Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-05-12
The Garden Of eethsemane.

The Garden Of Gethsemane.
In his correspondence for Leslie's Sunday
Magazine, from the Holy Land, Edwin De
Leon describes a recent visit to the Garden
of Gethsemane as follows As we passed
the Garden of Gethsemane, which is be-
lieved to have witnessed the agony OF
Christ, and whose claims are better sup
ported than those of most other sites OF
Scriptural interest, by the corroborative
circumstances, the temptation to step, and
finally to go in, became irresistible.
3D." said my companion, Il wish we
had some locusts and wild honey, for we
cannot possibly pass this place without
seeing it, and | sympathize at this moment
with those monks who have been living
within the converts, who combine fasting
with prayer" With me, too, the desire to
entire this garden had grown SO strong
that should have gone in alone had my
companion insisted on going on his dolorous
way. Accordingly we knocked loudly at
the gate, for the garden is surrounded by
high stone wall, and the gate kept care.
fully locked, to prevent unauthorized in
trusions. In response to cur summons the
small postern gate was opened by Latin
monk, in the dress of his Or
der, who promptly admitted US,
after courteous salutation, and
whose grave, worn face lighted up with
pleasure as | accosted him in his own
tongue for though he had addressed us in
French, saw he was an italian of the
Franciscan Order, and, as usual, man of
culture and intelligence, as are most of the
brethren of that Order. He led US in,
talking fiuently tbs while in the soft Tus-
can tongue, and comparing "reminiscences
of " Torina la Bella" from whose neigh.
borhood he came, until we passed to the
center of the garden, when with graceful
salutation of farewell, he glided away from
US, disappearing in one of the small cells at
each corner of the garden and we were
alone on the scene of 81 The Passion" For
that this is the place it purports to be, is
almost beyond cavil or dispute, unlike most
of the spots which claim authenticity in
the Holy Land for both tradition, tie
testimony of the Scriptures and of the
early Christian Fathers-as well as the
position-point this out as the Garden of
scene of the last human weakness of
Christ His Agony in the Garden"
| We who entered, and frequently after
| MdTl NlslLSu budb SpOe, ulu uOL SEE 6E
"ugly garden" but very tastefully laid
out one, with trim, well-ordered beds and
smooth, clean walks under shady olive
trees, with benches at intervals, and "sta.
tions' for prayer place, the very privacy
and seclusion Of which made one find "ser.
mons in the stones" over which the feet of
so many pious pilgrims from different lands
had reverently trodden. All along one side
of the garden there ia high arbor, over
which is trailed the passion fower-fit en-
blem of the place-and, as my friend Prime
has remarked, "the lavender made the air
heavy with perfume as we sat down on the
ground and endeavored to realize the mid
night scene of the Agony and the Betray-
al" The olive trees within the Enclosure
are evidently very old-and the olive is
known to be very long. lived tree-6ut it
is probably owing to the "high, white
washed walls" which so awoke the dis
pleasure of the editor of Good Words, that
they have not long since been cut up into
relics-a proof of bad taste on the part OF
the priests which few will censure with the
Scotch d. d.
All the evangelists, in their separate mar
ratives, concur in fixing the site of the
garden just where it now is and the early
Fathers also, especially Jerome and Fuse
bius, admit its being the real place. Gen.
orally, as on this morning visit, the silence
of the grave broods over this little spot OF
green-this green oasis on the barren and
sterile hillside-sown elsewhere in human
bones, never to rise until the Last Judg-
ment. But sometimes litanies are chanted
there for foreign prelates, sent on special
missions, and then the songs of blended
supplication and praise, stirring the leaves
of the old olives and re.echoed from the
hillsides, make a chapel of the secluded
spot. The Specification of the word Getl.
semane is "Oil-press," but if one ever stood
on its site, there are no traces of it now.
In st. John, chapter Xviii, occur the fol-
lowing passages '::When Jesus had spoken
these words He went forth with His dis.
ciples over the brook Cedron, where was a
garden, into which He entered, and His
disciples. And Judas, also, which be.
trsyed Him, knew the place for JESUS Of.
times resorted thither with His disciples. :"
And in st. Mark. chapter xiv. "And they
came to a place which was named Geth-
semane and he saith to His disciples, Sit
We here while l pray. And He
went forward little, and fell on the
ground, and prayed that, if it were posi-
BILE, the hour might pass from him."
When we were about departing, our
franciscan friend, whose own devotions
had been finished, came up to us and ac-
companied us on our way out of the gar.
den. He did not attempt to act as cice-
rome, and pointed ut..nothing to US, but in
reply to my interrogatory as to whether
any particular spots in the garden were as
signed to particular incidents, he said there
were, and pointed them out. Thus he
designated the exact spot of the kiss and
betrayal-the place of the agony, as well
as that where the disciples slept while
Jesus prayed. He himself had evidently
an undoubting faith, but was as manifestly
dubious about ours, and rather shy of com.
munieating the legends of the place. 1t is
worthy OF remark that here, even in the
shape of charity, nothing is accepted from
the stranger, and it is almost the only place
where such is the case.
The Revised Bible.
The Independent is strongly in favor of
using the revised version Of the Bible in
church, and puts the matter in this way
1.-THE proper question should be whether
minister has a right to use any other than
the revised version of the New Testament.
We hold that he has mot We hold that