Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1879-09-03


spite of our three days rain of few days
ago, which, by the way, is nearly all we
have had in six weeks. Rain Is ardently
desired before the Mad River Valley fair,
which comes off Tuesday and Wednesday,
September I'd and Sd.
NJ. ID. Cook, Esq, Of Boston, a versa
tile writer and author of considerable note,
who has been visiting with the family of
q. o. Boyce for few days, has returned
10 his home. He delivered lecture Sum-
day afternoon, August oath. at the NJ. E.
church in this place, to full house and an
appreciative audience; subject" Pales-
tine and the Holy Land" This lecture,
which was greatly enjoyed by us, has
drawn crowded houses elsewhere. The
subject is one of intense interest, and Mr.
Cook gave very lifelike picture of life in
Palestine as he saw it. He exhibited a
natural curiosity from the land of wonders
"a resurrection plant, which can be kept
for years in dried state. and after bath
of two or three hours the plant expands
to It's original proportions; remove it
from the water, and in few hours it
closes up its petals to await another bath.
We give very brief synopsis of his lee
ture. in which we cannot hope to do its
author justice: After briefly abiding to
the object Of his visit to the holy land, and
his journey, he gave an interesting ac-
count of the country and its habits. The
distance from Jafna, the best landing
place, to Jerusalam is twenty-eight miles,
and the roads would be termed bride
paths in the occIdent. The distance must
be Travelled on horseback, and guides are
Indispensable TO protect the pilgrim from
the hordes of Arabs of the desert, who
sweep down from the mountain Businesses,
on horses fleet as the wind, upon the I'M
wary traveller who is not strongly guard
ed, for purposes of robbery. AS you
approach Jerusalem in the early sunrise,
it presents most beautiful appearance in
the distance, but its beauty fades away rs
you enter its gates. The streets are very
narrow and filthy. Bazaars are plenty
and filled with the choicest fabrics of the
eastern loom. The Turkish merchant sits
cross-legged on n mat, with the inevitable
pipe, and smokes for hours. Approach
him and ask the price of an article; he
gives one; you show dissent; he names
another and another until you are salts
fed, but never rises to show you goods, or
praise their quality in the least. There
are two mosques in the city. The Mosque
Omar is located on the site where Solo,
mons temple once stood; the other
mosque is larger and more imposing in
appearances, but we are only "Christian
dogs" and are not allowed to enter them.
Over the sepulcher where Christ was laid,
or supposed to have been, the Empress
Helena erected a church. You enter it
and descend to the place where the Lord
lay. You emerge from this subterranean
abode and ascend the hill of Calvary.
You cast your mind back into the distant
past, and you Inquire where is the temple
that once outrivaled the earth in magnifi-
cence? Where the palaces of the kings,
the affairs of the God of the children OF
Israel? All, how literally has the
curse which they called upon their Own
heads" His blood be upon us and on our
children, been verified with this scat
tered people, nation without country
There are several gates to the city, some
of which are closed. They are called the
eye of the needle, which enables us better
to understand the saying of our Lord con-
corning the camel passing through the eye
of the needle. A loaded camel cannot
enter the gates, but must have his burden
before he can pass through; then
is afterward reloaded. Bethlehem stands
on hill, not IL plain, and the place OF
Christ's birth is pointed out to us. A |
church has been built where the manger
stood Bethlehem is less desolate in as
pect and surroundings than most other
places in the vicinity. Nazareth is a |
miserable village, unmitigated poverty
everywhere Astounding. Wood is very
scarce, olive wood being the principal |
wood on the plains. There is n species Of
gaass about the size of the finger that is |
gathered by the women and used as fuel,
which illustrates the saying of Christ, OF
1.-THE grass of the field that to day is. and
TO morrow is cast into the oven" Every,
where is desolation, though the land is
naturally fertile. Their agricultural i'm
plements are of the primitive style. The
lecture abounded in beautiful imagery, |
which we cannot reproduce in our brief
space.