The Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa) 1841-185?, 1853-04-14

.SAEaFii ANa - ] ISi a IIIIH - HE fIS
ING EVIDENCES OF TIE BlBLE.--ln a letter
descriptive Of The bill country Of Palestine,
B4ynrd Taylor thus speaks oi the ancient
Samaritans and the Samaritan Pentateuch
Nablons is noted for the existence Of a
small remnant If the ancient Samartans.
!. The stock has gradually dWindled away.
and amounts to only 10 families, contain
ing little more than $50 individuals. They
i've 10 a peculiar quarter ofihe city, and
are easily distinguished from the other IN
Ehabitants in the cast ri the figures After
oar guide, native Of Nabions, had point
ed OFT three or four, had no difficulty in
!. recognizing All the others we met. They
have long bat not prominent noses, like
the Jews; small oblong eyes, narrow lips,
and fair complexion, most ot them have
brown har. They appear 10 be held in
considerable obloquy by the Moslems.
j Our attendant, who was Of the low class Of
/ Arabs, took the boys we met very uncere-
noniously BY the head, calling out: ..iiere
is another Samaritan" lie then conduct.
ed US to their synagogue, 10 see the cele
bratcd Pentateuch, which il there preserved
We were taken to a small open court, sha.
ded by an Apricot tree, where the priest,
an old man in a green robe and white tnr
ban, was seated in meditation. lie had
long grey beard and black eyes, that light,
ed up with sudden expression OF eager
greed when we promised him backshish
for sigh, of the sacred book. He rose.
and took US into a sort Of chspel, followed
lby number Of Samaritan boys. kneeling
down at niche in the wall, he produced
from behind wooden case piece Of rag
ged parchment written with Hebrew char
acters. But the guide was familiar with
this deception, aud rated him so sooadly,
THAT after little hesitation, be laid the trag
men away. and produced large ;in cyin
der, covered with piece of green satin
Embroidered in gold. The boys stopped
down and revereutiy kissed the bIazoned
cover, before il was removed. The cylin
der slipping back. by two rows Of hinges,
lopened at The same time The parchment
scroll, which was rolled a, both ends. j.
was indeed very ancient manuscript,
and in remarkable preservation. The
rents have been carefully repaired, and the
scroll neatly stitched upon another pareh
ment, covered Oh the outside with violet
satin. the p.iest informed me that it was
i written by the son OF Aaron, but this does
not coincide with the fact that the Samar-
litan Pentateuch is different from that Of
The Jews. Ii is however, no doubt one OF
the oldest parchment records in the world.
and the Samarllans look upon j, with un-
bounded faith aud reverence. The Peuta-
Iteuch, according TO their version. contains
their only form OF religion. They reject
!, every thing else which the Old Testament
contains. Three or four DAYS ago was
their grand feast of sacrifice, when they
made burnt Offering of lamb, on the top
of mount Geriziu. Within a short time
it said, they have shown some curiosity to
become acquainted with the New Testa-
men,, and the High Prizes, sent to Jerusa
lem to procure Arabic copies.
| asked one Of these wild eyed boys
whether he could read the sscred look
I"Oh, yes" said the priest, ''all these boys
can read it," and the one addressed i'm
mediaieiy pulled volume from his breast,
and commenced reading in fluent Hebrew
Ii appeared TO be a part OF their church
service, for both the priest and boah, or
door keeper, kept up running series OF
responses; and occasionally the whole
crowd shouted out some deep mouthed word
in chorus. The cid man leaned forward,
with an expression as deep and intense as
iIil the text had become incarnate IN him,
following with his lips, the sound OF the
hoy's voice. Ii was strange picture Of
religious enthusiasm, and was Of itself sut-
hcieut TO convince me of the legitimacy OF
The S,maritan's descent. When | rose To
leave, gave him the promised fee, and a
smaller one to the boy who read the ser
VICE. This was signal for general at
tack from the door keeper, aud all the boys
who were present. They surrounded me
with ewes sparkling with the desire gain,
kissed the border o! my Acket, stroked my
beard with their hands, which they then
kissed, and were ready, as il seemed TO me,
10 fall on my neck 10 hcup, after the old
Hebrew fashion. The priest, ciamorous
for more. followed with glowing face, and
the whole group had rotous and baccha-
naian character, which should never have
imagined could spring from such passion
ale aVarlce.
That despiser Of mon, Mrs. L. o. Smith,
is of the opinion that husbands would I'M
Drove in their morals and manners if they
we're subdued at home. She insists that
they nre mean, arrogant, and dishonest
abroad. and Suggests, as remedy, little
domestic discipline Oh the Caude plan.
| Poor Mrs. Smith. She is no, aware Of il
perhaps, but she pays very sorry comp'-
me at TO her husband, The unhappy man
| !, IA Ls ni,ipt - Gin Item