Morning journal and courier., 1884-07-09

| may seem like savage arraignment, but i l is sincere. doubt not that in the days oi ! Christ the mountain was all covered with ol 1 i've trees, and altogether more attractive place than it is row. The valley of Jehosa
 phat, otherwise knowR as the valley of the 1 brook Kidron, separates Olivet from Mt. Moriah and Bezeths. As this valley is quite deep, Oiyet is made to assume the propor. tions of quite hill when you stand at the bottom of the ravine but looking toward
 the mount from point in Jerusalem where ! the valley is not seen, Olivet shrinks into ! painful insignifcance. The popular path by I which Oivet is ascended is believed to be the same which David pursued when he fled barefoot and weeping from his son Absa- l 1om, accompanied by a band of faithful | subjects, who heaped earth upon their ! heads in token of grief at the disobedienee ! of the usurpfng prince. Up this path l ! have toiled in order to familiarize myself with the country round about, pausing I anon to look back at the city which has ! played so important role in ths drama of the nations. From near the summit of the | mount the view of Jerusalem is really sat- ] isfactory-all that one could wish. The extreme top is, as l have said clustered ] up with unattractive buildings, but one can I hardly resist the temptation to reach the summit in order to command at once 8 view of the Jordan valley, including the Dead sea on the one hand and view o
 
 Perhaps 1t was here that John was car ried in the spirit when he had his prophet io vision on the deserted isle of Patmos. And he carried me into great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heav- en from God. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. * And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever" Of course it was all figure. Jerusalem, the city of David, was
 to Oriental eyes fit type of the eternal city, not made with hands, prepared for those who are faithful unto the end; and from Oivet's summit, then undisfgured, the holy city does indeed seem to descend out of heaven, so airily is it perched upon Zion, Moriah, Akra and Bezetha. On the other hand as he looked away to the east, down, down, nearly mile below his point of view, the Dead sea. with it's waters yielding up sulphurous fumes continually unto this day, and with it's history of death-dealing, was fit symbol of that bottomless pit wherein the fearful and unbelieving * * shall have their part,'' and be figuratively ''tormented with fire and birthstone" How clear and forcible this view makes the apoca- lyptio vision, and how palpably fgurative does the image thus appear by which John pictures the respective fates of the lost and the saved. I am not sure that this thought has ever before been advanced. Doubtless it has, for with reference to this storied part of the world the old proverb, 'If new not true, if true not new, is especially applica- ble. But in any event the impression has
 taken powerful held upon me.
 In order to get more detailed view paid
 8 sixpence and ascended the minaret of 8
 mosque at the top, and there, high above the offensive sights, sounds and smells of the
 place, viewed the remarkable natural pano-
 rama to which I have alluded. One could
 stand there for hours picking ont sacred
 sites. The serpentine ribbon of green which
 marks the course of the Jordan is distinctly
 visible. The water cannot be seen, and in-
 deed is not visible till you are within rod or
 so of the river bank. At it's southern ex-
 tremity stretches the Dead sea, it's waters
 bright and beautiful to the eye, but deadly
 and nauseous to the palate. Between lies a
 bleak, horrid wilderness with nothing to re- lieve it's awful desolation Toward the south is the "hill country of Judea" With glass the ruined castle of Macherus may be dis cerned on the side of the mountains of Moab,
 where Josephus tells us that John the Bap- tist was imprisoned aud ultimately executed. Among the other points visible, of which I may speak in future letters, are Pisgah, the Tomb of Herod, Mob. Gibeah, Mizpah, Rock Rimmon. Ophra and the objects of interest immediately about Jerusalem.
 And this wild desolate region to the east, many people will tell you, is some day to blossom as the rose Of course there are plenty of people here in Jerusalem who have come hither to witness the physical restora- tion of Palestine. They all interpret the vision of Ezekiel in the 47th chapter lite. rally, and look for the day when OliVet shall be rent in twain by the fleet of the descending Lord, and 8 river of actual water shall How down therefrom, along the blasted banks where once the Kidron is said to have flowed, to gladden. the desert of Judea and heal the malignant of Sodom AS look forth over the land, I cannot for moment believe that such mighty miracle is to be wrought When will people learn that the Bible is fall of imagery, and that the pictures drawn by Oriental imagination are symbolic of spiritual truth more often than prophetic of physical miracles2
 What an important part the Mount of Olives has sustained in the story of our Saviour's earthly mission!
 Among the buildings at the top is what is called the Church of the Ascension. I did not go inside of it, for I hadnt the least con- fidenee in it's claims as the place where Christ last stood on this earth. Men continue to quibble over this question, and it seems as though many were determined to infer the directly contrary meaning from every passage of scripture. To my mind the question is settled when read: And he led them out as far as Bethany; and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them. he
 was parted from them and carried up into
 heaven" AS far as Bethany. Can anything
 be more explicit? And yet men will con-
 tinus to wrest and pervert the word, in or-
 der to adjust 1t to their pet theories. Why
 is it not just as profitable to believe that the
 ascension took place, it is said
 to have done, from the southern spur
 of Olivet which lies over against
 Bethany, as to believe that it took place
 on the main apex of the mount? The latter
 theory involves the supposition that after
 having reached Bethany Christ and the disci-
 pies turned around and retraced their steps
 for over a mile.
 One gets disgusted every day with the icti-
 tious claims for particular sites, and the
 abominable stupidity of the thousands of credulous believers. What matters it as to the exact spot Of earth, figured out with mathematical precision, where an event took placer It is enough to make me hold my breath with speechIess awe when I think that I stand in the general vicinity where those stupendous New Testament scenes were en- acted. EMILE.
 He Knew Good Thing When he Saw It
 From the Chicago Herald.
 stYoung men, I've mind to complain to the conductor about you. do not believe gambling should be allowed on the cars" So spoke an elderly good-looking man, who | occupied seat just behind party of poker players There's nothin' SO demoralizin' as keards," continued the old man, warming | up to his theme; ''it leads young men to cer- tain ruin; it makes lem lazy, deceitful and | vicious. I kin remember when played my | self onct, nigh onto forty years ago before | I gotlreligion and j'ined the church. But I | don't know one keard from mother now, and | thank God for it. You young men should | be ashamed of yourselves" The old man rattled of good lecture. but the young men continued putting up the chips and calling for cards It was soon noticed that the lect- urer was sitting well forward in his seat with his eyes looking intently over one of the young men's shoulders.
 A moment later he was sitting on the ex- treme edge of the seat; then his body was bent forward, and finally he got out his spec tacles and put them on his nose. The game continued. One of the players in the front seat made it half dollar ro come in; the next man made it dollar; the third man stood it, and so did the fourth. After the draw betting became lively for that game. The fourth man had evidently struck it rich, for the gentleman behind him began to get excited. His hands twitched nervously in the direction of his pantaloons pocket. It would cost the dealer S4 to see, and the