Morning journal and courier., 1884-07-16

[ JERUSALEM, June 10.
To the Editor of the JOURNAL COURIER
"Walk about Zion and go around about
her." That is what did this morning, as !
1 have done on many previous mornings, in Or
der to famiiarize myself with every feature
1 of the environs of the Holy City. 1t is only
1 walk of two and one-eighth miles close un-
/ der the walls, and yet the number of objects
1 of interest to be seen is almost unlimited.
/ Indeed, by far the greater number of the at
1 fractions of Jerusalem are outside of the
modern walls. The present letter will be de-
1 voted to review of some of the objects to
be seen and studied on this ''round the city,
walk.
started from the Hotel Fiel, at the north
west corner of the essentially quadrangular
enclosure occupied by the city Proceeding
! eastward 1 passed the Damascus Gate, and
many places where excavations had revealed
l traces of the ancient city down deep below
/ the present site. just beyond the Damascus
/ Gate gazed for a moment at the so-called
| Grotto of jeremiah a huge, cave-like excava-
| ton in the solid rock, which is generally be-
| heved to be section of some ancient quarry
4 The ambitious name which it bears is thought
to have been arbitrarily conferred upon it.
1t was not until 1 stood at the northeast cor
| ner of the wall that a historically valuable
panorama of scenery was spread out before
me. Then 1 found myself facing the Mount
of Olives, with it's triple undulations SO gem
tie as to render the term mount a misno-
mer, with Scopus its northern spur and
the Mount of Offence, barely visible, as its
southern spur. Between the city and this
range lay the deep, desolate ravine known as
thh Valley of the Brook Kidron, or more fa-
miiarly of late as the Valley of Jehosaphat,
since for long centuries there have been no
traces of the Kidron. 1t is curious how the
name of this valley has changed. Jehosa-
phat's tomb is exhibited to the credulous
here, but that does not explain the name
since the tombs of many other patriarchs and
prophets are similarly exhibited here. The
truth is that the name arose from a popular
belief among those who accept the Bible lit
orally that the prophet Joel meant this ravine
when he said that God would Judge the
heather for their oppression of the Jews in
the Valley of Jehosaphat. In this connec-
tion the expression was doubtless figurative,
being synonymous with the VALLEY of judg-
ment;' but the world has capriciously caught
up the error and perpetuated it.
Poor ragged, hungry-looking Olivet! Its
only wealth to-day is the legacy of hallowed
associations which no other mountain on
earth can equal, even Sinai included. 1t is
almost denuded of olive trees to-day, and its
top is crowded with filthy huts, tawdry
mosques and villainous smells. Nevertheless
it is still one of the most attractive of the
mountains which are E'round about Jerusa-
lem, and in Christ's day, when it was doubt
less covered with olives, it must have been
very decent. No discriminating traveller can
conscientiously write more.
Wandering along the east wall among hun
dreds of Mohammedan tombs, arrived pres
emily at st. Stephens Gate, named I be-
lieve, because it is one of the places where
Stephen might have been stoned. Here sew
eral paths diverged, one leading across to the
modern Gethsemane. l took this path, the
one up which our Lord was led captive after
his betrayal in the garden, and crossed the
valley of the Kidron. The first building that
arrested my attention on the other side of the
ravine was the picturesque facade of low
building in a sunk court at the left. This is
the traditional chapel and Tomb of the Vir-
gin. I descended some seventy steps into
the bowels of the earth, and found myself in
a gloomy, sepulchral apartment. I took
peep at the reputed tombs of Joachim and
Anna (the parents of the virgin), and Joseph,
the husband of Mary The last resting place
of Mary, now empty of course, was pointed
out in another apartment. Most of these
personages have graves elsewhere, but you
must not allow your faith to be disturbed by
Cn1S IacG. 100 mucn ulSlU1V6neSS would
be fatal to any tradition.
1 inspected a rock which retains the i'm
preston of the girdle that the Virgin let fall
to convince the skeptical Thomas, monk
gravely averred and then passed on into the
reputed Garden of Gethsemane. And now
arises the great question, Where was Geth-
semane? Join the ranks of those who re-
pudiate the claims of the present garden,
principally on the ground that Christ would
have ''retired" to a more secluded spot for
that season of preparation for the great
tragedy which was near at hand. The
modern garden" is paltry plot of ground,
enclosed by high white plaster wall, located
directly in the fork where two public highways
unite. Looking away to the north the travel
er can see places much better adapted to the
solemn scenes of that night of agony; places
more RETIRED and places thickly planted with
olives of equal or greater antiquity. One
experiences the satisfaction, however, of
looking about him and saying, "Here, some
where in this spacious amphitheatre on the
western slope of Olivet and Scopus, is the
general site of the sacred place" 1 thought
of Christ's words, uttered at Bethany, only
mile distant over the mountain, as ploughed
my way through the phalanx of beggars that
guarded the garden entrance: aye have the
poor always with you" Inside the garden
was as disappointing as it had been when
seen from without. There were eight exceed
ingly old and scraggy olive trees within,
number of expresses which had been planted |
to promote the appearance of the place,
vast collection of hot-house plants in pots,
carefully guarded by wire screens so that no
relic-fiend could appropriate even so much as
a leaf, and a series of the veriest daubs in
the way of pictures or images that ever dis
graced a Latin possession. When I entered |
there were only three persons in the garden
(or more properly conservatory They were
women, and they were weeping as If their
4 411Nt
circuit of the enclosure, kissing every stone
and going through with series of religious
gymnastics before every picture. Afterwards
saw the same women laughing most hilari-
ously just outside of the gate. Such locai-
zation of reverence do the Catholic sects of
the East inculcate.
In the center of the garden was a WELL
with a Latin inscription stating that it was
the gift of ''Adeline Whelan, of Washing
ton, u. S. A, 1875" suppose some zeal
GUS Irish American Catholic was the donor
Nothing disgusted me more than the wretch
ed illustrations hanging around the wall
These represented all the genuine and fcti-
are dear to every true Catholic. These il
lustrations involved the grossest inconsistent
cies. One showed Simon the Cyrenean,
begging of the unwilling Christ to allow him
to bear the cross, whereas we read that the
soldiers compelled Simon to bear it. Others
portrayed the first, second and third falls of
Christ under his burden, his meeting with
his mother, the good offices of that uncertain
individual St. Veronica, with her handker
chief bearing the impression of Christ's face,
etc., etc. The costuming was reckless, but
always fashy. Sometimes Christ had his
purple robe on and sometimes it was want
ing I should infer that it must have fallen
off half dozen times on the way to Calva-
~; but 1 did not succeed in solving the mys-
tery as to how the artist knew at what points
it was on or off. The faces were as express
sionless as chalk, but Christ's was nearly al.
ways CHASTITY with an impossible quantity of
blood To cap the climax, the last view rep
resented Joseph and Nicodemus depositing
the body of the crucifed Goldman in the
sepulohre, dripping with blood from head to
foot read in my Bible that the body was
carefully annointed-a full hundred-weight
of myrrh and aloes being used-before it was
entombed. Nevertheless if it promotes any
ones piety to view such representations will
be silent.
Another absurd design was an iron group
ing of the instruments of crucifxion, with |
utter disregard for proportions. There was
aDonpe on the end of n pole a smear n ham