Show THAN A N that is how tha ha JOW journal Jo urcal 1131 coms rinds finds oric ii criglio cri clio tin SOME BITS OF HISTO BISTO RY the critor the ann annual bath of th tho orbal Ori antal F pilgrims Pil grima in th 0 jordar jordan river jericho is nearer bellap hell hlll till 0 j other art on tho the eo 0 of I 1 mother y karth earth it lioi 1100 flet fet below the mediterranean ana was hot enough when I 1 was there bix i beeks a is to roa tho the ath of july barbic tie its it is without a rec redeeming fe feature tul e a aal dd is tile the most goll goil forsaken wilderness I 1 ever saw yet yd it was not always thus for there was a H time when jericho was the arit aprile ae of tile tho world and visitors today lire arr astonished astonish cd to note tho the chango change it has undergone gone 30 veira ago joshua stood on yonder yo aler knoll surrounds surround fd d by the blackened and smoking king i of proud aroud and wicked I 1 jericho and said cursed be tile man thit that anseth up to build this thi city jericho Jei ichu ho shall liv lav the foundation thereof in ins its firt first born and in his hii youngest son soil shall be set up the gates of it them was riot not one man mail in all israel who dared to attempt tile tho rebuilding of this fillen fallen city after lie hearing aring joshuaa Jos huas prophecy and so 0 o for the next five hundred years desolation held supreme reign among the marble ruins now grown 0 er with wi th grass and trees tile the jackal and panther took up their abode hero here and lived undisturbed for riot not even the wandering ng M sons sone 0 of f ish dinael da dared red pitch their tents heuts near these ru ruina i ns ou t of fear of I 1 Nim rods ghost who was it is said in tile the habit of paying nightly visits to this weird lilace illace about years after its destruction hicl the Beth betheline elite had the hardihood to rebuild jericho and for his pains lie he inherited the curse pronounced by joshua for no sooner had he laid the foundation then his hig eldest son was taken from him and when in the hardiness pf af his heart lie went to ret up ahe fhe gates of the file new city his youngest voting eon on died when han the romans gained co control atrol of syria jeri jeriad fio again sprang to the front as one of t the lie worlds beautiful cities the country at thap time was extremely fruitful jo 3 p illg says jericho Jeric clio no was ilie in most os t productive country about judea it contained a kirbt number of palm trees besides the balsam tree from which after making incisions with a sharp stone the juice draped cropf d down like tears the rov rev T do de wilt talmage 0 says he saw jericho in a dream just as it was when wh enMark mark antony gave it to cleopatra and this is how lie he di scribes it and I 1 heard the hoofs of its swift steeds and the rumbling of its chariots and tile the elioutt shoat of excited spectators it its al amphitheatre c and there was vi white hite marble amail green grcen 0 grocea roves of palm and bals balsam aill eold cold betone wound with sculptured foliage f folia 1 ge hard bard pillars cut into soft and odysseys odysseas Odys in granite basalt jet as night mounted by carbuncle naming fla ining as the morning upholstery dyed as though dipped in the blood of battle fields robes encrusted with diamond diani ond mosaics white while as sea foam flashed on b bv UC 11 betie pieties which Q the ae un saw 0 by day ri by revels the file moon saw by night blasphemy built again against n I 1 st the sky ceilings C steller as the midnight heavens lica yens grandeurs grandeury gran deurs tur retted ed and wickedness so appalling 0 that vocabulary fails and we must make an adjective and call it herodia He Ife rodic scarcely a trace of the city is 15 to be icen s can today so completely is it distro 1 W herod clr bought it of cleopatra and afterwards died in it commanding his sister salome to have all of the principal jews killed lie he had shut them up in ill the city for that purpose so that the whole nation would be plunged Z info griefen grief on his death the palm trees and balsam trees are gone the country around about produces nothing not hints but weeds and thistles whistles es save down closer to boiden river where there is a small colony of inhospitable russian lutsian people six miles front from jericho is the ft famous inious dead sea in which I 1 have enjoyed several dips the water is just like that of our american dead sea in utah there is a manful likeness criess of the two lakes one of them thein receives the river jordan th thit lt flows from the sea of galilee the other receives the liver jordan that flows from tile the utah lake they ire are leoth b etli so heavy with salt that thai to sine ein in either of them i an my ity D N A half hours ditle frow where we e took our dead son sn inith brinos brings 0 us to the banks of the jordan at tile rel reputed anias cro crossing esing with iti tile children of israel here to a bathing place resorted to by thou auda of the greek church chur cli I 1 AW faw sawa f A party of over a thousand grecki hero here one lay day last spring and a very interesting it was to lo 0 o them all old and young mile and female ft male isit without hout ny any re ard for propriety plunge nude and beedle into a hall bath somo some of ti alie 1 eo e o were oll old and feeble and at 1 d had saved a life time lime fur for luon ifton to bring them these thourl IW la s of 0 miles to bathe in this 6 valli vain si like to the christian jw and tho the cast out ishmaelite I 1 well remember my iny first bath there ant anil tile the thoughts that passed through my mind as I 1 sat on the bank at the traditional place of our lords baptism eating rny my lunch ami ref reding ting alter after a 1 long b hot 0 t ride jere here rang out tho the voice of one crying g in ill the wilderness repent ye y or lie kingdom of heaven is nt 1 t I 1 hand ian d then went out to him bim and all judea and all tile the region around about jordan and id were baptized of him in jordan confessing their sins and the heavens were open unto him and he paw alie of god descending I 1 lle like a love dove and lighting upon him hilli and a voice from heaven saying s this is my beloved son in whom I 1 am well pleased there is tho land of moab over there where moses lied died and I 1 think I 1 will conclude this letter by recalling those well known lines of mrs alexander jy j debos only mountain on oil this side of jordans wave ave in a vale in the land of moab ethcie e I 1 lies ies a conly grave and no man knows that sepulchre and no man saw it eer for the fingers of gol upturned the eod end and A I 1 id laid the alie dead man there that was the lie grandest funeral that ever passe p ieee I 1 on earth yet no man heard the trampling nor saw the train go forth witlessly ai the sunlight comes back when is ie done and crimson streak an all oceana oc pins cheek grows grow into the great sun so without a sound of music music or voice of them that wept 4 silently down tile the mountains crown the great procession swept Per perchance chane the bald old eagle on gray beth height 0 out ut of of his lonely eyrie looked on the wondrous ondrous sight eight PeT perchance chance the lion in stalk stalking inz still shuns shun the hallowed spot spat for bea beast at and bird have seen and heard that n which aich man not but when the warrior dieth his flis comrades com radea in the war with arms reversed and muffled drum follow his funeral car among tile the noblest of the land we lay the bard to rent and give the page ease an honored place with costly marble carble dust in tile the great minster transept whose lights like glories fall and the organ rings and sweet choir sings along the em blazoned ned wall this was the greatest warrior that ever buckled sword this the most gifted poet oct that ever breathed breathe 9 abord a word and never earths philosopher ti traced aced NN ith liia his golden pen oh the klatil page buths half so sige sage As ho he wrote down for men and had bad he be riot not high honor the tha h hillside for or a apall rall to lie in state while angels wait aud and stars stare for tapers tall and the oark dark lock pines like tossing plumes plume 0 overdia er his bier to wa C arad and own liquid in in that lonely laud land to lay him hica in his grave in that strange grave crave without a name whence lihi clay shall break again oh ob wondrous thought afore tato judgment day and stand with lory glory wrapped rapped around on the bills bellg lie he Dever trod and speak of the strife that won t on our we with the incarnate aon of god 0 01 1 lonely grave in il oalia land 0 dark leth beth geors hill speak to the curious hearts of ours and nd to bo be still a god lias haj ilis his ill mysteries of grace ways that A we e con can not tell lie hides ein deep like the hidden sleep of him blu lie lie loved so well veil WON ina 1 I cusser D DAMASCUS aug aai etli 1803 |