Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1874-07-17
The Land Of Palestine.

has wlthcred its fields and fettercd its en-
orgies. Where Sodom and Gomorrah
reared their domos and towers. that SOL
emn sea now floods the plain, in whose
bitter waters no living thing cxsts-over
whose wavelcss surface the blistering air
hangs motionless and dead about whose
borders nothing grows but weeds and
scattered tufts of cane, and that treaclicr-
Gus fruit that promises refreshmcnt to
parchlng lips, but turns to ashes at the
touch. Nazareth is forlorn. About the
ford Of Jordan, where the hosts Of Israel
entered the Promised Land with songs
of rejoicing one finds only a sgualid camp
Of fantastic Bedouins of the desert; Jeri-
cho, the accursed. lies Wondering ruin
to-day, even as Joshuas miracle left it
more than three thousand years ago;
Bethlehem and Bethany in their poverty
and their humiliation have nothing about
them now to remind one that they once
knew the high honor of the Saviour's
presence the hallowcd spot where the
shepherds watched their Aocks, and where
the angels sang "Pcace on earth, good
will to men, is untcnanted by any liv-
ing creature. and unblcssed by any fea-
turc that is pleasant to the eye. Re-
nowned Jerusalem itself. the statcliest
name in history, has lost all its ancient
grandeur, and is become pauper vii
lage; the riches Of Solomon are no lon
ger there to compel the admiration of ORR
entail queens; the wonderful temple which
was the pride aud glory Of Israel is gone,
and the Ottoman crescent is lifted above
the spot where, on that memorable day
in the annals of the world, they reared
the holy cross.
The noted sea of Galilee, where Ro-
man fleets once rode at anchor, and dis
ciples of the Saviour sailed in their ship,
was long deserted by the devotees of war
aud commerce, and its borders are 81
lent wilderness Capernaum is a shape
less ruin NIagdala the home of beggar-
ed Arabs; Bcthsaida aud Chorazin have
vanished from the earth, and the desert
places round about them, where thou
sands of men once listened to the Sa-
viour's voice and ate miraculous bread,
sleep in the hush of solitude that is in
habited only by birds of prey and skuls-
ing foxes.
Palestine is desoatc and unloyely,and
why should it be otherwise ? Can the
curse of Deity beautify land
A PIous Doc. My father had a small
and beautiful dog that rcjoced in the
name of Fidelity. He differed from
other good dogs only in being better than
others, and in manifestng something
that rescmbed religious sensibiity, or a
peculiar attachment to religious places,
people and services. He attended fami-
ly worship with puuctuality and regu-
larity that the other members of the
household might well have initiated, and
certainly did not surpass. IF stranger
was prescnt-and much company visited
our house-thc dogs attention to him
was regulated by his taking lead, or not,
in the religious worship in the household.
If the visitor, at my fathers request,
conducted the worship, the dog at once
attached himself to his person. and when
he departed the dog escorted him out of
the village; sometimes going home with
him to neighborlng town, and making
him visit Of a few days If the visitor
did not perform any religious service in
the house, the dog took no notice Of him
while there, and suffered him to depart
unattended and evidently unregrottcd.
Such n dog was, Of course, an habit
ual attendant on the public services of
the church on the Sabbath 1t required
extraordinary care to keep him at home.
Shut up in a ROOM he dashed through
a window and was at church before the
family. He was once shut up in an out
house that had no floor. He dug out
under the sill Of the door, and was at
church before the first psalm was sung.
In church he occupied the upper step Of
the pulpit within which his master mir
istercd. He lay quiet during the service
unless other dogs below misbehayed, in
which case he left his seat, and after
quoting the disturbance resumed it, He
was equally devoted TO the weekly pray
er-meeting which was held from house
to house, the appointment being an
nounced on the Sabbath He remember
cd the evening and the place. and was
always present As it was not agreea-
bic to have dog at an evening meeting
in private house, he was confined at
home. The ngxt week he went carly,
before the family had thought to shut up,
and waited for the hour and the people
lie knew the names Of the families where
the meetings were held, and where they
lived, and could have gone to any Of
them on an errand as easily and correct
ly as a child. And the only knowledge
he had of the place of meeting be got as
the others did, by hearing the notice on
Sunday. These habits Of the dog we're
not the fruit of education. On the con-
trary, pains were taken to prevent him
from indulging his religious preferences.
He did not manifest fondness for other
meetings. or for any individuals out Of
the family-circle except those whom he
recognized by their habit Of praying, as
the people in whom he was Interested.
| My father was wont to relate many
other anecdotes Of this remarkable ami
NAL, and the relation Of them always
caused his eyes TO Gil with tears. He
had strong impression that there was
something very mysterious about this
propensity Of the dog. and being himself
a sternly orthodox divine, he never ven
tured TO express the opinion that the dog
had moral perceptions. But | always
\ thought he believed 20. - From Under