The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-09-21
AN ODD CHRISTIAN SECT.
LYING IN THE HOLY LAND AND
DELTING FOB RELICS.

DGLfING run hELACo-
They Left Chicago for Jerusalem and
Now Wait There ia the Confidence
that the Rebuilding OF the City Is at
Hand.
Together with bits of stone and like
relics, which l threw into my valise,
gathered a few bits of information, which
may not prove old, of this PALESTINE
ashen in physical aspect as morally its
life seems reduced to ashes.
What made Jerusalem itself most in
teresting was the information given us
by q sect of Christians whom we, in our
explorations, CHANGED to stumble upon
In searching the Scriptures they have
verified many landmarks overlooked by
even -antiQuarians. One of these places
was the wine press of Solomon, which
the government was beginning to have
u away for building purposes. Ihese
not only are located as indicated in the
Bible. and indisputably like all the wine
presses found in the country (eut out OF
solid rock with various watts for the wine
in its successive stages, with channels OF
1ngreSS and egreSS from one vat to an
other), but are too immense in scale, and
have too tremendous a cistern to have
been the property of any private lndi-
vidual. These, through their influence,
are now in the hands of the Antiquarian
Society of Jerusalem, and are thus pre-
served from further harm. Close at hand
to these are the quarries of Solomon.
What a wonderful climate is this, that
time does not alter the freshness of the
rock. The grooves made by the chisel. as
the last block was hewn from its place
centuries ago, show the incision of the
tool as freshly as if cut but yesterday.
Even thus the rocky chambers in the
tombs of the kings and judges show slight
signs of decay, SO hard n sharp are the
edges. The catacombS of Rome, conf
pared to these of modern build, appear
ruinously old.
%FULFILMENT OF THE PROPHECIES.
In a long donkey ride around the city
these people pointed to literal fulfiiments
of prophecies concerning the rebuilding
of Jerusalem. In this they have perfect
faith.
How a l explain to you our impress
sion of this people as their lives and aims
were unfolded to us? They are q society
of now twenty-six people, young and old,
unmarried and with families, who,
viewed as fanatics, left Chicago some five
years ago. They were q people to whom
their church life seemed cold and barren,
and in a bond of common feeling met
often in private to on things
Spl1 1ULtdl, kAlUCl q LIN bnCy IClO ~ VI
God, as they express it. to go where they
could lead a life of pure seeking, feeling
they would thus be preparing themselves
for some work in the future for others.
People of culture, used to all the Inquiries
of refined society, they left friends and
came, by the call of God, as they felt. to
settle in Jerusalem. Most of them had
money, but their relatives at home made
them out in the court as lunatics,
who had no claim to common sense
or the money that goes with it.
So, with very little, they arrived at
Jerusalem, and settled in a sunny house
on the edge of the city wall. For two or
three years they were subject to gross
misrepresentation of the worst sort-our
own consul, for some u"naccountable
reason, doing much to damage them in
America. They took no name, have no
creed, do not proselyte, abide by no laws
peculiar to themselves, but search the
Scriptures hourly for guidance to abide
by the summing up of all doctrines
"Love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and thy neighbor as myself"
A DOCTRINE OF GOD WORKS.
They do their own homework, and dur
ing that time, if anyone wishes help or
guidance for anything, they drop every
thing until they have met and prayed,
when, they resume their occupations.
They labor outside for pay, If, after pray
ing over it, they are led to do so, butnoth-
ing must interfere with their spiritual
life. They claim no mission, but daily
work has come to them, ministering to
the rich and poor alike, receiving nothing
in return. They have never wanted for
the bare necessities of life. They speak
the truth to each other, and, as one
of the ladies told nae, the constant
friction of different dispositions is what
makes it q life of discipline. Some have
come to them attracted by their peaceful
life, but there is no glamour about it, no
rigidity to attract aseetics, no rites and
ceremonies embellishing the simple life of
truth to attract the sentimental. They
labor now on the precept:-, First take
away the beam that is in thine own eye,
and then thou shalt see clearly to take our
the mote that is in thy brothers eye."
Though they do not preach, their daily
living and communication with their
neighbors have drawn many Mohamme-
dams, Greeks and even Jews to learn of
their simple religion of love.
FAITH IN TIL REBUILDING.
They fully believe that the rebuilding
of Jerusalem is at hand; chat the prophe-
cies, which by many people are consid-
cred symbolic of the coming of the heav-
emily kingdom. apply to Jerusalem of to-
day. Certainly, consulting certain pre-
dictions of the Old Testament. as found
in jeremiah XXI, 1910, and Zachariah
xiv, 1911, where even landmarks of the
new city are cited, just there and no.
where else are the new buildings going
up of Jews and Mahommedans.
Among those who have returned to
Jerusalem are 500 Gadites, bringing with
them their ancient scrolls proving them
to be of the twelve tribes of Israel, who,
during one of the political dispersions of
the Jews, settled about the Persian
Gulf, $40 B. G. S~ilversmiths by trade,
their workmanship proved too crude for
the market, and so, for @ long time, they
were in great distress.
Our American ~colonists helped them
for several months, and finally they
worked themselves up to the market and
refused help, showing them to be honest
and Industrious Boston Herald.
Duties of Parsons Wives.
Marion Harland writes as follows in the
North American ReUte1U:-''There is,
strictly speaking, no propriety in expect
ing the woman who has espoused q
clergyman to have, ex-oficio, a special
fitness for all the departments of charita-
BILE and religious labor. Common sense
rules that she may suit him excellentlv
we'll as a wife, yet be endowed with no
peculiar gift for leading meetings. and
taking chairs Yet, by an anomalous
incongruity, i~nseparable from the situa-
ton, the next worst thing to absolute in
significance in her case is decided signih-
nanaa No onfchina ar or1fuNrlr bar Iord