The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1853-04-29
JERUSALEM.

the Other side OF the valley oil JehOSapnaI,
says Chateaubriand, Jerusalem presents an
inclined plane, descending from the west to
the east. An embattled wall, fortified with
towers and a gothic castle encompasses the
city all round excluding, however, part of
Mount Zion, which it formerly enclosed In
the western quarter and in the centre of the
city, the houses stand very close but on the
eastern part, along the brook Cedron, you
perceive vacant spaces, among the rest, that
which surrounds the mosque erected on the
ruins of the temple, and the nearly deserted
spot where once stood the castle of Antonio,
and the second palace of Herod. The houses
of Jerusalem are heavy square masses, very
low, without chimneys or windows; they have
fiat terraces or domes on the top, and look
like prisons or sepuIchres. The whole would
appear to the eye one uninterrupted level, did
not the stcepies Of the churches The ninareta
of the mosques, the submits oi few cy-
presses, and the clumps OF nopals, b,vah tho
uniformity of the plan. On beholding these
stone buildings, encompassed by stony
country, you are ready to inquire if they are
not the confused monuments of cemetery
in the midst Of desert
Enter the city, and YOU will find nothing
inside to make amends for the dullness of
the exterior. You lose yourself among mar
row, unpayed streets; here going up hill, there
going down, owing to the inequality of the
ground; and you walk among clouds of dust
and loose stones. Canvass stretched from
house to house increases the gloom of this
labyrinth Bazaars, rooted over, and fraught
with infection, completely exclude the light
from the dcsolate city. A few paltry shops
Inn nl,nI d ,:n.
and even these are frequently shut, from ap-
prehension of the passage of a Cadi Not
creature is to be seen in the streets, not
creature in the gates, except now and then
peasant gliding through the gloom, conceal
ing under his garments the fruits of his labor,
lest he should be robbed of his hard earning
by the rapaciOus soldier.
Amid this extraordinary dcsolation, you
must pause moment to contemplate two
circumstances still more wonderful. Among
the ruins of Jerusalem, two classes of inde-
pendent people find in their religion sufficient
fortitude to enable them to surmOunt such
complicated horrors and wretchedness. Hero
reside communities of Christian Monks,
whom nothing can compel TO leave the tomb
of Christ; neither plunder nor personal abuse,
nor menaces of death itself Night and day
they chant their hymns around the holy
sepuchre. Driven by the cudgel and tho
sabre, women, children, focks and herds,
seek refuge in the cloisters of these recluses.
Now cast your eyes between the temple and
Mount Zion, and you see another petty tribe
cut off from the rest of the inhabitants of this
city. The particular object of every species
of degradation, these people bow their heads
without murmuring. They endure every kind
of insult without demanding justice. They
sink beneath repeated blows, without signing.
If their head be required, they present it to
the Scimetar, On the death of any member
of this prescribed community. his companion
goes by night and interS him by stealth in
the valley of Jehosaphat. in. the Shadol~-af
Solomon's temple. Entqs,tte abodes of this
people, and you will find them amid the most
abject wretchedness, instructing their children
to read mysterious book, which they in turn
will teach to their children. What they did
| five thousand years ago, they still continue
to do. Seventeen times they have witnessed
the destruction of Jerusalem, yet nothing can
discourage them, nothing can prevent them
from turning their faces towards Zion. To
sec the Jews scattered over the whole earth,
according to the word of God, must doubt
less excite surprise. But to be struck with
supernatural astonishment, you must sec
them at Jerusalem; you must behold these
rghtful masters of Judea, living as slaves
and strangers in their own country; you must
view them expecting, under every oppression,
n king, who is to deliver them. Crushed by
the cross that condemns them, skulking near
| the temple, Of which not ore stone is left
upon another, they continue in their deplora-
bic infatuation. The Persans, the Greeks,
and the Romans are swept from existence;
while this petty tribe, whose origin preceded
that Of either of these nations, still exists uE-
mixed among the ruins Of its native land.
But let us turn from viewing the earthly
Jerusalem, which has been blackened by the
wthcrng curse Of Almighty God, to con-
template the heavenly, which is built on a
hill, and which has foundations upon which
time cannot prevail. In this city our Lord
has prepared abundant accommodations for
all who will exert themselves to ascend the
narrow path leading thereto. At the foot of
the hill, according to our picture, a youth is
engaged handing TO those who pass along,
books which point out the way leading to the
New Jerusalem. NV young reader, do you
wish to have an intalIiblc guide to the Eter-
nal city; take the Bible.