The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-01-11
For the Central Presbyterian.
Richmond Travellers in the
East

Past and Present in the East, is the
title of new work beautifully printed
and tastefully bound, by London clergy
man, the Rev. Harry Jones, Prependary
of st. Pauls, which has just been pub
lished in England 1t is full of pictur-
esque and vivid sketches of Egypt, the
desert of Sinai, and Palestine, We may
hereafter make further extracts from it..
At present we select few paragraphs in
which the author refers to parties in
Richmond whom he joined in Jerusalem
and with whom he travelled from Jeru-
salem through Palestine and Phenicia to
Beirut.
While passing through Samaria the
party stopped at Nablous, the, ancient
Shechem, close by which rise the twin
mountains of Ebal and Gerizim, where
the blessings and cursings of the law
were proclaimed to the Israelites en-
camped in the valley beneath.
When the late DR.. Stuart Robinson
was in Palestine, he tested the possibility
of hearing words from one mountain to
the other, which skeptics have often de-
MED. The experiment was repeated in
this instance, with what success the fol-
lowing extract will show
az am now travelling with DR.. Hoge,
distinguished Presbyterian minister of
Richmond, Va, and a lady and gentle
man, members of his congregation. He
is a large-hearted Christian gentleman,
well versed in literature, and keenly in
terested in his tour. 1t would be diff
cult to find more agreeable companions.
We have paragon of dragoman, too,
one Bernhard Heilpern, who is con-
cordance on horseback. He has thumbed
Bible in his pocket, and is always ready,
if required, to read a passage suited to
the scene and he reads excellently. Be-
sides English, he speaks eight languages
and knows the country well.
Bethel is the stoniest place [ ever saw
Indeed, as the Doctor drily remarked,
Jacob could not have lain down any
where there without having a stone for
his pillow The hills and valleys around
are covered with white jutting slabs of
rock or fragments. which have been de-
tached from them. Verify this is land
well fitted for punishment by stoning.
In its southern part every field and road
has ready store of missiles and every
hill is an inexhaustible arsenal. In the
interstices of the limestone rocks, how
ever, much excellent soil may be found,
and under decent government it would
be utilized Bethel is now a poor ham
let, with some crusading ruins, fig trees,
and children, who run out Of their holes
for backsheesh I had longed to see it,
but the memory Of the rank it takes in
sacred history came into my mind with
the faintest flavor of solemnity.
The next place which I felt an ardent
desire to visit was Shiloh. We had seen
it in the distance from our camping
ground small hill surrounded by a
number Of low SUBMITS. 1t is Shiloh
but presents no feature to the eye on a
nearer experimenting beyond ruin
of ruins. There is no hot or hamlet near,
but some shepherd lads, hard by, cursed
and threw stones at us, like Shimei, as
we paced slowly along.
On moving further north, the character
of the country changes rapidly. Plains
of rich, deep soil succeed one another,
and none is richer than the parcel of
ground which the wise, prudent Jacob
bought, and in which Joseph wandered
looking for his brethren who had moved
into an equally fertile hat-Dothan. His
tomb lately restored, is pointed out and
very possibly the mummy Of Joseph still