The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1903-05-06
( From Abroad.
NoOcSOGNS0S0SAS0(
LETTER XII.
NAzRETH; "wHERE HE WAS
BROUGHT UP"
LETTER XXI.
BROUGHT Up"


still, to rest again on these holy
hills trodden for thirty years by
those blessed feet that, for our adj
vantage, were once accursed and
nailed to the ignomlnious cross.
Empires have come and gone; ma
tions have come and gone; strange
peoples dwell in all the hamlets of
this land; yet in wide sweep of
thirty miles in every direction
from the summit of this high hill
against whose eastern foot little
Nazareth leans, the same splendid
and composing scenery glowed in
vernal beauty under the gentle eye
of Jesus, that meets my rapt gaze
today.
The shoreless stretch of the blue
Mediterranean, shimmering under
a blazing sky and beating it's white
surf against the palm crowned bay /;
the graceful majesty of Mt. Carmel
springing sheer $50 feet from the
restless sea and rising 1880 feet
high eighteen miles from its wes-
tern cliffs, crowned and clothed
from summit to base with redolent
shrubs and a profussion of flowers
of every hue, the broad emerald
plain of Esdraelon Gilboa. Little
Hermon and the wooded cone of
Tabor; Gllead and Bashan beyond
Jordan; and far north the snowy
crown of Hermon on whose dazzling
form the same sun shines that once
was dimmed by the shining raj
ment of the Nazarene when trans
figured on that "holy mount"
These scenes yielded up to Him
their storied lore and charmed him
with their restful beauty; but it is
His own story and the infinite
charm of His personality that glo-
rifles now the landscape and in
vests every scene in the circle of
vision from the hills of Nazareth
with a spiritual presence and di-
vine power over the heart
The rich vale of Nazareth is
about one mile long and halfa mile
wide. 1t breaks down in the high
plateau of Galilee about 500 feet
below the ridges of fifteen encircl-
ing hills, that shut out the village
from the once busy world around
it. This delicious seclusioa and
quiet were found beneath the hills
from whose tops the children
might see the whole world march
by for the conquests of war and the
victories of peace.
Only one mile and half over
the rugged rocks of the southern
hills, the whole plateau falls by
precipitous cliffs 900 feet to the
plain of Esdraelon.
Riding from Haifa 70 miles to
the crest of the southern hill, beau
tiful Nazareth flashed upon my
vision, with its fair white homes,
set in emerald groves of olives,
figs, vines and pomegranates,
cleaned every where with wild pro-
fusion of brilliant flowers, the old
village nesting most picturesquely
with It's terraced streets against the
side of the western mountain. A
year had interviewed between my
VISITS, yet everything looked as Ia
miliar as if had spent here all the
intervening months.
In company with two choice no.
blemen, DR.. Buckner, of Ky, and
DR.. Wilcox, of Colorado, threaded
my way up the terraced streets and
steep mountain side to this royal
summit. The Scripture reading,
ardent prayers, devout conversation
and silent meditations consecrated
anew this sacred hill forever in our
memories. Once on the slope of
the hill several scores of beautiful
girls were encountered in long pro-
cession who sang in the good old
tongue: "Jesus of Naz-
areth passeth by and they shower