Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1893-05-31
NO. "a.

with dust, and we're in former DAYS
pitlfaliy neglected. The habit of c ypy-
Ing out the Gospels aud other good
books seems to have Ct ased about .he
end of the tiftt enth century. Short
after that time early travellers SPEAK
of the monks as so ignorant that +alssy
could not read, and when Mr.. Curzon
wrote his famous "Monasteries OF the
Levant," he found the \ IS. at Mount
Athos generally east into some damp
cellar, and going to ruin with other
lamber. The monks, therefore,, we're
far less shocked to see, than we are to
hear, that quantities Of those precious
parchments were made into cartridge
cases by the Turkish soldiers during
the War of Liberation of the Greeks
(1S21-9). The neg egotiations of Mr.. Cur
zon for some of these neglected treas
ures form the most amusing part of
his excellent book. Now at last, when
each visitor Who arrives there at once
asks for the libraries, and looks for the
books, the good monks have ke-dis-
covered their wealth, and we may now
be fairly secure that no more MSS.
will be destroyed. But those of secu-
lar interest have almost all been carried
into Europe long ago. AS far back as
the days of the revival of learning the
Holy Mount was known as the hunt
lng-ground for classical texts, and
many of our Greek books are derived
from this workshop of copyists
The number OF copies of the Cos
pels, many illuminated in gold and
splendid colors, is enormous, and I
noted at first with surprise that the
Gospel of St. John always comes first.
But l soon felt the propriety of this,
especially in the metaphysical Greek
Church, where mysterious world-prin-
ciples are more prominent than the
simple laws of faith and practice. To
them the Gospel of st. John wasstbs
natural preface or introduction to the
New Testament, beginning as it does
with its conscious echo Of the opening
of Genesis. In the beginning was the
Woodland the Word was made flesh.
The apostle, in fact, gives us the meta
ply sIoaA-Senesis of the spiritual crea-,
ton of the Church, as Moses had gwen
us the historical genesis of the physi'
cal creation of mankind.
! But when l had turned over dozen,
upon dozens of these fair copies, L
came to the conclusion that in earlier
times copying ont the Gospels must
have been counted religious service,
like reciting long rituals In the present
day. There was no desire or expecta-
! ton that any one should ever read
these precious books. Even their old
! service books, with very curious musi-
cal notation ton one line, instead OF a
stavel, they could not read, though /
showed them. i'll the library at Vato-
pedi, Ms. of the fourteenth century,
! giving full description of this use.
/ To my great regret l had no time to
copy even part of it.
| The other treasures OF the mOnas
teries are beautiful embroidered vest
nents. mary of them of great antiq-
uity, and mosaic pavements or de-
signs upon the walls, IN the form of
rich carpets hung against them. There
were also many splendid crown lights
of hammered brass, and, of course,
much quaint and elaborate carving in
stonework of the buildin IS. l noticed
at lvIron, one of the richest of the
foundations, a set of capitals faced with
rams heads, which were peculiarly
striking. Even the outer walls of
| brickwork are diversified by having
plates of Rhodian ware built into them,
81 dS W IhOuuCe sghHSbIiCdt oIua-
ment.
I | have frequently spoken of the
wealth of the monks, and this is still
& true, though much of their property
/ in Bulgaria has been sequestrated,
either by the Turks, or in Roumanis
I by the new Government. But they
still own no small property, both on
the peninsula, which has some very
6 E 4 1 l..
( peniDsulas which form that famous
trident of old called the CnalcIdice,
and even in MacedOnia. One monk is
allowed to reside in Salonica as their
agent, and it Is quite amusing TO meet
an ex-agent on the Holy Mountain; he
is so smartened, so experienced, SO
spoilt, from the old simple ideal b!
: contact with the world.
/ I have as vet said nothing about the
+ diet OF these monks. Though some of
! the houses make what rules and relax
what rules thev like, still the force of
precedent makes them adhere uniform
/ ly enough to a very strict regimen. OF
their vigils, night services, long pray
ers, L have spoken. But there are
many, especially of the stricter anchor
ties, who live alone in the mountain,
to whom meat is unknown. Even tish,
except shell fish, is forbidden on the
proper fast days. AS they have no
COWS they have no milk; no hens, and
thev have no eggs, unless imported
for Easter from the mainland. Their
main diet, then, Is black bread of good
quality, with figure of Christ stamped
upon each loaf; soup, made chiefly OF
oil and rice; such vegetables as fennel
and garlic; fish, snails, and plenty of
strong red wine. This last, and con-
slant cups of Turkish coffee, sustain
their lives well enough. There Is no
object in sustaining their energies.
We were, unfortunately, not therG
in the fruit season, and found the fust-
ing in Holy Week very severe, though
the good monks did all they could TO
make us comfortable, and showed
themselves perfect models of courte-
GUS hospitality. But the beauty of the
place, the freshness of the air, the
strangeness of the life, the deep inter
est of this fossil religion engrossing
the whole life of It's votaries with a
faith that was not faith, with works
that we're not works, with its ideal life
that was no life, with listlessness for
its hope, apathy for its love-who
could think of material comforts in the
midst of these strange experiences
And so we sat far into the night in
aeriel balconies, which clung to the
outward summit of these castles, show
ing rs through the floor the sea q
Thousand feet beneath; we passed
through forests of heath, over carpets
OF forget-me-not, of iris, of orchids; We
| rode unon saddles of rich CARPET
through pathless brakes of evergreen,
amid the torrents and precipIces; we
passed from the rich castles on the
shore, where the courtly abbot
pledged us in generous VINE, to the
alpine cliffs where the lonely ascetic,
seeking God amid the heats and storms
of nature upon the naked rock, would
not so much as turn and look upon us;
and constantly the question came back
upon us, Have they found the God
whom they SO diligently seek? 1t
would, indeed. be pr, sumptuous to
answer, No. Divers nations have