Southern reveille. (Port Gibson, Miss.) 1851-185?, 1852-12-15


In my rambles about Jerusalem passed on
several occasions through the quarter Of the
Lepers of Jerusalem Apart from the in.
terest attached to this unfortunate GLASS Of
beings, (arising from the frequent illusions
made 10 them in the Scriptures there is much
in their appearance and mode Of life to attract
attention and enlist the sympathy Of the
stranger Dirt and disease 20 revolving to.
gether here; gaunt famine stalks through the
streets constant moan Of suffering swells
upon the air. and sin broods darkly over the
ruin it has wrought in that gloomy and ILL
fatcd spot Wasted forms sit in the doorways
faces covered with white scales and aehtIess
eyes and turned upwards; skeleton arms, dis
tOrted and fGtid with the rayages Of leprosy,
are outstretched from the foul, moving mass
and low howl is heard, the howl Of the
stricken for aims; aims, oh stranger for the
love Of God aims TO feed tho inexorable de-
stroyer aims TO prolong this dreary and
hopeless misery.
Look upon it. stranger, you who walk forth
in all your pride and strength and breathe the
fresh air Of heaven; you have never known
what it is to be shuned by your fellow man as
a thing unclean and accursed; you who deem
yourself unblessed with all the blssings that
God has given you upon earth look upon it
and learn that there is misery beyond all
that you have conceived in your gloomiest
hours-a misery that can still be endured /;
learn that even the Leper, with death gnawing
a. his vitals and unceasing tortures in his
blood. cast out from the society Of his fellow
man. forbidden to touch 10 friendship or alfec-
ton, the hand Of the untainted. still struggles
for life, and deems each hour precious that
keeps him from the grave.
The quarters Of the Lepers is a sad and
impressive place. BY the law Of the land.
which have existed from scriptual times, they
are isolated from all actual contact with their
fellow men; yet there seems to be no prohi-
bition 10 their going out beyond the walls Of
Jerusalem, and begging by the road side.
Near the gate Of Zion. on the way TO Bethle-
hem, saw many Of them sitting on the
racks. their hideous faces uncovered, thrusting
forth their scaly hands for aims. Their huts
are rudely constructed Of earth and stone.
seldom with more than one apartment, and
this so filthy and lOathsome that It seemed
unfit to be occupied by swine. Here they
live and propagate. whole families together.
without distinction Of sex and their dreadful
malady is perpetuated from generation TO
generation, and the groans of the aged and
the dying are mingled with the feeble vail Of
the young that are brought forth branded for
a life Of misery. Strange and mournful
thoughts arise, in the contemplation Of the sad
condition and probable destiny Of these i'll
fatcd beings
Among so many, there must be some in
whose breast the power Of true love is inn
planted love for woman in its purest sense,
for offspring, for all the endearment Of domes-
tic life which the untainted are capable Of
fetling; yet doomed never to exercise the
affections without perpetuating the curse /;
some, too, IL whom there are hidden pow
ers Of mind, unknown save 70 themselves; I;
ambition and corrodes with unaYailing aspi-
rations; a thirst for action that burns within
increasingly, yet never can be assuagod; all
the ruling passions that are implanted in man
for great and noble purposes. never, never,
never to give one moments pleasure unmixea
with the perpetual gloom Of that curse which
dWells IN their blood
As / plodded my way for the last time
through this den Of sickening sights vision
Of human misery was impressed upon my
mind, that time cannot efFace. Ipassed when
the rays Of the sun were cold and the light
was dim; and there came out from the reek-
ing novels leprOus men, gaunt with famine,
an they barred their hedious bodies and howled
like beasts; and women held out their loath-
some and accursed babes, and tore away
the rags that covered them, and pointing to
the shapeless mass. shrieked for aims. All
was disease, and sin, and sorrow wherever !
went and as passed on, unable 10 relieve
thousanth part Of the misery, MONS Of
despair and bowling curses followed me, and
Lepers crawled back into their novels to rot
in their filth. and die when God willed.-I
Cor. MAJ Intel.