New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-11-11
ing. and the papers to be read VIII unuou'''N"
attract general attention
PILGRIMS IND SHRINES-


Pilgrimage is as old as man. existing III some
form in all ages commonly assoclated WIN 'ne
religious sentiment but also with the desire OF
change, the satisfaction of curiosity anu so'ne
times the spirit of commercial gain some
shrines still existing and TO which the piis'ih''
still tourney, are older than any recoru re"'n'
Ing their roots into the unknown ages Ill" eNe'-
cising what seems tc be permanent anu u"'
diminishing spell upon the imagination OF ihal-
kind The piOus wanderer still Journeys W
Jerusalem. tarrying in the shadow OF Wallis
which have outlasted the twelve prosecutions
and the battering-rams Of Pompey ana the
torch of Titus. outdatlng the captivity or any
inscribed memorial and he forms INK III d
processional chain of unknown beginning, ana
of which the end cannot even be conJectured.
Tn the further East are sacred places OF ike
ontiouty without number still drawing to their
mystical shrines and rituals their annual pro-
cessions, as they have done from remote ana
forgotten ages and as they bid falr 10 90 ior
unknown centuries to come. or the deca!e"
and vanished holy places scattered along the
track of antiquity like the bones OF Old cara
vans along the desert the number Is beyond
knowledge or surrnise Nor need we doubt that
new spaces to which long sacredness Is to APP
nertain are in our own, as in all times, receiv-
ing their preparatory conservation. AS the
spirit of pilgrimage always abides with man.
provision for its exercise and incentive thereto
will never be wanting. and the new shrine VIII
arise rs the old one decays. lighting up around
its affairs new lamps Of ritual and enthroning
upon them new objects Of alteration.
In this country the spirit of pilgrimage mani
tests itself variously, taking on, perhaps, It's
most striking and ambitious aspect under the
auspices Of such masters Of ceremonies as Cook
or Raymond. whose journeying cohorts care
fully guarded from the spoliaton OF the local
Barabbas, and from the hungrier rapacity or
the local Publican may be found all over the
world notebook in hand eager, alert and pene-
trating. leaving no boscage or labyrinth or curl
osity UNEMPLOYED and no shadowy deep OF Oid
World mystery unplummeted. They are to be
found amid the ruins Of Rome and Memphis,
and they pitch their tents beside the pillars or
Persepolls and the fallen friezes OF Palmyra,
where the bark Of the jackal and the roar or
the desert lion have drowned the voices OF the
battlehorns OF Cyrus and The flutes and timbrels
of Zenobia. They are. in fact. everywhere, their
numbers increasing year by year. and they may
In time outnumber the Meccan concourse. which
has for twelve centuries gathered around the
Temple Of the kaaba. and encamped in the
Valley Of the Sacred Well.
Besides these world grdling groups Of travel
lers the spirit Of association develops itself
among domestic tourists and they visit inter
esting places near by in company. the railways
making concessions which invite and encourage
such excursions. The cities, the watering places
and all accessible localities of interest thus
visited In multitude, constituting slight annual
pgrlmages. which may broaden into solemn
ties as the years advance. as like journcyings
have done in other lands and among other
peoples The mood which mpels them Is a
native impulse Of the human spirit which the
centuries do not extingulsh. and which in our
time and locality low railway fares and con
venient travelling arrangements tend to pro-