Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-02-28
JERUSALEM.
The Uaholy Holy City ~ Seen bya Press
Correspondent.

G0TeSpV"V0"ts
A writer to the London News who fol-
lowed the German Kaiser on his pilgrim
age TO Palestine has seen the sights of
that land of hallOwed associations with
the eve of IA newspaper man. and ex-
his oPnion sb OF whaf av ns se
cause of religious associations, or con-
trary because of revulsiOn of feeling
In reference 10 the Holy" places he
Holy. that Is TO say, because of the re-
ligious emotion they have awakened in
millions of devOut worshipers who have
believed in their authenticity: for the Je-
the Jerusalem of today, and the most sa-
cred places of all are known to have
been outside of the walls. Moreover.
do not owe to their official custodians on
the spot. After the ceremony at the
Evangelical Church of the Redeemer 10
give the new German church its full titiel
Christ's sepuchre The supposed tomb
of ..rist is a recess in the rock some 1T
tie way below the level Of the ehurch
A narrow door, about four feet IN height.
leads into the recess. or grotto. in which
a Franciscan monk Is constantly on duty.
The grotto rocked with the. smell Of the
gaudy lamps which lighted the place.
Three women were kneeling by the tomb
one of them passionately kissing the spot
where she believed the feet of he dead
Christ to have rested.
on ascending to the arena Of the church
! asked monk the way TO Calvary. He
stared; "Golgotha. | said Whcrenpon
he nodded brusquely in the direction of
the stairs close at hand. and told me TO
walk up. So upstairs | went. but was
still puzzled TO find Golgotha. Near the
landing monk with his sleeves turned
up and dirty white apron over his
brown robe was scrubbing sacred ves-
sells with a towel exactly in The manner
of Il London waiter cleaning his dishes.
He rubbed and polished in the waiter
style. and threw his towel over his Shout
der in the waiter style. There was no
more suggestion of reverence in his man
ner than there would be If the Church OF
the Sepulchre were Partisan restaurant.
Having watched him for minute or two
| asked him where Golgotha WAS. H
made a gesture with his thumb over mis-
right shoulder. and without a word
went on plying his dishcloth.
Feeling more irritation and. disgust per
acter Of the place. | repeated my aues-
ton. Whereupon my mona. stu scrub
bling his vessel. pointed with his not toe
clean sandaled foot to socket In the
fixed, and this is Golgotha indicating
with a sweep of his towel the position
generally. 1t shocks one to be told 10
run upstairs TO Golgotha and take the
first turning to the left Il think 1t was.)
For business sake many as possible
of the spots associated with the final
SctHco VI tIf1Sl llit nave Uetn 1Uu0itu
together.
or all the monkish faces / saw In the
Church of the Sepulchre | observed only
one that | could call in any degree intel
iigent. Those monks were engaged in
nothing but formalism-arrangin lamps
or candles putting up or taking down
flowers. receiving backsheesh, Inechani-
cally singing hymns, and so on. Walls.
shrnes. screens. etc. were so overcr0wd-
ed with lamps and chandeliers that the
church presented the appearance of a
be sacred to mechanical ritual and to
tnat only. OF any real religious feeling.
failed to discover a trace. The feeling
such scenes produced In myself was one
of melancholy and utter aversion,
At Bethlehem. whittier I followed the
Kaiser's procession. one might have ex-
pected symptoms of different spirit
nativity. But the spectacle of nonastic
life there is just as depressing as at the
Church of the Sepulchre in Jerusalem. A
who begged me to give him some tobacco.
loosely searched the pockets of the
Syrian youth who guided me over the
bndngs vra nes de he had s%ak any NY
fairly well. had once played mis- part in
Barnum s---or was it MIR. Ki,alfy's?-
pasteboard east at Earl's court. Said he.
pointing to. the three. Turkish soldiers
who were lounging about the church.
They are sentries. to prevent the monks
from fighting each other The Church
Oh tnc NalINlty Is III Inc Jolflt
of Greek. Latin and Armenian monks.
Easter is the time for tisticuffs; but the
Turkish sentries keep watch all the year
round. 1t is perhaps the only duty in the
performance of which the Turk deserves
the unstinted sympathy and respect of
every Christian, or nOn-Christian, with II
glimmer of genuine religious feeling. A.,
for the Garden of Gethsemane, with its
pathetic memories-well tnere are Two ri
val gardens. The garden generally ac-
cepted as such is surrounded with wire
netting. and suggests the dreary respect
ability of cheap villa in suburban
London.
! do not envy the man who can gaze
unmOved upon the Mount of Olives. But
the more one feels the spell of the place.
the more one is repealed by demonstra-
tons of the kind that accompanied the
open-air service held on .he top of the
mount and attended by the Emperor and
Empress and their suite. An artist cor
respondent who was present with me
compared the return of the crowds from
Olivet to that of LOndon's m,iltitudes
from Epson races In everything except
mechanical ritual--parroi-like repetition
OF formlaries-JeEusalem strikes me as
the most irreligious. or nOn-religious. city
in the world. 1t is without a doubt the
headquarters of lies. shams, impostures
of the ecclesiastical order. That the
flame of true piety burns in it. here and
there. ! am well aware. l speak only of
general results