The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-12-08

: Aiadjln ; zsssss. ara the sgeE3s yzlslch an
peared by rubbing them. But as l have
I never Tsad the Arabian Nights" such
stuff not being allowed around our house in
my boyhood, and nothing lighter in the
, way Of reading than "BaxteT'S Saints
Everlasting Rest, and D'AubiGny's His
tory Of the Revolution" Damascus ap-
peGred 20 me as sacred and secular history
have presented il, and so the city was not a
disappointment, but with few exceptions a
surprise.
Under my window tonight in the hotel
at Damascus hear the perpetual ripple and
rush Of tue river ALBANIA An, the secret Is
out. Nov | know why ali this flora, and
fruit, and why everything is 50 green, and
the plain one great emerald. The river
Atana! And not far off tie river Pharpar.
which our horses wadsd through to-day!
! Thank the rivers, or rather the God who
made the riyersi Deserts 70 the north
deserts to the south, deserts 10 the east
| deserts II the west. but here paradise.
| And. as the rivers Gihon, and Pison. and
! Hiddeksl, AM Euphrates, made the
other paradise, Abana and PharPar
make this Damascus q paradise. That
/ is what made Gen. Naaman of this city of
Damascus 50 mad when he was told for the
cure Of his leprOsy 70 go and wash in the
| river Jordan. The river Jordan is much of
the year a muddy stream, and it is never so
| clear as this river Abana that l hear
rUmbling under my window tonight, nor
| as the river Pharpar that We crossed to-day
| They are as clear as though they had been
Sieved through some especial sieve of the
| mountains. Gen. Naaman had great and
patriotic pride in these two rivers Of his own
country, and when Elisha the prophet told
him that if he wanted to get rid of his
leprOsy, be must 60 and wash in the Jordan,
he felt as We. who live on the magnificent
Hudson, would feel II told that we must go
and wash in the muddy Thames, OF as if
those who live on the transparent Rhine
were told that they must go and wash in
the muddy Tiber. So Gen. NaamGu cried
out with a voice as loud as ever he had used
in commanding his troops, uttering those
memorable words which every minister of
the gospel sooner or later takes for his text:
Are not ALBANIA and Pharphar, rivers of
Damascus. better than the waters of Israeli
May l not wash in them ard De clean?'
Thank God we live in a land with plenty Of
rivers, aud that they bless all our At
lantic coast and all our Pacific coast,
between the coasts. Only those who have
Travelled in the deserts of Syria, or Egypt,
or have in the oriental cities heard the tink-
ling of the bell of those who sell water, eau
realize what it is to have this divine bever-
age in abundance. Water rumblng over
the rocks, turning the mill wheel. saturat-
ing the roots of the corn, dripping from the
hold. rolling through the fonts or baptistries
OF holy ordinance, filling the reservoirs of
cities, inviting the cattle to come down and
Stake their thirst and the birds of heaven to
dip their wing, ascending in robe of mist
and falling again in benediction of shower
water, living water, God-Eiven water!
We are awakened In the morning in
Damascus by the song of those who hava
different styles of food to sell It is not a
street cry as in London or New York, but
weird and long drawn out solo. compared
with which buzz saw is musical. 1t
makes you inopportunely waken, and will
not let you sleep again. But to those who
understand the exact meaning of the song
it becomes quite tolerable, for they sing:
God is the nourisher, buy my bread,n
God Is the nourisher. buy my milk, "God
is the nourisher, buy my fruit As you
look out of the window you see the Moham-
medans, who are in large majority in the
city, at prayer. And if 1t were put to vote
who should be king Of all the earth, fifteen
thousand in that city would say Christ, but
one hundred and thirty thousand would say
Mohammed. Looking from the window
you see on the housetops, and Oh the
streets MOhammedans at worship. The
muezzin, or the officers of religion, who an
nounce the time of worship, appear high
up on the minarets. or tall towers, and
walk around the minaret, enclosed by a
railing, and cry IN a sad and mumbling
way: "God is great. | bear witness that
there is no God but God. ! bear witness
that MohRmmed is the apostle of God
Come to prayersl Come TO salvation! God
IS great. There Is no other but God
Prayers are better than sleep" Five times
a day must the Mohammedans engage in
worship. As he begins, he turns his face
toward the city of Mecca, aud unrolls upon
the ground rug, which ne almost always
"A fEsNr~, -.
the lobes of his ears, and holding
his face between his hands, he cries:
God IS great" Then folding his hands
across his girdle, he looks down aud saws:
Holiness to thee, o God and praise be to
thee Great is thy name. Great is thy
greatness. There is no deity but thee"
Then the worshipper sits upon his heels,
then he touches his nose to the rug, and
thee his forehead, these genuhectlons ac-
companied with the cry, "Great is Cod
Then, raising the forehnger of his right
hand toward heaven, be saws: 81 testify
| there is no deity but God, and testify that
Nohammed is the servant of God, and the
messenger of God" The prayers close by
| the worshiper holdi his hands opened
| upward as if to take the divine blessing,
and then his hands are rubbed over his face
| as If to convey the blessing to his entire
| body.
| There are two or three commendable things
! about Northumberland. One is that its
| disciples wash before every act of prayer.
and that Is five times day, and there is a
Gospel in cleanliness. Another commend
able thing is, they don't care who is look
ing, and nothing can stop them in taeir
prayer. Another thing is that by order Of
Mohammed, and an order obeyed for thir-
teen hundred years, no Mohammedan
touches strong drink. But the polygamy.
the -wlfehood of Northumberland
has made that religion the unutterable and
everlasting curse of woman, and when
woman sinks, the race sinks. The proposi-
ton recently made in high ecclesiastical
places for the reformation of Mohammedan-
ism instead Of its oblteration, is like an at
tempt to improve a plague or educate a
leprosy. There is only one thing that will
ever reform MohammeGanism, and that is
its extirpetion from the face of the earth bv
the power Of the Gospel OF the Son of God,
which makes not only man, but woman
free for this life and Tree for the life 70
come.
The spirit of the horrible religion which
pervades the city Of Damascus, along whose
streets we walk and out of whose baZars we
make purchases, and in whose mosques we
study the wood carvings an1 hedi2enments.
was demonstrated as late as 1861 when in
this cityAit put to death six thousand
CHRISTENSEN forty-eight hours and put tc
the torch three thousand christian homes
and those streets We walk to-day were red
with tho carnage. and the shrieks of the