The weekly Lancaster gazette. (Lancaster, Ohio) 1852-1855, 1852-12-02

TIE LEPERs IN J~ERusALEM.-In my RAM
bles about Jerusalem passed on several &C.
c sions through the quarter Of the Lepers.
Apart from the interest attached to this IN
fortunate class Of beings (arising from the
frequent ~allusion made to them in the Scrip
tUFes,) there is much in their appearance
and mode Of life tn attract attention and en-
list the sympathy Of the stranger. Dirt and
disease 60 revoitingly together here; gsunt
famine stalks through the streets, 4 con-
slant cry Of suffering swells upon the dead
air, and sin broods darkly over the ruin il
has wrought in the gloomy aud Inflated spot.
Wasted forms sit in the doorways; faces COW
cred with white scales and sightless eyes
are turned upwards; skeleton arms, distorted
and fGtd with the ravages Of leprosy, are
outstretched from the foul moving mass; and
a low howl is heard, the howl Of the stricken
for aims; aims, oh, stranger, for the love OF
God! aims TO feed the memorable destroyer!
aims to prolong this dreary and hopeless
misery!
! Look upon it, stranger, you wis walk
forth in all your pride and strength, and
breathe the fresh air Of heaven; and you who
have never known what it is TO be Stunned
by your fellow-man as a thing unclean and
accursed; you who deem yourself unblest
with all the blessings that God has given you
upon earth; look upon all that you have con-
ceived in your gloomiest hours-a misery
that can be endured; learn that even the
Leper, with death gnawing at his vitals and
unccasing fortunes in his blood, cast out from
the society Of his fellow-man, forbidden TO
touch in friendship or affe,tion the hand Of
the untainted, still struggles for life, and
deems each hour precious that keeps him
from the grave.
The quarter Of the lepers is a sad and i'm
~pressive place. By the laws Of the land
which have existed since Scriptural times,
they are isolated from all actual contact with
their fellow men; yet their seems to be no
prohibition Of their going out beyond the
walls Of Jerusalem, and begging by the road
side. Near the gate Of Zion, on the way to
Bethlehem, ] saw many Of them sitting on
the rocks, their hideous faces uncovered,
thrusting forth their scaly hands for aims
Their huts are rudely constructed Of earth
and stones, seldom with more than one apart
ment, and this so filthy and loathsome that
it seemed unfit to be occupied by swine
Here, they live and propagate, whole fami-
lies 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 wall of the young that are brought
forth branded for a life Of misery.
Strange an m%ournful thoughts arise, in
the contemplation of the sad condition and
probable destiny of these Inflated beings
Among many, there must be some in whose
breasts the power Of true love is implanted;
love for woman in it's purest sense, Tor of
spring, for all the endearments Of domestic
life which the untainted are capable Of feel
ing; yet doomed never to exercise the afiec-
tions without perpetuating the curse; some,
too, in whom there are hidden powers Of
mind, unknown save to themselves; ambi-
ton that corrodes with unavailing aspira-
tons; a thirst for action that burns within
: increasingly, yet never cun be assuuged; all
the ruling passions that are implanted in
man for great and noble purposes; never
never to give one moments pleasure un'
mixed with the perpetual gloom of thai
curse which dwells in their blood.
AS | plodded my way for the last time
through this den of sickening sights, a Wis
ion Of human misery was impressed upon
my mind that time canDote fTace. passed
when the rays of the sun were cold and the
light was dim; and there come out from the
reeking novels leprous men, gaunt with fam
inc, and they barred their hideous bodies,
and howled like beasts; and women held out
their loathsome and accused babes, and
tore away the rags that covered them, and
pointing to the shapeless mass, shrieked Tor
aims. All was disease and sin and SORROW
wherever ! went; and as | passed on, una
bic 10 relieve a thousandth Of the misery,
means Of despair and bowling curses follow
ed me, and the Lepers crawled back into
their novels to rot ia their filth and die when
God willed.