The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-12-15

the large dining hall of the Preble.
Those seated at the tables were:
Rev. L. c. Barnes.
Hon. Percival Bonney and wife.
Rev. Geo. Merriam.
Rev. B. F. Turner.
Geo. F. Cleveland.
IT, g. Bradford.
Mrs. S. E. Gould,
Miss Gould.
Rev = " Ra Il. s. vontres.
E. P. Chase.
Dr.. and Mrs. Alfred King
Miss Leavitt.
Nj and Mrs. c. F. Morse.
Mr. Beothalft.
Mr. "a and Mrs. E. A. Wheeler.
Mr. and Mrs. L. D. Austin.
Mr. and Mrs. 7. H. johnson.
Nj and Mr.. ". 9. Nelson.
Mr. and Mrs. s. A. True.
Mrs. E. A. Clark
Miss Tinlmons.
w. j. Knight.
Miss Knight.
Mr. and Mrs. F. E. Moore.
Mr. and Mrs. A. S. Kinds.
Nj and Mrs. H. W. Noyes.
Miss Balm.
Mr. and Mrs. Aug. Champlin.
Mrs. Griswold.
DR.. and Mrs. II. H. Burraee.
Mr.. and Mrs. w. P. Hastings.
Mr.. and Mrs. G. L. Marston.
Mr.. and Mrs. c. B. Howatt.
After the play of knife and fork was
finished, the people settled back in their
chairs and listened to the principal
guest of the evening-''one of the
brightest men in the denomination"
they call him-the Rev. Lemuel G.
Barnes, pastor of the Baptist church at
Newton Centre, Mass. who gave in
semi-conversational way his impressions
of Palestine, received during journey
through the Holy Land last spring. He
spoke wisely and delightfully."- of the
government Of Palestine, the beauty and
sublimity of its scenery, the fertility of
its soil, the condition of its people-and
finally and at some length of biblical
realities" The Turkish government
seemed to him one of the worst that
could be contrived, and it's treatment of
its Syrian and Palestinian subjects only
to be compared in vileness with our
treatment of the Indians. As examples
of misgovernment and tyranny he in
stanced the farming of the revenues, and
the building of the broad road, smooth
as asphalt, from Jaffa to Jerusalem, by
unpaid native labor, much as the pyra-
mids of old were built.
The limestone soil is naturally one of
great fertility, and by rational and
modern methods of cultivation may be
made ito blossom as the rose"
But the inhabitants are
ignorant and thrlftless, and the govern
ment an abomination. The scenery,
particularly about jerusalem. he found
majestic even beyond his anticipations,
and he gave vivid account Of his climb
of Mount Hermon, with a travelling
companion and four Druse guides, on
Good Friday of this year-an ascent early
beyond precedent, as the attempt is not
considered safe before June, and is made
by few before July. What greatly inn
pressed him about Jerusalem is its re-
cent rapid growth. Within six years
Cu6 pOQuldUlOu Lids luCICd5cu lIOIA OU,OUV
to 1000, the newcomers being mostly
Hebrews who have returned to the land
of their fathers. Indeed other capitals
of the ancient world, notably Athens
and Rome, are booming like a west
ern town.
But what impressed Mr.. Barnes be-
yond all else was the sense of the reality
of the scriptural narrative induced by a
visit to Palestine, the correspondence of
the Land and the Book, as close, to use
his own vivid comparison, as that of the
two parts of an old fashioned indenture.
Upon this he dwelt at considerable
length and with much earnestness. He
closed his interesting and at times elo-
quent remarks with quoting stanza or
two from the beautiful ''Ecce Homo of
Miss Ellen Hamlin Baker, the young
Maine poetess, who is attracting so much
attention, and whose first volume was
published this week.