The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1865-07-05
JERUSALEM AS III IS--iTS IN
HABITANTS.

Enter the city, but nothing will you
there find to make amends for the dull
ness of its exterior You lose yourself
among narrow unpavcd streets, here &C.
ing up hill, there down, from the inc
quality of the ground, and you walk
among clouds Of dust or loose stones
Canvass stretched from house to house
Increases the gloom Of this labarynth
bazars. rooted over, and fraught with in
fiction, completely exclude the light from
the dcsolatc city. A few paltry shops.
expose nothing but wretchedness to view,
and even these are frequently shut, from
apprehension of the passage Of cadi.'-
Not creature is to be seen in the streets,
not creature at the gates, except now
and then a peasant gliding through the
gloom, concealing under his garments
the fruits of his labor, lest he should be
robbed of his hard earnings BY the rapa-
cious soldier. Aside, in corner, the
Arab butcher is slaughtering some ami
nal suspended by the legs from a wall in
ruins; from his haggard and ferocious
look and his bloody hands, you would
rather suppose he had been cutting the
throat oil fellow creature than killing a
lamb. The only noise heard from time
to time in this decide city is the gallop.
log of the stccd Of the desert; it is the
ianissary who brings the head Of the Be-
douin, or returns from plundering the un-
happy Fcllah.
Amid this extraordinary dcsolation,
you must pause moment to contemplate
two circumstances still moro cxtraordina-
ry Among the ruins Of Jerusalem two
classes of Independent people find in their
religion sufficient fortitude to enable
them to surmount such complicated hor
rors and wrctchedncss. Here reside com
munitcs of christian monks, whom moth
ing can compel to forsakc the tomb oI
Christ, neither plunder nor personal i'll
treatment, nor menaces OF death ITSELF
Night and day they chant their hymn
around the Molp Sepulchrc. S'rippeC
in the morning by Turkish governor
they are found at night at the foot o
Cavalry, in prayer, on tho spot whcr
Christ suffered for the salvation OF man
kind. Their brows are serene, their lips
wear an incessant smile. They recciv
the stranger with joy. Without power
without soldiers, they protect whole vii
lagos against iniquity. Driven by tn
cudgel and the sabre, women, children
hoCks and herds, seek refuge in the cloi'
ters of these reeluses. What prevent
s the armed oppressOr from pursuing h
: prey, and overthrowing such feebl
ramI arts =? The charity Of the monks
they deprive themselves of the last r
sources Of lilo to ransom their supplaint
Turks, Arabs, Greeks, Christian schi
r matics, all throw themselves under Il
d protection of few INDECENT religion
who are incapable of defending then
selves. Here we cannot forboar acknow
edging with Bossuet, "that hands raist
= towards, Heaven dispcrse more battalio,
than hands armed with javelins."
While the new Jerusalem thus aris
= from the desert, resplendent in brigf
ness, cast your eyes between the temp
si and Mount Sion; behold another pet
: Tribe cut off from the rest of the inhal
ty tants of this city. The particular objc
: of every species of degradation, the
:, people bow their heads without murmt
~ ing they endure every kind Of ins'
: without demanding justice; they si'
beneath repeated blows without sighin
l. if their head DO required, they prese
d. it to the schimetar. On tho death Of a
: member of this prescribed communi
o, his companion goes at night and int,
~ him by stealth in the valley Of Jchosl
,rc pbAt, in the shadow Of Solonon's temp
he Enter the abodes of these people, you Y
y find them, amidst the most abicct wret
= edncSs, instructing their children to rt
+ mysterious book, which they in tn
y turn will teach their offspring to read
What they did FIVE thousand years q
3; these people still continue to do. Sev
7 teen times have they witnessed the
N struclion of Jerusalem, yet nothing
I, discourage them, nothing can prev
them from turning their faces towa
Sion. To see the Jows scattered o
0 tho whole world, according to tho "
1of God, must doubtless excite surpri
- but TO Be struck with supernatural as'
ishmspt, you inuat view them at Jcr'