Newspaper Page Text
TWO DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS.
tpefr.
VOLUME XL., NO. 3>
(Contributions.
LIVING NO OFFENSE IN ANY THING,
THAT THK JIISISTKY liK NOT BLAJiKH. iftr.
>i:B.
BY L. PIERCE.
I have placed these words at the head of
my No. 3, not because I have any special
need of their specific application in my case,
but because they, with the occasion, furnish
me with an opportunity to disabuse inanv
minds of mistaken views concerning Paul’s
meaning of giving offense. He never used
it in reference to any displeasure which one
brother might improperly entertain towards
another because of collisions iu opinion ;
never intended as a moral dir y to teach
submission to a prejudice rather than a r- a
sonable opinion, in order to allay a threat
ened storm, for persisting iu something
charged to be an offense against a brother.
This was my trouble in the days of my ig
norance —uu'il in after years, when my mind
broke through its shell of menial obscura
tion far enough to see that Scripture exe
gesis could never be attained r.; -,--n nsr
to be inculcating and enforcing sime of it
chosen words by adhering too closeiy to
their common parlance sense, but eouid al
ways be attained to by giving them their
sense from the divine theme, in which and
of which they held a distinct p’nce a id force
according to the original use of the term,
whether it was used in its preventive Or re
medial force. Accordingly, I discovered that
iu its original sense and use it was em 1 ye I
only to prevent those uuguard- and acts in suit
indulgence which, although not sinful per .it,
could not be indulged iu in heathen as.sr.u
Idy without violating every principle of rue
Christian philanthropy : because rhe indai
gence in an open, voluntary assoria'ion,
without any protest or sacred ah tinence,
would fairly admit of any interpretation hut
the one you would claim for yourself, name
ly, that you did nothing, not ate anything,
in honor of heathen idolatry, and mixed
with them only upon the basis of citizenship.
Sociality—yes, but you know it, wts with
them a religious festival. Ever- animal
slaughtered for the occasion was offered in
sacrifice <0 the god of the nation or the city,
; —,nd that, whether you went upon invitation,
or on your owu account, the managing spirits
in the occasion had the just right to assume
either of two conclusions, to wit, that their
Christian guests were idolaters at heart, or
else believed the entertainment to be m rally
right.
But not to stray off from our main point.
Nothing gave forbidden offense but some
thing whereby and wherein religion was
scantlalized; by corrupting, instead of cor
recting, the min Is of others, especially of
heathen idolaters —a term that uopliea just
as well to our worshipers at Vanity Fair, a
it would at a festivaWf Diana of the Ephe
sians, in as far as the mixing in of Christian
professors with the worshipers ot this -world s
feasts and fairs are concerned. Bv. ry mem
ber in our Church that goes to th.-atres, ope-
ras, circuses, skating rinks, horse-race fairs,
dances, and such like entertainments, know
ing, as they do, that the leading mind I and
spirits in the entertainment are sacrificing
only to carnal lusts, gives offense in its very
worst sen-e, •.u .e lj, th •-.n.KHvn'.
the Christian religion by worshiping at the
altars of Baal, as a social privilege, and the
causing of the wavering to trip and fall.
So I came to see upon a careful examina
tion of the subject—for it was and always
will be a soul involving question —-whether
the thing complained of as giving offense,
was of the kind of offenses Paul so earnest
ly con femned—because persistence in them
might cause a weak brother for whom Christ
died to perish—or whether it was off. naive
only as it was opposed to som • senseless
prejudices in reference to imma -rial tastes
and proprieties. I soon found, as things
stood seventy years ago, that the offen e
against many of these brethren and sisters
was that l would not gauge my religion by
their measure, and that where it was evident*
to my reason and common sense that it --’a -
innocent ignorance that leal to the conctu
sion, it would he morally wrong in me to
yield my better judgment on moral j.trispru
deuce to their more obscured moral vision.
So, as far back as 1806, in Greene county, 1
drove down my stakes on these tuisas plica
tiotis, of giving no offense in anything, de
termined to do nothing that could be moral
ly wrong in itself, and to refuse compliance
with any demand on me for changes in ap
paral or iu mariners, where my common
sense assured me that ignorance and ignor
ant prejudices presided at the courts ot com
plaints—as where a brother's offense was at
my putting on a frock instead of a round
breasted coat. I believed that to yield to
these notions was an endor ement o reli
gions errors and prejudices, instead of their
refutation by godly living. So I told my ag
grieved brother, if 1 could not live myself
into the confidence of my county friends, as
an humble Christian minister, in a frock coat
as well as in a round breasted coat, I would
jibe and go down.
But here I am met by Church members of
both sexes, who reason from carnal preiui
ses, with the rebuff of a joyous supposed
t-amenjss between my principles of self
government and theirs. Especially is tlii
the case among ladies who, while they pro
fees to enroll in the army of Christ, continue
to uniform themselves iu the dress of the
world, which Christ came to overcome, be
cause its friends are by sequence His ene
mies. No matter what they would be if they
could be it in their own way, their taking
their own way is the proof of their cherish
ed enmity to God's ways. When St Paul,
speaking of the everlasting opposition of the
flesh to the Spirit, said, *‘So that ye cannot
do the things that ye would, he meant that
we cannot do as we please and keep in line
To be led by the Spirit of God is indispensa
ble to childship wiih Him ; and I take these
libertine members to record this day, espe
cially our fashionable laoy members, that
there is not one of them that inflows fashions
for fashions’ sake, that has either any idea
or intention of being led hy the Spirit of
God. Nay, worse still, there is not one of
them of sane mind that Can bring herself to
believe that God’s Spirit could lead her to
follow fashions, the main phase of which is
their utter contempt for any moral rule of
dress in reference to God and his Church.
Oh, ye daughters of God’s Gospel .lerusa
lem, will you corrupt it as your profligate
sisters corrupted his .Jewish Jerusahm of
old, by their abandonment to corrupting
fashion ? I ask your careful considera
tion of this allegation. Your utter con
tempt for any moral rale concerning dress in
reference to God and his Church. If so
ciety had done wbat. by the way, it ought to
do cutoff from its legitimatized association
every woman that voluntarily donned any
thing wanting in the evidence of a pervading,
dominant modesty, and stuck to it as God
will to his law requiring this observance, it
would have been observed with a tenacity by
thi a time that would have defied the fascina
tion of fashion —would have done it, because
its observance alone would have kept
them in what, in this sense, is now the
world—human society. But, as it is, actual
nudity, amounting to grots indelicacy, is all
'i :t the Inst of fashion demands. The care
a■■■d cultivation of simple, native modesty is
given up. Many things now foretell that the
t ine is coming when from this drain on na
tive female modesty, the convenience of
1; - rer female nakedness on the stage will be
nee-ssary ; and the miserable, incrusted
dupes from fashion’s preparatory blight will
be in abundance. Thousands that wonld
die before they would do it, will go to see it.
All the present tolerated carnal fashions in
dressing are paving the way up to it. This,
in nine tenths of these silly devotees at
fashions’altars,where true native modesty is
daily sacrificed to this versatile goddess, is
not intended by iniatuated matrons and
maidens ; but it will follow as a sequence
here of the public coming up to it whenever
stage entertainments demand it and a de
p-'rd public t .tte will y-.liotj- it. ‘ st as it
did in France. It is not expected mat these
factors in this evil work ever imagined its
fearful culmination. Satan knows better
how to get Eve to ruin her race than to al
low one of them to forecast any evil to the
sex from their little and little selling off of
the native element of modesty. When old
time guardianship of female modestv was in
vogue, boys’ legs might be seen—girls’ never
—hut now ihi> scene is changed : boys’ legs
may be seen, but bv a fixed fashion girls’
must be seen. I never enter into a family
now where fashion is servilely followed, big
what I am disgusted, if there is a daughter
twelve years old, at seeing her have to hold
on to the hem of her scanty dress to cover her
knees. In this way, what was made to be
covered, is either left bare, or else sugges
tively revealed by abnormal fashions. The
Spirit’s vast, meaning in requiring women to
apparel themselves in modest apparel is
openly ignored. Long within my day, if a
young lady that set any price on herself for
feminine delicacy had unwittingly come into
the presence of a gentleman with her dress
p-ened back as tight about her hips as the
fabric could endure, she would have bluslipd
and flod for refuge to her secret chamber. If
it had been told h"r that this gentleman be
lieved her fleeing his presence was her affec
tation, while her showing herself to him in
her abnormal style was her will and pleas
ure, she would have collaps-id in an instant
and considered herself disgraced.
But now, no unblushing maiden lady would
corns into the presence of a gentleman until
her dress was pinned back tight enough to
show her skeleton angles. This is a won
derful and a fearful change. Will any lady
say it is from good to better? I hear a spon
taneous answer from all, No. Allow me
therefore to offer the following moral axiom.
Every voluntary act that lessens or dulls the
na'ive sense ot modesty, ordained as I al
firm by the Creator himself, to be conserva
tive of virgin purity, lessens also in the very
same proportion its moral conservation. It
is very true that not. one in a thousand of
these silly maidens intends any indifference
to proner female modesty, but it is just as
ti-. ia hot. one hi ten* tmtusamf ot iheu?'
ever did or ever can intend any marked care
(or modesty as the gem-jewel in a female dia
dent. There is not a female in the land, but
who kno vs if she determines to follow fickle
fashion she must, ignore all special regard
for the common-sense care of cultivated
modesty—knows her special modesty must
be assumed, in as much as all notable fash
ions in women’s attire must leave a delicate
watch care over modesty, as granted—not as
done. But, ladies, has it never occurred to
you in this evil day, that in all cases where
the common sense of mankind pronounces
anything in the voluntary take on in ladips’
attire to be immodest, it is immodest. The
ttnahused existence of this grace is the only
proof anv woman can give ot her regard of
it. Habitually seem to ignore it, and it is
ignored. It is nothing but a name—not a
thing, unless it. is what the common sense of
gorb-ty settles it. to be. And, dear ladies, you
are doing yourselves a great injustice to trifle
m any way, or in any wise, with this female
virtue. As ladies, it detracts from the glory
ofyour sex; as professors of religion it places
you in open contempt of God's demand
upon you—which is, never to let your style
of dressing yourselves encroach upon the
sanctuary of your modesty. You ought to
see from the specialty of this divine order
that it is in your apparel that you will dis
play your want of modesty, if at all. But,
alas! the very curla’n which the Holy Spirit
furnishes for its security fashion has dernol
ish' and for its exposure. When I consider
women in their devotion to noble endurance
for country and friends when duly calls them
thereunto, and then look at their utter indif
ferenee to this special injunction of the Holy
Spirit to guard them against this sacrifice of
woman's highest self respect, I am con
founded, mortified, grieved, and in despair.
It is incontestable proof that whosoever will
e the iriend of the world is the enemy of
God. No woman can adopt the world s rule
iu her apparel until she has practically re
-o’.ved to set herself at enmity to God in as
far as appareling herself is involved. She
in ends to obey the Lord’s commands in any
thing but her outward adorning. But right
here—the only point where her self denial
for ioviug obedience’s sake can and must be
seen without ostentation —right here, where
worldly fashion will attest friendship with
the world, is this evidence of enmity to God
seen. Indeed, it is the only door of entrance
which Satan can find into the hearts of the
present noble race of women. Bat entrance
is ail he needs; and if the opening of this
door can be secured, with the full endorse
of the world that ladies are at full liberty to
adorn themselves as sanctioned fashion may
demand, without any special regard to the
more chaste respect for normal modesty, the
wide gate into the broad way is opened ex
actly to suit bis purpose. For women tha.
will treat this will of God with the utmost
practical content p- in this test issue, which
says in its moral philosophy that the woman
who apparels without due regard to
modesty is immodest, will heed no caution
so long as this pitiful pasrion is dominant.
But reverse the matter, and let it be under
stood that the day a lady is seen in what the
common sense of mankind regards immod
est apparel, she is marked for severance from
good society, and there is the end of it.
Ladies, I tremble for you. Your moral
s'atus is fearful. You know that God pro
tests against everything I complain of; but,
tne language of your life policy is, we must
j and will side with the worid in this outward
i adorning business. And on it heaven will
I be lost.
Indolkncb is a stream which flows Blowly
on, but yet undermines the foundation of
every virtue.
PUBLISHED BY J. W. BURKE & COMPANY, FOR UK METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH.
I WITH TRUNKS PACKED FOR SC HOOL
OB COLLEGE !
Within the next twenty days, thousands of
young men and boys will leave home to enter
upon another year of educational life. Per
haps some o c them may chance to pick up
this copy of the Apvocate, and to run their
eyes down this column. Let a friend give a
few words of counsel:
Do honest work from the frst hour of the
session. Your duties at school, or college,
will be marked off into definite, manageable
parts. Take good care of the whole by tak
ing good care of every part. Every lesson
neglected places an unsound piece of timber
in the foundation ofyour house. Every idle
hour multiplies the chances of your failure
in life. Every page, or principle, skipped or
unlearned, makes your life and character
more and more a pre’ense, a falsehood.
Thousands of your former schoolmates are
now in farms, in shops, in stores, where
they are required to bring daily proofs of
attention, Bkill, and increasing efficiency.
You should not be satisfied to do le c s than
they are doing. Your duties are real. The
exactions Blade on by the {Reb’t :ry of
school ahd college are real. The wants of
your expanding nature are real. The results
of this year’s tuition will be real in every
case, for good or evil. Rut under your feet
forever the miserable pehool boy notion that
you are oppressed, aDd that teachers and pa
rents are your oppressors. Work cheerfully
with those who are trying to bring out your
character and your manhood. Be neither
an unwilling animal, dragged along, nor a
lump of impassive clay. Bea willing, cheer
ful, hearty coworker with God and man to
fashion yourself into something noble and
divine. The first week at school or college,
has often given tone to the whole year. And
a lost year at school or college has of en been
the beginning of a lost life. ‘ Not for wrath,
but for conscience sake, - ’ bring to every
ringing of the bell the best preparation pos
sible.
Beware of the , first wrung step. Be afraid
of the first trifling or dangerous book, or
newspaper. Shun the first advance of a pro
fane, or sensual, or reckless young man. I
hope very many of you can tru hfully say, to
the first invitation from man or woman to
touch a card, “ I do not, know one card from
another, and I intend never to 1- arn.” Have
on hand the ready and unyielding NO, for
any invitat.on to go to the bar-room, or to
let the bar room come to you. Never smile
at any jest which you would not be willing to
repeat to your sister. Keep thyself pure.
Look out for the truthful, ingenuous, unsel
fish, umorrupted young man, and "grapple
him to thy soul with hooks of steel;’’ thus
forming friendships to brighten your young
and your maturer life. But one week’s inti
macy, one hour’s companionship with a
ruined, plausible young man, may fix re
morse on you for life.
Take special care of all the money entrust
ed to you Perhaps every dollar is the fiuit
ot a parent’s personal toil. Certainly, every
dollar is a token and [ roof ot a parent’s love.
Let it be a sacred thing. Be honest, to a
postage stamp. Never go lii debt without a
positive warrant lrom home. Never conceal
a debt from your parents.
Be true to your highest convictions of duty.
N’ever be ashamed to bj. hnoyi hr.l jg
to a Christian age, and a Christian family.
Never blush when accused of reverencing
the God of your parents. Be ashamed not to
pray to Him. Keep His written message on
your study table. Let. no day pass without
thoughtful communion with it. Keep your
Sabbaths, if possible, up to the level of those
at home. Answer every church bell (when
you are in health) as punctually as you an
swer the college, or the breakfast bell. Are
you a Church member the last day you spend
at home? Bea Church-member the first day
you spend at your boarding-house. Go, an
accredited Church member, and introduce
yourself as such, to pastor and congregation,
in your new home. When Ihe " commu
nion-table’’ is first spread there, go humbly
and thankfully to your piace. If your fellow
students have a weekly meeting for prayer,
praise, or Christian conference, be in your
place regularly, with your appropriate con
tribution, whether silent attention, a song, a
word of brotherly exhortation, or an humble
prayer.
Keep unbroken the free connection until
home Writetoyour parents regularly, fully,
and affectionately. You cannot know how
much it pains them to give up your company
just at this season of life. You cannot know
the necessary anxietie.s of a parent’s heart.
Do not add to them the unnecessary and
terrible suspicion, “ My child is forgetting
me /”
The new educational year is before you, as
a fresh and clean sheet of paper. The char
acters vou write on it will be imperishable,
and will, most probably, determine the style
of successive pages iu your life record. See
to it, that these characters are such as will
not put you to shame hereafter.
A mighty volume of prayer should go up
from parents, and from all Christians, for
this precious material nowgoing from home.
Let every absent son be remembered, espe
cially, and daily, at the family altar.
May this rich current of intellectual and
spiritual life be guided by a wisdom higher
than that of parents or teachers !
J. H. C.
Selections.
From the Nashville Christian Advocate.
LETTER FROM BISHOP MARVIN.
NO. XXXIII.
DAMASCUS AND THE BARAPA.
Leaving Banias for Damascus the road
parses over the rout hern spurs of Mount
Hermon. Volcanic rock abounds. In fact,
tbe road at one point touches ihe crater of
an extinct volcano. The mourn ain sides
show the same features as tho-e near the
Dead Sea —the same violent contortions of
strata with the same kind of stone. I think
there can be no doubt that the whole of the
Jordan valley, including the Dead Sea at one
end and the Lebanon ranges ut the other,
was once disturbed by volcanic agencies so
violently as to have received its conforma
tion front them. Whether tbe unexampled
depression of this wonderul valley is due to
this cause or not, 1 am sure 1 cannot tell.
A few hours of steady traveling puts you
on the eastern side of these ridges, and into
the border of the great plain stretching east
ward toward the Euphrates. Soutb and east
some isolated ridges appear, but they are ot
limited extent and ot no great elevation.
Cultivation in this plain depends wholly on
irrigation. In this edge of it many streams
coming down out of the mountains are bor
dered by fields in the valleys which they
make; but in every part where irrigation is
impracticable it has the character ot a desert.
Before coming into the plain we saw a
good many Bmall valleys iu the mountains
MACON. GEORGIA, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1877.
which were cultivated,* and a god mauj
herds of cattle which find sufficient pastupage
in the mountains. The' Druses live in the e
and in the Lebanon mountains. We were in
terested in the first villages of that singular
people which we saw. This morning we passed
quite a large one on a hill-side. The houses
were not so closely crowded together as is
usually the case in the villages of this coun
try. At at a distance the ranges ot houses
rising on the mountain side, one above an
o'her, show very prettily. As we came near
the village a number of boys came running
oat to the road with fossil specimens tor sale.
The Druses originated, as nearly as I can
gather, soon after the
into this region. Those Arabs of the nriun
tains were but partially converted to tha*
faith; and in the uproar and tumult of ideas
then afloat several sects were formed whose
beliefs were grounded upon the teachings of
Mohammed in part, but modified by tbeir
own crude ideas and semi barbarous cus
toms. Of these sects the Druses were the
most important, perhaps—at least, they have
become the most widely known, 1 .
bt ught into notice by the maowere oiL
They have secret rites of initiation, and
their religious beliefs are scrupulously con
cealed. Their organization is not purely
religions, but political as well. Their chiefs
or sheiks, are implicitly obeyed, and have
the power of life and death.
The Druses, it is said, are hospitable to
the last degree toward those who are admit
ted to their hospitality. Once the stranger
is in the house of the sheik, and has broken
bread there, he is not only secure in his per
son, but may depend upon being treated with
the highest degree of hospitable regard. But
to offset this virtue they have many vices.
They are deceitful to the last degree. Among
Christians they profess to be Christians, and
among Mussulmans they profess to be Mus
sulmans.
Between them and their neighbors, the
Maronite Christians, there has been biller
enmity for ages. The fault is not wholly with
the Druses, for it is not to be supposed tha l
those Maronites are very exemplary Chris
tians. Intense and bigoted they are in their
faith, but as to morals they are little better
than the Druses themselves. No doubt it is
in the hearts of both parties to exterminate
each other.
Alter the treaty of Paris of 1850 the con
vietion became prevalent here that the Chris
tian Powers would abstain from any interfer
ence in the internal affairs of the Turkish
Government. The Druses knew the hatred
of the Turks toward the Christians, and, in
the absence of European interference, they
knew that the Turkish Government would do
nothing to protect them, nor punish any
crime that might be committed against them.
The moment to gratify the enmity ot ages
had come. Indeed, there is no doubt that
the Druses and Turks had an understanding
with each other.
Suddenly the massacre broke out in Da
mascus, and spread among the villages in
the mountains. It lasted for several days,
and many thousands of Christians perished,
both in the city and in the villages. In one
respect the Druses were right in their expec
tations—the Turkish authorities showed no
disposition to protect the Christians, nor to
~.l t! irt'.l* .lull, “t., ill Jeieflf.k I- .A : \T
calculated in another particular. They did
not know the temper of the European Gov
ernments. The news of the atrocities arous
ed the civilized world, and the Sultan scon
learned that unless he took measures to pun
ish the guilty parties, and showed himself in
earnest about it, the armies ot Europe would
avenge the blood of the Damascus martyrs.
Not only were the Druse Sheiks brought to
punishment, but some French regiments
penetrated Syria, and many of the frightened
Druses fled to the Hauran, and have never
returned.
It is said that those who remained here
have been declining in numbers and pros
per.ty ever since, and that even in the Hau
ran a blight seems to have fallen upon them,
as if they had filled the measure of their
iniquity, and were now perishing.
After emerging upon the plain we came
upon a flush mountain-stream, not over two
feet deep, on the bank of which we stopped
for lunch. Its present name I do not re
member, but in Naaman’s time it was called
the Pharpar. It does not (low through the
city of Damascus, but seveial mites aouth of
it, though one or two of its canals connect, T
believe, with the system of canals from the
Barada, or Abana, by which the city and its
outlying gardens are irrigated.
On a confluent of the same stream we
pitched our tent for the night. As we ap
proached the camp our eyes were astonished
by the fringe of trees —not shrubs—that
lined the bank of the stream at. this point.
That which was most abundant wc.3 the
slender and graceful tree which we call Lom
bardy poplar in America, and which is in
digenous in Syria. These groves of tall,
slender trees constitute a most striking fea.
ture in the landscape wherever they occur.
The heavy green foliage contrasts most vivid
ly with the naked desert. They are found
nowhere except along the water courses.
It had been our purpose and expectation
to reach Damascus on Saturday, but we yund
it impossible to do so without overworking
the mules that packed our luggage. Our
camp for Saturday night was at a miserable
village several hours from the city. Should
we spend the Lord's day there in pe.-v-„ - 5
objectless repose? or should we ride to Da
mascus, and endeavor to join with the mis
sionaries in the public worship of God? We
determined upon the latter course. But we
bad been misled as to the time required for
the ride, and had the mortification to spend
the entire morning in the saddle, aud find
ourselves, on arriving, too late for any Eng
lish service. It was a raw, uncomfortable
day, and we were glad to find in our tent, the
opportunity of reading the word of God, and
worshiping in a quiet way.
As we approached the city, that most re
markable oasis in which it stands came into
full view. It is about eighteen miles square,
and I presume there is no greener spot on
the face of the earth. Trees and gardens
cover it with a verdure that is indescribable.
We saw it in the early spring, when it was at
its freshest and best.
The city stands at the foot of the moun
tain. just where the river Barada —the Abana
of the Scriptures—enters the plain, i his is
a small stream, but rushing down from the
mountain as it does, with great rapidity, it
delivers a large amount of water. So soer.
as it emerges from the mountain it is tapped
by canals, which distribute the water in every
direction through the city, and through the
plain around and below the city, to the
lagoon, eighteen miles east, in which it is
lost.
No city could be better supplied with
water. The canals, sometimes open, some
times running under archways beneath streets
and houses, traverse it in every part. In
walking through the city one is often taken
d'rprwfc... coming upon a spot where the
’ - er rushaateom under a wall; and at
A ry turn fdk will fiud fountains in the ba
*\nr, in the market, and in niches in the
of the houses. One set of canals fur
nijhes pure water for use, while another
stives for drainage.
All the fields and gardens in this oasis are
Detected by concrete fences, such as 1 have
Sltyi in South western Texas, and made in
same wav. The gravel and earth are
thrown together into a frame on the spot
W4ere the wall is to be made, and beaten
dpwn solid with a mall. Upon every few
rfadefuls being thrown in it is beaten down;
Uus it becomes extremely hard. The frame
is then removed, leaving the wall naked.
These fences, or more properly walls, are
feet, or more, in thickness, and five or
mix feet high, so that in many cases the trav
horseback can scarcely see the ground
irtmde. They mar the general beauty of the
place very greatly, being very clumsy, and
obstructing the view so largely.
'The population of Damascus is cousidera
st .i ~/pr 100,000, but its buildings and ba
ire not what one expects. There is
very little good architecture here. The
1-ruses are low, and nearly all rather shabby.
The bazaar contrasts strongly with that of
Cairo. The one very celebrated mosque is
a poor style of art.
The “street that is called Straight” is
something ridiculed by superficial tourists.
It is not, in fact, perfectly straight, but is the
cjfcly street in the city which holds a persist
ently straight course through from one side
to the other—a general course which is very
direct, and which the short offsets here and
there do not interfere with. It is eminently
hie straight street of Damascus. In any
city having such a system of streets —or,
' rather, such a no system— with one thor
onghfare from side to side, bent a little here
and there, but keeping a direct course
throughout, this very name would be most
naturally given to it.
All the prophets and patriarchs are hon
o.vd by the Mussulmans. Y'ou will find in
Damascus the Mosque of the “ Prophet Sol
. on.” In fact, you have to come to this
i.iutry to learn that Abel and Seth, and
almost every man whose name appears iu
the Old Testament, were prophets. I am
told that the average Arab Mussulman
tljinks that Abraham, Moses, Christ, and
Mohammed, all lived at the same time, ad
being inspired prophets, the greatest ot
whom was Mohammed. The dense ignor
ance,even of men who seem to he intelligent
in many respects, in regard to religion, is
beyond belief.
-There is a Christian and a Jewish quarter
o* the citv. The Christian population is
much larger than I supposed, and some of
tfe leading business men are of this faith.
We had been told that it wonld be worth
wltile to gee the inside of one or two dwell
ings of wealthy Mohammedan merchants,
and that there would be no objection on the
part of the proprietors. Our guide, howev
er, assured us that it was impracticable, but
that we could get admission to Ihe private
residences of some Christians. Moreover,
he assured us that the most elegant residen
ces of the city were the properly of Chris-
But it must be understood that the
-Av* < ♦ ’■*%' eßtsn-H. F.'Sfe-yii :
‘limited. The one we visited did not impress
us favorably on tbe outside, though we were
informed it was the best in the city. Inside
we found things wearing an aspect of Orien
tal magnificence that exceeded our expecta
tion. We were very politely received by a
woman of thirty five or forty, who was no
do tbt the housekeeper. She had an air of
good sense, and a propriety of deportment
that impressed ns very favorably. The mas
ter of the house was at Beyroot, with his fam
ily. We were shown seats in a very magnifi
cent drawing room, paved with marble ele-
Yfantly [ a id in mosaic, and invited to take cof
fee, which, for want of time, we declined.
The house was of two stories, and tile up
per apartments were not at all in keeping
with the magnificence of those below. The
rooms were small, and the plain pine doors
not even painted. What a contrast between
the part which was for use and that which
was for show 1
Our guide took ns to the “ house of Ana
nias,” but we did not go in. The Christians,
scarcely less ignorant than the Mohamme
•fWns, seem to have no question that, this
,Vfod. rn dwelling is the very one in which the
good Ananias lived. They will show you
also the window —the very same window—
trom which St. Paul was let. down in a bas
ket. We saw, in fact, a number of win
dows from which a man might be very well
lowered over the wall, and so make his es
cape front the city. There are many houses
which have the city wall for their back wall,
with bay windows projecting over the wall
of the city, that of the house rising a story
above. Nothing would be more inevitable
than that a mart’s friends would let him
down from such a window, if he were in
danger and desired to escape.
We saw two —and only two —business
houses of good size, both of which were
wholesale establishments, and warehouses
tor grain and provisions. They were re .lly
spacious, having massive walls, and each
being surmounted by a rotunda, having a
gallery around it at the base. The wooden
work of the gallerv had a look of age that
W£g indeed impressive. Protected from the
> tiiher, and subjected to no friction, it still
seems to be wearing out. It looked as if it
might date from the period when Darwiti’s
ancestors were tadpoles. We noticed the
same thing in sevt ral places.
Among other places our guide showed us
the slave market, where people come two
days in the week to purchase Nubian wo
men. It was not a market day, but we taw
two of the women that were there on sale.
They were bad stock, one of them being
lunatic, and the other afleeting lunacy with
so much skill as to keep purchasers off. I
was glad to see, that though they were only
an expense to their owners, they were evi
dentiy treated with humanity.
„ There is a large school here, founded and
maintained by some English ladies. It
seems to be doing a good work. The Amer
ican Presbyterians have a branch of their
Syrian Mission here. So far as we had time
to inquire, the work seems to be faithfully
done, and as good a yield of fruit appears
as could be expected from the agencies em
ployed. But it is only a drop in the bucket.
Yet the leaven will doubtless spread.
- Before leaving our camp here we rode out
to see one of the places where Saul was
struck down bv the manifei-tation of the
Son of God. This locality is now just out
side the eastern gate, near the Christian
burial-ground. Formerly, l understand, it
was at a more distant point, and in a differ
ent direction. It seems to be shifted about
to suit the convenience of those who make
tradition a trade, with very little concern
about the probable direction in which Saul
approached the city. If this is the place,
then he came by a very roundabout way.
One is perpetually disgusted by the absence
of all reason and probability in these tradi
tions.
Having spent Monday in seeing the city,
we broke up camp on Tuesday morning, and
starred for Baalbec. But before taking a
final leave of what is believed by many to be
the oldest city in the world, we must ascend
the mountain and see it from a commanding
point. YVe soon left all verdure behind us,
and our horses were toiling up the steep
mountain path toward the “ Tomb of the
Forty Apostles." Up, up we climbed lor
near an hour. From this elevated point we
had the city and the entire oasis in full view.
The form of the city has been compared to a
spoon—it is much more like a huge pipe
with a long stem —a very singular contour.
This is the only striking peculiarity discov
ered in the view, except that which distin
guishes this from all other cities in the world
—its rich emerald setting.
From this position there is nothing to
mar the beauty of the gardens, the concrete
fences scarcely appearing in the distance,
it looks likua tewest, the trees being distri
buted so as to conceal th cultivated parts.
Everywhere the slender poplar towers above
the other trees, giving a most picturesque
expression to the landscape bv its graceful
figure, and the darker and more decided hue
of its foliage.
It was an event in a man’s life to touch
upon this scene, and we indulged ourselves
in reverie for some time. This was already
an old city when Romulus and Remus were
quarrelling over the mud huts of their village
on the Tiber, when the foundation of Tad
mor were laid, when the Jebusite built his
first rude fort on Mount Zion. This was a
center of commerce as long ago as thsre was
any commerce. When Abram’s affairs be
came so large as to be unwieldly he employed
“this Eliezer of Damascus,” a man trained
to business here, to take charge of them
Perhaps only Babylon was as old or older.
But, Babylon is gone, Tad mor is gone, com
merce has been shifting its enters a thous
and times, nations have come into existence,
plaved their great tragedies on the stage and
disappeared, while here still stands llamas
cus. A hundred revolutions have been con
stimulated within its walls. It has changed
masters, perhaps, ten hundred times. It saw
the dawn of history—it is likely to witness
the end of time.
The Mohammedans have a tradition to the
effect that the prophet, in one of his mercan
tile journeys, approached Damascus but on
coming in sight of it up here on the mountain,
he exclaimed that as no nv n could have hut.
one paradise he would not forfeit that in the
future by entering this. So he never set
foot in the city. Once he had got well inside
he would have dismissed all apprehensions
of that sort.
We descended the mountain on the wes
tern side, and in two or three miles came to
the diligence road to Beyroot, which follows
the course of the Barada for some miles.
We were to makecamp to-night at Suk Wary
Barada, sr that ourconrse in the main would
be along the river, though at one point our
dragoman insisted on leaving it for a better
road. This we regretted, when we learned
that,by taking this course.we missed seeing
of the wafers of the lower Barada come out
of the mountain in a body.
Ail along this stream it is fringed with
poplar and other growths, and where the
precipitous mountains retreat a little here
and there, leaving space for small valleys,
every foot is in cultivation. In many places
irrigating ditches are taken out and trained
along the steep mountain sides, so that even
they are made fruitful. I doubt if any one
stream of the same volume in all the world
nourishes as much life as this one. Villages
stand along in the gorge it makes in the
mountains, often at, intervals of only a mile
or two. All around them is a mass of de
sert mountains except those acres that are
touched by the water of the life giving river
Our tent was pitched in a gorge, and we
had a very disagreeable night on account of
a fierce, chilly wind. Here we fell in with a
party traveling under Cook’s auspices, one
of whom was Dr. Philip Sehaff, wito whom
we spent a delightful evening. On our leav
ing his tent at 9 o'clock, the gray, barren
mountains, towering above us on all sides,
took on an aspect of weird beauty in the
bright moonlight that seemed to me tbe most
peculiar I hafl ever seen.
The next morning we climbed the moun
tains to the right of the road, about a mile
f om the village where we had camped, to
see the remains of an old Roman road,
which, at that point, was cut through a mass
of solid and very hard rock. It was just
wide enough for two chario*s to pass. The
sides of the rock through which it was dug are
perfectly perpendicular, showing even yet the
tool-marks, and contrasting strikingly with
the powder blasted road beds of our time,
which leave the walls all reft and ragged.
At one point a space was polished and sur
rounded by moulding. In the panel thus
made is a Latin inscription, setting forth that
this road was made by the Emperor Lucius
Verus at the expense of the people of Abila.
So solid is this rock that the lettering is per
fect to this day. This was in the second cen
tury of the Christian era.
We followed the course of the upper Ba
rada to its head, passing over on to a conflu
ent of the Litany where we camped for the
night. It was difficult to tell where we pass
ed from the waters of one stream to those of
the other, as there is a continuous depres
sion between the mountains from one to the
other.
On the upper waters of the Barada its val
leys are wide, and the mounrams slopes less
precipitous, while every available acre is in
cultivation, hut much of it is very sterile and
will scarcely return the seed committed to it
E. M. Marvin.
Steamer Espero, KgeanSea , May 4, 1877.
What do you think the beautiful word
“wife” comes from? It is the great word
in which the English and Latin languages
conquered the French and Greek. I hope
the Freuch will some day get a word for it
instead of that dreadful word femme But
what do you think is comes from ? Tbe
great value of the Saxon words is, that they
mean something. Wife means “weaver”
Yon must either be housewives or house
moths ; remember that In the deep sense,
you must either weave men’s fortunes and
embroider them, or feed upon and bring
them to decay. YVherever a true wife comes,
home is always around her. The stars may
be over her head; the glow-worm in the
night-cold grass may be the fire at her foot ;
but home is where she is ; and for a noble
woman it stretches far around her, belter
than house ceiled with cedar or painted with
Vermillion, shedding its quiet light far for
those who else are homeless. This I believe
to be the woman’s true place aud power.—
Buskin.
BISHOP MARVIN AT THE WESLEYAN
CONFLUENCE, AT BRISTOL.
The Secretary of the Conference intro
duced to the President and the Conference
Bishop E. M. Marvin and his traveling com
panion, the Rev. E. R. Hendrix, represen
atives of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
South.
Bishop Marvin said that, he and his col
league had beeu paying an official visit, to
their Mission stations among the remote
heathen in China. Since then they had been
on a tour of inspection of missionary work,
for practical ends, through India and Syria,
Turkey and Egypt. They were now passing
through Europe. It was their purpose from
the beginning, if they could so arrange their
stages of travel, to see the Wesleyan Con
ference ; but they expected to do so on their
own personal account merely. During their
absence from home, however, the College of
Bishops, at their annual meeting in May
last, acted formally in the matter, and em
powered them to act as their representa
tives. He had no need to say any thing
about the extension of Methodism in the
United States of America; but, with all
modesty and humiliVi he would remind the
Conference that Mr. Hendrix and himself
represented the largest body of Methodists
in the world except one, viz: the Method
ist Episcopal Church, North, which was
about twice as large as their own. (Hear.)
But in their remote homes and remote la
bors they always thought of the Wesleyan
Conference in England as “ Jerusalem, the
mother of us all.” (Hear, hear.) The
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, num
bered 700 000 members. He wished to state
a few facts without going too much into de
tail. In the first place, the Methodist Epis
copal Church, South, was not inert with
regard to the great enterprise that was in
tended to evangelize mankind. There were
eleven weekly denominational newspapers
printed and supported by the Methodist
Episcopal Church, South. S true of these
were of a very high order of weekly reli
gious literature, and all of them maintained
a high religious tone. (H-ar, hear.) Be
sides this, they had a Publishing House, a
very large one, that printed and circulated
great numbers of Wesley’s Sermons, Wat
son’s “ I’heological Institutes. ’ and other
s andard books. (Hear, hear.) In addition
to this general religious literature, there
were three Sunday-school periodicals pub
lished at Nashville, and these had a large
circulation As to the matter of education,
he might state that they had eleven respec
table colleges, the bona fide property of the
Church, and some of them tolerably well en
dowed —institutions of learning that would
compare respeetatjly with any other colleges
in the country. (Hear, hear.) Besides
that they had one great university—the gift
of one man, and he not a member of their
Church—a very large building, with all the
faculties of law, medicine, theology, in ad
ditioti to a very thorough curriculum in the
scientific and literary department,. That in
stitution was situated ut Nashville, Tenn.,
with a permanent endowment of half a mil
lion dollars. (Applause.) They would see,
therefore, that that Church of 700,000 mem
hers had not been entirely inactive. (Hear,
hear.) A gre-t deal of earnest work had
f m k* "i 4 Y--
results. The per cenlagc ol Methodists ou
the population of the Southern States was
as large or larger than that in the Northern
States ; and in several of the Southern States
their Church occupied a most commanding
position. As to their missionary operations,
hey were not doing what they desired to
do. But it should be remembered that the
entire country occupied by them had been
desolated by war. They did not complain
of anybody—they accepted it with humility.
He believed that the piety of the Southern
Church had been deepened and elevated
since the war, and they had the fullest faith
that the effects of it had been of a most hap
py and salutary character upon the Church
at large: (Hear, hear.) When the war was
ended their missionary treasury was SBO 000
iu debt, and they were left without resources.
They struggled under it for some years, but
now God was smiling upon their fields again,
and they had to day in the way of Missions :
1. An Annual Conference of nearly twenty
members amongst the native Indians—the
aborigines of the country—and a very great
work was being done there. 2. A German
Mission in Texas, which was accomplishing
a great deal amongst the Germans. 3. A
Border Mexican Mission, that had a won
derful history. 4. Missions in Mexico, where
a revolution had been going on for the
pat fifty years. The Mexican people were
struggling for constitutional liberty, but the
priests were against them, and had been so
trom the beginning. The Methodist Ectisco
pa! Church, South, however, had fairly es
tablished itself in the heart of that country.
(Cheers.) 5. They had also a Mission in
Brazil: and fi. They had three missionaries,
and were now sending out a fourth mission
ary, to China. That was what they were do
ing in the way of Missions. (Applause.) He
might say farther, that of late their people
had had the missionarv spirit stirred up
within them in a remarkable manner; they
were showing an interest and a zeal in the
subject beyond all precedent and all history.
fHear, hear) And now he brought to the
B itish Conference the greeting of 700,000
Methodist people that loved God. loved the
doctrines of Methodism, who revered ihe
name of YYesley, and looked to them as “Je
rusalem, the mother of ns all.” (Applause.)
One thing was a little singular. In Demo
cratic America Methodism had flowered at
once into Episcopacy, and yet such was not
the case in England. But thev believed in
lay representation (hear heart ; their lay
men never clamored for it; there was no
desire for it; no layman ever said to them,
“ Give us a place in the Conference;’’ but
they saw that their laymen were taking too
litile interest in the Church ; they were leav
ing everything to the ministers ; and so they
said bring the laymen into the Conference.
(Hear, hear.) He wa bound to say that
with them this had acted like a charm, so
far as they were concerned He did not pre
tend to know what was the exact state of
feeling of English Methodists in reference to
that subject; but they were evidently mov
ing in the direction he had indicated ; and
yet such were the anomalies of human node
ly that just now, all at once, by a single
bound m the hierarchir-al direcion, they had
put themselves aba-lutely under a Pope!
(Laughter and cheers.) He ha I seen the
Wesleyan Conference, bv a large and enthu
siastic vote, enthrone a Pope over itself. He
had seen it with his own eyes. One thing,
however, took awny all regret upon the sub
ject, " and that is,” said he, addressing the
President, “ that you are the Pope 1” (Re
uewed cheers,) That made *dl the differ
ence iu the world, and he was disposed
fully to acquiesce iu the vote of the Wesleyan
Confereuce, and to make him his Pope
while he remained iu England. It should
F. M. KENNEDY, D. D., Editor
J. NY. BURKE, ... Assistant Editor
A. G. lIAYGOOD, I). 1).,-...Editorial Correspondent
WHOLE NUMBER 2068
be remembered, however, that a good Pope
was the servant of the servants of God. (Ap
plause.) Would they bear with him while
he said in general terms that he concurred
heartily with the sentiment he had heard
expressed a day or two ago—namely, that
the Methodist movem nt constituted one of
the greatest epochs in ■ he Church of God ?
In his classification of the epochs there were:
1. The < .'.aversion of heathenism. That
was impei.. ctly accomplished. Heathenism
took possession of the Church in part, whilst
Jupiter ana Minerva were dethroned. 2.
Then came the Lutheran epoch, which was
a doctrinal epoch. 3. Then came John Wes
ley, who embodied the gospel in his personal
consciousness, and by the power of his per
sonal influence and faith, under God, pro
jected it upon the world. (Hear,hear.) The
document which had been read to the Con
ference in the morning of that day intima
ted that they would gladly welcome a repre
sentative from the English Conference. The
letter which had been forwarded them last
year had greatly refreshed their spirits in the
Lord. The reply which had been sent was
written by Dr. Hamilton, one of the great
est men the Church in America had ever
known. They would greatly rejoice to see a
represueta'ive from England at their next
General Conference, which would meet in
May, at Atlanta, in Georgia. That was a
matter, however, which they left entirely with
themselves. It they found it inconvenient
to comply with their request, they would, of
course, acquiesce, and would do so heartily,
because they knew that they loved the peo
ple of God who were called Methodists all
over the world. He prayed that God’s bless
ing might descend upon them in rich abun
dance, and that they might he increased a
thousandfold. (Applause.)
The Rev. E. R. Hendrix said it was not
necessary that he should add many words to
what had already been said. He simply
wished to offer his fraternal greetings and
love; toinvose upon them God's blessing;
to bespeak in behalf of the Church he repre
sented, their sympathies and prayers; and
to express his hope that at some future time
they would send them representatives.—
(Hear, hear, aud applause.)
Dr. Punshon, on being called upon to re
ply, said that the only fitness he had to stand
there in response to the address they had
heard, and to which they had listened with
bo much pleasure, was that he had trodden
some part of the ground, and had some very
pleasant and profitable intercourse with some
of the ministers of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South, and some of the congrega
tions ot that Church, which had been go ably
represented that day. He should never for
get an interview he had with Dr. Pierce,
some years ago, in Columbus, in Georgia.
That venerable man—-ninety years ot age, or
thereabouts, and yet with a spirit as elastic
and buoyant as though he were just in the
prime of his ng'^e.^outh —spoke of his trials
and triumphs hfthe%ospel, and his interest
in the spread of the kingdom of Christ. He
(Dr. Punshon) formed at that time an ex
ceedingly favorable estimate of the work
that was being done in tbe South by the in
strumentality of Methodism. One thing he
was especially astonished to hear, aud yet
not astonished when he began to inquire in
to* t.hei reasons of gs. Xfc-| void him
that Methodism in Savannah had hardly
prospered at all since Mr. Wesley was there.
But he remembered that it was Wesley the
Ritualist, and not Wesley the Methodist, at
that particular time. (Hear, hear.) He
heard also that while in Savannah Method
ism was weak, in the State of Georgia itself
the influence of Methodism was exceedingly
wide spread and deeply rooted, so that it
might be regarded as the predominant type
and form of godliness in that particular State.
After all, just as the sick were healed in for
mer time by the shadow of Peter passing by,
so some of the collateral influences of Wes
ley’s labors might be found after these many
days. (Applause.) He rejoiced very greatly
in the presence amongst them of a Bishop ot
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and
his companion (hear, hear, ; and he trusted
it would be the prelude of a deeper fraterni
zation — a more thorough oneness of sympa
thy—as they were one all over the world now
in the bonds of the one transforming gospel.
(Hear, hear.) He was quite sure that they
had one end in view, and he was sure
that they sought to promote that end by tbe
same means So long as they preserved their
integrity, and compared themselves to a spir
itual confederacy, intended to spred scriptu
ral holiness through the land and through
the world, let them breathe one spirit; and,
united in one spirit, to their Head, no force
could make them quail. (Loud applause.)
He had great pleasure in moving: “That
the Conference cordially welcomes the es
teemed brethren who have come as the re
presentatives of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South, Bishop E. M. Marvin and
the Rev. E. R. Hendrix, and is gratified to
renew fraternal intercourse with thot numer
ous and important branch of the Methodist
Connection.” (Hear, hear.)
Dr. James had much pleasure in seconding
the resolution, and suggested that a committee
be appointed to look at the question of send
ing a representative thither. (Hear, bear.)
Tbe resolution was put to the Conference,
and cordially approved.
Bishop Marvin expressed his thanks and
the thanks of bis colleague for the very cor
diul and happy reception that had been given
to them. He bad only to say that if a mes
sage or messenger came to them they would
receive him as the messenger of the British
Conference and as the messenger of Christ.
HARMONY OF THE SCRIPTURES.
Alter all that can be said and kuowu of
the varied attractions of the Bible as a book
—simply as a book —it remains that this is
but incidental to its main purpose, the plu
mage of the angel that publishes glad tidings.
To dwell too much on these external beau
ties of the Scripture seems to carry peril
with it, as if one should value the silver
trumpets of the priests more than tbe jubilee
they were appointed to proclaim. As the
skillful player on an organ useth one stop
after another, now evoking the shrillness of
the reed, uow the mellowness of the flute,
now the vibration of the harp, now the clear
ringing of tbe clarion, and now the heavy
swell of the diapason, so did the Spirit of
God, in the preparation of one book, for all
men and for all time, make use of all the va
ried accomplishments and faculties of human
kind: the learning of Moses; the shepherd
songs aud royal minstrelsy of David ; Solo
mon’s ingots of solid gold, the condensed
expressions of eternal wisdom; Isaiah’s
burning prophecies; Jeremy’s plaintive ele
gies ; the nervous eloquence of Paul ; Love’s
gentle soliloquies in the person of John ; and
the sublime visions of the Apocalypse, the
thuuderings, aud voices, aud earthquakes :
forming out of them all oue holograph —the
one incomparable harmonious book of the
world.—Dr. Adams.