The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1829-11-25


the papers without any credit for the source
from which it is derived. From internal evi
dence, however, we attribute it to the pen O
Buckingham, the celebrated English traveller
in the East:
CHRISTIANITY IN THE EAST.
The first of the eastern countries which
it was my lot to visit, as q traveller, was
Egypt; and it was, of course, impossible
for me to tread the banks oc the Nile, from
among the bulrushes of which Moses was
taken up by the daughter of Pharaoh-to
traverse the land of Goshen, or cross the
Red Sea to the Desert of Wandering
behold the stupendous monument, in the
erection of which, it is at least probable
that the enslaved and captive Israelites
were employed-and not feel an additional
interest in every thing connected with its
scriptural history; or to be Indifferent to
the state and condition of the people, among
whom those scriptures were still held in
esteem. The government of that country,
as you are aware, is in the hands of Ma
hometans, by whom Christianity is rejected,
and its professors subjected to disabilities
and expressions. Accordingly, the circu-
lation of the scriptures is extremely limited
in Egypt. Nevertheless, inasmuch as there
are still number of protesting Christians,
of the several sects denominated as Greeks,
Armenians, Copts, Historians, Maronites,
&C., having religious establishments and
places of worship in Egypt, the introduction
of the scriptures among them might not be
work of difficulty, and from them it might
the more readily pass into the hands of
those who would be otherwise inaccessi-
BILE; while, in consequence of the degrad-
ed and corrupt state of the Christians them
selves, it may be said that the scriptures,
if presented in language in which they
could be Familiarity read, would be likely to
effect as great changA among them as
among those who profess not their faith ;
for scarcely any thing can be conceived
more remote from the simple purity of
Christianity, than the rites, ceremonies, and
dogmas, designated by that name In the
east.
The countries that next visited, and
which may well be associated together on
this occasion as one, namely, Palestine and
Mesopotamia, possessed a still stronger
scriptural interest than even Egypt; tor,
while gazing on the walls and towers OF
Jerusalem,-crossing the brook Kedron by
the Pool of loam,-treading the Mount OF
Olives, and entering Bethany and Beth
page, Bethlehem and Nazareth, who could
be Indifferent to the Sacred Volume that
recorded all the events of which these spots
were the scenes and witnesses? If bath
ed myself in the waters of the Jordan, or
fingered on the shores of the Dead Sea-
if hung with delight on the glorious pros
poets from Lebanon, or reposed among the
bowers of Damascus,-in short, whatever
path my footsteps traced, whether 1t led me
through the ruins of Tyre and Sidon, or the
fields and valleys of remote soltudes, eve
ry rock and every nence,-every brook
and every rivulet, had its own especial his
tory, and reused up thousand scriptural
associations. Yet here, too, as in Egypt
the government is in the hands of Mahom-
etans; and though there are not wanting
protesting Christians in considerable mum.
Der and variety, both as residents and as
pilgrims, yet the scriptures are SO little
known and understood among them, and sc
little vigilance is exercised by those whose
duty it is to be always active in the cause
that they correspond exactly with the de-
scription given by the prophet, when he
speaks of the shepherds that sleep" while
the fold is in danger, and the watchmar
who slumbers" while the citadel is invaded
In Mesopotamia, the darkness is ever
greater still. AT Ur of the Chaldees, the
birth place of Abraham, and over all the
country beyond the great river Euphrates
Christianity is less and less to be found
even in name, and still more remote from
its original purity in character so much so
that there is one sect, who consider them
selves to be in some degree Christians, a!
they profess to follow Gospel of st. John
but their claim to that appellatlon may bt
Judged from the fact of their actually pay
ing divine honors to Satan, and quoting {
passage of their Gospel in their defence
The awful ruins of Ninevah and Babylon
stand upon the banks of their respective
streams, the Tigris and Euphrates, in al
the silent gloom of utter desolation and
traversing their vast remains with the scrip
tural descriptions of their grandeur fresh il
my recollection, it was impossible not t
feel all the sadness which characterized
the captive Israelites of old, when, instead
of singing the songs Of Zion, as in happe
days, they hung their harps upon the will
lows, and sat themselves down by the wa
tiers of Babylon and wept.
In passing from thence into Persia, ther,
was not much improvement, although ray
of hope had begun to illumine the genera
darkness. In every part of that country
the European character is so highly respect
ed, that almost any measure coming from
Europeans, and Englishmen especially
would be sure to meet with less resistance
than in any other part of the Mahometar
world While Persia is, therefore, quite
as destitute as all other countries of Asia
in n moral and religious sense, it appear:
TO me that it offers less obstructed chan