Greene County herald., 1922-09-22

prepared by the National Geographic
Society. Washington, d. c.
Palestine, home of Christianity, the
British mandate for which has just
been formally approved by the council
of the League of Nations, has prob
ably never been better described than
by the late Viscount Bryce, former
British ambassador to the United
States. In communication to the
National Geographic society, he wrote
of the Holy Land as follows:
Palestine is tiny little country.
Though the travellers handbooks pre-
pare him to find it small, 1T surprises
him by being smaller than he expected.
Taking 1t as the region between the
Mediterranean on the west and the
Jordan and Dead sea on the east, from
the spurs Of Lebanon and HermOn on
the north to the desert at Beersheba
on the south, 1t Is only no miles long
and from so to 60 broad-that Is to
say, 1t is smaller than New Jersey,
whose area is 1900 square miles
OF this region large parts did not
really belong to ancient Israel. Their
hold on the southern and northern
districts was but slight. while in the
southwest a wide, rich plain along the
Mediterranean was occupied by the
warlike Philistines, who were some
times more than match for the He
brew armies. Israel had. In fact, little
more than the hill country, which lay
between the Jordan on the east and
the maritime plain on the west. King
David in the days of his power, looked
down from the hill cities of Benjamin,
Just north of Jerusalem, upon Phil
istine enemies only 25 miles off, on the
one side, and looked across the Jordan
to Moabite enemies about as far off,
on the other.
Nearly all the events In the history
Of Israel that are recorded in the Old
Testament happened within terri
tory no bigger than the state Of Con-
necticut, whose area is 1890 square
miles; and into hardly any other coun-
try has there been crowded from the
days of Abraham till our own so much
history-that is to say, so many events
that have been recorded and deserve
to be recorded In the annals of man.
kind.
Its SmaIlness Ia Visible.
Nor is 1t only that Palestine Is
really a small country. The traveller
constantly feels as he moves about
that 1t Is small country. From the
heights a few miles north Of Jeru-
salem he sees, looking northward, a
far-off summit carrying snow for eight
months in the year. 1t is Hermon,
whose fountains feed the rivers of
Damascus. But Hermon is outside the
territory of Israel altogether, standing
In the land of the Syrians; so, too,
1t is of Lebanon. We are apt to think
of that mountain mass as within the
country, because Is also Is frequently
mentioned in the Psalms and the
Prophets, but the two ranges Of Leb.
anon also rise beyond the frontiers
of Israel. lying between the Syrians
of Damascus and the Phoenicians OF
the West.
Palestine Is a country poor in any
natural resources. There are practical
ly no minerals. no coal, no iron, nc
copper, no silver, though recently
some oil has been discovered In
the Jordan valley. Neither are
there any large forests. and though
the land may have been better wooded
in the days Of Joshua than 1t is now
there is little reason to think that
the woods were of trees sufficiently
large 10 constitute a source Of wealth
A comparatively small area Is fit foi
tillage.
To an Arab tribe that had wandered
through a barren wilderness for AZ
weary years, Canaan may well have
seemed a delightful possession; bu
many county In Iowa, many de
partment in France. could raise more
grain or wine than all the Holy Land
There is one stretch of fertile, leve
land 20 miles long and from 3 to
miles wide-the Plain Of Esdraelon
But with this exception it is only IL
| the bottoms and on the lower slope!
Of few valleys, chiefly in the terri
tory Of Ephraim from Bethel north
ward and along the shores Of the Ba,
Of Acre. that one sees cornfields ant
olive yards and orchards. Little win'
is now grown.
| Such wealth as the country ha'
| consists in its pastures, and the ex
preston - land lowing with mill