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Show oi me wooua." h n o THE OLDEST CITY IX THE e WOULD. a 0 ' t Damascus is the oldest city In tlio worh t- Tyro and Sidou have crumbled on th shore; Baalbec is a ruin; Palmyra Is bui :o led in tho sands of the' desert; Nincvc! and Babylon have disappeared from th ;h Tigris and Euphrates; Damascus remain 1 what it was before the days of Abrahai a ccutru of trade and travel an islan r. of virduru in desert "a predestinate n- 'capitol,"" with martial and sacred associi io ttons extending through more than thirt it centuries, Jt was "near Damasclls', tht in Saul of Tarsus saw tbo "light from He; iy ven above tho brightness of the suu;" tl street which is called Strait, iu which ct was said "he praycth," still runs throuj; ep tho. city. The caravan comes and goes i cr if did a tliousand years tigo; thero ai to still tho sheik, the ftss nnd the Watcr-Whec as tbo mcrcliaiits ot tho Euphratcu and r,"itho Mediterranean still "occupy" the ih "with tho multitndo of their waiters ?u- Tbo city which Mahomet surveyed from neighboring height, alid was .afraid to c at. tcr, "because it is given to man to lia ng but ouo paradise, and, for his part, he w 1 resolved not to hayn it in this' world," B., to this day what Juliaii called "tho c la of tho East," as it was in tho time ris, Isaiah, "tho head of Syria." Prom D j a mascus came the damson, our bluo pluu flowers ratscduponaimoijtli bright ground; tho damaskTOse, iutroducpd into England in thfttlrabof llynry'Vimtlie Damascus Damas-cus blade, so, famous the world over .for its keen, edge and wonderful elasticity, ; the .secret o whoso mauufaeturc was lost .whcii .Tamcrla.no, carried, off the utUst'a rutoPcrsiiij and tliafjbcautiful art.of, fn-taylug fn-taylug .wood and stecl wlthsilvtf and gold, U Kind of Mosaic engraving ahd sculpture united, cailtd Damiskceningith which boxes, aud.burenua, und'swords and. guns arc oruamciitcdi It Is still a city 6f.Jlow- m nUd..brigh"t,watcrf thostreams,,from Lebanon,, tho "rivers", of, Damascus," the driver dl gold," still murmur, diid sparkle ; u the wildernc'is"bfr';"SyHau gardone.? -:, ' itEUAXiK3 by- a- ctinnEsroNDKjfT op ini ,h !MOIJIWlilEltA . , ' The first mention "of Damascus is in "tho i5th chh'ptcr'of Gchcsis;by AliTaham". Tlte city of Dihascui lays cait of thc Medir tcrran'cdn cAt nnd.'abou't,175 tiiilcs rtortlh castbf Jerusalem Tho, rrimrf Isfgnilti fcant and lrica'ns-''lED-cori't., " ' ' ,'.-,In ,'.-,In a1 very ancient ssopy of the Hebrew text; thb two'Cfst' Verses of Ocncsis'reads tlins:"'"MAfter; these rnattcrsi' the trbrd.of thd:Ldrd c'amo unto Abrtim through tho Seer, saying; 'Pear nothing, Abramj 1 will pay thco thy great multiplying wa- fe And Abram replied, My Ood, the ;onl, what wilt thtiu give to ine and" I.go, chiltlless, whilVtho.SOrt to pds&pss inhonso ho "will nid tho G od of Itcd-tlMV (Da-. tnatcri.) " Abrom wWb6rn,"about 300, year nftcr .'tho- flood, that Damnsciis may bb', inoB than iOOfJ years' 6il ' '. ' " "J" ' 'KtKata JcsrEit, |
