The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1890-10-30

arms. Here are two ridges Of m mou. .tains 500
feet high, the Philistines on one ridge, the IS
Saelites Oh the other ridge. The fight Is in
the valley between, at that season shaded
and sweet with terebinth and acacia, David
the champion for the 1sraelites, Goliath tho
champion for the Philistines David under
sized and almost elPeminate, only mouth
ful for Goliath, who was nearly ten feet high.
They advance to meet each other. but the
Bible says that David made the first step
forward. Nearer and nearer they come,
but do not think David will wait until ho
comes within reach Of Goliath's sword, for
that would be fatal, and David has weapon
with which he can fight ut long range
Closer and closer they come, hut David ad-
vdnces the more rapidly. "Come to me-"
said the giant, ''and l will give thy flesh
unto the fowls of the air and to tho beasts
Of the field" You sec Goliath going to
give David for o banquet to the vulture
and jackal. He the mountain Of flesh, will
fall over on that little hillock. I hear him
laugh through the mouthpiece OF his hel-
met He viii toast the littso whifRet on tho
top of his long sword. He will call all the
crows for breakfast. ."Come to me, you
contemplate littlo fellow, and I will make
quick work with you. The idea that five
sooter should dare to come out against
ten-footer Let the two armies looking down
from the ridges watch meE David respond
ed, IT come to thee in tho name OF tho
Lord Of Hostsm Ahl! that is the right
kind OF battle shout. "In the name OF the
Lord CT Hosts"
How that cry rings through the Wadyos-
Sumpt. He who fights in that spirit wins
the day. The almost Israelitish dwarf GU
larges snto omnipotent proportions. IN:
moment to strike has come. David takes
his sling. with stono in it. aud whirls it
round his head until he has put the weapon
into sufficient momentum, and then, taking
sure aim, hurls it. Tho giant throws up his
hands and reels back and falls. The stone
sank into his forehead. That was the only
available point Of attack. But how about
the helmet on his head? Did the stone that
David flung crush through the helmet' No.
An old rabbi says he thinks that when Go
Hath scoTed at David thu giant so suddenly
and contemptuously jerxed up his head that
the helmet fell off, That is like enough.
David sew the bare forehead, a foot high, and
aimed at the centro of it, and the skull
cracked and broke in like an eggshell, and
the ground shook as this great oak Of mill
tary chieftain struck it. Huzza for David!
But we must hasten on, for the DANCE now
is that night will be upon us before we reach
Jerusalem. Oil we must see it before sun
down. We are climbing the hills which are
terraced with olive groves, uplands rising
above uplands, until we come to an imnen-
sity Of barrenress, gray rocks above gray
rocks, where neither tree, nor leaf, nor bush.
nor graso blade can grow. The horses stunl-
bic, and slip and pull, till it seems the har-
ness must break. Solemnity and awe take
possession Of US. Though a vivacious party,
and during part of the day jocularity had
reigned, now no enc spoke word except to
soy to the dragoman, Tell US when you get
the first glimpse of the city" I never had
such high expectation Of seeing any place as
of seeing Jerusalem I think my feelings
may have bcea slightly akin to those Of the
Christian Just about to enter the heavenly
jerusalem. My ideas of the earthly Jerusa-
lem were bewildering. Had not seen pic
lures of itP Oh, yes; but they only increased
the bewi!derment. They were taken from
variety of standpoints.
II twenty artists attempt to sketch Brook
1yn or New York or London or Jerusalem
they will plant their cameras at different
places and take as many different pictures,
but in few minutes l shall see the sacred
city with my own eyes. Over anotne" snoul-
der Of the hill we go, and nothing in sight but
rocks and mountains and awful gulches oe.
tween them, which make the head swim II
II.
the lathprei and smoking horses are reined
in. and the drcgoman rises in front. and
points eastward, crying "Jerusalem| 1t was
iaichtier than an electric shock. We all rose.
There it lay, the prize Of nations the terminus
of famous pilcrimages, the object OF Roman
and c,1lsading wars, and for it Assyrians had
fought. and Egyptians had fought, and the
world had fought-the place where the Queen
Of Sheba visited and Richard Ceur de Lion
had conquered. Home Of Solomon; home Of
Ezekiel; hon Of jeremiah; home Of Isaiah;
home Of Saladin. Mount Zion of David's
heartbreak, and Mount Moriah, where the
sacrifices smoked; Mount Of Olives, where
Jesus preached, and Gethsemane, where He
egonized, and Golgotha, where He died, and
the holy sepulcher where He was buried. 0
Jerusalem! Jerusalem. Greatest city on
earth, and type Of the city celestial!
After l have Jeen ten thousand years In
heaven the memory Of that first view from
the rocks on the afternoon Of December Q
will be as vivid as now. An Arab on q horse
that was like @ whirlwind, bitted and sad
died and spurred, its mane and flanks Jet as
the highland there are no such horsemen
as Arab horsemen-had come far out to moot
us and invite US to his hotel inside the gates.
But arrangements had been made for us to
stay at hotel outside the gates. In the dusk
entered, but said: mo; thank you for
your courteous reception, but must sleep
tonight inside the gates Of jerusalem. I
would rather have the poorest place inside
the gates than the best place outside" So
we remounted our coach and moved OIL amid
a clamor Of voices, and between camels
grunting with great beams md timbers on
their backs, brought in for building purposes
for it is amazing how much camel can
we came TO what is called the.
Joppa Gate of Jerusalem. 1t is about forty
feet wide, twenty feet deep and sixty feet
high. There is sharp turn just after you
have entered, so planned as to make the en-
trance of armed enemies the mora difficult.
On the structure OF these gates the safety
of Jerusalem depended, and all the Bible
writer's used them for Illustrations Within
five minutes wolk Of the gate we entered
Lift up your heads, o ye
gatesP "The Lord lovesh the gates Of Zion,"
''Open to me the gates OF Righteousness"
And Isaiah wrote, "Go through, go through
the gates" And the captive Of Patmos
wrote, "The city had twelve gates" Having
passed the gate we went on through the
narrow streets, dimly lighted, and passed to
or hating place, and sat down by the
window, from which We could seq Mount
Zion, and said: "Here We are at last, in the
capital of the whole ea,,th." And thoughts
of the past aud the future rushed through my
soul in quick succession and thought Of
that odd hymn, sung hy SO many ascending
spirits:
Jerusalem, my happy homo,
Name ever Gear to ne!
When sha my labor5 lsve an END,
In Joy and peace and thee7
When shall these eyes thy heay'n built walls
And pearly gates behold?
Thy onlwarks with salvation strong
And streets Of shining gold7
And so with our hearts full Of gratitude to