distance1 and indicated that he wanted my name written on a piece of paper he was carrying4 ,i accommodated him1 but do not know for what purpose he wanted it4 ,i stopped at the ,alabaster ,mosque1 built after the fashion of one of the mosques of ,constantinople1 and decorated with alabaster4 ,the outside is full of little depressions1 and has no special beauty1 but the inside is more attractive4 ,the entrance is through a large court1 paved with squares of white marble4 ,the floor of the mosque was nicely covered with carpet1 and the walls are coated for a few feet with alabaster1 and above that they are painted in imitation of the same material4 ,the numerous lamps do much towards making the place attractive4 ,the attendant said the central chandelier1 fitted for three hundred and sixty-six candles1 was a present from ,louis ,philippe1 of ,france4 ,a clock is also shown that came from the same source4 ,the pulpit is a platform at the head of a stairway1 and the place for reading the ,koran is a small platform three or four feet high1 also ascended by steps4 ,within an inclosure in one corner of the building is the tomb of ,mohammed ,ali1 which1 ,i was told1 was visited by the ,khedive the day before ,i was there4 ,the most interesting part of the day was the afternoon trip to the nine pyramids of the ,gizeh group4 ,they may be reached by a drive over the excellent carriage road that leads out to them1 or by taking one of the electric cars that run along by this road4 ,three of the pyramids are large and the others are small1 but one1 the pyramid of ,cheops1 is built on such magnificent proportions that it is called the great pyramid4 ,according to ,baedeker1 the length of each side is now seven hundred and fifty feet1 but was formerly about seven hundred and sixty-eight feet2 the present perpendicular height is four hundred and fifty-one feet1 while originally1 including the nucleus of the rock at the bottom and the apex1 which has now disappeared1 it is said to have been four hundred and eighty-two feet4 99 99 99 ,in round numbers1 the stupendous structure covers an area of nearly thirteen acres4 ,it is estimated that two million three hundred thousand blocks of stone1 each containing forty cubic feet1 were required for building this ancient and wonderful monument1 upon which a hundred thousand men are said to have been employed for twenty years4 ,nearly all of the material was brought across from the east side of the ,nile1 but the granite that entered into its construction was brought down from ,syene1 near ,assouan1 five hundred miles distant4 ,two chambers are shown to visitors1 one of them containing an empty stone coffin4 ,the passageway leading to these chambers is not easily traversed1 as it runs at an angle like a stairway with no steps1 for the old footholds have become so nearly worn out that the tourist might slip and slide to the bottom were it not for his ,arab helpers4 ,a fee of one dollar secures the right to walk about the grounds1 ascend the pyramid1 and go down inside of it4 ,three ,arabs go with the ticket1 and two of them are really needed4 ,those who went with me performed their work in a satisfactory manner1 and while not permitted to ask for backshish1 they let me know that they would accept anything ,i might have for them4 ,the ascent was rather difficult1 as some of the stones are more than a yard high4 ,it is estimated that this mighty monument1 which ,abraham may have looked upon1 contains enough stone to build a wall around the frontier of ,france4 ,of the ,seven ,wonders of the ,world1 the ,pyramid of ,cheops alone remains4 ,the other attractions here are the ,granite ,temple1 and some tombs1 from one of which a jackal ran away as we were approaching4 ,i got back to ,cairo after dark1 and took the eight o'clock train for ,assouan4 ,this place is about seven hundred miles from ,port ,said by rail1 and is a good sized town4 ,the main street1 fronting the river1 presents a pleasing appearance with its hotels1 ,cook's tourist office1 the postoffice1 and other buildings4 ,gas and electricity are used for lighting1 and the dust in the streets is laid by a real street sprinkler1 and not by throwing the water on from a leathern bag1 as ,i saw it in ,damascus4 ,the ,cataract ,hotel is a large place for tourists1 with a capacity of three hundred and fifty people4 ,the ,savoy ,hotel is beautifully located on ,elephantine ,island1 in front of the town4 ,to the south of the town lie the ancient granite quarries of ,syene1 which furnished the ,egyptian workmen building material so long ago1 and still lack a great deal of being exhausted4 ,i saw an obelisk lying here which is said to be ninety-two feet long and ten and a half feet wide in the broadest part1 but both ends of it were covered4 ,in this section there is an ,english cemetery inclosed by a wall1 and several tombs of the natives1 those of the sheiks being prominent4 ,farther to the south is a great modern work1 the ,nile dam1 a mile and a quarter long1 and built of solid masonry4 ,in the deepest place it is one hundred feet high1 and the thickness at the bottom is eighty-eight feet4 ,it was begun in #ahii1 and at one time upwards of ten thousand men were employed on the works4 ,it seemed to be finished when ,i was there1 but a few workmen were still engaged about the place4 ,the total cost has been estimated at a sum probably exceeding ten millions of dollars4 ,there are one hundred and eighty sluices to regulate the out-flow of the water1 which is collected to a height of sixty-five feet during the inundation of the ,nile4 ,the dam would have been made higher1 but by so doing ,philae ,island1 a short distance up the river1 would have been submerged4 ,the remains on this island are so well preserved that it is almost a misnomer to call them ruins4 ,the little island is only five hundred yards long and sixty yards wide1 and contains the ,temple of ,isis1 ,temple of ,hathor1 a kiosk or pavilion1 two colonnades1 and a small ,nilometer4 ,in the gateway to one of the temples is a ,french inscription concerning ,napoleon's campaign in ,egypt in #agii4 ,all the buildings are of stone1 and the outside walls are covered with figures and inscriptions4 ,some of the figures are just cut in the rough1 never having been finished4 ,here1 as elsewhere in ,egypt1 very delicate carvings are preserved almost as distinct as though done but recently4 ,the guard on the island was not going to let me see the ruins because ,i held no ticket4 ,after a little delay1 a small boat1 carrying some diplomatic officers1 came up4 ,these gentlemen1 one of whom was a ,russian1 ,i think1 tried to get the guard to let me see the place with them1 but he hesitated1 and required them to give him a paper stating that ,i was there with them4 ,later1 when ,i got to the place where the tickets were sold1 ,i learned that ,philae ,island was open for visitors without a ticket4 ,perhaps the guard thought he would get some backshish from me4 ,i made an interesting visit to the ,bisharin village1 just outside of ,assouan1 and near the railroad4 ,the inhabitants are very dark-skinned1 and live in booths or tents1 covered with something like straw matting4 ,i stopped at one of the lodges1 which was probably six feet wide and eight feet long1 and high enough to enable the occupants to sit erect on the floor4 ,an old man1 naked from the waist up1 was sitting outside4 ,a young woman was operating a small hand mill1 and one or two other women were sitting there on the ground4 ,they showed me some long strings of beads1 and ,i made a purchase at a low price4 ,while at this lodge1 for ,i can not call it a house1 and it is not altogether like a tent1 about a dozen of the native children gathered around me1 and one1 who could speak some ,english1 endeavored to draw out part of my cash by repeating this speech3 ,half a piaster1 ,mister2 thank you very much4 ,the girls had their hair in small plaits1 which seemed to be well waxed together4 ,one of the boys1 about ten years of age1 clothed in a peculiar manner1 was finely formed1 and made a favorable impression on my mind4 ,i would like to see what could be made of him if he were taken entirely away from his unfavorable surroundings and brought up with the care and attention that many ,american boys receive4 ,he and another lad went with me to see the obelisk in the granite quarry1 and ,i tried to teach them to say3 ,blessed are the pure in heart1 for they shall see ,god4 ,as ,i was repeating the first word of the sentence and trying to induce one of them to follow me1 he said1 ,no blessed1 and ,i failed to get either of them to say these beautiful words4 ,in ,egypt and other countries there are millions of persons just as ignorant of the gospel and just as much in need of it as the curly-headed ,bisharin lad who conducted me to the granite quarry4 ,i took a pleasant boat ride across the river1 past the beautiful grounds of the ,savoy ,hotel1 to the rock tombs of the great persons of ancient ,elephantine4 ,i tarried a little too long at the tombs1 or else did not start soon enough1 for darkness came upon us soon after leaving them4 ,for some distance the boatman walked on the shore and towed the boat with a long rope1 while ,i tried to keep it off of the rocks with the rudder4 ,there was not enough wind to make the sail useful1 and as we were passing around the end of ,elephantine ,island we drifted against the rocks1 but with no other loss than the loss of some time4 ,it was my desire to see the ,nilometer on the island1 and ,i did see it1 but not until after ,i had sent the boatman to buy a candle4 ,this ancient water-gauge was repaired in #ahgj1 after a thousand years of neglect4 ,the following description by ,strabo is taken from ,baedeker's ,guide to ,egypt3 ,the ,nilometer is a well1 built of regular hewn stones1 on the bank of the ,nile1 in which is recorded the rise of the stream--not only the maximum1 but also the minimum1 and average rise1 for the water in the well rises and falls with the stream4 ,on the side of the well are marks measuring the height for the irrigation and other water levels4 ,these are published for general information4 99 99 99 ,this is of importance to the peasants for the management of the water1 the embankments1 the canals1 etc41 and to the officials on account of the taxes1 for the higher the rise of the water1 the higher the taxes4 ,it needs to be said1 however1 that this well is not circular1 but rectangular1 and has a flight of steps leading down to the water4 ,on the way back to ,cairo ,i stopped at ,luxor1 on the site of the ancient city of ,thebes4 ,the chief attraction here is the ,temple of ,luxor1 six hundred and twenty-one feet long and one hundred and eighty feet wide4 ,in recent times this temple was entirely buried1 and a man told me he owned a house on the spot which he sold to the government for about four hundred and fifty dollars1 not knowing of the existence of a temple buried beneath his dwelling4 ,some of the original statues of ,rameses ,,ii4 remain in front of the ruins4 ,i measured the right arm of one of these figures1 from the pit where it touches the side to the same point in front1 a distance of about six feet1 and that does not represent the entire circumference1 for the granite between the arm and the body was never entirely cut away4 ,near by stands a large red granite obelisk1 with carvings from top to bottom4 ,a companion to this one1 for they were always erected in pairs1 has been removed4 ,in ancient times a paved street led from this temple to ,karnak1 which is reached by a short walk4 ,this ancient street was adorned by a row of ram-headed sphinxes on each side4 ,toward ,karnak many of them are yet to be seen in a badly mutilated condition1 but there is another avenue containing forty of these figures in a good state of preservation4 ,the first of the ,karnak temples reached is one dedicated to the ,theban moon god1 ,khons1 reared by ,rameses ,,iii4 ,the ,temple of ,ammon1 called the throne of the world1 lies a little beyond4 ,i spent half a day on the west side of the river in what was the burial ground of ancient ,thebes1 where also numerous temples were erected4 ,my first stop was before the ruins of ,kurna4 ,the ,temple of ,sethos ,i4 originally had ten columns before it1 but one is now out of place4 ,the ,temple ,der el ,bahri bore an ,english name1 signifying most splendid of all1 and it may not have been misnamed4 ,it is situated at the base of a lofty barren cliff of a yellowish cast1 and has been partially restored4 ,in #ahha a ,french explorer discovered the mummies of several ,egyptian rulers in an inner chamber of this temple1 that had probably been removed to this place for security from robbers4 ,in the number were the remains of ,rameses ,,ii41 who was probably reigning in the boyhood days of ,moses1 and the mummy of ,set ,,ii41 perhaps the ,pharaoh of the ,oppression1 and ,i saw both of them in the museum in ,cairo4 ,the ,ramasseum is another large temple1 built by ,rameses ,,ii41 who is said to have had sixty-nine sons and seventy daughters4 ,there are also extensive remains of another temple called ,medinet ,habu4 ,about a half a mile away from this ruin are the two colossal statues of ,memnon1 which were surrounded by water1 so ,i could not get close to them4 ,the following dimensions of one of them are given3 ,height of the figure1 fifty-two feet2 height of the pedestal on which the feet rest1 thirteen feet2 height of the entire monument1 sixty-five feet4 ,but when the figure was adorned with the long-since vanished crown1 the original height may have reached sixty-nine feet4 99 99 99 ,each foot is ten and one-half feet long4 99 99 99 ,the middle finger on one hand is four and a half feet long1 and the arm from the tip of the finger to the elbow measures fifteen and one-half feet4 ,all about these temples are indications of ancient graves1 from which the ,arabs have dug the mummies4 ,as ,i rode out1 a boy wanted to sell me a mummy hand1 and another had the mummy of a bird4 ,they may both have been counterfeits made especially for unsuspecting tourists4 ,there are also extensive rock-cut tombs of the ancient kings and queens1 which are lighted by electricity in the tourist season4 ,i did not visit them on account of the high price of admission4 ,the government has very properly taken charge of the antiquities1 and a ticket is issued for six dollars that admits to all these ruins in ,upper ,egypt4 ,tickets for any one particular place were not sold last season1 but tourists were allowed to visit all places not inclosed without a ticket4 ,while in ,luxor ,i visited the ,american ,mission ,boarding ,school for ,girls1 conducted by ,miss ,buchanan1 who was assisted by a ,miss ,gibson and five native teachers4 ,a new building1 with a capacity for four hundred boarders1 was being erected at a cost of about thirty-five thousand dollars4 ,this would be the finest building for girls in ,egypt when finished1 ,i was told1 and most of the money for it had been given by tourists4 ,i spent a night in ,luxor1 staying in the home of ,youssef ,sad1 a native connected with the mission work4 ,his uncle1 who could not speak ,english1 expressed himself as being glad to have a preacher of ,jesus ,christ to stay in his house4 ,leaving ,luxor1 ,i returned to ,cairo for some more sight-seeing1 and ,i had a very interesting time of it4 ,in ,gen4 #da3de we read3 ,pharaoh called ,joseph's name ,zaphenath-paneah2 and gave him to wife ,asenath1 the daughter of ,potipherah1 priest of ,on4 ,heliopolis1 meaning city of the sun1 is another name for this place1 from whence the wife of ,joseph came4 ,it is only a few miles from ,cairo1 and easily reached by railway4 ,all that ,i saw of the old city was a lonely obelisk1 probably the oldest one in the world1 standing in a cultivated field and surrounded by the growing crop4 ,it is sixty-six feet high1 six feet square at the base1 and is well preserved4 ,the ,ezbekiah ,gardens are situated in the best portion of ,cairo4 ,this beautiful park contains quite a variety of trees1 including the banyan1 and is a resort of many of the people4 ,band concerts are held1 and a small entrance fee is taken at the gate4 ,on the thirtieth of the month ,i visited the ,museum1 which has been moved to the city and installed in its own commodious and substantial building4 ,this vast collection of relics of this wonderful old country affords great opportunities for study4 ,i spent a good deal of time there seeing the coffins of wood1 white limestone1 red granite1 and alabaster2 sacrificial tables1 mummies1 ancient paintings1 weights and measures1 bronze lamps1 necklaces1 stone and alabaster jars1 bronze hinges1 articles of pottery1 and many other things4 ,it is remarkable how some of the embalmed bodies1 thousands of years old1 are preserved4 ,i looked down upon the ,pharaoh who is supposed to have oppressed ,israel4 ,the body is well preserved1 but it brought thoughts to me of the smallness of the fleshly side of man4 ,he who once ruled in royal splendor now lies there in very humble silence4 ,in some cases the cloths wrapped around these mummies are preserved almost perfectly1 and ,i remember a gilt mask that was so bright that one might have taken it for a modern product4 ,after the body was securely wrapped1 a picture was sometimes painted over the face1 and now1 after the lapse of centuries1 some of these are very clear and distinct4 ,i saw a collection of scarabaei1 or beetles1 which were anciently worshiped in this country4 ,dealers offer figures of this kind for sale1 but the most of them are probably manufactured for the tourist trade4 ,on ,lord's day1 ,october thirtieth1 ,i attended the evening services at the ,american ,mission1 and went to ,bedrashen the following day4 ,this is the nearest railway station to ,memphis1 the ancient capital of ,egypt1 now an irregular pile of ruined mud bricks4 ,i secured a donkey1 and a boy to care for it and tell me where to go4 ,we soon passed the dilapidated ruins of the old capital4 ,two prostrate statues of great size were seen on the way to the ,step ,pyramid of ,sakkara1 which is peculiar in that it is built with great offsets or steps1 still plainly visible1 although large quantities of the rock have crumbled and fallen down4 ,the ,department of ,antiquities has posted a notice in ,french1 ,arabic and ,english1 to the effect that it is dangerous to make the ascent1 and that the government will not be responsible for accidents to tourists who undertake it4 ,i soon reached the top without any special difficulty1 and with no more danger1 so far as ,i could see1 than one experiences in climbing a steep hill strewn with rocks4 ,i entered another pyramid1 which has a stone in one side of it twenty-five feet long and about five and a half feet high4 ,some more tombs were visited1 and the delicate carving on the inner walls was observed4 ,in one instance a harvest scene was represented1 in another the fish in a net could be discerned4 ,the ,serapeum is an underground burial place for the sacred bull1 discovered by ,mariette in #ahej1 after having been buried since about #adjj ,b4,c4 ,in those times the bull was an object of worship in ,egypt1 and when one died1 he was carefully embalmed and put in a stone coffin in one of the chambers of the ,serapeum4 ,some of these coffins are twelve feet high and fifteen feet long4 ,before leaving ,cairo1 ,i went into the famous ,shepheard's ,hotel1 where ,i received some information about the place from the manager1 who looked like a well-salaried city pastor4 ,the ,grand ,continental presents a better appearance on the outside1 but ,i do not believe it equals ,shepheard's on the inside4 ,i was now ready to turn towards home1 so ,i dropped down to ,port ,said again1 where there is little of interest to the tourist except the ever-changing panorama of ships in the mouth of the ,suez ,canal1 and the study of the social condition of the people4 ,my delay in the city while waiting for a ship gave me a good deal of time for writing and visiting the missionaries4 ,the ,seamen's ,rest is conducted by ,mr4 ,locke1 who goes out in the harbor and gathers up sailors in his steam launch1 and carries them back to their vessels after the service4 ,one night1 after speaking in one of these meetings1 ,i rode out with him4 ,the ,american ,mission conducts a school for boys1 and ,feltus ,hanna1 the native superintendent1 kindly showed me around4 ,the ,peniel ,mission is conducted by two ,american ladies4 ,the ,british and ,foreign ,bible ,society has a depot here1 and keeps three men at work visiting ships in the harbor all the time4 ,i attended the services in the chapel of the ,church of ,england one morning4 ,with all these religious forces the city is very wicked4 ,the street in which my hotel was located was largely given up to drinking and harlotry4 ,on the ninth of ,november the ,french ship ,congo stopped in the harbor1 and ,i went down late in the evening to embark1 but the authorities would not permit me to go aboard1 because ,i had not been examined by the medical officer1 who felt my pulse and signed a paper that was never called for1 and ,i went aboard all right4 ,the ship stopped at ,alexandria1 and ,i went around in the city1 seeing nothing of equal interest to ,pompey's ,pillar1 a monument standing ninety-eight feet and nine inches high4 ,the main shaft is seventy-three feet high and nearly thirty feet in circumference4 ,we reached ,marseilles in the evening of ,november sixteenth1 after experiencing some weather rough enough to make me uncomfortable1 and several of the others were really seasick4 ,i had several hours in ,paris1 which was reached early the next day1 and the ,united ,states consulate and the ,louvre1 the national museum of ,france1 were visited4 ,from ,paris ,i went to ,london by way of ,dieppe and ,new ,haven4 ,i left summer weather in ,egypt1 and found that winter was on hand in ,france and ,england4 ,london was shrouded in a fog4 ,i went back to my friends at ,twynholm1 and made three addresses on ,lord's day1 and spoke again on ,monday night4 ,i sailed from ,liverpool for ,new ,york on the ,,ss4 ,cedric ,november twenty-third4 ,we were in the harbor at ,queenstown1 ,ireland1 the next day1 and came ashore at the ,new ,york custom house on the second of ,december4 ,the ,cedric was then the second largest ship in the world1 being seven hundred feet long and seventy-five feet broad4 ,she carries a crew of three hundred and forty1 and has a capacity for over three thousand passengers4 ,on this trip she carried one thousand three hundred and thirty-six1 and the following twenty classes of people were represented3 ,americans1 ,english1 ,french1 ,german1 ,danes1 ,norwegians1 ,roumanians1 ,spanish1 ,arabs1 ,japanese1 ,negroes1 ,greeks1 ,russian ,jews1 ,fins1 ,swedes1 ,austrians1 ,armenians1 ,poles1 ,irish1 and ,scotch4 ,a great stream of immigrants is continually pouring into the country at this point4 ,twelve thousand were reported as arriving in one day1 and a recent paper contains a note to the effect that the number arriving in ,june will exceed eighty thousand1 as against fifty thousand in ,june of last year4 ,the character of the immigrants seems to grow steadily worse4 ,my traveling companion from ,port ,said to ,marseilles and from ,liverpool to ,new ,york was ,solomon ,elia1 who had kindly shown me through the ,israelite ,alliance ,school in ,jerusalem4 ,i reached ,philadelphia the same day the ship landed in ,new ,york1 but was detained there with brethren on account of a case of quinsy4 ,i reached home on the fourteenth of ,december1 after an absence of five months and three days1 in which time ,i had seen something of fourteen foreign countries1 having a very enjoyable and profitable trip4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,geography ,,of ,,palestine4 ,this section of country has been known by several names4 ,it has been called the ,land of ,canaan1 the ,land of ,israel1 the ,land of ,promise1 the ,land of the ,hebrews1 and the ,holy ,land4 ,canaan was simply the country between the ,mediterranean and the ,jordan1 extending from ,mt4 ,lebanon on the north to the ,desert of ,arabia on the south4 ,dan was in the extreme northern part1 and ,beer-sheba lay in the southern end of the country1 one hundred and thirty-nine miles distant4 ,the average width of the land is about forty miles1 and the total area is in the neighborhood of six thousand miles4 ,it is not in size or physical characteristics proportioned to its moral and historical position as the theater of the most momentous events in the world's history4 ,palestine1 the land occupied by the twelve tribes1 included the ,land of ,canaan and a section of country east of the ,jordan one hundred miles long and about twenty-five miles wide1 occupied by ,reuben1 ,gad1 and the half tribe of ,manasseh4 ,the ,land of ,promise was still more extensive1 reaching from the river of ,egypt unto the great river1 the river ,euphrates1 embracing about sixty thousand square miles1 or a little less than the five ,new ,england ,states4 ,the country is easily divided into four parallel strips4 ,beginning at the ,mediterranean1 we have the ,maritime ,plain1 the ,mountain ,region1 the ,jordan ,valley1 and the ,eastern ,table-,land4 ,the long stretch of lowland known as the ,maritime ,plain is divided into three sections4 ,the portion lying north of ,mt4 ,carmel was called ,phoenicia4 ,it varies in width from half a mile in the north to eight miles in the south4 ,the ancient cities of ,tyre and ,sidon belonged to this section4 ,directly east of ,mt4 ,carmel is the ,plain of ,esdraelon1 physically a part of the ,maritime ,plain4 ,it is an irregular triangle1 whose sides are fourteen1 sixteen1 and twenty-five miles respectively1 the longest side being next to ,mt4 ,carmel4 ,here ,barak defeated the army of ,sisera under ,jabin1 and here ,josiah1 king of ,judah1 was killed in a battle with the ,egyptians under ,pharaoh-necoh4 ,the ,plains of ,sharon and ,philistia1 lying south of ,carmel1 are usually regarded as the true ,maritime ,plain4 ,sharon extends southward from ,carmel about fifty miles1 reaching a little below ,jaffa1 and has an average width of eight miles4 ,the ,zerka1 or ,crocodile river1 which traverses this plain1 is the largest stream of ,palestine west of the ,jordan4 ,there are several other streams crossing the plain from the mountains to the sea1 but they usually cease to flow in the summer season4 ,joppa1 ,lydda1 ,ramleh1 and ,caesarea belong to this plain4 ,herod the ,great built ,caesarea1 and spent large sums of money on its palace1 temple1 theater1 and breakwater4 ,the ,plain of ,philistia extends thirty or forty miles from the southern limits of ,sharon to ,gaza1 varying in width from twelve to twenty-five miles4 ,it is well watered by several streams1 some of which flow all the year4 ,part of the water from the mountains flows under the ground and rises in shallow lakes near the coast4 ,water can easily be found here1 as also in ,sharon1 by digging wells1 and the soil is suitable for the culture of small grains and for pasture4 ,during a part of the year the plain is beautifully ornamented with a rich growth of brightly colored flowers1 a characteristic of ,palestine in the wet season4 ,gaza figures in the history of ,samson1 who laid hold of the doors of the gate of the city1 and the two posts1 and plucked them up1 bar and all1 and put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before ,hebron4 ,ashkelon1 on the coast1 is connected with the history of the ,crusades4 ,ashdod1 or ,azotus1 is where ,philip was found after the baptism of the eunuch4 ,it is said that ,psammetichus1 an ancient ,egyptian king1 captured this place after a siege of twenty-seven years4 ,ekron and ,gath also belonged to this plain4 ,the ridge of mountains lying between the coast plain and the ,jordan valley form the backbone of the country4 ,here1 more than elsewhere1 the ,israelites made their homes1 on account of the hostility of the inhabitants in the lowlands4 ,this ridge is a continuation of the ,lebanon range1 and extends as far south as the desert4 ,in ,upper ,galilee the mountains reach an average height of two thousand eight hundred feet above sea level1 but in ,lower ,galilee they are a thousand feet lower4 ,in ,samaria and ,judaea they reach an altitude of two or three thousand feet4 ,the foot-hills1 called the ,shefelah1 and the ,negeb1 or ,south ,country1 complete the ridge4 ,the highest peak is ,jebel ,mukhmeel1 in ,northern ,palestine1 rising ten thousand two hundred feet above the sea4 ,mt4 ,tabor1 in ,galilee1 is one thousand eight hundred and forty-three feet high1 while ,gerizim and ,ebal1 down in ,samaria1 are two thousand eight hundred and fifty feet and three thousand and seventy-five feet respectively4 ,the principal mountains in ,judaea are ,mt4 ,zion1 two thousand five hundred and fifty feet2 ,mt4 ,moriah1 about one hundred feet lower2 ,mount of ,olives1 two thousand six hundred and sixty-five feet1 and ,mt4 ,hebron1 three thousand and thirty feet4 ,nazareth1 ,shechem1 ,jerusalem1 and ,hebron belong to the ,mountain ,region4 ,the ,jordan ,valley is the lowest portion of the earth's surface4 ,no other depressions are more than three hundred feet below sea level1 but the ,jordan is six hundred and eighty-two feet lower than the ocean at the ,sea of ,galilee1 and nearly thirteen hundred feet lower where it enters the ,dead ,sea4 ,this wonderful depression1 which includes the ,dead ,sea1 forty-five miles long1 and the valley south of it1 one hundred miles in length1 is two hundred and fifty miles long and from four to fourteen miles in width1 and is called the ,arabah4 ,the sources of the ,jordan are one hundred and thirty-four miles from the mouth1 but the numerous windings of the stream make it two hundred miles long4 ,the ,jordan is formed by the union of three streams issuing from springs at an elevation of seventeen hundred feet above the sea4 ,the principal source is the spring at ,dan1 one of the largest in the world1 as it sends forth a stream twenty feet wide and from twenty to thirty inches deep4 ,the spring at ,banias1 the ,caesarea ,philippi of the ,scriptures1 is the eastern source4 ,the ,hashbany flows from a spring forming the western source4 ,a few miles south of the union of the streams above mentioned the river widens into the waters of ,merom1 a small lake nearly on a level with the ,mediterranean4 ,in the next few miles it descends rapidly1 and empties into the ,sea of ,galilee1 called also the ,sea of ,chinnereth1 ,sea of ,tiberias1 and ,lake of ,gennesaret4 ,in the sixty-five miles from the ,sea of ,galilee to the ,dead ,sea the fall is about six hundred feet4 ,the rate of descent is not uniform throughout the whole course of the river4 ,in one section it drops sixty feet to the mile1 while there is one stretch of thirteen miles with a descent of only four and a half feet to the mile4 ,the average is twenty-two feet to the mile4 ,the width varies from eighty to one hundred and eighty feet1 and the depth from five to twelve feet4 ,caesarea ,philippi1 at the head of the valley1 ,capernaum1 ,magdala1 ,tiberias1 and ,tarrichaea were cities on the ,sea of ,galilee4 ,jericho and ,gilgal were in the plain at the southern extremity1 and ,sodom1 ,gomorrah1 ,admah1 and ,zeboim1 upon which the wrath of ,god was poured1 were somewhere in the region of the ,dead ,sea4 ,the ,eastern ,table-,land has a mountain wall four thousand feet high facing the river4 ,this table-land1 which is mostly fertile1 extends eastward about twenty miles1 and terminates in the ,arabian ,desert1 which is still higher4 ,here the mountains are higher and steeper than those west of the ,jordan4 ,mt4 ,hermon1 in the north1 is nine thousand two hundred feet high4 ,south of the ,jarmuk ,river is ,mt4 ,gilead1 three thousand feet high1 and ,mt4 ,nebo1 lying east of the northern end of the ,dead ,sea1 reaches an elevation of two thousand six hundred and seventy feet4 ,besides the ,jarmuk1 another stream1 the ,jabbok1 flows into the ,jordan from this side4 ,the ,arnon empties into the ,dead ,sea4 ,the northern section was called ,bashan1 the middle1 ,gilead1 and the southern part1 ,moab4 ,bashan anciently had many cities1 and numerous ruins yet remain4 ,in the campaign of ,israel against ,og1 king of ,bashan1 sixty cities were captured4 ,many events occurred in ,gilead1 where were situated ,jabesh-,gilead1 ,ramoth-,gilead1 and the ten cities of the ,decapolis1 with the exception of ,beth-shean1 which was west of the ,jordan4 ,from the summit of ,mt4 ,pisgah1 a peak of ,mt4 ,nebo1 ,moses viewed the ,land of ,promise1 and from these same heights ,balaam looked down on the ,israelites and undertook to curse them1 ,moab lies south of the ,arnon and east of the ,dead ,sea4 ,in the time of a famine1 an ,israelite1 named ,elimelech1 with his wife and sons1 sojourned in this land4 ,after the death of ,elimelech and both of his sons1 who had married in the land1 ,naomi returned to ,bethlehem1 accompanied by her daughter-in-law1 ,ruth1 the ,moabitess1 who came into the line of ancestry of ,david and of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,once1 when the kings of ,judah1 ,israel1 and ,edom invaded the land1 the king of ,moab 7when they came to ,kir-hareseth1 the capital7 took his oldest son1 who would have succeeded him on the throne1 and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall4 ,at this the invaders departed from him and returned to their own land4 ,the political geography of ,palestine is so complicated that it can not be handled in the space here available4 ,only a few words1 applicable to the country in ,new ,testament times1 can be said4 ,the provinces of ,galilee1 ,samaria1 and ,judaea were on the west side of the ,jordan1 while the ,decapolis and ,perea lay east of that river4 ,the northern province of ,galilee1 which saw most of the ministry of ,jesus1 extended from the ,mediterranean to the ,sea of ,galilee1 and a much greater distance from the north to the south4 ,it was peopled with ,jews1 and was probably a much better country than is generally supposed1 as it contained a large number of cities and villages1 and produced fish1 oil1 wheat1 wine1 figs1 and flax4 ,it was in ,christ's time one of the gardens of the world--well watered1 exceedingly fertile1 thoroughly cultivated1 and covered with a dense population4--,merrill4 ,samaria1 lying south of ,galilee1 extended from the ,mediterranean to the ,jordan1 and was occupied by a mixed race1 formed by the mingling of ,jews with the foreigners who had been sent into the land4 ,when they were disfellowshiped by the ,jews1 about #dfj ,b4,c41 they built a temple on ,mt4 ,gerizim4 ,the province of ,judaea was the largest in ,palestine1 and extended from the ,mediterranean on the west to the ,dead ,sea and the ,jordan on the east4 ,it was bounded on the north by ,samaria1 and on the south by the desert4 ,although but fifty-five miles long and about thirty miles wide1 it held out against ,egypt1 ,babylonia1 and ,rome4 ,the ,decapolis1 or region of ten ,gentile cities1 was the northeastern part of ,palestine1 extending eastward from the ,jordan to the desert4 ,perea lay south of the ,decapolis1 and east of the ,jordan and ,dead ,sea4 ,the kingdom of ,herod the ,great1 whose reign ended ,b4,c4 #d1 included all of this territory4 ,after his death the country was divided into tetrarchies4 ,archelaus ruled over ,judaea and ,samaria2 ,antipas 7,herod the tetrarch7 had control of ,galilee and ,perea2 ,philip had a section of country east of the ,sea of ,galilee1 and ,lysanius ruled over ,abilene1 a small section of country between ,mt4 ,hermon and ,damascus1 not included in the domain of ,herod the ,great4 ,herod ,agrippa was made king by ,caligula1 and his territory embraced all that his grandfather1 ,herod the ,great1 had ruled over1 with ,abilene added1 making his territory more extensive than that of any ,jewish king after ,solomon4 ,he is the ,herod the king who killed the ,apostle ,james and imprisoned ,peter4 ,after delivering an oration at ,caesarea1 he died a horrible death1 because he gave not ,god the glory4 ,at his death1 in ,a4,d4 #dd1 the country was divided into two provinces4 ,the northern section was ruled by ,herod ,agrippa ,,ii4 till the ,jewish ,state was dissolved1 in ,a4,d4 #gj4 ,he was the ,king ,agrippa before whom ,paul spoke4 ,the southern part of the country1 called the province of ,judaea1 was ruled by procurators having their seat at ,caesarea4 ,when ,jerusalem was destroyed in ,a4,d4 #gj1 the country was annexed to ,syria4 ,the climate depends more upon local conditions than on the latitude1 which is the same as ,southern ,georgia and ,alabama1 ,jerusalem being on the parallel of ,savannah4 ,in point of temperature it is about the same as these localities1 but in other respects it differs much4 ,the year has two seasons--the dry1 lasting from the first of ,april to the first of ,november1 and the rainy season1 lasting the other five months1 during which time there are copious rains4 ,one authority says3 ,were the old cisterns cleaned and mended1 and the beautiful tanks and aqueducts repaired1 the ordinary fall of rain would be quite sufficient for the wants of the inhabitants and for irrigation4 ,the summers are hot1 the winters mild4 ,snow sometimes falls1 but does not last long1 and ice is seldom formed4 ,palestine is not a timbered country4 ,the commonest oak is a low1 scrubby bush4 ,the cedars of ,lebanon have almost disappeared4 ,the carob tree1 white poplar1 a thorn bush1 and the oleander are found in some localities4 ,the principal fruit-bearing trees are the fig1 olive1 date palm1 pomegranate1 orange1 and lemon4 ,grapes1 apples1 apricots1 quinces1 and other fruits also grow here4 ,wheat1 barley1 and a kind of corn are raised1 also tomatoes1 cucumbers1 watermelons1 and tobacco4 ,the ground is poorly cultivated with inferior tools1 and the grain is tramped out with cattle1 as in the long ago4 ,sheep and goats are the most numerous domestic animals1 a peculiarity of the sheep being the extra large fat tail 7,lev4 #c3i71 a lump of pure fat from ten to fifteen inches long and from three to five inches thick4 ,cattle1 camels1 horses1 mules1 asses1 dogs and chickens are kept4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,historic ,,sketch ,,of ,,palestine4 ,in the ancient ,babylonian city called ,ur of the ,chaldees lived the patriarch ,terah1 who was the father of three sons1 ,abram1 ,nahor1 and ,haran4 ,lot was the son of ,haran1 who died in ,ur4 ,terah1 accompanied by ,abram1 ,sarai1 and ,lot1 started for the land of ,canaan1 but they came unto ,haran and dwelt there1 and ,terah died in ,haran4 ,now ,jehovah said unto ,abram1 ,get thee out of thy country1 and from thy kindred1 and from thy father's house1 unto the land that ,i will show thee3 and ,i will make of thee a great nation1 and ,i will bless thee and make thy name great2 and be thou a blessing3 and ,i will bless them that bless thee1 and him that curseth thee will ,i curse3 and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed4 ,so ,abram1 ,sarai1 and ,lot came into the land of ,canaan about #bcjj ,b4,c41 and dwelt first at ,shechem1 but he removed from thence unto the mountain on the east of ,bethel1 and pitched his tent1 having ,bethel on the west and ,ai on the east4 ,abram did not remain here1 but journeyed to the south1 and when a famine came1 he entered ,egypt4 ,afterwards he returned to the southern part of ,canaan1 and still later he returned unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning1 between ,bethel and ,ai4 99 99 99 ,and ,lot also1 who went with ,abram1 had flocks1 and herds1 and tents4 ,on account of some discord between the herdsmen of the two parties1 ,abram said unto ,lot1 ,let there be no strife1 ,i pray thee1 between me and thee1 and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen2 for we are brethren4 ,accepting his uncle's proposition1 ,lot chose the well watered ,plain of the ,jordan1 journeyed east1 and moved his tent as far as ,sodom1 but ,abram moved his tent1 and came and dwelt by the oaks of ,mamre1 which are in ,hebron4 ,some time after this ,chedorlaomer1 king of ,elam1 entered the region occupied by ,lot1 and overcame the kings of ,sodom1 ,gomorrah1 ,admah1 ,zeboiim1 and ,bela1 carrying away the goods of ,sodom and ,gomorrah1 and they took ,lot 99 99 99 and his goods4 ,and there came one that had escaped1 and told ,abram the ,hebrew1 who led forth his trained men1 born in his house1 three hundred and eighteen1 and pursued as far as ,dan4 ,as a result of this hasty pursuit1 ,abram brought back all the goods1 and also brought back his brother ,lot1 and his goods1 and the women also1 and the people4 ,the king of ,sodom went out to meet ,abram after his great victory1 and offered him the goods for his services1 but the offer was refused4 ,abram was also met by ,melchizedek1 king of ,salem1 who brought forth bread and wine1 and blessed him4 ,before his death1 the first ,hebrew saw the smoke from ,sodom and ,gomorrah going up as the smoke of a furnace1 and he also passed through the severe trial of sacrificing his son ,isaac4 ,at the age of one hundred and seventy-five the father of the faithful gave up the ghost1 and died in a good old age1 an old man and full of years1 99 99 99 and ,isaac and ,ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of ,machpelah1 at ,hebron1 where ,sarah had been laid to rest when the toils and cares of life were over4 ,from ,abraham1 through ,ishmael1 descended the ,ishmaelites2 through ,midian1 the ,midianites2 and through ,isaac1 the chosen people1 called ,israelites1 from ,jacob1 whose name was changed to ,israel4 ,the interesting story of ,joseph tells how his father and brothers1 with their families1 were brought into ,egypt at the time of a famine1 where they grew from a few families to a great nation1 capable of maintaining an army of more than six hundred thousand men4 ,a new king1 who knew not ,joseph1 came on the throne1 and after a period of oppression1 the exodus took place1 about #adij ,b4,c41 the leader being ,moses1 a man eighty years of age4 ,at his death1 after forty years of wandering in the wilderness1 ,joshua became the leader of ,israel1 and they crossed the ,jordan at ,gilgal1 a few miles north of the ,dead ,sea1 capturing ,jericho in a peculiar manner4 ,two other incidents in the life of ,joshua may be mentioned here4 ,one was his victory over the ,amorites in the neighborhood of ,gibeon and ,beth-horon1 where more were slain by the hailstones which ,jehovah cast down upon them than were killed by ,israel with the sword4 ,it was on this occasion that ,joshua said3 ,sun1 stand thou still upon ,gibeon2 and thou1 ,moon1 in the valley of ,aijalon4 ,and the sun stood still1 and the moon stayed1 until the nation had avenged themselves of their enemies4 99 99 99 ,and there was no day like that before or after it4 ,the other event is the complete victory of ,israel over the immense army of ,jabin1 king of ,hazor1 fought at the ,waters of ,merom1 in ,galilee4 ,the combined forces of ,jabin and several confederate kings1 even as the sand that is upon the sea-shore in multitude1 with horses and chariots very many1 were utterly destroyed4 ,then came the allotment of the territory west of the ,jordan to the nine and a half tribes1 as ,reuben1 ,gad1 and the half tribe of ,manasseh had been assigned land east of the river4 ,the allotment was made by ,joshua1 ,eleazer1 the priest1 and the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the children of ,israel4 ,the period of the ,judges1 extending from ,joshua to ,saul1 over three hundred years1 was a time in which ,israel was troubled by several heathen tribes1 including the ,moabites1 ,ammonites1 ,midianites1 ,amalekites1 and ,canaanites4 ,the most troublesome of all were the ,philistines1 who were repulsed by ,shamgar and harassed by ,samson1 but they continued their hostility1 capturing the ,ark of the ,covenant in the days of ,eli1 and finally bringing ,israel so completely under their power that they had to go to the ,philistines to sharpen their tools4 ,the cry was raised3 ,make us a king to judge us1 like all the nations4 ,although this was contrary to the will of ,god1 and amounted to rejecting the ,lord1 the ,almighty gave directions for making ,saul king1 when the rebellious ,israelites refused to hearken to the voice of ,samuel1 and said3 ,nay1 but we will have a king over us4 ,two important events in ,saul's reign are the battle of ,michmash and the war with ,amalek4 ,in the first instance a great host of ,philistines were encamped at ,michmash1 and ,saul1 with his army1 was at ,gilgal4 ,samuel was to come and offer a sacrifice1 but did not arrive at the appointed time1 and the soldiers deserted1 till ,saul's force numbered only about six hundred4 ,in his strait1 the king offered the burnt offering himself1 and immediately ,samuel appeared1 heard his explanation1 and declared3 ,thou hast done foolishly2 thou hast not kept the commandment of ,jehovah thy ,god4 99 99 99 ,now thy kingdom shall not continue4 ,saul's loyalty to ,god was again tested in the affair with ,amalek1 and his disobedience in sparing ,agag and the best of the cattle and sheep should be better known and more heeded than it is4 ,concerning this1 the prophet of ,god chastised him1 saying3 ,behold1 to obey is better than sacrifice1 and to hearken than the fat of rams4 ,for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft1 and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim4 ,because thou hast rejected the word of ,jehovah1 he hath also rejected thee from being king4 ,the dark picture of ,saul's doings is here and there relieved by the unadulterated love of ,jonathan and ,david1 which1 like the glintings of the diamond in the night1 takes away some of the deepest shadows4 ,the next king1 ,jesse's ruddy-faced shepherd boy1 was anointed by ,samuel at ,bethlehem1 and for seven and a half years he reigned over ,judah from his capital at ,hebron4 ,abner made ,ish-bosheth1 the only surviving son of ,saul1 king over ,israel1 and he reigned two years4 ,but the house of ,judah followed ,david4 ,abner1 who had commanded ,saul's army1 became offended at the king he had made1 and went to ,hebron to arrange with ,david to turn ,israel over to him1 but ,joab treacherously slew him in revenge for the blood of ,asahel4 ,it was on this occasion that ,david uttered the notable words3 ,know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in ,israel8 ,afterwards ,rechab and ,baanah slew ,ish-bosheth in his bedchamber and carried his head to ,david1 who was so displeased that he caused them to be killed1 and their hands and feet were cut off and hanged up by the pool in ,hebron4 ,then the tribes of ,israel came voluntarily and made themselves the subjects of ,king ,david1 who captured ,jebus1 better known as ,jerusalem1 and moved his capital to that city4 ,during his reign the ,philistines were again troublesome1 and a prolonged war was waged against the ,ammonites4 ,during this war ,david had his record stained by his sinful conduct in the matter of ,uriah's wife4 ,david was a fighting king1 and his reign was a series of trials and triumphs4 ,he not only subdued the ,philistines1 but conquered ,damascus1 ,moab1 ,ammon1 and ,edom1 and so extended his territory from the ,mediterranean to the ,euphrates that it embraced ten times as much as ,saul ruled over4 ,but his heart was made sad by the shameful misconduct of ,amnon1 followed by his death1 and by the conspiracy of ,absalom1 the rebellion following1 and the death of this beautiful son4 ,the story of ,david's hasty flight from ,jerusalem over ,olivet and across the ,jordan to escape from ,absalom is touchingly sad4 ',and ,david went up by the ascent of the ,mount of ,olives1 and wept as he went up1 and he had his head covered1 and went barefoot4' ,then what a picture of paternal love1 which the basest filial ingratitude could not quench1 is that of ,david mourning the death of ,absalom1 ',the king was much moved1 and went up to the chamber over the gate1 and wept3 and as he went1 thus he said1 ,o1 my son ,absalom1 my son1 my son ,absalom6 would ,i had died for thee1 ,o ,absalom1 my son1 my son6' ,after finishing out a reign of forty years1 the sweet singer of ,israel slept with his fathers1 and was buried in the city of ,david4 ,his son ,solomon succeeded him on the throne1 and had a peaceful reign of forty years1 during which time the ,temple on ,mount ,moriah was erected1 being the greatest work of his reign4 ,david had accumulated much material for this house2 ,hiram1 king of ,tyre1 furnished cedar timber from the ,lebanon mountains1 and skilled workmen put up the building1 into which the ,ark of the ,covenant was borne4 ,this famous structure was not remarkable for its great size1 but for the splendid manner in which it was adorned with gold and other expensive materials4 ,israel's wisest monarch was a man of letters1 being the author of three thousand proverbs and a thousand and five songs4 ,his wisdom exceeded that of all his contemporaries1 and all the earth sought the presence of ,solomon to hear his wisdom1 which ,god had put in his heart4 ,a case in point is the visit of the ,queen of ,sheba1 who said3 ,the half was not told me2 thy wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame which ,i heard4 ,but the glory of his kingdom did not last long4 ,it dazzled for a brief space1 like the blaze of a meteor1 and then vanished away4 ,nehemiah says there was no king like him1 nevertheless even him did foreign women cause to sin4 ,solomon's reign ended about #ige ,b ,c41 and his son1 ,rehoboam1 was coronated at ,shechem4 ,jereboam1 the son of ,nebat1 whose name is proverbial for wickedness1 returned from ,egypt1 whence he had fled from ,solomon1 and asked the new king to make the grievous service of his father lighter1 promising to support him on that condition4 ,rehoboam counseled with the old men1 that had stood before ,solomon1 and refused their words1 accepting the counsel of the young men that had grown up with him4 ,when he announced that he would make the yoke of his father heavier1 the ten northern tribes revolted1 and ,jereboam became king of what is afterwards known as the house of ,israel4 ,the kingdom lasted about two hundred and fifty years1 being ruled over by nineteen kings1 but the government did not run smoothly4 ,plot after plot was formed1 and first one adventurer and then another seized the throne4 ,besides the internal troubles1 there were numerous wars4 ,benhadad1 of ,damascus1 besieged ,samaria2 ,hazael1 king of ,syria1 overran the land east of the ,jordan2 ,moab rebelled2 ,pul 7,tiglath-pileser71 king of ,assyria1 invaded the country1 and carried off a large amount of tribute1 probably amounting to two millions of dollars2 and thirty years later he entered the land and carried away many captives4 ,at a later date the people became idolatrous1 and ,shalmaneser1 an ,assyrian king1 reduced them to subjection1 and carried numbers of them into ,assyria1 and replaced them with men from ,babylon and other places4 ,by the intermarriage of ,jews remaining in the country with these foreigners a mixed race1 called ,samaritans1 sprang up4 ,the southern section of the country1 known as the kingdom of ,judah1 was ruled over by nineteen kings and one queen for a period of about three hundred and seventy-five years4 ,asa1 one of the good kings1 was a religious reformer--even his mother he removed from being queen1 because she had made an abominable image for an ,asherah2 and ,asa cut down her image and burnt it at the brook ,kidron4 ,but he1 like many other reformers1 failed to make his work thorough1 for the high places were not taken away3 nevertheless the heart of ,asa was perfect with ,jehovah all his days4 ,joash caused a chest to be placed at the gate of the house of ,jehovah1 into which the people put the tax that ,moses1 the servant of ,god1 laid upon ,israel in the wilderness1 until they had gathered an abundance of money1 with which the house of ,god was repaired1 for the wicked sons of ,athaliah had broken it up and bestowed the dedicated things upon the ,baalim4 ,but after the death of ,jehoida1 the priest1 ,joash was himself led into idolatry1 and when ,zechariah1 the son of ,jehoida1 rebuked the people for turning from ,god1 they stoned him to death by the order of ,king ,joash4 ,the last words of the dying martyr were3 ,the ,lord look upon it and require it4 ,this is strangely different from the last expression of ,stephen1 who kneeled down1 and cried with a loud voice1 ,lord1 lay not this sin to their charge4 ,amaziah returned from the slaughter of the ,edomites1 and set up the gods of the idolatrous enemies he had whipped1 to be his gods4 ,ahaz was a wicked idolater1 worshiping ,baal and sacrificing his own sons4 ,in strong contrast with such men as these we have the name of ,hezekiah1 whose prosperous reign was a grand period of reformation and improvement4 ,he was twenty-five years old when he came on the throne1 and in the twenty-nine years he ruled1 he removed the high places1 and brake the pillars1 and cut down the ,asherah4 ,the brazen serpent1 made by ,moses in the wilderness1 had become an object of worship1 but ,hezekiah called it a piece of brass1 and broke it in pieces4 ,the passover had not been kept in great numbers in such sort as it is written1 so ,hezekiah sent messengers from city to city to call the people to observe the passover4 ,some laughed them to scorn1 and mocked them1 but others humbled themselves1 and came to ,jerusalem1 and in the second month the very great assembly 99 99 99 killed the passover4 99 99 99 ,so there was great joy in ,jerusalem2 for since the time of ,solomon the son of ,david1 king of ,israel1 there was not the like in ,jerusalem4 ,manasseh1 the next king1 restablished idolatry1 and his son ,amon1 who ruled but two years1 followed in his footsteps4 ,josiah1 who next occupied the throne1 was a different kind of a man4 ,he did that which was right in the eyes of ,jehovah1 and walked in all the way of ,david his father1 and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left4 ,in his reign1 ,hilkiah the priest found the book of the law in the temple1 and delivered it to ,shaphan the scribe1 who read it1 and took it to the king and read it to him4 ,and it came to pass when the king heard the words of the book of the law1 that he rent his clothes1 and commanded that inquiry be made of the ,lord concerning the contents of the book4 ,as a result1 the temple was cleansed of the vessels that had been used in ,baal worship1 the idolatrous priests were put down1 the houses of the sodomites1 that were in the house of ,jehovah1 were broken down1 the high places erected by ,solomon were defiled1 and a great reformation was worked4 ,zedekiah was the last king in the line4 ,in his day1 ,nebuchadnezzar1 king of ,babylon1 invaded the land1 and besieged ,jerusalem for sixteen months1 reducing the people to such straits that women ate the flesh of their own children4 ,when the city fell1 a portion of the inhabitants were carried to ,babylon1 and the furnishings of the temple were taken away as plunder4 ,zedekiah1 with his family1 sought to escape1 going out over ,olivet as ,david in his distress had done1 but he was captured and carried to ,riblah1 thirty-five miles north of ,baalbec1 where his sons were slain in his presence4 ,then his eyes were put out1 and he was carried to ,babylon4 ,in this way were fulfilled the two prophecies1 that he should be taken to ,babylon1 and that he should not see it4 ,thus1 with ,jerusalem a mass of desolate1 forsaken ruins1 the ,babylonian period was ushered in4 ,some of the captives rose to positions of trust in the ,babylonian government4 ,daniel and his three associates are examples4 ,during this period ,ezekiel was a prophet4 ,no doubt the frame of mind of most of them is well expressed by the ,psalmist3 ,by the rivers of ,babylon1 there we sat down1 yea we wept when we remembered ,zion4 ,upon the willows in the midst thereof we hanged up our harps4 ,the ,medo-,persian period began with the conquest of ,babylon by ,cyrus1 who brought the ,jews under his rule4 ,the captives were permitted to return to ,palestine1 and ,zerubbabel soon had the foundations of the temple laid2 but here the work came to a standstill1 and so remained for seventeen years4 ,about #ebj ,b4,c41 when ,darius was king of ,persia1 the work was resumed1 and carried on to completion4 ,for some years the service of ,god seems to have been conducted in an unbecoming manner4 ,nehemiah came upon the stage of action1 rebuilt the city walls1 required the observance of the ,sabbath1 and served as governor twelve years without pay4 ,ezra brought back a large number of the people1 repaired the temple1 and worked a great reformation4 ,under his influence1 those who had married foreign wives put them away1 and some had wives by whom they had children4 ,as the ,samaritans were not allowed to help build the temple1 they erected one of their own on ,mt ,gerizim4 ,a few ,samaritans still exist in ,nablus1 and hold services on ,gerizim4 ,after ,nehemiah1 the office of civil ruler seems to have become extinct4 ,the ,greek period begins with the operations of ,alexander the ,great in ,asia1 #ccc ,b4,c41 and extends to the time of the ,maccabees1 #afh ,b4,c4 ,after ,alexander's death1 his empire fell into the two great divisions of ,egypt and ,syria4 ,the ,egyptian rulers were called ,ptolemies1 and those of ,syria were called the ,selucidae4 ,for one hundred and twenty-five years ,palestine was held by ,egypt1 during which time ,ptolemy ,philadelphus had the ,septuagint version of the ,old ,testament made at ,alexandria4 ,syria next secured control of ,palestine4 ,the walls of ,jerusalem were destroyed1 and the altar of ,jehovah was polluted with swine's flesh4 ,we now hear of an aged priest named ,mattathias1 who at ,modin1 a few miles from ,jerusalem1 had the courage to kill a ,jew who was about to sacrifice on a heathen altar4 ,he escaped to the mountains1 where he was joined by a number of others of the same mind4 ,his death soon came1 but he left five stalwart sons like himself4 ,judas1 called ,maccabeus1 became the leader1 and from him the whole family was named the ,maccabees4 ,he began war against the ,syrians and apostate ,jews4 ,the ,syrians1 numbering fifty thousand1 took up a position at ,emmaus1 while the ,maccabees encamped at ,mizpah4 ,although greatly outnumbered1 they were victorious1 as they were in another engagement with sixty thousand ,syrians at ,hebron4 ,judas entered ,jerusalem1 and repaired and cleansed the temple4 ,thus the ,maccabean period was ushered in4 ,after some further fighting1 ,judas was slain1 and ,simon1 the only surviving brother1 succeeded him1 and ,jerusalem was practically independent4 ,his son1 ,john ,hyrcanus1 was the next ruler4 ,the ,pharisees and ,sadducees now come prominently into ,jewish affairs4 ,the ,essenes also existed at this time1 and dressed in white4 ,after some time 7between #fe-fb ,b4,c471 ,pompey1 the ,roman general1 entered the open gates of the city1 but did not capture the citadel for three weeks1 finally taking advantage of the day of ,pentecost1 when the ,jews would not fight4 ,the ,roman period began with the slaughter of twelve thousand citizens4 ,priests were slain at the altar1 and the temple was profaned4 ,judaea became a ,roman province1 and was compelled to pay tribute4 ,herod the ,great became governor of ,galilee1 and later the ,roman senate made him king of ,judaea4 ,he besieged ,jerusalem1 and took it in #cg ,b4,c4 ,a singular compound of good and bad--mostly bad--was this ,king ,herod4 ,he hired men to drown a supposed rival1 as if in sport1 at ,jericho on the occasion of a feast1 and in the beginning of his reign he slaughtered more than half of the members of the ,sanhedrin4 ,the aged high priest ,hyrcanus was put to death1 as was also ,mariamne1 the wife of this monster1 who was ruling when the ,messiah was born at ,bethlehem4 ,herod was a great builder1 and it was he who reconstructed the temple on magnificent lines4 ,he also built ,caesarea1 and rebuilt ,samaria4 ,after his death1 the country was divided and ruled by his three sons4 ,achelaus reigned ingloriously in ,jerusalem for ten years1 and was banished4 ,judaea was then ruled by procurators1 ,pilate being the fifth one of them1 ruling from ,a4,d4 #bf-cf4 ,in the year ,a4,d4 #fe the ,jews rebelled against the ,romans1 after being their subjects for one hundred and twenty-two years4 ,they were not subdued until the terrible destruction of the ,holy ,city in ,a4,d4 #gj1 when1 according to ,josephus1 one million one hundred thousand ,jews perished in the siege1 two hundred and fifty-six thousand four hundred and fifty were slain elsewhere1 and one hundred and one thousand seven hundred prisoners were sold into bondage4 ,the ,temple was completely destroyed along with the city1 which for sixty years lay in ruins so complete that it is doubtful whether there was a single house that could be used as a residence4 ,the land was annexed to ,syria1 and ceased to be a ,jewish country4 ,hadrian became emperor in ,a4,d4 #aag1 and issued an edict forbidding the ,jews to practice circumcision1 read the law1 or to observe the ,sabbath4 ,these things greatly distressed the ,jews1 and in ,a4,d4 #acb they rallied to the standard of ,bar ,cochba1 who has been styled the last and greatest of the false ,messiahs4 ,the ,romans were overthrown1 ,bar ,cochba proclaimed himself king in ,jerusalem1 and carried on the war for two years4 ,at one time he held fifty towns1 but they were all taken from him1 and he was finally killed at ,bether1 or ,bittir4 ,this was the last effort of the ,jews to recover the land by force of arms4 ,hadrian caused the site of the temple to be plowed over1 and the city was reconstructed being made thoroughly pagan4 ,for two hundred years the ,jews were forbidden to enter it4 ,in ,a4,d4 #cbf the ,empress ,helena visited ,jerusalem1 and built a church on the ,mount of ,olives4 ,julian the ,apostate undertook to rebuild the ,jewish temple in ,a4,d4 #cfb1 but was frustrated by balls of fire issuing from under the ruins and frightening the workmen4 ,in ,a4,d4 #ebi the ,greek emperor ,justinian built a church in the city in honor of the ,virgin4 ,the ,persians under ,chosroes ,,ii4 invaded ,palestine in ,a4,d4 #fad and destroyed part of ,jerusalem4 ,after fourteen years they were defeated and ,jerusalem was restored1 but the ,mohammedans under ,omar captured it in ,a4,d4 #fcg4 ,the structure called the ,dome of the ,rock1 on ,mt4 ,moriah1 was built by them in ,a4,d4 #fhh4 ,the ,crusades next engage our attention4 ,the first of these military expeditions was made to secure the right to visit the ,holy ,sepulcher4 ,it was commenced at the call of the ,pope in #ajif4 ,a force of two hundred and seventy-five thousand men began the march1 but never entered ,palestine4 ,another effort was made by six hundred thousand men1 who captured ,antioch in #ajih4 ,a little later the survivors defeated the ,mohammedan army of two hundred thousand4 ,still later they entered ,jerusalem1 and ,godfrey of ,bouillon was made king of the city in #ajii4 ,by conquest he came to rule the whole of ,palestine4 ,the orders of ,knights ,hospitallers and ,knights ,templars were formed1 and ,godfrey continued in power about fifty years4 ,in #aadd two ,european armies1 aggregating one million two hundred thousand men1 started on the second crusade1 which was a total failure4 ,saladin1 the ,sultan of ,egypt1 conquered ,jerusalem in #aahg1 and the third crusade was inaugurated1 which resulted in securing the right to make pilgrimages to ,jerusalem free from taxes4 ,the power of the ,crusaders was now broken4 ,another band assembled at ,venice in #abjc to undertake the fourth crusade1 but they never entered ,palestine4 ,the fifth effort was made1 and ,frederick1 ,emperor of ,germany1 crowned himself king of ,jerusalem in #abbi1 and returned to his native land the next year4 ,the ,turks conquered ,palestine in #abdd and burned ,jerusalem4 ,louis ,,ix4 of ,france led the seventh crusade1 another failure1 in #abdh4 ,he undertook it again in #abgj1 but went to ,africa1 and ,prince ,edward of ,england entered ,palestine in #abga and accepted a truce for ten years1 which was offered by the ,sultan of ,egypt4 ,this1 the eighth and last crusade1 ended in #abgb by the return of ,edward to ,england4 ,in #abhj ,palestine was invaded by the ,mamelukes1 and in #abia the war of the ,crusaders ended with the fall of ,acre1 the last ,christian possession in ,palestine4 ,besides these efforts there were children's crusades for the conversion or conquest of the ,moslems4 ,the first1 in #abab1 was composed of thirty thousand boys4 ,two ship loads were drowned and the third was sold as slaves to the ,mohammedans4 ,in #aeag the country passed to the control of the ,ottoman ,empire1 and so remained until #ahcb1 when it fell back to ,egypt for eight years4 ,the present walls around ,jerusalem1 which inclose two hundred and ten acres of ground1 were built by ,suleiman the ,magnificent in #aedb4 ,in #ahdj ,palestine again became ,turkish territory1 and so continues to this day4 ,the really scientific exploration of the land began with the journey of ,edward ,robinson1 an ,american1 in #ahch4 ,in #ahef the ,united ,states ,consulate was established in ,jerusalem1 and twelve governments are now represented by consulates4 ,sir ,charles ,wilson created an interest in the geography of ,palestine by his survey of ,jerusalem and his travels in the ,holy ,land from #ahfd to #ahfh4 ,palestine was surveyed from ,dan to ,beer-sheba and from the ,jordan to the ,great ,sea in the years from #ahgb to #ahgg4 ,the ,siloam inscription1 the only known relic of the writing 99 99 99 of ,hezekiah's days1 was discovered in #ahhj4 ,the railroad from ,jaffa to ,jerusalem was opened in #ahib4 ,within the last ten years several carriage roads have been built4 ,protestant schools and missions have been established at many important places4 ,the population of the city is now about fifty-five thousand souls1 but they do not all live inside of the walls4 ,what the future of ,palestine may be is an interesting subject for thought4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,,churches ,,of ,,christ ,,in ,,great ,,britain4 ,no doubt many of my readers will be specially interested in knowing something of my experience and association with the brethren across the sea1 and it is my desire to give them as fair an understanding of the situation as ,i can4 ,there are five congregations in ,glasgow1 having a membership of six hundred and seventy-eight persons4 ,the oldest one of these1 which formerly met in ,brown ,street and now meets in ,shawlands ,hall1 was formed in #ahci1 and has one hundred and sixty-one members4 ,the ,coplaw ,street congregation1 which branched from ,brown ,street1 and is now the largest of the five1 dates back to #ahgh1 and numbers two hundred and nineteen4 ,it was my privilege to attend one of the mid-week services of this congregation and speak to those present on that occasion4 ,i also met some of the brethren in ,edinburgh1 where two congregations have a membership of two hundred and fifty-three4 ,at ,kirkcaldy1 the home of my worthy friend and brother1 ,ivie ,campbell1 ,jr41 there is a congregation of one hundred and seventy disciples1 which ,i addressed one ,lord's day morning4 ,in the evening ,i went out with ,brother and ,sister ,campbell and another brother to ,coaltown of ,balgonie1 and addressed the little band worshiping at that place4 ,my next association with the brethren was at the annual meeting of ,churches of ,christ in ,great ,britain and ,ireland1 convened at ,wigan1 ,england1 ,august second1 third1 and fourth4 ,while at ,wigan ,i went out to ,platt ,bridge and spoke to the brethren4 ,there are ninety members in this congregation4 ,one night in ,birmingham ,i met with the brethren in ,charles ,henry ,street1 where the congregation1 formed in #aheg1 numbers two hundred and seventy-four1 and the next night ,i was with the ,geach ,street congregation1 which has been in existence since #ahfe1 and numbers two hundred and twenty-nine members4 ,bro4 ,samuel ,joynes1 now of ,philadelphia1 was formerly connected with this congregation4 ,while ,i was in ,bristol it was my pleasure to meet with the ,thrissell ,street church1 composed of one hundred and thirty-one members4 ,i spoke once in their place of worship and once in a meeting on the street4 ,the last band of brethren ,i was with while in ,england was the church at ,twynholm1 ,london4 ,this is the largest congregation of all1 and will receive consideration later in the chapter4 ,the next place that ,i broke bread was in a little mission to the ,jews in the ,holy ,city4 ,to complete a report of my public speaking while away1 ,i will add that ,i preached in ,mr4 ,thompson's tabernacle in ,jerusalem1 and spoke a few words on one or both of the ,lord's days at the mission to which reference has already been made4 ,i also spoke in a mission meeting conducted by ,mr4 ,locke at ,port ,said1 ,egypt1 preached once on the ship as ,i was coming back across the ,atlantic1 and took part in a little debate on shipboard as ,i went out on the journey1 and in an entertainment the night before ,i got back to ,new ,york4 ,in this chapter ,i am taking my statistics mainly from the ,year ,book containing the fifty-ninth annual report of the churches in ,great ,britain and ,ireland co-operating for evangelistic purposes1 embracing almost all of the congregations of disciples in the country4 ,according to this report1 there were one hundred and eighty-three congregations on the list1 with a total membership of thirteen thousand and sixty-three1 at the time of the annual meeting last year4 7,since writing this chapter1 the sixtieth annual report of these brethren across the sea has come into my hands1 and the items in this paragraph are taken mainly from the address of ,bro4 ,john ,wyckliffe ,black1 as chairman of the annual meeting which assembled in ,august of this year at ,leeds4 ,the membership is now reported at thirteen thousand eight hundred and forty-four1 an increase of about eight hundred members since the meeting held at ,wigan in #aijd4 ,in #ahdb the ,british brotherhood numbered thirteen hundred1 and in #ahfb it had more than doubled4 ,after the lapse of another period of twenty years1 the number had more than doubled again1 standing at six thousand six hundred and thirty-two4 ,in #aijb1 when twenty years more had passed1 the membership had almost doubled again1 having grown to twelve thousand five hundred and thirty-seven4 ,in #ahdb the average number of members in each congregation was thirty-one2 in #ahfb it was forty2 in #ahhb it had reached sixty-one2 and in #aijb it was seventy-two4 ,the average number in each congregation is now somewhat higher than it was in #aijb47 ,soon after the meeting was convened on ,tuesday1 the ,conference recognised the presence of ,mrs4 ,hall and ,miss ,jean ,hall1 of ,sydney1 ,n4,s4,w41 and ,brother ,don ,carlos ,janes1 from ,ohio1 ,u4,s4,a41 and cordially gave them a ,christian welcome4 ,the address of welcome and the address of the chairman1 ,brother ,james ,anderson1 of ,fauldhouse1 ,scotland1 came early in the day4 ,the meeting on ,wednesday opened with worship and a short address1 followed by reports from the ,general ,sunday-school1 ,reference1 ,general ,training1 and ,magazine ,committees4 ,one interesting feature of the proceedings of this day was the conference paper by ,bro4 ,t4,j4 ,ainsworth on the subject of ,the ,relation of ,christianity to the ,social ,questions of the ,day4 ,besides a discussion of this paper1 there was a preaching service at night4 ,thursday1 the last day of the meeting1 was occupied1 after the morning worship and short address1 with the reports of committees and the appointment of committees4 ,at the social meeting at night several brethren1 who had been previously selected1 spoke on such subjects as seemed good to them4 ,bro4 ,w4,a4 ,kemp1 of ,melbourne1 ,australia1 and the writer were the only speakers not residents of the ,british ,isles4 ,at the close of the meeting the following beautiful hymn was sung to the tune of ,auld ,lang ,syne3 ,hail1 sweetest1 dearest tie1 that binds ,our glowing hearts in one2 ,hail1 sacred hope1 that tunes our minds ,to harmony divine4 ,it is the hope1 the blissful hope ,which ,jesus' words afford-- ,the hope1 when days and years are past1 ,of life with ,christ the ,lord4 ,what though the northern wintry blast ,shall howl around our cot8 ,what though beneath an eastern sun ,be cast our distant lot8 ,yet still we share the blissful hope ,his cheering words afford-- ,the hope1 when days and years are past1 ,of glory with the ,lord4 ,from ,burmah's shores1 from ,afric's strand1 ,from ,india's burning plain1 ,from ,europe1 from ,columbia's land1 ,we hope to meet again4 ,oh1 sweetest hope1 oh1 blissful hope1 ,which ,his own truth affords-- ,the hope1 when days and years are past1 ,we still shall be the ,lord's4 ,no lingering look1 no parting sigh1 ,our future meeting knows2 ,there friendship beams from every eye1 ,and love immortal glows4 ,oh1 sacred hope1 the blissful hope1 ,his love and truth afford-- ,the hope1 when days and years are past1 ,of reigning with the ,lord4 ,i am not willing to accept everything done in the annual meeting1 but the hearty good will manifested and the pleasant and happy associations enjoyed make it in those respects very commendable4 ,these brethren are very systematic and orderly in their work4 ,some one1 who has been designated beforehand1 takes charge of the meeting1 and everything moves along nicely4 ,when a visiting brother comes in1 he is recognized and made use of1 but they do not turn the meeting over to him and depend upon him to conduct it4 ,the president of the ,lord's day morning meeting and part or all of the officers sit together on the platform4 ,the following is the order of procedure in one of the meetings which ,i attended3 ,after singing a hymn and offering prayer1 the brother presiding announced the reading lessons from both ,testaments1 at the same time naming two brethren who would read these scriptures4 ,after they had come forward and read the lessons before the church1 another hymn was sung1 and certain definite objects of prayer were mentioned before the congregation again engaged in that part of the worship4 ,two prayers were offered1 followed by the announcements1 after which a brother delivered an address4 ,then the president made mention of the visitors present1 and an old gentleman from the platform extended the right hand of fellowship to some new members before the contribution was taken and the ,lord's supper observed1 a hymn being sung between these two items4 ,a concluding hymn and prayer closed the service1 which had been well conducted1 without discord or confusion4 ,a brother in ,wigan gave me a statement of the work of one of the congregations there in the winter season4 ,on the ,lord's day they have school at #i3bj ,a4,m4 and at #b ,p4,m42 breaking the bread at #aj3cj ,a4,m41 and preaching the gospel at #f3cj ,p4,m4 ,at this evening meeting the ,lord's table is again spread for the benefit of servants and others who were not able to be at the morning service4 ,this is a common practice4 ,the young people's social and improvement class meets on ,monday evening1 a meeting for prayer and a short address is held on ,tuesday evening1 and the ,band of ,hope1 a temperance organization for young people1 meets on ,wednesday evening4 ,the singing class uses ,thursday night1 and the officers of the church sometimes have a meeting on ,friday night4 ,during the life of ,bro4 ,timothy ,coop much money was spent in an effort to build up along the lines adopted by the innovators here in ,america4 ,bro4 ,coop visited this country1 and was well pleased with the operations of the congregations that had adopted the modern methods1 and he was instrumental in having some ,american evangelists to go to ,england1 and a few churches were started4 ,i was told that there are about a dozen congregations of these disciples1 called ,american brethren by the other ,english disciples1 with a membership of about two thousand1 and that it is a waning cause4 ,the rank and file of these ,british brethren are more conservative than the innovators here at home1 but they have moved forward somewhat in advance of the churches here contending for apostolic simplicity in certain particulars4 ,a few of the congregations use a musical instrument in gospel meetings and ,sunday-school services1 and some have organizations such as the ,band of ,hope and the ,dorcas ,society4 ,the organization of the annual meeting is said to be only advisory4 ,the following lines1 a portion of a resolution of the annual meeting of #ahfa will help the reader to form an idea of the purpose and nature of the organization3 ,that this ,coperation shall embrace such of the ,churches contending for the primitive faith and order as shall willingly be placed upon the list of ,churches printed in its ,annual ,report4 ,that the ,churches thus coperating disavow any intention or desire to recognize themselves as a denomination1 or to limit their fellowship to the ,churches thus coperating2 but1 on the contrary1 they avow it both a duty and a pleasure to visit1 receive1 and coperate with ,christian ,churches1 without reference to their taking part in the meetings and efforts of this ,coperation4 ,also1 that this ,coperation has for its object evangelization only1 and disclaims all power to settle matters of discipline1 or differences between brethren or ,churches2 that if in any instance it should see fit to refuse to insert in or to remove from the ,list any ,church or company of persons claiming to be a ,church1 it shall do so only in reference to this ,coperation1 leaving each and every ,church to judge for itself1 and to recognize and fellowship as it may understand the law of the ,lord to require4 ,the question of delegate voting with a view to making the action of the annual meeting more weighty with the congregations was discussed at the ,wigan meeting1 but was voted down1 although it had numerous advocates4 ,one of the brethren1 in speaking of the use of instrumental music in the singing1 said they try not to use it when they worship the ,lord1 but ,i consider the use they make of it is unscriptural1 and it puts the church in great danger of having the innovation thrust into all the services at some future time4 ,all of these churches could learn a valuable lesson from some of our home congregations that have been rent asunder by the unholy advocacy of innovations4 ,but there are some very commendable things about these brethren4 ,i noticed careful attention being given to the public reading of the ,scriptures1 and the congregation joins heartily in the singing4 ,i am informed that every member takes part in the contribution without exception4 ,they do not take contributions from visitors and children who are not disciples4 ,the talent in the congregation is well developed4 ,in this they are far ahead of us4 ,while there are not many giving their whole time to evangelistic work1 there are many who are acceptable speakers4 ,one brother said they probably have a preacher for each twenty-five members4 ,men heavily involved in business take time to attend the meetings4 ,for instance1 one brother1 who is at the head of a factory employing about a thousand people1 and is interested in mining and in the manufacture of brick besides1 is an active member of the congregation with which he worships4 ,the brethren in general are faithful in the matter of being present at the breaking of bread4 ,when visiting brethren come in1 they are given a public welcome1 and are sometimes pointed out to the congregation4 ,also1 when brethren return from a vacation or other prolonged absence1 they are given a welcome4 ,they pray much4 ,the week-night meeting for prayer and study of the ,bible is largely taken up with prayer4 ,i like the way they point out definite objects of prayer4 ,for instance1 two sisters are leaving for ,canada2 some one is out of employment1 and some have lost friends by death4 ,these matters are mentioned1 and some one is called on to lead the prayer1 and these points are included in his petition to the ,lord4 ,sometimes but one brother is asked to lead in prayer2 sometimes more than one are designated1 and at other times they leave it open for some one to volunteer4 ,the following hymn was sung in one of these meetings which ,i attended3 ,,let ,,us ,,pray4 ,come1 let us pray2 'tis sweet to feel ,that ,god himself is near2 ,that1 while we at his footstool kneel1 ,his mercy deigns to hear2 ,though sorrows crowd life's dreary way1 ,this is our solace--let us pray4 ,come1 let us pray2 the burning brow1 ,the heart oppressed with care1 ,and all the woes that throng us now1 ,may be relieved by prayer2 ,jesus can smile our griefs away2 ,oh1 glorious thought6 come1 let us pray4 ,come1 let us pray2 the mercy-seat ,invites the fervent prayer1 ,and ,jesus ready stands to greet ,the contrite spirit there2 ,oh1 loiter not1 nor longer stay ,from him who loves us2 let us pray4 ,they do not publish as many papers as we do1 but have one weekly journal1 the ,bible ,advocate1 edited by ,bro4 ,l4 ,oliver1 of ,birmingham1 which has a general circulation1 reaching almost four thousand copies4 ,one feature of the paper last summer was the publication of the ,life of ,elder ,john ,smith as a serial4 ,the colored covers of the ,bible ,advocate contain a long list of the hours and places of worship of congregations in different parts of the country1 and even outside of the ,british ,isles in some cases4 ,in some instances the local congregation publishes a paper of its own1 affording a good medium through which to advertise the meetings and to keep distant brethren informed of the work that is being done1 as well as to teach the truth of ,god4 ,a book room is maintained in ,birmingham1 where the ,british and ,american publications may be purchased4 ,they were using a hymn-book 7words only7 of their own and a tune-book published by others1 but a new hymnbook was under consideration when ,i was among them last year4 ,a list of isolated members is kept1 and persons elected by the annual meeting conduct a correspondence with these brethren4 ,the following are extracts from some of the letters received in reply to those that had been sent out3 ,i am hoping that the day will come when ,i can leave this district and get to one where ,i can have the fellowship of my brethren2 but meanwhile ,i am glad and thankful to be held in remembrance of my brethren and to be on your list1 and ,i pray ,god to help your work1 for ,i have still hope in ,him1 and know ,he has not given me up4 ,another brother says3 ,though ,i can not say that ,i have anything important or cheering to write1 yet ,i can say that ,i am rejoicing in the salvation of ,god1 which is in ,christ ,jesus our ,lord4 ,my isolation from regular church fellowship has been so long that ,i have almost given up the hope of enjoying it again in ,arbroath2 but still my prayer is that the ,lord would raise up some here or send some here who know the truth1 and who love the ,lord with their whole heart1 and would be able and willing to declare unto the people the whole counsel of ,god concerning the way of salvation4 ,a ,sisters' ,conference was held in connection with the annual meeting1 and a ,temperance ,conference and ,meeting was held on ,monday before the annual meeting opened4 ,missionary work is being carried on in ,burmah1 ,siam1 and ,south ,africa4 ,in ,burmah some attention has been given to translating and publishing a part of the ,psalms in one of the languages of that country4 ,much time has been spent in the villages by systematic visitation1 by the distribution of literature1 and by seizing upon any and every opportunity of speaking to the people4 ,street meetings have been constantly held1 visitors received on the boat1 the gospel preached from the ,mission-boat to the people sitting on the banks of the river1 and also proclaimed to the people in their homes1 in the villages1 and in the fields1 and on the fishing stations4 ,although there were but two baptisms during the year the congregation numbers fifty-one4 ,the brethren in ,siam were working where the rivers1 numerous canals1 and creeks form the chief roadways4 ,the ,year ,book contains the following concerning the medical missionary in this field3 ,his chief work during the year has been rendering such help as his short medical training has fitted him to give4 ,for a time twelve to twenty patients a day came to him for treatment4 ,after a while the numbers fell off1 he thought because all the sick in the neighborhood had been cured4 ,the little church in ,nakon ,choom 99 99 99 now consists of two ,karens1 one ,burman1 one ,mon1 two ,chinamen1 and two ,englishmen4 ,as several of these do not understand the others' language1 the gift of tongues would seem not undesirable4 ,in ,south ,africa there are congregations at ,johannesburg1 ,pretoria1 ,bulawayo1 ,cape ,town1 and ,carolina4 ,the church in ,bulawayo numbers about fifty members1 nearly all of whom are natives who are eager learners4 ,i saw more of the workings of the church at ,twynholm than any other congregation visited1 as ,i stayed at ,twynholm ,house while in ,london both on the outward trip and as ,i returned home4 ,of the seven congregations in this city1 ,twynholm is the largest1 and is the largest in the ,british brotherhood1 having a membership of above five hundred4 ,this church was established in #ahid with twenty-five members1 and has had a good growth4 ,they open the baptistery every ,lord's day night1 and very frequently have occasion to use it4 ,there were fifty-three baptisms last year1 and twenty-one others were added to the membership of the church4 ,at the close of a recent church year the ,band of ,hope numbered five hundred and fifteen1 and the ,lord's day school had twelve hundred and fifty pupils and one hundred and two teachers4 ,i think it was one hundred and sixty little tots ,i saw in one room1 and down in this basement there were about fifty more4 ,i was told that there were more children attending than they had accommodation for1 but they disliked to turn any of them away4 ,the ,woman's ,meeting had one hundred and sixteen members2 the ,total ,abstinence ,society1 one hundred and fifty2 and the membership of the ,youths' ,institute and ,bible ,students' ,class were not given4 ,five thousand copies of ,joyful ,tidings1 an eight-page paper1 are given away each month4 ,the following announcement from the first page of this paper will indicate something of the activities of this congregation3 ,,church ,,of ,,christ1 ,twynholm ,assembly ,hall1 ,fulham ,cross1 ,s4,w4 ,,regular ,,services ,,and ,,gatherings4 ,,lord',s ,,day4 #i3de ,a4,m4--,bible ,students' ,class4 #aa3jj ,a4,m4--,divine ,worship and ,the ,breaking of ,bread4 7,acts #b3db1 etc47 #b3de ,p4,m4--,lord's ,day ,schools4 #c3jj ,p4,m4--,young ,men's ,institute4 #d3jj ,p4,m4--,teachers' ,prayer ,meeting 7first ,lord's day in the month74 #f3cj ,p4,m4--,evangelistic ,service4 #g3de ,p4,m4--,believers' ,immersion 7usually74 #h3aj ,p4,m4--,the ,breaking of ,bread 7,continued74 ,,monday4 #b3cj ,p4,m4--,woman's ,own ,meeting4 #g3jj ,p4,m4--,band of ,hope4 #h3cj ,p4,m4--,social ,gathering for ,young ,people 7over fourteen74 #h3cj ,p4,m4--,total ,abstinence ,society 7last ,monday night in the month74 ,,thursday4 #h3jj ,p4,m4--,mid-week ,service for ,prayer1 ,praise1 and ,public ,exposition of the ,word4 #i3jj ,p4,m4--,singing ,practice4 ,,friday4 #h3jj ,p4,m4--,teachers' ,preparation ,class and ,devotional ,meeting4 7,open to all74 ,seat all ,free and ,unappropriated4 ,no ,public ,collections4 ,hymn-books provided for ,visitors4 ,this ,church of ,christ earnestly pleads for the complete restoration of the primitive ,christianity of the ,new ,testament1 for the cultivation of personal piety1 and benevolence1 and for loving service for ,jesus the ,christ4 ,twynholm is the name given to a piece of property1 originally intended for a hotel1 situated in the western part of ,london1 at the intersection of four streets in ,fulham ,cross4 ,these streets make it a place easily reached1 and the numerous saloons make the necessity for such an influence as emanates from a church of ,god very great4 ,there is a good1 commodious audience-room at the rear1 and several smaller rooms about the premises4 ,the front part is owned and controlled by a brother who has a family of ,christians to live there and run the restaurant on the first floor and the lodging rooms on the two upper floors1 where there are accommodations for a few young men4 ,here ,i had a desirable room1 and was well cared for by the brother and sister who manage the house4 ,the restaurant is not run for profit1 but to afford the people a place to eat cheaply and to spend time without going where intoxicants are sold4 ,the patrons are allowed to sit at the tables and play such games as dominoes1 the aim being to counteract the evil influences of that part of the city as far as possible4 ,one night ,i attended a meeting of the ,band of ,hope in a big basement room at ,twynholm1 where a large number of small children were being taught to pray1 and were receiving good instruction along the line of temperance4 ,several older persons were on duty to preserve order among these children1 many of whom had doubtless come from homes where little about order and good behavior is ever taught4 ,soon after this meeting ,i went up on the street1 and there1 near a saloon with six visible entrances1 a street musician was playing his organ1 while small girls1 perhaps not yet in their teens1 were being encouraged to dance4 ,at ,twynholm ,i also attended the ,social ,hour meeting1 which was an enjoyable affair4 ,a program of recitations1 songs1 etc41 was rendered4 ,this also1 ,i suppose1 is to offset some of the evil agencies of the great city and keep the young people under good influences4 ,the ,woman's ,meeting convenes on ,monday afternoon4 ,the leaders of the meeting are ladies of the church1 who are laboring for the betterment of an inferior class of ,london women4 ,i spoke before this meeting1 by request1 and was1 so far as ,i now recollect1 the only male person present4 ,it is the custom to use the instrument in connection with the singing in this meeting1 but ,i asked them to refrain on this occasion4 ,an orphans' home is also conducted1 having members of this congregation as its managers4 ,it is a very busy church1 and for being busy and diligent it is to be commended1 but ,i believe there is too much organization4 ,but here1 as elsewhere in ,britain1 there are many very commendable things about the brethren4 ,i have already spoken of system in their proceedings4 ,they outline their work for a given period of time1 specifying the ,scriptures to be read1 the leaders of the meetings1 and who is to preach on each ,lord's day night4 ,then1 for the sake of convenience1 these schedules are printed1 and they are carefully followed4 ,this is far ahead of the haphazard method1 or lack of method1 at home1 where brethren sometimes come together neither knowing what the lesson will be nor who will conduct the meeting4 ,whatever may be the faults of these disciples in the old country1 it must be said to their credit that they are kind and hospitable to strangers1 and make a visiting brother welcome4 ,the talent in their congregations is better developed than it is here1 and their meetings are conducted in a more orderly and systematic manner4 ,they are more faithful in the observance of the ,lord's supper than many in this land4 ,the percentage of preachers giving their whole time to the work is less than it is here1 but the number who can and do take part in the public work of the church is proportionately larger than it is here4 ,i will now close this chapter and this volume with the address of ,brother ,anderson1 chairman of the annual meeting held last year at ,wigan3 ,,dear ,,brethren3--,in accepting the responsible and honorable position in which you have placed me1 ,i do so conscious of a defect that ,i hope you will do your best to help and bear with4 ,please speak as distinctly as possible1 so that ,i may hear what is said4 ,there may be other defects that ,i might have helped1 but please do your best to help me in this respect4 ,i heartily thank you for the honor conferred upon me4 ,whether ,i deserve it or not1 ,i know that it is well meant on your part4 ,we prefer honor to dishonor2 but what one may count a great honor1 another may lightly esteem4 ,the point of view is almost everything in these matters2 but if positions of honor in the kingdoms of the earth are lightly esteemed1 positions of honor in the kingdom of ,god have a right to be esteemed more highly4 ,we are met in conference as subjects of the kingdom of ,god1 as heirs of everlasting glory1 having a hope greater than the world can give1 and a peace that the world can neither give nor take away4 ,to preside over such a gathering1 met to consider the best means of spreading the ,gospel of ,christ among men1 is a token of respect upon which ,i place a very high value4 ,the fact that it came unexpectedly does not lessen the pleasure4 ,i know that you have not placed me here on account of my tact and business ability to manage this conference well4 ,had ,i possessed these qualities in a marked degree1 you would no doubt have taken notice of them before this time4 ,i know that you only wish to pay a token of respect to a plain old soldier before he lays aside his harness1 and1 brethren1 ,i thank you for that4 ,for forty-four years ,i have enjoyed sweet and uninterrupted fellowship in this brotherhood4 ,for over forty years my voice has been heard in the preaching of the ,gospel of the ,grace of ,god4 ,for close on thirty years all my time has been given to the proclamation and defense of ,new ,testament truth as held by us as a people4 ,every year has added strength to the conviction that ,god has led me to take my stand among the people who of all the people on the earth are making the best and most consistent effort to get back to the religion established by ,christ and his apostles4 ,i therefore bless the day that ,i became one of you4 ,had our position been wrong1 ,i have given myself every opportunity of knowing it4 ,circumstances have compelled me to examine our foundations again and again4 ,i have been called upon to defend our faith1 when attacked1 times not a few4 ,whatever may be the effect that ,i have had upon others1 my own confidence has been increased at every turn4 ,to-day ,i am certain that if the ,new ,testament is right1 we can not be far wrong2 and if the ,new ,testament can not be trusted1 there is an end to the whole matter4 ,but the claims of ,christ and the truth of the ,new ,testament are matters upon which a doubt never rises4 ,as years roll on1 it becomes more easy to believe and harder to doubt4 ,knowledge1 reason1 and experience now supply such varied yet harmonious and converging lines of evidence that a doubt seems impossible4 ,difficulties we may have1 and perhaps must have1 as long as we live1 but we can certainly rise above the fog land of doubt4 ,considering all this1 it gives me more pleasure to preside over this gathering than over any other voluntary gathering on earth4 ,it is a voluntary gathering4 ,we do not profess to be here by ,divine appointment4 ,it is a meeting of heaven's freemen to consider the best means of advancing the will of ,god among men4 ,while met1 may we all act in a manner worthy of the great object which brings us together4 ,faith1 forbearance and watchfulness will be required as long as we live1 if we wish to keep the unity of the faith in the bond of peace4 ,all those who set out for a complete return to ,jerusalem have not held on their way2 some have gone a long way back and others are going4 ,what has happened in other lands may happen here1 unless we watch and are faithful4 ,the more carefully we look into matters1 we shall be the less inclined to move4 ,putting all ,god's arrangements faithfully and earnestly to the test1 and comparing them with others1 increases our faith in them4 ,faithfulness increases faith4 ,this keeps growing upon you till you become certain that only ,god's means will accomplish ,god's ends4 ,sectarianism1 tested by experience1 is a failure4 ,the time was when our danger in departing from our simple plea of returning to the ,bible alone lay in our being moved by clerical and sectarian influences4 ,to the young in particular in the present day that can hardly be called our greatest danger4 ,the influences at work to produce doubt in regard to the truth of the ,bible were never so great as they are now4 ,this used to be the particular work of professed infidels2 now it is more largely the work of professed ,christian scholars4 ,if you wish to pass for a scholar1 you must not profess to believe the ,old ,testament4 ,you must not say too much against the truth of that book1 or you may be called in question1 but you can go a good long way before there is much danger4 ,jesus believed that old book to be the word of ,god4 ,but he was not a scholar4 ,he was the son of a country joiner1 and you must not expect him to rise too far above his environment4 ,it surprises me that the scholars have not called more attention to the ignorance of ,jesus in this respect4 ,they will no doubt pay more attention to this later on2 for as ,christian scholars it becomes them to be consistent1 and ,i have no doubt that they will shortly1 in this respect1 make up for lost time4 ,to expect that none of our young people will be influenced by this parade of scholarship is to expect too much4 ,but faith in ,christ should keep them from rushing rashly out against a book that ,christ professed to live up to and came to fulfill4 ,this battle of the scholars over the truth of the ,bible is only being fought4 ,we have no wish that it should not be fought4 ,everything has a right to be tested with caution and fairness1 and when the battle is lost1 it will be time enough for us to pass over to the side of the enemy4 ,this question as to the truth of the ,old ,testament will be settled1 and as sure as ,christ is the ,son of ,god1 and has all power in heaven and on earth1 it will be settled upon the lines of the attitude which he took up towards that book1 and it will be settled to the disgrace of those who professed to believe in ,jesus1 but deserted his position before full examination was made4 ,that no transcriber ever made a slip1 or that no translator ever made a mistake1 is not held by any one4 ,but the day that it is proved that the ,old ,testament is not substantially true1 faith in ,christ and ,christianity will get a shake from which it will never recover4 ,we have not lost faith in the ,bible4 ,there is no need for doing so4 ,the word of the ,lord will endure forever4 ,but meantime1 brethren1 let us be faithful1 prayerful1 and cautious1 and be not easily moved from the rock of ,god's word by the pretensions of scholars or of science1 falsely so called4 ,i do not know that there is any necessary connection between the two1 but a belief in evolution and scholarly doubts about large portions of the ,old ,testament1 as a rule1 go together4 ,you must not profess to know anything of science in many quarters if you doubt evolution4 ,in the bulk of even religious books it is referred to as a matter that science has settled beyond dispute4 ,to expect that many of our young people will not be so far carried along by this current is to expect too much4 ,many of them will be carried so far2 it is a question of how many and how far4 ,there perhaps never was a theory before believed by as many educated people without proof as the theory of evolution4 ,it is an unproved theory2 there is not a fact beneath it4 ,that you have low forms of life1 and forms rising higher and higher till you get to man1 is fact4 ,but that a higher species ever came from a lower is without proof4 ,let those who doubt this say when and where such a thing took place1 and name the witnesses4 ,not only are there no facts in proof of it1 but it flies in the face of facts without number4 ,if like from like is not established1 then nothing can be established by observation and experience4 ,what other theory do we believe which contradicts all that we know to be true in regard to the subject to which it refers8 ,not only does it contradict fact and experience1 it contradicts reason4 ,if you listen to the voice of reason1 you can no more believe that the greater came from the less than you can believe that something came from nothing4 ,we are intuitively bound to believe that an effect can not be greater than its cause4 ,but the theory of evolution contradicts this at every step along the whole line4 ,i am anxious to find the truth in regard to anything that has a bearing upon my belief in ,god or religion4 ,but in trying to find the truth1 ,i have never regretted being true to myself4 ,to slavishly follow others is1 to say the least of it1 unmanly4 ,i do not believe in evolution because ,god has so made me that ,i can not4 ,wherever man came from1 he sprang not from anything beneath him4 ,when a man asks me to believe a thing that has not facts1 but only theory to support it1--said theory contradicting fact1 experience and reason1--he asks me more than ,i can grant4 ,the thing is absurd1 and must one day die4 ,i am agreeably surprised that we1 as a people1 have suffered so little as yet from the sources of error referred to4 ,still they are all living dangers1 and if we would hold fast the faith once for all delivered to the saints1 we must see to our own standing1 and as ,god has given us opportunity let us be helpful to others4 ,our ground is ,god-given and well tested4 ,the fellowship with ,god and with each other that it has brought to us has given us much happiness here4 ,let us be faithful and earnest the few years that we have to remain here1 and our happiness will be increased when the ,lord comes to reward us all according to our works4