Connecticut western news., 1890-12-10

rugs IaSclnaClnS C1le 1nerCuauCS rom Bagdad, and the Indian textile fabric of incomparable make, and the manu- factured saddles and bridles gay enough for princes of the orient to ride and pull, and baths where ablution becomes inspiration, and the homes of those bar gain makers of today, marbled and di- vaned and fountained end upholstered and mosaiced and arabesqued and col onaaded until nothing can be added, and the splendid remains of the great mosque of John. originally built with gates so heavy that it required five men to turn them, and columns of porphyry and kneeling places framed in diamond and seventy-four stained glass windows and six hundred lamps of pure gold, single prayer offered in this mosque said to be worth thirty thousand pray CTS offered in any other place.
 turn my back on all these and see Damascus as it was when this narrow street, which the Bible calls Straight, was great wide street, New York Broadway or a Parisian Champs Ely sees, @ great thoroughfare crossing the city from gate to gate, along which tramped and rolled the pomp of all na- tions. There goes Abraham, the father of all the faithful He has in this city been purchasing celebrated slave. There goes Ben Hadad of Bible times leading thirty-two conquered mon archs. There goes David, king, war rior and sacred poet. There goes Tam erlane, the conqueror. There goes Haroun al Raschid, once the com mander of an army of ninety five thou sand Persians and Arabs There comes a warrior on his way to the barracks, carrying that kind of sword which the world has forgotten how to make-a Damascus blade, with the interlacings of color changing at every new turn of the light, many colors coming and go ing and interjoining, the blade so keen it could cut in twain an object without making the lower part of the object tremble, with an elasticity that could not be broken, though you brought the point of the sword clear 1 back to the hilt, and having a watered appearance which made the blade seem as though just dipped in clear foun- tain, a triumph of cutlery which thou sand modern foundrymen and chemists have attempted in vain to initiate. On the side of this street damasks, named after this city, figures of animals and fruits and landscapes here being first wrought into silk-damasks, and spec. imens of damaskeening, by which in this city steel and iron were first graved and then the groves filled with wire ol old-damaskeening But stand back or be run over, for here are at the gates of the city laden caravans from Aleppo in one direction, and from Jerusalem all nations, paying toll to this suprem acy. Great is Damascusl
 BLIND MAN.
 But what most stirs my soul is neither chariot nor caravan nor ba gar nor palace, but blind man pass ing along the street, small of stature and insignificant in personal appear ance. Oh, yes, we have seen him be fore. He was one of that cavalcade coming from Jerusalem to Damascu. to kill Christians, and we saw him and his horse tumble up there on the road some distance out of the city, and he got up blind. Yes it is Saul of Tarsus now going along this street called Straight. He is led by his friends, fo1 he cannot see his hand before bis face, unto the house of Judas-not Judas the bad, but Judas the good In an other part of the city one Ananias- as-not Ananias the liar, but Ananias the Christian-is told by the Lord to go to this house of Judas on Straight street and put his hands on the blind eyes o1 l Saul that his sight might return. "Oh, , said Ananias, II dare notgo; that Saul is terrible fellow He kills Christians, and he will kill me-" "Go," said the Lord, and Ananias went.
 There sits in blindness that tremen- dous prosecutor. Hc was great nature crushed. He had started for the city of Damascus for the one purpose of as sassinating Christ's followers, but Grce that fall from his horse he has entirely changed. Ananias steps up to the ightless man, puts his right thumb on one eye and the left thumb on tn, other eye, and in an outburst of sym pathy and love and faith said Broth CT Saul! Brother Saul! the Lord, ever Jesus that appeared unto thee in th way as thou earnest, has sent me tha thou mayst receive thy sight and b. filled with the Holy Ghost"
 Instantly something like scales fel from the blind mans eyes, and h. arose from that seat the mighties evangel of all the ages 8 Sir William Hamilton for metaphysical analysis, 1 John Milton for sublimity of thought, Whitefield for popular eloquence, John Howard for widespread philan thropy, but more than all of them pu together inspired, thunderbolted, nut tpotent, apostolic. Did Judas, tn kind host of this blind man, or Ana nias, the visitor, see scales drop from tn sightless eyes9 think not. But Pau knew they had fallen, and that is al that happens to any of us when we ar converted. The binding scales dro] from our eyes and we see things differ ently.
 A Christian woman, missionar among most degraded tribe, who's religion was never to wash or improv personal appearance, was trying t. persuade one of those heathen womel not only of need of change of heart but change of habits, which would re suit in change of appearance; but tn effort failed until the missionary ha