The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1857-10-10

AoAern Jerusalen. sgol
4 An Oriental correspondent of the Bostol
Post, now en- bis travels, draws . sombr
picture OF that famous place-once the ''jo,
Of the whole EARTH" After the first few
days Of excitement, which every visitor t.
Jerusalem must experience, there succeed
an inexpressible sadness. settled melancbo
" which appears to be impressed upon tn
countenance of every inhabitant.
A walk through the filthy streets is . hor
ror-the heaps'of garbage left to rot in tn,
sun ;-tbe slaughter-house in the center o.
the city the tannery adjacent to, and pol
luting the Holy Sepulchre the skins of ami
mails, yet warm from their bodies, and Gov
cred with vermin, exposed At every corner
for sale-and yet worse, If possible, the
abominably filthy Jew, the half-naked Arab
the horrible peasants whose skins are hardly
to be distinguished from the beastly rags
which cover them, create loathing in the
mind of the stranger, which cannot be bet
ter described than in the words of the pro-
hsy lie soSsS SSy n All m.P sps
the city desolate, and an kissing; every one
thst passeth thereby shall be sstonished,
and hiss because of the plaques thereof"
accommodation in Jerusalem be true, we
should not fancy q long stay there, however
anxious we might be to examine the topo-
graphy Of the Holy City and its surround
ings. There are no furnished lodgings to be
had. The visitor is either obliged to hire q
house furnish it and procure servants, who
are the worst in the world, or 60 to hotel.
The hotels, which are private houses chang
ed to public ones, are of the most wretched
description. There is not house in the
city, except those built for the consuls by
their respective governments, as good as that
OF au American backwoodsman. In the
winter the houses are cold, and the roofs let
in the water. The floors are made slarting
that the water may run of. In summer
they are uninhAbitable from the heat. There
ale in the city .hree miserable hotels in which
the fare is poor, and the charges as high as
at the Astor House in New York.
But the worst feature about modern Jeru-
salem is the everlasting brols and dissen-
sions among the different religious sects
which are almost innumerable. 1t is only
the dread Of the Turkish power t1at keeps
them from literally devouring each other.
The Turk sits at the door Of the Church Of
the Holy Sepulchre, smoking his pipe, sip
ping his black coffee, and viewing with equal
indifference the Latin, the Greek, the Ar
menian, the Copt. the Chaldean. and do
zen others who pass by him on their way to
different affairs, while the Jew who ventures
into the open square in front Of the Church
exposes himself to great peril, If not to GER
tain death. from the hands Of both Turk /!
and Christian
The Christian cannot enter the Grand
Mosque Of the Turk. The Greek, the Latin |
and the Armenian are engaged in constant
dispute among themselves. In the mean
time the Church Of the Holy Sepulchre is
falling to pieces, . d the wind and rain are
beating upon the Holy Sepu!chre itself
There is of course ne societv-no common
ground upon which all may meet
The unsocial Turk inhabits his own quar-
ters, and scarcely ever leaves il except to |
give some specimen Of his tyranny. The !
Jew lives in his own filth in another quarter, |
or sneaks about the city in listless man
ner, until some charity sent from abroad
gives him excitement enough to quarrel /
about his share. The Christians have their !
own quarter, which is somewhat less dirty /
than the others.
Our traveller announces the recent arrival |
Of a new Pasha who seemed disposed to aid
in the work Of cleansing the city; yet he
might turn out, like other functionaries be-
fore him, but a ner room. Still he appear
I'd less opposed to innovation than his pre-
iecessorS
The WORD SELAH.-The translators Of the
Bible have left the Hebrew word Selah,
which occurs so often in the Psalms, as they
found it, and of course the English reader
often asks his minister, or learned friend,
what it means. And the minister or learn
L. zfs al
confess ignorance; because it is q matter in
regard to which, the most learned have by
no means, been Of one mind. The Targums
md most of the Jewish commentators give
10 the word the meaning of eterndlly for
'rer. Rabbi Kimchi regards il as sign to
sievate the voice. The authors Of the Sep
.uagint translation appear to have regarded
i as musical or rythmieal note. Hender
regarded it as indicating change of note
as = musical note, equivalent,
perhaps, to the word repeat. According to
Luther and others, it means silence! Gese-
,ius explains it to mean, LET the instru
nent play and the singers stop" Wocher
regards it as equivalent to sursun eordd-
lp my soul !-Sommer, after examining all
The seventy -four passages in which the word
occurs, recognizes in every case AN actual
appeal or summons to Jehovah" They are
:alls for aid and prayers to be heard, ex-
pressed either with entire directness, or if
not in the imperative, (" Hear, Jehovah" |" or
awake Jehovah, and the like still earnest
addresses to God that he would remember
Ind hear, &C. The word itself he regards
IS indicating blast Of the trumpets by the
priest Selah, itself, he thinks an abridged
used for Higgaion Selan-Hig-
,aion indicating the sound Of the stringed
and Selah vigorous blast of
.rumpets. Sdcra.
A STEP IN ADvANcE.-The Boston Her
I'D recommends the abolition of all laws for
he collection of debts. 1t follows the chang
Is which have heen made in the laws rela-
ling to debtor and creditor, Fl om the time
he was imprisoned until he starved. to the
period not very far back, when he "might
swear out in thirty days" The Herald then
proceeds: --are -.--.z % ,-.......t.st
"Wha under he circumstances, remains
to be done! Clearly only this: To abolish
III laws on the subject. Leave parties to
collect their debts without the Intervention
Of law. We are aware that this doctrine
may appear radical, but it is made neeessa-
" by the exigencies Of the case. We are
Iware, too. that it will be received with in
tense disgust by the legal profession, for,
BY the laws for collecting debts, they derive
} large share of their business. But We be-
ieve we may appeal confidently to the peo-
Die on this Question They know the difii-
.ulties which environ them when they make |
use of law to coerce payments; they knew
The delays, the anxieties, the cost that at